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What do you think the Romans cared more about: property or people? Second cite two passages from the twelve tables that support the answer above?

What do you think the Romans cared more about: property or people? Second cite two passages from the twelve tables that support the answer above?

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What do you think the Romans cared more about: property or people? Second cite two passages from the twelve tables that support the answer above? Don’t reject please let someone else answer. Thank you
The Consequences of Imperialism e of o a life elling or Rome's seemingly inadvertent conquest of Gresce and western Asia transformed the economic, social, and cultural life of the republic. New wealth increased the inequalities within Roman society and challenged the traditional values of frugality and self-sacrifice. Small farmers were forced off their lands and swelled the impov. erished urban population, unable to compete with the huge new plantations owned by aristocrats and worked by gangs of slaves. Slaves also played an increasing role in Roman cities as artisans, merchants, and household servants. Roman rule over the Hellenistic world had a particularly pervasive impact on cultural life-so much so that many Romans felt intellectually and culturally "conquered" by Greece. Hitherto self-assured, they now felt that their own language, history, and customs were uncouth and barbaric compared with those of their cultivated colonial subjects. owners would ger as much work our of them as possible until they died of exhaustion or were "freed" in old age to fend for themselves. The same irascible Cato the Censor who had demanded the destruction of Carthage even wrote a "how-to" book on this Subject. This made Roman slavery a far more impersonal and brutal institution than it had been in many other ancient civilizations. While some domestic slaves were treated as trusted family members, and slave secretaries vital to Roman governance and the arts could even win fame or buy their freedom, the general lot of slaves was horrendous. Some businessmen owned slaves whom they trained as gladiators to be mauled by wild animals or by other gladiators for the amusement of a paying pub- lic. Dozens of slaves in every household were trapped in a cycle of menial tasks as doorkeepers, litter-bearers, couriers, valets, wet nurses, and childminders. In some great houscholds, designated slaves had no other duties than to rub down the master after his bath or to keep track of the mistress's social engagements. It was a life that debased both slave and owner, according the republic. people. many Roman critics, and undermined ECONOMIC CHANGE AND SOCIAL UPHEAVAL Like all peoples of the ancient world, the Romans took slavery for granted. But nothing in Rome's earlier experience prepared it for the huge increase in the num- ber of slaves that resulted from its conquests. In 146 B.C.E., fifty-five thousand Carthaginians were enslaved after the destruction of their city; not long before, one hundred and fifty thousand Greek prisoners of war had met the same fate. alone. Rome became one of the most slave-based economies in history, rivaling the antebellum American South. The majority of Roman slaves worked as agriculteural laborers on the vast estates of the Roman aristocracy, who bought up the holdings of peasant farmers. Soldiers in particular, who might be required to serve for years at a time on foreign cam- paigns, often found it impossible to maintain their farms. Instead, they moved to the city-where free men had no way to sustain themselves except through trade or violence. With abundant, cheap slaves to do all the rough work, moreover, there was no impetus for technological innovation. Meanwhile, expensive slaves did the spe- cialized jobs: they were secretaries, bookkeepers, personal assistants, playwrights, musicians, sculptors, and artists. The Romans thus had almost no incentive to train rhese arts, as the Greeks had done. By the first century B.C.E., as a result, a third NEW MONEY, NEW VALUES In the early republic, as we have seen, Roman men had nearly absolute power over their households. During the second century B.C.E., two innovations greatly altered this pattern of patriarchal control. One was the introduction of new laws that allowed married women to manage their own property. Another allowed women to initiate divorce proceedings. These changes were intended to safeguard family wealth, but they eventually resulted in greater independence for women. A woman now had more authority within the household because she contributed to its upkeep. If her husband did not show respect, she could leave him and deprive him of income. It is ironic, too, that the growth of Rome's slave system gave women greater freedom, for slaves took over the traditional work of child-rearing, household maintenance, and the endless tasks of spinning and from well-to-do families now spent more time away from the home and began to engage in social, intellectual, and artistic activities. Indeed, women were among the chief consumers of the new Hellenistic fashions, commodities, and ideas the end of the second century B.C.E., there were a million slaves in Italy I weaving. Women in of Rome's one million inhabitants were receiving free grain from the state, partly ro kecp them alive and partly to keep them quiet. The poet Juvenal would later saririze the plebs as needing only "bread and circuses" to stay satisfied and docile. As ve have seen, the Roman economy had remained fundamentally agrarian uneil che mid-third century B.C.E. During the