Times of war tend to bring out both the strengths and weaknesses of a society. This is particularly true of Republican Rome. Please read through one or two of the selections linked below. Pick out an incident/passage that shows either the surprising nature of Roman success or one of the characteristics of Republican Rome that makes that success not so surprising.Selections you should find interesting include: Livy's description of the Roman method of declaring war, Livy's account of the war with and eventual destruction of Veii (Book V, sections 1-23), Livy's account of the Sack of Rome by the Gauls and Camillus' rescue of Rome (Book V, sections 33-55), Polybius' description of The Battle of Cannae, Polybius' comparison of the Roman maniple to the Macedonian phalanx, and Polybius' description of Roman government.
In the Roman Way of Declaring War, something that I found to be quite honorable was in the way that Rome gave their enemies time to prepare for war.
ReplyDeleteNowadays, we have countries that brutally attack cities with no warning, causing mass casualties of civilians - something that has, unfortunately, become fairly normalized.
But Rome was not a fan of surprise attacks if they were not already at war, it appears. They chose to let their enemies know they wanted to go to war, and they gave them plenty of time as well. After, they gave a public declaration of war.
Not only does this give Rome's enemies time to prepare and get their people to safety, it makes Rome appear very honorable to not attack without fair warning. Additionally, the lack of attacking without a warning could be viewed as showing off their strength as well. Not only did they give their enemies time to regroup and apply their supplies into the necessary areas and the like (fortifying themselves and showing off their strength, in a way), they fought their enemies when they were ready, something that makes fighting even more difficult.
Very honorable and a great way to show off strength.
I don't know why this posted twice. Sorry!
DeleteRome’s victory is surprising because of how badly they were defeated at the Battle of Cannae. The Roman army lost about 70,000 men in a single day, including top commanders like Lucius Aemilius. Almost their entire army was wiped out, with only a few thousand managing to escape. The city of Rome was in a huge shock and full of fear. People believed their lives and the city itself were in serious danger. Polybius says the city was filled with sacrifices, prayers, and processions, showing how desperate and afraid the Romans were.
ReplyDeleteAfter the battle many parts of Italy began to side with Hannibal. Hannibal had already beaten the Romans in two major battles before Cannae, and now it seemed like all of Italy was ready to fall to him. Despite this, Rome refused to give up. The Senate decided to keep on fighting. In the end, the Romans were able to come back from this disaster and defeat Hannibal. This is what makes their success so surprising after such a huge loss. Most people would expect Rome to surrender, but instead, they found a way to win the war.