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Study Questions for Zoch, Chapters 10–
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Ch. 10. The Gauls Sack Rome
1. Where did the Roman army meet the invading Gauls in 390BC? Where did the Romans evacuate to when the Gauls entered the city? How did the Gauls respond to Fabius passing through them to make a sacrifice on the Quirinal? Who did the Romans appoint dictator in the hopes he would break the siege? How were the Romans on the capitol alerted to a Gallic night raid? What nickname did M. Manlius receive for leading a counterattack? How did the Romans trick the Gauls into believing they were not running short of food, (although they were)? The Gallic and Roman armies met at the juncture of the Allia and Tiber Rivers. Some fled into the countryside and other into the citadel, the Capitol. The Gauls were either astonished by his audacity or moved by his piety; after all, they themselves are hardly negligent of religious matters. Camillus was a in exile at Ardea after being accused of mishandling spoils taken from Veii. Though his was bitter with the city he made preparations to save his city. He was appointed dictator in absentia. The sacred geese of Juno, woke M. Manlius, who woke other and fought of the Gauls, knocking them back down the hill. M. Manlius received the nick name Capitolinus (Of the Capitol). They tricked the Gauls by throwing loafs of bread from the walls to the Gauls below. 2. What tribute did the Romans agree to pay to buy off the Gallic army? What is the meaning of the phrase “ vae victis !”? What stopped the transaction from being completed? What does Camillus mean when he says Rome must be defended ferro, non auro****? A thousand pounds of gold. Woe to the Vanquished. During the weighing of the Gold Camillus appeared. He said that the agreement was invalid because it had been made contrary to his orders as dictator. Camillus ordered his soldiers to recover their city “ferro, non auro” (with iron, not gold). 3. Why was Rome nearly abandoned? What made up the Senate’s mind to stay? When the Romans saw the ruins of their city, thr tribunes began urging the common people not to vote to rebuild the city and instead move to Veii.
What convinced them was a sign from the gods: As the Senate was debating whether or not t move, some soldiers were passing through the Forum after guard duty; the senators overheard the centurion give his soldiers the orders to halt saying, “Hic manebimus optime” (here will be the best place for us to stay).
4. Why did Lucius Manlius Imperiosus keep his son Titus from public life? How does Titus respond to a tribune attempting to prosecute his father Lucius? How does Titus earn the nickname torquatus****? Because Titus had a stutter. He takes a knife and goes to the house of Pomponius the tribune. He requested a private talk and when everyone had left he pulled the knife and threatened to stab him unless he swore to never call an assembly for the sake of prosecuting his father. He fights a Gaul for possession of a bridge over the river Anio. Both sides frequently fought over possession of the bridge. When the Gaul challenged the Romans Titus was the only one to step forward. He won and took only a blood-splattered necklace [torques in Latin], he received a nickname for his bravery and victory: Torquatus (Wearing a Necklace). **Ch. 11. The Wars with the Samnites
- Why was T. Manlius Torquatus’ son beheaded for insubordination when he, as his father had done, defeated an enemy warrior in single combat? Who sentenced him?** He defeated an enemy after the consul had ordered everyone one not to leave their post to attack the enemy for any reason. He was afraid of being thought of as a coward. His father, a consul, sentenced him. 6. How does Gavius Pontius trap the Roman army at the Caudine Forks? What does his father say he should do with that army? What does he do? He planted shepherds to tell the Romans the Samnite army was besieging the town of Luceria, Rome’s allies. The Romans had to paths to Luceria one long and one short. The Romans took the shorter which led in between two mountains. On the exit end the path was blocked by trees and boulders. When the Romans took the path the Samnites blocked the way they came. First his father says let them go and obtain unending peace for your mercy. Then his father says kill them all and it postpone war while the Romans rebuild the two lost armies. Instead Gavius Pontius decided to force the Romans to give up their weapons and possessions, and to pass under the yoke- a symbol of slavery and a great source of shame to soldiers. 7. How did P. Decius Mus rally the Roman army to defeat the Samnites at Sentium during the third Samnite War? What was the Linen Legion? How
Their purpose was to discuss the ransom for the Roman and Italian prisoners he was holding. Fabricius responds to Pyrrhus agreeing to bring about peace, he however declines his gifts and saying he has enough things and despite Pyrrhus handing out gifts, he was infact very poor, for he would have left Epirus and all his belongings to claim more. “The man who lives in such a way and puts no end to his desire for more is the poorest of the poor.” Fabricius is displaying his great poverty.