following century, however, Rome's caster available in Rome. In earlier centuries, elite Romans began to cultivate Hellenistic habits as proof of their refine- ment. Bilingualism became increasingly common, and Greek literature became the against which Roman authors measured themselves. Latin was fine for Roma way to refine standardgua politics or farming, but if one wanted so in Greek, which was far more flexible and sophisticated. Latin was not yet a liter- ary language, and well-educated Greek slaves were therefore at a premium: to lend social cachet, But many Romans regarded these foreign influences with disgust. For them, the good old ways of paternal authority and military discipline were giving way to effeminacy and soft living. Conservative politicians passed laws that would regu- late the conspicuous consumption, especially by women-but these measures were ineffectual. Rome was being transformed from a republic of self-reliant farmers into a complex metropolitan empire reliant on foreign slaves, foreign luxuries, and foreign ideas. express lofty or beautiful thoughts one did the mid- brought it fully into the sophisticated commercial sphere of the Helle merchants, they profited from Rome's voracious apperire fo foreign conquests bre act as personal assistants, and to tutor Roman children. lass FRoman -ks Juxury moneylenders to the Roman state and to distressed individuals principal of its slaves. Even though some were nistic world. The of this change were the class. Commoners suffered but the cultivated foreigners-mainly as prisoners of their they operated mines, also the principal As And as of the Roman in the provinces, ization of Ancient Rome
Transcribed Image Text:The Consequences of Imperialism e of o a life elling or Rome's seemingly inadvertent conquest of Gresce and western Asia transformed the economic, social, and cultural life of the republic. New wealth increased the inequalities within Roman society and challenged the traditional values of frugality and self-sacrifice. Small farmers were forced off their lands and swelled the impov. erished urban population, unable to compete with the huge new plantations owned by aristocrats and worked by gangs of slaves. Slaves also played an increasing role in Roman cities as artisans, merchants, and household servants. Roman rule over the Hellenistic world had a particularly pervasive impact on cultural life-so much so that many Romans felt intellectually and culturally "conquered" by Greece. Hitherto self-assured, they now felt that their own language, history, and customs were uncouth and barbaric compared with those of their cultivated colonial subjects. owners would ger as much work our of them as possible until they died of exhaustion or were "freed" in old age to fend for themselves. The same irascible Cato the Censor who had demanded the destruction of Carthage even wrote a "how-to" book on this Subject. This made Roman slavery a far more impersonal and brutal institution than it had been in many other ancient civilizations. While some domestic slaves were treated as trusted family members, and slave secretaries vital to Roman governance and the arts could even win fame or buy their freedom, the general lot of slaves was horrendous. Some businessmen owned slaves whom they trained as gladiators to be mauled by wild animals or by other gladiators for the amusement of a paying pub- lic. Dozens of slaves in every household were trapped in a cycle of menial tasks as doorkeepers, litter-bearers, couriers, valets, wet nurses, and childminders. In some great houscholds, designated slaves had no other duties than to rub down the master after his bath or to keep track of the mistress's social engagements. It was a life that debased both slave and owner, according the republic. people. many Roman critics, and undermined ECONOMIC CHANGE AND SOCIAL UPHEAVAL Like all peoples of the ancient world, the Romans took slavery for granted. But nothing in Rome's earlier experience prepared it for the huge increase in the num- ber of slaves that resulted from its conquests. In 146 B.C.E., fifty-five thousand Carthaginians were enslaved after the destruction of their city; not long before, one hundred and fifty thousand Greek prisoners of war had met the same fate. alone. Rome became one of the most slave-based economies in history, rivaling the antebellum American South. The majority of Roman slaves worked as agriculteural laborers on the vast estates of the Roman aristocracy, who bought up the holdings of peasant farmers. Soldiers in particular, who might be required to serve for years at a time on foreign cam- paigns, often found it impossible to maintain their farms. Instead, they moved to the city-where free men had no way to sustain themselves except through trade or violence. With abundant, cheap slaves to do all the rough work, moreover, there was no impetus for technological innovation. Meanwhile, expensive slaves did the spe- cialized jobs: they were secretaries, bookkeepers, personal assistants, playwrights, musicians, sculptors, and artists. The Romans thus had almost no incentive to train rhese arts, as the Greeks had done. By the first century B.C.E., as a result, a third NEW MONEY, NEW VALUES In the early republic, as we have seen, Roman men had nearly absolute power over their households. During the second century B.C.E., two innovations greatly altered this pattern of patriarchal control. One was the introduction of new laws that allowed married women to manage their own property. Another allowed women to initiate divorce proceedings. These changes were intended to safeguard family wealth, but they eventually resulted in greater