Still wearing that suit from last time. So without any further talk, here comes the territorial expansion of Rome during the public period.
The territorial expansion :
Since its foundation, Rome has always been just a city stuck between the other tribes of the Italian peninsula and sometimes under their control: the Etruscans ruled and/or influenced Rome during the Kingdom era. But when the Republic arrived this tendency changed...
In the early Republic, Rome struggled with its direct neighbor from the region of Latium. And in the beginning of the 4th century BC, Rome finally ended up with the leadership of the Latin League (a confederation of the tribes of the Latium). By that time, Romans were rather pacifists and didn't conquered their neighbors.
However, in 390 BC, a drastic change in this policy happened with the sack of Rome by Gauls. I think this episode was a traumatic event for the Romans and probably persuaded them to attack other nations as a defense mechanism. This policy, which continued till the end of Roman Empire, is called defensive imperialism. It can be sum up with the well known Latin adage: "Si vis pacem, para bellum" (If you want peace, prepare for war).
Because the Roman expansion is quite impressive, I will only give you a list of the major conquests
- 338 BC: conquest of the Latium
- 290 BC: Samnites and Umbrians territories
- 272 BC: Pyrrhic war, led to the conquest of the Great Greece (Greek colony in South Italy)
- 264 to 146 BC: Punic Wars, led to the conquest of North Italia (Cisalpine Gaul), Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, the Iberian Peninsula (actual Spain and Portugal) and parts of the North Africa.
- 111 to 104 BC: Jugurthine Wars: conquest of Numidia (North Africa)
- 89 to 63 BC: Mithridatic Wars: conquest of Pontus, a kingdom in Asia Minor (actual Turquey)
- 59 to 49 BC: Gallic Wars: conquest of Gaul
Step by step, Rome is merging an incredibly vast Empire on the Mediterranean Sea witch will dominate the western world for half a millenium. From a little insignificant city to a prosperous Empire, Rome achieved real improvements during the Republic period.
Here are a maps of the major civilizations of the Mediterranean Sea at different moments, to make you an idea of the geopolitical situation around Rome.
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| Rome and the major Mediterranean Civilizations in 306 BC |
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| Mediterranean civilizations in 220 BC |
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| Rome at the end of the Republic : 44 BC |
How did Rome manage to get there in such a (relatively) short time? How did it surpass the surrounding major civilizations and became the only major civilization of the Mediterranean Sea? Subject of my next post!
Citations :
Images from Wikipedia in French and English
Hey my awesomest of bros !!
RépondreSupprimerI love your post. It is noticeable that you love the subject and could write even more about this time in history.
One question: You said they invaded Carthage but why then didn't they occupy the left side as shown on the last map.
By
brofist
Hi Yann #5
SupprimerI think it's a very interesting question you brought there!
Firstly, you need to know that Carthage was a thalassocracy, a state based on the domination of the sea. For that reason, Carthage had a lot of coastal territories, harbors and factories along the eastern Mediterranean Sea to ease their sea trade and navigation. However this possessions were small and not as strong as the "main" Carthage territories (in current Tunisia). This explain why after the conquest of Carthage by Rome, they didn't get the possession of this territories. Though, Rome eventually conquered this part of Africa (Mauretania) in 44 AD.
Hope my answer is clear and helpful. Don't hesitate to ask other questions!
#10
Hi cutie! Just a word to say that I enjoyed reading your post: you managed to explain historical facts in a pleasant way for the reader, and I thank you for that! You convinced me that Rome was very powerful, and I'm very impressed by their quick territorial expansion.
RépondreSupprimerAlso, I enjoy the fact that you make a link with your previous and even your next article in each one of your post! This makes me want to read them all!
No #correction this time, I did my best but didn't find anything, so.. good job!
See you soon for another blog post!
ID9
Hi Remi!
RépondreSupprimerI think history lessons in my childhood failed with me. Thanks to your post I know Rome didi it to invade the mediterranean sea. However, I don't agree with you on one point: you said that "Romans (..) attack other nations as a defense mechanism" and that it can be summed up with the latin adage "Si vis pacem, para bellum". Unfortunately, Romans attacked other nations. For me, this is a step further that just "preparing war". Anyway, that's a detail. As usual, your post is interresting! The main steps of Rome's expansion are clearly given and you didn't forget to add the maps which make me understand it. Good job!
#11
Gandhi I understand your opinion about the all "defensive mechanism" I referred to. It's true not everyone agree with idea, probably for these reasons:
RépondreSupprimerMost people always judge Rome with its latest conquers. I think it can be explain because when we studied Rome in history or latin lessons, teachers only taught us about the 'big" conquest like Gaul, Britain, Egypt etc. This conquests were much more "political" campaigns for general to gain popularity (I'm thinking of Ceasar and the triumvirats in general).
But here I was talking about the conquest of Italy. I think to understand my point of view you need to be in the position they were: Rome was, since its foundation until half the third century BC, struggling in a endless fight for survival. Some historians think through antic writings that when Romans "came out" of this battles they had like a trauma.
Of course it's impossible to be sure about that and it doesn't apply to each conquers. But it's like a sum up of the situation.
On the other hand, I agree with you on the fact that during the Empire period and the end of the Republic (so about after the Punic Wars) this ideology is much more irrelevant!
Hope I enlighten you with this explanations. I didn't have much place to develop it in my article.
But I like when readers asks for details or elucidations like you!
#10