11. What was the purpose of Cineas’ visit to Rome? How were his gifts received by the senators and their wives? How did Appius Claudius Caecus change their minds? What did Cineas report back to his king about the Romans? After his talk with Fabricius, Pyrrhus sent his officer Cineas to Rome with gifts to distribute to other Roman senators and their wives, figuring that the women would pressure their husbands into making peace with Pyrrhus. Influenced by the gifts the Romans developed a kinder attitude towards Pyrrhus. Appius Claudius Caecus stated “Don’t think that once you have made Pyrrhus your friend you’ll get rid of him. Instead, you’ll bring on yourself all those who have no respect for you, thinking that you’re easy to beat, if Pyrrhus leaves without suffering the consequences for the wrongs that he has committed against you.” On Cineas return to Pyrrhus he remarked that the Senate seemed like an assembly of kings, so great was the dignity and bearing of its members. 12. What offer did Pyrrhus’ physician make to the consul Fabricius? How did the consul respond? What did the Romans do when Pyrrhus released the Roman prisoners out of gratitude? To poison Pyrrhus. He wrote Pyrrhus informing him of his doctors offer pointing out that he is waging war against just and honorable men, yet he trust in evil and unjust men. They released an equal number. 13. What was the outcome of the battle of Ausculum in 279BC? What is Pyrrhus said to have remarked about this “victory”? What is the meaning of the term Pyrrhic victory****? What happened at the battle of Beneventum in 275BC and shortly thereafter? By what year was Rome the master of peninsular Italy? Romans lost 6,000 men and Pyrrhus lost 3,500; again Pyrrhus would be hard pressed to replace his men. If we beat the Romans in still another battle, we’ll be completely destroyed. Pyrrhic victory means winning the battle but having such great losses that the victory turns into defeat because of the inability to recover from the losses. Pyrrhus elephants stampeded his own army. By 264B.C. Rome was ruler of peninsular Italy.
14. How does the modern idea of a nation describe Italy in the third century BC? Explain. The modern idea of a nation does not describe Italy in the third century B.C. In northern Italy were the Celtic-speaking tribes of Gauls, whose social organization (the only Gauls with political power were the priests and the knights) made them even more warlike than the Romans; their unsettled way of life was changing as they came increasingly under Roman domination. South of them, but north of Rome, were the Etruscans, a civilization that had long before declined; they spoke a non- Indo-European language and were completely alien to the Romans, although the Romans had learned a great deal from them. East of them in the Apennine Mountains, were the Sabines and Aequi. To the south east were the Samnites. Etc… What Rome established in Italy was by no means a nation in the modern sense, many Italians did not speak Latin or follow Latin and Roman customs; many could not vote, had no rights in Rome. 15. What was the purpose of the Roman policy of extending civil and political rights to allied or conquered cities in Italy? What were the different types of citizenship in Rome, its allied cities and those it had conquered? What were the rights that went along with each of these statuses? The reason for extending citizen ship or Civitas Romana, to captured/allied cities was to bind them more closely to Rome. Latin Rights were Latinum nomen (defined as civitas sine suffragio, “citizenship without the vote”). Towns that received civitas sine suffragio were called municipia. Socii italici (Italian Allies) this was the treatment of other cities, towns and villages and it depended upon the provisions of the treaty that Rome made with them. This was usually people who were persistently hostile with Rome (Etruscans, Gauls, and Samnites) or showed little inclination to adopt Rome’s ways (Greeks). These people had no civil rights in Rome, they were just free noncitizens. They did enjoy some basic rights through ius gentium (the law of the nations), they could marry Romans or Latins, and they were liable to perform military service if Rome called on them. Also, they could not vote for or against their leader in war, or whether or not to go to war. They were largely self-governing, except they paid takes to Rome. Then there were Slaves and freedmen. Slaves were res mancipi, the property of their owner, and had no civil rights. They have a temporary respite from their servitude on the Saturnalia (festival of Saturn, Dec. 17th). The last group the freedmen, men who never have been slaves and were noncitizens were simply liberi, “free men”. Ex-slaves were called liberti “freed men”. 16. What was the purpose of Rome establishing colonies? How big were the Roman colonies to start out with? The Latin colonies? What were the pros and cons of joining a Latin colony?