independence for women. A woman now had more authority within the household because she contributed to its upkeep. If her husband did not show respect, she could leave him and deprive him of income. It is ironic, too, that the growth of Rome's slave system gave women greater freedom, for slaves took over the traditional work of child-rearing, household maintenance, and the endless tasks of spinning and from well-to-do families now spent more time away from the home and began to engage in social, intellectual, and artistic activities. Indeed, women were among the chief consumers of the new Hellenistic fashions, commodities, and ideas the end of the second century B.C.E., there were a million slaves in Italy I weaving. Women in of Rome's one million inhabitants were receiving free grain from the state, partly ro kecp them alive and partly to keep them quiet. The poet Juvenal would later saririze the plebs as needing only "bread and circuses" to stay satisfied and docile. As ve have seen, the Roman economy had remained fundamentally agrarian uneil che mid-third century B.C.E. During the following century, however, Rome's caster available in Rome. In earlier centuries, elite Romans began to cultivate Hellenistic habits as proof of their refine- ment. Bilingualism became increasingly common, and Greek literature became the against which Roman authors measured themselves. Latin was fine for Roma way to refine standardgua politics or farming, but if one wanted so in Greek, which was far more flexible and sophisticated. Latin was not yet a liter- ary language, and well-educated Greek slaves were therefore at a premium: to lend social cachet, But many Romans regarded these foreign influences with disgust. For them, the good old ways of paternal authority and military discipline were giving way to effeminacy and soft living. Conservative politicians passed laws that would regu- late the conspicuous consumption, especially by women-but these measures were ineffectual. Rome was being transformed from a republic of self-reliant farmers into a complex metropolitan empire reliant on foreign slaves, foreign luxuries, and foreign ideas. express lofty or beautiful thoughts one did the mid- brought it fully into the sophisticated commercial sphere of the Helle merchants, they profited from Rome's voracious apperire fo foreign conquests bre act as personal assistants, and to tutor Roman children. lass FRoman -ks Juxury moneylenders to the Roman state and to distressed individuals principal of its slaves. Even though some were nistic world. The of this change were the class. Commoners suffered but the cultivated foreigners-mainly as prisoners of their they operated mines, also the principal As And as of the Roman in the provinces, ization of Ancient Rome
Augustus to tell the story of Rome's rise to glory in a manner imitating the epics of Homer. In one key passage, the father of Aeneas "foretells" the future: "Remember Roman, you whose power rules / all peoples, that these are your arts: plant peace / make law, spare subjects, and put down the proud" (Aeneid, Book VI, lines 851–53). While the Greeks struggled against the Persians and each other, a new civilization had emerged on the banks of the river Tiber in central Italy. By 300 B.C.E., Rome was their alleged descent from the Trojans and an Italic people called the Sabines, whose women Romulus and his men had forcibly abducted in order to breed Roman chil- dren. This was a practice Romans would continue, in one form or another, as their legions planted new colonies and intermarried with indigenous populations from the Persian Gulf to the lowlands of Scotland. Lucretia According Roman legend, Luc ne was a virtuous Rom who was raped by of Rome's last king who virtuously com the dominant power on the Italian peninsula. Two centuries later, it had conquered e river suicide in order to THE FOUNDING OF ROME hrst century of our era, it ruled the fo drter that, its power steadily increased. In the Hellenistic bringing shame to family. The real founders of Rome were a tribe called the Latins, descendants of Indo- European-speaking peoples who crossed the Alps into Italy and settled on the banks of the Tiber by the tenth century B.C.E. This location was advantageous. Small trading ships (but not large war fleets) could navigate the river as far as the city, but no farther; thus Rome could be a commercial port but was not threatened by attack from the sea. Rome also sat astride the first good ford across the river, making it a major crossroads. The seven hills that ringed the early settlement also offered strategic advantages. Eventually, Rome's central marketplace-the forum or "open space"-would become the beating heart of the world's most populous and powerful city, with approximately a million people crowded into an area of five s The topography of Latium-a broad, flat plain with few natural obstacles-also influenced the Romans' relationships with outsiders because it lacked natural bound- aries. At an early date, they and their neighbors negotiated a series of lectively known as the Latin Right: a trading pact, provisions for intermarriage, and the migratio, which allowed a resident of one settlement to emigrate to another and, after a year's residence, have the full rights of a citizen there. These privileges contrast strongly with the mutual suspicion and hostility that divided the city-states of ancient Mesopo- tamia and Greece. Indeed, the Romans' later willingness to extend colonies far beyond Latium was a key factor in the success of their empire. The Romans' early government Roman households, with a patriarchal king who exercised power checked only by a