Today we were asked to write about slides 9-12 and 13-22 on the study guide. Here are my thoughts/notes.
Slides 9-12
All I can say is wow. This family is crazy and I don't blame Rome for expelling them. What happened was Tarquin's grandfather died and his widow choose Servius Tullius to rule the throne. Servius Tullius had two daughters who married two different men. One of the daughters, Tullia, kills her husband and her sister because she wanted to marry Tarquin, who was married to Tullia's sister. Then Tullia convinces Tarquin to overthrow her father, Servius Tullius, for the throne of Rome. Tarquin does just that and then assassinates Servius Tullius. When Tullia asks Tarquin for a proper burial for her father, Tarquin refuses and any senator that disagreed with him was also assassinated. Then Tarquin has a son named Sextus. While he was drunk with his friends, Sextus tries to force himself on a matron named Lucretia. Lucretia refuses, but then Sextus threatens to kill her and say that he found her with a slave, so Lucretia gives into the blackmail. Then Lucretia tells her family about it and commits suicide. Tarquin tried to cover up what happened, but the citizens of Rome did not let that happen. The citizens expelled the whole family and from then on made sure Rome was never lead under a single family again. Like I said, crazy.
Slides 13-22
The US government and Rome's republic are similar, but not totally the same. But, Let's start at the beginning. After the monarchy didn't work out, Rome was ruled by two consuls who held a term for one year. They were always patricians, who traced their descendant from famous ancestors(paters) which is how they got their importance. The consuls duties were dealing justice, commanding the army, and making laws. One consuls could veto the others law, reducing the individual power of each consul. In the 5th century BCE, the plebians(people) challenged the patricians. The Plebs made up 98% of Rome's population. Why did the Patricians dominate, one may ask? Well, the Plebs served in the army, and therefore could not hold office. The Plebs were also threatened with debt slavery and had no legal rights in Rome at the time. Since they had no legal rights, they were victim of discriminatory decisions in the judicial office. Technically, Rome had no written law, only unwritten customs that patricians interpreted to their needs. The plebeians eventually realized this and refused to work in the army until a few things happen. They wanted the laws written down (The Law of the Twelve Tables), wanted the laws displayed in public (happened in 450 BCE), and had Tribunes elected (tribal leaders for the plebeians). Since Rome needed its army, all of these conditions were met. Then SPQR- Senatus Populusque Romanum, which means any decree or decision was made by "the Roman Senate and People" in Rome. With that, Rome had a whole new type of government, a republic. The Republic was made from democracy( people's assembly and the tribunes), aristocracy (The Senate, which was approximately 300 people), and monarchy (the consuls). Both the US government and the Roman Republic had three branches; executive, legislative, and judicial. the main differences between the executive branch was that the US has one leader who serves for four year terms and Rome had two leaders for served for one year terms. The main difference between the legislative branch was that the US has the Senate (Made of 100 people) and the House of Representative, whereas Rome had the Senate (made of 300 people) and assemblies. The main difference between the judicial branch is the US has Supreme Court members who serve for life, where Rome had praetors who served one year terms. Finally, the differences between the laws is that the US has the Bill of RIghts, where Rome had the Twelve Tables.
Wow, that was a lot of information. Happy Monday everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment