Ancient Rome in 338 BC had finally defeated the alliance between the Latin Cities, which then allowed her to gain control over Latium. From here she began forming alliances and conquered many states in Italy. Through the vital cooperation, attribution to military success by providing men for the Roman army, and protection that her allies offered, Rome’s boundaries were pushed further. Her expansion had spread from her immediate surrounding areas of the Mediterranean until her power stretched out both east, west and south of the actual city of Rome (149 BC). Therefore, Rome’s successful expansion is due to the loyalty of her allies.
The establishment of loyalty between Rome and her allies allowed her to conquer their territories while still maintaining cooperation between the two, thus allowing expansion. Rome’s first alliances were with the Saminites in order to overthrow the alliance of the Latin cities (338 BC). Once gaining control over Latium, though, she turned against the Saminites in order to conquer their land, Campania, in 321 BC. (Tingay and Badcock, 10-11) Therefore, by initially making these allies they gained additional territory together; by conquering her allies’ territory it also further expanded her own territory. And yet, the allied states cooperated with Rome due to the fair policies she instilled with them. In these policies Rome gave each of her allies “the status and degree that the situation required,” creating loyalty amongst the two. (Tingay and Badcock, 13) These policies also provided freedom and independence, which for most states was too irresistible to forfeit. As a result, these policies further strengthened the loyalty and cooperation between Rome and her allies. (Tingay and Badcock, 13) Hence, lo...
... middle of paper ...
...l is said to have been despaired. (Stillman, 20) By gaining back those allies Rome also limited the Carthaginian army’s reinforcements, which made them suffer and weaken in power. Their despair then became a Roman advantage, which then made Roman victory attainable, and expansion in Spain and Northern Africa a possibility. (Stillman, 20-21) Consequently, the loyalty of Rome’s allies proved more powerful than the disloyalty in the Second Punic War. Therefore, it was because of Rome’s loyal allies that successful expansion occurred.
Overall, through loyalty due to her allies’ cooperation, contribution of men for the Roman army, and protection, Rome expanded. Such expansion spread from conquering Campania, Sicily, and Tarentum, to various other places until she became the power of the Mediterranean. Hence, Rome’s allies’ loyalty is what led her to successful expansion.
From about 50 BCE to the year 200 CE, the Roman Empire was a powerful nation. Rome was the city that became the center of the Roman Empire and by 200 BCE Rome became a powerhouse. The Romans conquered Scotland to Spain, controlled the Mediterranean Sea, and established colonies in North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia Minor. By the year 44 BCE Julius Caesar became a Roman Emperor and Rome had a great military. Then around the 5th century CE the Roman Empire began to weaken. The primary reasons for the fall of Rome was because of the Roman Emperors, the Roman Army, and foreign invasion.
The Second Punic war, beginning in 218 BC, was the second major war between the Roman Empire and the Carthage. Around the same time, the Roman Empire deployed troops to the Northeastern peninsula of Spain to keep reinforcements, from the Carthaginian South, from getting to Hannibal’s armies in Italy to assist them. In A Histor...
Ruthless expansionists- The ruthless expansion of the Romans was evident in the Punic Wars. “The population of Rome itself increased to unheard-of levels: From somewhere around 100,000 before the first Punic Wars to easily five times that figure a little more than a century later.” 1 (pg. 188) Through the Punic Wars, Rome gained Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, and Spain. Expansion was important because more land meant more resources for the Roman
... just material wealth; it gave Rome a status of a dominating figure. It also instilled fear in neighbouring Empires, forcing them to strongly consider an alliance with Rome. Their success was greatly due to the fact that they never underestimated the strength of the enemy, and this helped them gain the land they fought for. All of the conquered land not only served its purpose for the citizens but also was seen as a war trophy for Rome. These are just some of the very many assumptions of why Rome grew and spread so quickly but no matter the nation, location or empire the necessity of having authority over others remains the reason for all expansion.
It has been debated by varying scholars as to whether Caesar Augustus’ foreign policy to expand Rome’s empire had more to do with defensive imperialism as a response to encroaching threats, or rather, an aggressive, unprovoked move to claim hegemony over the known world. However, I would like to postulate in support of the former theory that in an attempt to restore and ensure long-lasting security to their empire, Augustus was forced to take proactive measures in order to preserve it. With territorial boundaries normally running along the rivers so as to provide a better defensive posture, he felt it necessary to expand the northern border to the river so as to secure their autonomy and position. Perhaps if he could establish a wide buffer of room along Roman lands, he could ensure the safety of the people, the cities, and most of all—the government.
As the story goes, Rome was founding in 753 B.C. by two brothers Remus and Romulus who were raised by wolves. The two brothers started fighting over the leadership of the land. Eventually Romulus killed Remus and took control own his own. The city was only a small settlement at that time. As the civilization grew, the Etruscans took over. The Romans drove out the Etruscans in 509 B.C. By this time Rome had become a city. As the empire came to its peak it included lands throughout the Mediterranean world. Rome had first expanded into other parts of Italy and neighboring places during the Roman Republic, but made wider conquests and made a strong political power for these lands. In 44 BC Gaius Julius Caesar, the Roman leader who ruled the Roman Republic as a dictator was assassinated. Rome descended into more than ten years of civil war. After years of civil war, Caesar's heir Gaius Octavius (also known as Octavian) defeated his last rivals. In 27 B.C. the Senate gave him the name Augustus, meaning the exalted or holy one. In this way Augustus established the monarchy that became known as the Roman Empire. The Roman Republic, which lasted nearly 500 years, did not exist anymore. The emperor Augustus reigned from 27 BC to AD 14 and ruled with great power. He had reestabl...
