Transcript of the college presentation during the lecture „The Roman Republic“ in 2003, University of Minnesota, USA

[Trevor Adams speaking]:
Dear colleges, dear professor, my presentation today is about the Roman peacetime period between 246 BC and 220 BC. In this presentation I will tell you about the events during this particular period and what actually lead to the series of devastating wars in 220 BC. First of all, 246 BC marks the beginning of a peacetime era for Rome. The first Punic war was over; Rome had endured many decades of war and thus tired of fighting. But the victory over the Carthaginians also brought new land, or provinces, which were governed by senators. That meant new taxes and trading posts for the growing “Roman Empire”. This era was also called the small golden age, since there was little foreign threat and Rome became a rich through trade.

But the peacetime period was not uneventful, there were even small wars which make the term “peacetime period” sound rather absurd. But nevertheless the conflicts were quite small compared to the first Punic war.

Well, the Romans made new allies in southern France and Spain. In those areas independent Greek colonies existed that were harassed by Gauls and Celtic tribes. The Romans allied themselves with the two major Greek cities Massalia, modern day Marseille and Empuries or also called Emporion. The deal was that the Romans sent troops for security while the Greek cities had to trade heavily with Rome. De jure those cities remained independent, but in reality the cities slowly became a part of Rome. Oh I forgot to mention, that deal was made around 235 BC. Well anyway…

Another important event happened in 238 BC, when the Carthaginian mercenary general Hipposander revolted in Sardinia, which was nominally under the rule of Carthage. Some Roman traders were killed in that revolt and Rome was quick to dispatch troops to Sardinia and killing Hipposander. Carthage feared another war with Rome and did not demand the control back over Sardinia. But this lead to much mischief with the Carthaginians and more and more people demanded revenge, which would eventually lead to another war with Rome in 220 BC.

In 225 BC the Boii Celts, situated in the Po valley in Italy, attacked the kingdom of Illyria and envoys came to Rome begging for help. The Romans had not much love for those Celts and agreed to snet assistance. The disciplined Roman army had no trouble defeating the small Celtic amry in modern day Slovenia and they placed the king Deutemirus back to power. There was no formal treaty, but the Romans were now “friends” – or amici as the Romans would say – with the Kingdom with Illyria. The link was a moral one, which arose from the “beneficium” of their liberation. They had to show Rome practical gratitude, while Rome was morally engaged to maintain their liberty.

The year 220 BC saw an end to the Roman peacetime period. Reason for this was a treaty made in 222 BC with the kingdom of Macedon. A year later the Epirotes, an old enemy of Rome, started a war with Macedon and the Romans decided to step in and solve the situation. But this, I think, is already the topic of the presentation next week by my college Mary.
My conclusion of this so called peacetime period is that it was a period of increasing wealth and expansion for the Romans. Rome was now a major player in the Mediterranean Sea and solved a few crises with military might. Thank you.

[The Professor speaking]:
Thank you mister Adams. Good presentation with many important details. One major flaw though, you could have used more maps for clarification. I think not everyone in this room knows exactly where the Illyrian kingdom was situated.