Italy Travel And Hotel Guide

The growth of Rome , a border town between the Etruscans and the Latins, gained impetus around 600 BC from a coalition of Latin and river communities. The Tarquins , an Etruscan dynasty, oversaw the primeval expansion, but in 509 BC the Romans ejected the Etruscan royal family and became a republic , with power shared jointly between two consuls, both elected for one year. Further changes came half a century later, after a protracted class struggle that resulted in the Law of the Twelve Tables , which prefabricated patricians and plebeians equal. Thus stabilized, the Romans set out to systematically conquer the northern peninsula, and after the start of Veii in 396 BC, succeeded in capturing Sutri and Nepi , towns which Livy considered the “barriers and gateways of Etruria”. Various wars and truces with other cities brought about agreements to pay harsh tributes.The Gauls captured Rome in 390, refusing to leave until they had received a vast payment, but this evidenced a temporary reversal. The Romans took Campania and the fertile land of Puglia after defeating the Samnites in battles over a period of 35 years. They then set their sights on the wealthy Greek colonies to the south, including Tarentum, whose inhabitants turned to the Greek king, Pyrrhus of Epirus for military support. He initially repelled the Roman invaders, but lost his advantage and was defeated at Beneventum in 275 BC. The Romans had by then established their rule in most of southern Italy, and now became a threat to Carthage. In 264 they had the chance of obtaining Sicily , when the Mamertines, a mercenary army in control of Messina, appealed to them for help against the Carthaginians. The Romans obligated - sparking off the First Punic War - and took most of the island, together with Sardinia and Corsica. With their victory in 222 BC over the Gauls in the Po Valley, all Italy was now under Roman control.

They also turned a subsequent military threat to their advantage, in what came to be known as the Second Punic War . The Carthaginians had watched the spread of Roman power crossways the Mediterranean with some alarm, and at the end of the third century BC they allowed Hannibal to make an Alpine crossing into Italy with his army of infantry, horsemen and elephants. Hannibal crushed the Roman legions at Lago Trasimeno and Cannae (216 BC), and then halted at Capua. With remarkable cool, considering Hannibal’s proximity, Scipio set canvass on a retaliatory mission to the Carthaginian territory of Spain , taking Cartagena, and continuing his journey into Africa . The Carthaginians recalled Hannibal, who was finally defeated by Roman troops at Zama in 202 BC. It was another fifty years before Carthage was taken, closely followed by all of Spain, but the Romans were busy in the meantime adding Macedonian Greece to their territory.

These conquests gave Roman citizens a tax-free existence subsidized by captured treasure, but society was sharply divided into those enjoying the benefits, and those who were not. The former belonged mostly to the senatorial party , who ignored demands for reform by their opposition, the favourite party. The immoderate reforms sponsored by the tribune Gaius Gracchus came too close to democracy for the senatorial party, whose declaration of martial law was followed by the assassination of Gracchus. The majority of people realized that the only hope of gaining influence was through the army, but General Gaius Marius , when place into power, was ineffective against the senatorial clique, who systematically picked off the new regime.

The first century BC saw civil strife on an unprecedented scale. Although Marius was still in power, another general, Sulla, was in the ascendancy, leading military campaigns against northern invaders and rebellious subjects in the south. Sulla subsequently took power and established his dictatorship in Rome, throwing out a populist government which had formed while he was away on a campaign in the east. Murder and exile were common, and cities which had sided with Marius during their struggle for power were punished with massacres and destruction. Thousands of Sulla’s war veterans were given confiscated land, but much of it was ordered to waste. In 73 BC a gladiator titled Spartacus led 70,000 dispossessed farmers and escaped slaves in a revolt, which lasted for two years before they were defeated by the legions.

Tags: beneventum, carthaginians, class struggle, etruscans, fertile land, first punic war, gauls, greek colonies, greek king, king pyrrhus, law of the twelve tables, mercenary army, military threat, northern peninsula, pyrrhus of epirus, roman control, roman invaders, samnites, southern italy, veii