They feared the Carthaginians would use Sicily as a base for attacking Italy. They sent Appius Claudius Caudex to help the Mamertines keep the Carthaginians out of Messana. They had been tricked by the Mamertines into leaving the city because they were intolerant of failure the Carthaginians crucified the commander for cowardice, and the besieged Messana with King Hiero, with whom they had made a treaty to drive the Mamertines out of Sicily. Claudius quickly conquered the army of Syracuse. Then Claudius defeated the Carthaginian army. They Carthaginians responded to Claudius defeating them by sending an army of fifty thousand to Agrigentum, which they planned to establish as a base for subduing all of Sicily. Claudius defeated the Carthaginians. Then the Romans got the idea of conquering all Sicily.
21. Why did the Romans deem it necessary to build a navy? What did they use as the prototype to make their fleet? Why were the Romans initially unsuccessful at naval warfare? What innovation changed the rules of navy combat in favor of the Romans and how? What happened at the battle of Mylae in 260? To conquer all of Sicily. One of the Carthaginian ships ran aground and the Romans quickly took it and its crew. Then they used this ship as a model for building their first navy. In ancient naval battles the goal was to ram and sink the enemy ship. The Roman ships were clumsy and heavy in comparison to the light and quick Carthaginian vessels, and the Romans were inexperienced. On the prow of their ships they built a raven. The raven consisted of three parts: a pole over 7 meters high, secured to the prow of the ship with a pulley at the top; a long gangway, more than 1 meter wide and projecting from the base of the pole more than 7 meters off the prow, and a rope connecting the gangway to the pulley. When an enemy vessel tried to ram a Roman ship, the sailors would pull the gangway up by means of the pulley and swing it to project over the enemy ship then they would let it drop. A heavy spike on the end of the gangway would secure it to the deck of the enemy ship, allowing heavily armed Roman soldiers to board and defeat the enemy sailors. The Carthaginians, seeing the Roman fleet, had nothing but contempt for the upstart Romans, and immediately attacked without even getting into battle formation. They were taken by surprise when the Romans latched onto their ships. The Carthaginians lost fifty ships and almost their commander. 22. What did Consul M. Atilius Regulus do while the other consul was fighting the Carthaginians in Sicily? Why did the Carthaginians not agree to peace when they sued for it in 256? How did the Carthaginians turn the tide of battle? Why was Regulus sent to Rome by the Carthaginians, and under
what condition? What advice did Regulus give to the Senate? Did they take his advice? What happened to Regulus? The consul and his army sailed to Africa, to invade Carthaginian territory. They considered the terms too harsh. Desperate, the Carthaginians called in a Spartan Mercenary, Xanthippus, to help them against Rome. He took control of the army, revived their morale, and then crushed the Roman army capturing Regulus. They sent Regulus to Rome to persuade the Romans to accept their peace proposal; they made him swear to return to Carthage if he failed to secure either peace or an exchange of prisoners. Regulus said “I am of the opinion that making peace will not help you in any way at all.” He explained to the Senate why he thought it in Rome’s best interest to reject the proposal, and added, “I am well aware of the destruction that plainly lies before me … Yet I put that which is beneficial to the state before my own safety. “ The Senate tried to make peace simply to protect Regulus. Regulus falsely claimed he had taken poison and would die soon; consequently, the Senate rejected the proposal and made no trade of prisoners. But Regulus, true to his oath, returned to Carthage, where he was tortured and killed.
23. How many times did the Romans build fleets which were destroyed before managing to defeat the Carthaginians? How did they fund the final fleet with an empty treasury? Where was the decisive battle fought? How did the first Punic war end? What territories were brought under Rome’s control? The Romans had just built a fleet of 200 ships and after defeating the Carthaginians at Hermaeum the weather took as many as 130 of those ships. They build 220 more another storm destroyed 150 more Roman ships. They also lost 93 ships at Drepana. When the Roman treasury was empty and they needed to build yet another fleet of 200 ships roman citizens contributed their own money. At the Aegates Islands, off the western coast of Sicily. After Aegates Islands the consuls moved to besiege Lilybaeum; Carthage was broken, and sued for peace. A settlement was reached in 241B.C. The terms of the treaty had Carthage abandon Sicily and pay war indemnity. The Romans took Corsica and Sardinia, a betrayal of trust that enraged Carthaginians. Soon they would also obtain pirate islands in 229 then Rome’s power in the Adriatic Sea included the islands of Pharos and Corcyra, and the cities of Apollonia and Drrhachium. In 224 Rome subdued Transpadane Gaul, and advanced to the Alps.