council of elders, the Senate (derived from the Latin senex, "old man"). Seven kings, beginning with Romulus, are said to have ruled in succession. The last, Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the Arrogant), is reputed to have been an Etruscan who domi- nated Latium and the agriculturally wealthy district of Campania to the south. But his power came at the price of Roman freedom, as was made clear when Tarquin's son raped a virtuous Roman wife, Lucretia, around 510 B.C.E. When she committed suicide c kingdoms as well as a vast region that Greek culture had never touched. Eventually, Rome's empire united the Mediter- ranean world and most of western Asia while embracing provinces that are now parts of France, Spain, Portugal, Britain, Belgium, Germany, Świtzerland, and the Balkan states. Rome thus built a historical arc that joined Europe to the rich heritage of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. Without Rome, European culture as we know it would not exist, and neither would the political institutions that formed the United States. To echo Polybius: "Can anything be more important than understanding this?" square miles. Rome's Early Influences When the Romans arrived in Italy, the dominant inhabitants of the peninsula were a people whom the Greeks called Tyrrhenians. To the Romans, they were Etruscans; to us, they remain mysterious because their language (not a branch of Indo-European) has never been fully deciphered. By the sixth century B.C.E., the Etruscans had established a confederation of independent city-states in north-central Italy. They were skilled metalworkers, artists, and architects, from whom the Romans later took their knowledge sports and the practice of foretelling the future by studying the entrails of animals and the flight of birds. The two most important foundation myths told by the Romans also derived from Etruscan tradition: the story of Aeneas's escape from Troy and the story of the infant twins Romulus and Remus, abandoned and then raised by a maternal wolf. afterward founding a city. Rome's historians mined both legends for their metaphor- ical significance. For example, the story of Aeneas's seduction and abandonment of Dido, queen of Carthage, reflected Rome's defeat of that powerful civilization, And for many Roman commentators, the murder of Remus at the hands of his brorher Romulus epitomized an all-too-familiar pattern in Roman politics. In marked contrast to women in Greek society, Etruscan women enjoyed very high status and played important roles in public life. They participated in politics. sports, and entertainments; wives even ate meals with their husbands. Afrer d devoted couples were buried together and their tombstones often emphasize their mutual affection. Some of these practices certainly affected the Reman women were markedly less sequestered than their Greek counterparts. Yer s of agreements col- The Latin Ric eices rhe Latin Right to of the arch and the vault. They also took the love of blood of rheir verinent was a monarchy that mirrored the structure of avoid dishonor. overthrowing not only the Etruscan dynasty but rejecting the very the Romans-led by Lucretia's kinsman, Brutus-rose up in rebellion, idea of kingship. Henceforth, any claim to royal authority in Rome was considered anathema, and the word rex ("king") became an insult. The Brutus who would be instrumental in the assassination of Julius Caesar nearly five centuries later was a descendant of the same Brutus who had driven out the Tarquin kings. Romans, since they did not enjoy the same freedoms as Etruscan women until very late in Ro history, when these freedoms were condemned as signs of Rome's decadence The Triumph of the Early Republic The story of Lucretia was both a patriotic myth and a potent statement of Roman atti- nudes toward female chastity and family honor. And it coincided with a radical change to Roman governance-so radical, in fact, that it did not match any of Aristotle's aces sans: Italy and Sicily: their alphabet, many of their religious beliefs, and much of thein gious art of Ancient Rome art. Bur in their legends, emphasizing The Romans also from the southern
Transcribed Image Text:Augustus to tell the story of Rome's rise to glory in a manner imitating the epics of Homer. In one key passage, the father of Aeneas "foretells" the future: "Remember Roman, you whose power rules / all peoples, that these are your arts: plant peace / make law, spare subjects, and put down the proud" (Aeneid, Book VI, lines 851–53). While the Greeks struggled against the Persians and each other, a new civilization had emerged on the banks of the river Tiber in central Italy. By 300 B.C.E., Rome was their alleged descent from the Trojans and an Italic people called the Sabines, whose women Romulus and his men had forcibly abducted in order to breed Roman chil- dren. This was a practice Romans would continue, in one form or another, as their legions planted new colonies and intermarried with indigenous populations from the Persian Gulf to the lowlands of Scotland. Lucretia According Roman legend, Luc ne was a virtuous Rom who was raped by of Rome's last king who virtuously com the dominant power on the Italian peninsula. Two centuries later, it had conquered e river suicide in order to THE FOUNDING OF ROME hrst century of our era, it ruled the fo drter that, its power steadily increased. In the Hellenistic bringing shame to family. The real founders of Rome were a tribe called the Latins, descendants of Indo- European-speaking peoples who crossed the Alps into Italy and settled on the banks of the Tiber by the tenth century B.C.E. This location was