Tuesday, April 5, 2016

our project


Patricians were the people who ruled Rome.These rich landowners ran the Senate and held the powerful government jobs, they handled Rome’s finances and directed its wars.
Despite some gains for the Plebeians, many people became very angry and frustrates about this situation.Rome had few privileged citizens compared with the many Romans who farmed small plots of land.In the late 100’s B.C.E. however these farmers were sinking into poverty and debt.Many of them had been unable to farm there land because they were off fighting Rome’s wars, this meant that they made no money.Others had suffered damage to their farms during Hannibal’s invasion of Italy, remember he sacked the country side as he moved throughout Italy.Moreover, small farmers could not compete with wealthy Romans who were buying up land to create Latifundia.Latifundia – were large farming estates, basically gigantic farms.These rich landowners used a new source of labor, the thousands of prisoners brought to Italy due to the many Roman wars.By using these enslaved people to tend their crops, wealthy Romans could force owners of small farms out of business.Faced with debts they could not pay off, many farmers sold their land and headed to the cities, desperate for work.However, jobs were hard to find, because slaves did most of the work. If free men were lucky enough to be hired, they earned low wages.These conditions created widespread anger all across Rome. Roman politicians were worried about riots breaking out, but they quickly turned the situation to their advantage.
To win the votes of the poor. They began providing cheap food and entertainment, this policy was known as “Bread and Circuses” and helped dishonest rulers come to power.  

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