Outline the expansion of the power of Rome in the Mediterranean world and its consequences for Roman politics and Society.

Throughout the history, most of the important civilizations were established on the coasts of Mediterranean Sea. Few of them are Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Carthegians and in the later decades Venetians, Ottomans. It had always been a vital need for these coastal states to have control over the sea because of the trade routes and defense from the attacks of other navies and pirates. In the beginning Romans did not have a navy. They invaded other Italian city states by means of their land forces by the beginning of the third century BC most of the Italian Peninsula was under the control of Rome. Later with the alliance of Romans and Carthegians against Greeks Romans gained some navigational experience. After overthrowing their same enemy, the Greeks, they had no rivals but themselves in the Mediterranean. The needed spark to start the war was the invasion of Sicily by the Romans. The first Punic war began with this occasion.

First Punic War, which lasted from 265 to 241 BC, was a costly, brutal and drawn-out affair. Romans won it by their quick learning of navigational engineering and soldiering. They condemned the Carthegians to a huge indemnity and made them abandon Sicily. While Romans were dealing with Ligurians on the west-coast , Celts in the southern Alps and the Illyrians along the Adriatic coast, Carthegians were establishing new colonies and a new empire in Spain. The trades between Rome and Carthage reached very high levels during this period. Romans were uneasy with this refreshment. On both sides, powerful leaders saw the treaty of 241 BC as just a pause in a fight to death. When the Hannibal became the king of the Carthegian Empire, Romans finally provoked another war. As soon as the second Punic war started, Hannibal began a legendary march over Rome with his elephants through the Alps among the Mediterranean Coast. His brilliant generalship brought victory after victory to the Carthegian army. Romans felt humiliated and some internal discussions started. Then the plebeian assembly elected Quintus Fabius Maximus as dictator. He delayed the attacks of Carthegians and slowed down the war. Later a roman commander, Scipio with a creative tactic devised a plan to attack the heart of the Carthegian Empire, Spain. He then destroyed the African colonies of Carthage. He won a victory over Hannibal at Zama. A third Punic War erased the Carthegians from the pages of the history.

Romans made other wars to control the Mediterranean Sea. Firstly Corinth was destroyed which was another great center of Mediterranean commerce. The Macedon emperor, Philip was provoked into a war by the Romans, and he was easily defeated. In the west , in northern Italy, in Spain and Africa the Roman Republic controlled the whole rim of the Mediterranean world from Rhodes in the east across Greece, Dalmatia, Italy, Southern Gaul, Spain and North Africa. Even Syria and Egypt were forced to ally with the Romans. The Mediterranean Sea became an inland water of Rome.

The main consequence of these wars is the social unrest, and the increasing economic and social divergence between the groups of the community. While the patricians and the equestrians( people who are not noble but who became wealthy by slave trading, banking, and merchandise) were becoming more wealthy and powerful, the other groups of the community including enslaved people of the conquered areas, the farmers and the provincials. First slaves revolted, the most important of these rebellions is the one which is led by Spartacus. These revolts came to be unsuccessful but they prevented Romans from further imperialistic ideals for some time. The revolts by the other Italian cities were much serious. Their only desire was Roman citizenship. The ordinary Roman citizens were also in despair because of landlessness and unemployment after wars. Gracchus was the only politician(a member of the plebeian assembly) who tried to allocate these unemployed people to the conquered areas, but he was assassinated by the patricians. Gracchus and his followers were called populares. Against populares, patricians formed another group in the senate called optimates. Optimates overthrew Gracchus and his brother Gaius. Consequently, these oppressions of the members of the oligarchy over other people, and the political wars between the groups of the senate prepared the end of the republic.