to colleagues and friends who took the time to read chapters and try to save me from as many mistakes as possible: Bill Barry, Douglas Boin, Lee Brice, Judy Gaughan, Matthew Loar, Carolyn MacDonald, Carlos Noreña, Andrew Riggsby, Brett Rogers, Nate Rosenstein, Beth Severy-Hoven, and Jesse Weiner. Special thanks go to Nandini Pandey, who not only read chapters multiple times, but also offered encouragement at critical moments. The mistakes that remain, however egregious, are my own fault.
Words cannot begin to express my appreciation to my colleagues in the Department of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies at the University of Puget Sound: Bill Barry, Aislinn Melchior, and Brett Rogers, as well as colleagues who have spent time with us including Megan Daniels, Matthew Gorey, Kyle Helms, and Megan O’Donald. They have all been excellent companions on my journey and have expanded my horizons as I worked through different elements of teaching the Roman Republic. The Provost at the University of Puget Sound, Kristine Bartanen, offered invaluable support in the form of both time and treasure. My wife and boys deserve special mention for putting up with my rants on topics from the Romans to racism and everything in between.
Appreciation is also due to many generations of students at the University of Puget Sound, who tolerated me as I led them through these topics year after year and who taught me more about the texts and teaching them. That is doubly true for the past two generations of students who allowed me to inflict early drafts of several chapters on them. I also wish to thank the students in HIST 491 at CSU Pueblo in the fall of 2020, who read the chapter on Law and allowed me to Zoom into their class for discussion and critique. Finally I want to thank my two partners on that long overnight drive many years ago, Judy Gaughan and Beth Severy-Hoven, who have continued to put up with me after all these years, to support and correct me even when I go wrong, and to open up new vistas of understanding for me. I have learned more in the process of writing this book than I ever would have imagined, and I am grateful to all those who taught me along the way.
Timeline of Roman History
Parentheses indicate an approximate date
| Period | Date | Military | Political | Social | Cultural | Religious |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monarchy | 753 BCE | Traditional date for Foundation of City of Rome | (Romulus creates patricians, plebeians, and patron–client relationships) | (Cult of Hercules arrives in Rome) | ||
| Early Republic | 509 | Traditional date for Foundation of Roman Republic | Etruscan terracotta statues | Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus | ||
| 494 | Local skirmishes | Traditional date for First Secession of Plebs | Struggle of Orders (Traditional dates 494–287 BCE) | Temple of Castor and Pollux | ||
| 451–50 | Twelve Tables written | |||||
| 431 | Temple of Apollo | |||||
| 396 | Conquest of Veii | Evocatio of Juno Regina | ||||
| 390 | Gallic Sack of Rome | Destruction (?) of City | ||||
| 367 | Creation of praetor | Plebeians eligible for consulship | (Construction of “Servian” wall) | |||
| 341-338 | War vs. Latin League | Settlement of 338 | (Manipular Organization of Army) | |||
| 326 | Abolition of Nexum slavery | |||||
| 312 | Aqua Appia and Via Appia constructed | |||||
| 304 | Publication of legis actio | |||||
| 290 | Conquest of Samnium complete | (Capitoline Brutus) | Temple C of Largo Argentina | |||
| Middle Republic | 280–275 | Wars vs. Pyrrhus in S. Italy | (Introduction of Roman coinage) | |||
| 270 | Death of Scipio Barbatus | |||||
| 264–241 | First Punic War | (Livius Andronicus) | ||||
| 218–202 | Second Punic War | |||||
| 218 | Hannibal crosses Alps into Italy | |||||
| 216 | Hannibal destroys 100 000 Roman soldiers | (Naevius) | ||||
| 212 |