advantageous. Small trading ships (but not large war fleets) could navigate the river as far as the city, but no farther; thus Rome could be a commercial port but was not threatened by attack from the sea. Rome also sat astride the first good ford across the river, making it a major crossroads. The seven hills that ringed the early settlement also offered strategic advantages. Eventually, Rome's central marketplace-the forum or "open space"-would become the beating heart of the world's most populous and powerful city, with approximately a million people crowded into an area of five s The topography of Latium-a broad, flat plain with few natural obstacles-also influenced the Romans' relationships with outsiders because it lacked natural bound- aries. At an early date, they and their neighbors negotiated a series of lectively known as the Latin Right: a trading pact, provisions for intermarriage, and the migratio, which allowed a resident of one settlement to emigrate to another and, after a year's residence, have the full rights of a citizen there. These privileges contrast strongly with the mutual suspicion and hostility that divided the city-states of ancient Mesopo- tamia and Greece. Indeed, the Romans' later willingness to extend colonies far beyond Latium was a key factor in the success of their empire. The Romans' early government Roman households, with a patriarchal king who exercised power checked only by a council of elders, the Senate (derived from the Latin senex, "old man"). Seven kings, beginning with Romulus, are said to have ruled in succession. The last, Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the Arrogant), is reputed to have been an Etruscan who domi- nated Latium and the agriculturally wealthy district of Campania to the south. But his power came at the price of Roman freedom, as was made clear when Tarquin's son raped a virtuous Roman wife, Lucretia, around 510 B.C.E. When she committed suicide c kingdoms as well as a vast region that Greek culture had never touched. Eventually, Rome's empire united the Mediter- ranean world and most of western Asia while embracing provinces that are now parts of France, Spain, Portugal, Britain, Belgium, Germany, Świtzerland, and the Balkan states. Rome thus built a historical arc that joined Europe to the rich heritage of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. Without Rome, European culture as we know it would not exist, and neither would the political institutions that formed the United States. To echo Polybius: "Can anything be more important than understanding this?" square miles. Rome's Early Influences When the Romans arrived in Italy, the dominant inhabitants of the peninsula were a people whom the Greeks called Tyrrhenians. To the Romans, they were Etruscans; to us, they remain mysterious because their language (not a branch of Indo-European) has never been fully deciphered. By the sixth century B.C.E., the Etruscans had established a confederation of independent city-states in north-central Italy. They were skilled metalworkers, artists, and architects, from whom the Romans later took their knowledge sports and the practice of foretelling the future by studying the entrails of animals and the flight of birds. The two most important foundation myths told by the Romans also derived from Etruscan tradition: the story of Aeneas's escape from Troy and the story of the infant twins Romulus and Remus, abandoned and then raised by a maternal wolf. afterward founding a city. Rome's historians mined both legends for their metaphor- ical significance. For example, the story of Aeneas's seduction and abandonment of Dido, queen of Carthage, reflected Rome's defeat of that powerful civilization, And for many Roman commentators, the murder of Remus at the hands of his brorher Romulus epitomized an all-too-familiar pattern in Roman politics. In marked contrast to women in Greek society, Etruscan women enjoyed very high status and played important roles in public life. They participated in politics. sports, and entertainments; wives even ate meals with their husbands. Afrer d devoted couples were buried together and their tombstones often emphasize their mutual affection. Some of these practices certainly affected the Reman women were markedly less sequestered than their Greek counterparts. Yer s of agreements col- The Latin Ric eices rhe Latin Right to of the arch and the vault. They also took the love of blood of rheir verinent was a monarchy that mirrored the structure of avoid dishonor. overthrowing not only the Etruscan dynasty but rejecting the very the Romans-led by Lucretia's kinsman, Brutus-rose up in rebellion, idea of kingship. Henceforth, any claim to royal authority in Rome was considered anathema, and the word rex ("king") became an insult. The Brutus who would be instrumental in the assassination of Julius Caesar nearly five centuries later was a descendant of the same Brutus who had driven out the Tarquin kings. Romans, since they did not enjoy the same freedoms as Etruscan women until very late in Ro history, when these freedoms were condemned as signs of Rome's decadence The Triumph of the Early Republic The story of Lucretia was both a patriotic myth and a potent statement of Roman atti- nudes toward female chastity and family honor. And it coincided with a radical change to Roman governance-so radical, in fact, that it did not match any of Aristotle's aces sans: Italy and Sicily: their alphabet, many of their religious beliefs, and much of thein gious art of Ancient Rome art. Bur in their legends, emphasizing The Romans also from the southern
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