*Chapter 6 (LO2) Notes*

LO2 Roman Expansion

Rome was a very Militaristic Civilization. As time passed, their empire grew, and they fought many neighboring invaders. One of the main factors to the empires success was its strong military power.

Allies and Colonies

The Romans were generous but strict to those that they conquered. They allowed then to become allies with Rome, but they kept their local laws, government systems, and armies under Roman authority. Their 'allies' actually came to help them by supplying them with horses and resources that the Romans were running low on. Rome gained power over the Italian Peninsula by making small colonies all throughout Italy. 

The Roman colonists were almost as free as those who lived in Rome itself. Soon they demanded that they have equal rights like everybody else. When the Romans denied at first, there were small wars, called the 

Social Wars (Wars against the Allies). Eventually, the allies became a part of Rome, and they were no longer classified as allies.

The Punic Wars

By 250 B.C, all area south of the River Po was Roman Territory. This success brought conflict with the rival city-state of Carthage, located on the North Coast of Africa. Carthage was interested in gaining control of the Island of Sicily. Carthage was very similar to Rome, and they spread their culture through Spain, Africa, Sardinia, etc. The Greek city-states had been fighting with Carthage for years before the Romans. Now it became the Romans responsibility to protect its Greek allies. 

The Punic Wars were fought between 264 and 146 B.C. The first round, and after an exhausting amount of fighting, Rome was able to kick Carthage out of Sicily. However, Carthage was still strong in its main city.

The next round the Carthage general Hannibal invaded Italy, and brought Rome to almost complete destruction. However, with the help of Romes 'allies', they were very powerful, and Carthage was helpless by the end of the 2nd Punic War. With Carthage near defeat, Rome declared a third war, and they leveled the city to the ground, and sold all of the people to slavery.

Conquering an Empire

The captured areas of Carthage did not enjoy the luxury of freedom. They gad to pay taxes and supply them with resources when necessary. In 27 B.C, they started to have a bit of the freedom that Romans had. 

Some of the local rulers also joined the Roman Empire, which allowed for a great increase in military power.  

The Romans even made it to Greece through special invitation.