day 39

Etruscans

• came from north-central part of the peninsula
• metalworkers, artists, architects

two foundation myths:

• Virgil’s Aeneid (where Aeneas escapes from Troy - sound familiar?)
• the story of Remus and RomulusGreeks
  • they had many colonies around the Mediterranean Sea
  • Romans borrowed ideas from them, such as:
  • religious beliefs
  • alphabet
  • much of their art
  • military techniques and weaponrythe Latins!
    • descendants of Indo-Europeans
    • settled on the banks of the Tiber
    • situated so trading ships - but not war fleets - could navigate as far as Rome, but no further
    • a commercial port, but not susceptible to attack
    • and... built on seven hills (esp. Palatine)
      • many streams flowed into the Tiber
      • there was a marshy area called the Forum,  between Palatine and Capitoline Hills
      • Tarquin the Proud’s grandfather built the Cloaca Maxima (largest ancient drain), which channeled water into the Tiber
      • urban legend says Washington DC was built on a swamp - but only about 2% was actually swampland - however, Constitution Avenue is located on what used to be called Tiber Creek
        • Lucius Tarquinias Superbus
        • the seventh and final king of Rome
        • known as Tarquin the Proud (sometimes referred to as Tarquin the Arrogant)
        • a true tyrant, in the old and modern sense of the word
        • Tarquin seized power like an old school tyrant (see if you can follow this horrible story...)
        • ...Tarquin’s grandfather (the fifth king) dies… his widow names Servius Tullias king, since she liked him more than her own sons… S.T.’s daughters marry two brothers (one is Tarquin)… one of the daughters (Tullia) kills her husband and her own sister… this leaves her free to marry Tarquin
        • but wait, there’s more...
          • Tullia persuades Tarquin to seize the throne from her father… he sits on the throne and declares himself king… S.T. objects, and Tarquin throws him down the steps and into the street, then has him assassinated… Tullia hails Tarquin as the new king, but he sends her home for safety… on her way home she sees the body of her father in the street, seizes the reins, and drives her chariot over his corpse...Tarquin refuses to bury his body, and assassinates senators who object
            • Tullia persuades Tarquin to seize the throne from her father… he sits on the throne and declares himself king… S.T. objects, and Tarquin throws him down the steps and into the street, then has him assassinated… Tullia hails Tarquin as the new king, but he sen
              • years later, Tarquin’s son Sextus and his friends are drinking when Sextus tries to force himself on a matron, Lucretia… she refuses, and he threatens to kill her and says he will say he found her in the arms of a slave… she gives in to the blackmail, then confesses the ordeal to her family, and commits suicide… Tarquin tried to sweep it all under the rug, but the people rose up against the son, the father, and had the whole family expelled from Rome the people’s shock at this horrible family and their terrible behavior made them NEVER want to be subject to the rule of kings EVER again - this was an attitude that lasted for centuries
              ds her home for safety… on her way home she sees the body of her father in the street, seizes the reins, and drives her chariot over his corpse...Tarquin refuses to bury his body, and assassinates senators who objectRule of kings is replaced by rule of two consuls (“gotta be better than one”)
              • consuls are elected officials
              • term of office: one year
              • always aristocrats (patricians)
              • patricians traced their descent from a famous ancestor, or pater (“father”)
              • duties: dealing justice, making law, commanding the army
              • one consul could veto the other (reducing the power of the individual)
                • fifth century BCE - patrician dominance of the government was challenged by the plebs (“people”)
                • plebs were 98% of the population
                • how did the patricians dominate?
                • plebs had to serve in the army,
                      but could not hold office
                • plebs were threatened with debt slavery
                • plebs had no legal rights
                  • executive
                  • two consuls
                  • one year terms
                  • each has veto power
                  • controls the military
                  • could appoint a dictator in a crisis for a six-month term
                    • executive
                    • President (plus VP)
                    • four year terms
                    • can veto proposed laws
                    • Commander-in-Chief of the military
                      • egislative
                      • Senate - 300 people - aristocrats - members for life
                      • Assemblies (either Centuriate or Tribal) 193 members (later 373) - members for life
                        • legislative
                        • Senate - 100 senators (two from each state) - six-year terms
                        • House of Representatives - 435 members (55 from Cali; MD has 8; AK, DE, MT, ND, SD, VT, WY have 1) - two-year termsjudicial
                          • Praetors
                          • chosen by the Centuriate Assembly
                          • one-year termsjudicial
                            • Praetors
                            • chosen by the Centuriate Assembly
                            • one-year termsjudicial
                              • Praetors
                              • chosen by the Centuriate Assembly
                              • one-year terms