Rome became a powerful empire engulfing much of Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia and what seemed like this great entity called the Romans were always in the search of more territory and land to conquer and assimilate into their ever growing vast empire. However, this was not always the case, before Rome became one of the greatest empires in all of history, Rome was a republic. They were government consisted of a Senate who much like our country today represented certain classes of the citizens of the Republic. During the growth and rise of the Roman republic conquering neighboring territories and competing for land grabs was not Romans primary objectives. Romans believed in the well being and wealth of Rome, and if that meant the total destruction of a potential adversary, then as history will show that is unfortunately to the detriment of the adversary what happened.
For those who are interested in learning about history, the Roman Empire and its civilization were one of the most interesting spotlights in the human history. The Roman Empire existed throughout a hundreds-years timeline, officially since 27 BC under the reign of Emperor Augustus. However, to learn how this great empire rose up, they have to back to the “the early Rome and the Republic” period. In this period, these events happened orderly, from the rise of Rome in the Italian peninsula that led to creating the Roman republic, the conflicts with the Carthage Empire, the conquest of the Mediterranean and it ended with the fall of the Roman Republic.
There were several strengths of the Roman Empire which enabled it to survive for more than four hundred years. These strengths included a strong foundation, having been built off of the Roman Republic; the standardization across the empire of many aspects of life, such as language, law, and especially the extension of citizenship, which made the empire more cohesive and easier to rule; and strong leaders, who were able to utilize the manipulation of the upper class and Senate, and the management of the military.
The main drive of such expansion was not so moral or cultural, as “the approach of the Roman government was essentially pragmatic…The frontier peoples were to be tamed, neutralized, and exploited. The exposure of conquered barbarians to a superior way of life was part of this policy…not an end in itself.” In other words, holding land and exploitation were the priorities of Roman government in pure “parasitic” and imperialistic fashion.
The military might of Rome was second to none in its prime. Victorious battle after battle did nothing but increase Rome’s population of young men suited for combat, increase Rome’s borders, and increase Rome’s influence over its people and the surrounding people. With such great generals as Alexander the Great, Pompey the Great, and Julius Caesar Rome won many decisive battles. At its largest times, Rome controlled most of the Middle East, Asia Minor, present day Europe, and Egypt. It’s is hard to state that conquering and controlling all of the surrounding territory didn’t help aid in Rome’s great success. But would they have been so successful militarily if they didn’t have the trade routes or the technology?
In essence, the Roman Republic had incorporated from the Spartan constitution but had reformed it in the way that it had taken away what faults they had. The Roman Republic had taken the idea of unifying the people of the country with both “courage and high morality,” “combined in one soul or in one state,” to make it difficult to be overcome by enemies (Page 146). due to the forceful rule of Sparta, the Helots surrounding the Spartan polis decided to break free and revolt. This allowed for the larger powers to capitalize on the weakened infrastructure and leave Sparta defenseless since they could not fend off both forces. Moreover, a key to the success of the Roman Empire was also the downfall of the Greek city-state Sparta. On behalf of the neighboring powers, Sparta they had ruled over them to work the land under slavery. In contrast, the Romans had let the surrounding landowners and city-states to govern autonomously without taxes or any tribute payments and had only required for the people to be loyal to the Roman Republic and contribute troops to Rome’s armies. This allowed for the size of the Roman republic to grow alongside with its army all under one rule. Furthermore, a settler might forfeit its Roman citizenship to land in a new colony and consolidate Italy under the rule of the Roman Republic. Additionally, these roman citizen colonies were smaller in size but would protect the coasts from any invading naval armies, creating a widely system of
Another sizeable contributing factor to the expansion of the Roman Empire was the sacking of Rome by the Gauls in 390 B.C.. “The Romans were completely dumbfounded by the wild and undisciplined charge of the howling Gauls. The Roman’s tightly packed phalanx, a military formation they had adopted from the Greeks of southern Italy, collapsed, and the Romans fled” (Kidner, 129). The sacking left the Romans determined to prevent and avoid any similar outcomes in the future.
"Rome, History of Ancient Rome From Its Founding To Collapse." World History International: World History Essays From Prehistory To The Present. Web. 16 Dec. 2009. .
...se they gave them the idea to conquer. If it wasn’t because of the Greeks then their tools and ideas that helped them expand would not have made them much (Main Vision). Yes, the Romans did have a lot of things already accomplished, and (change you to something else and fix this up) might say that their expansion had already been great before the introduction of the Greeks culture, but if it wasn’t for the Greek most of their wars would have been lost and not that much land would have been acquired. The Greeks because of their education and higher status of life viewed things a lot more differently than that of the Romans.