As you learned in the Windows On (The Worlds of Eratosthenes and Euclid) box on page 123, the tremendous advances made in theoretical mathematics and physics by the Greeks were not followed by similar achievements by the Romans. Instead, the Romans concentrated their efforts on practical technology, on the development of tools to facilitate the expansion of Roman power and wealth. Assess the evidence relating to Roman expansion described below and then respond to the essay question that follows. Examine the maps of Rome c.700 BCE and c.200 BCE on page 125. What technology made the expansion of Rome from a village to a great city possible? Why were aqueducts so important to Rome's growth? The excerpts from 1 Maccabees and the Histories of Sallust on page 126 paint very different pictures of Roman rule and conquest. How would you explain this? Did the Romans treat all conquered peoples the same way? Take a look at the statue of a patrician with heads of ancestors on page 127. How did the Roman understanding of the family, and specifically the importance of fathers, shape the Roman vision of the state? The box on page 128 contains a visual comparison of the Greek phalanx and the Roman legion. What made the legion such an effective fighting unit? On the eve of the Punic wars, Carthage was the only major power left to challenge Roman domination of the central Mediterranean. Click on the link to learn more about Carthage and its most famous general, Hannibal Barca. What are the political and economic circumstances, and the features of their respective civilizations that made it likely Carthage and Rome would come into conflict? Read the excerpts from the writings of Plutarch and Cicero on page 131. According to these authors, what are the qualities and ambitions of the ideal Roman statesman? What might Plutarch and Cicero have thought of Athenian democracy as described in Pericles' "Funeral Oration" (page 73)? As the map of Roman territory in the Republican Era on page 133 makes clear, by 31 BCE Rome had become the dominant power in the Mediterranean. What are some of the problems a republic might encounter as it seeks to administer and control a large empire? When you have finished reviewing the evidence, write a well-organized essay on the expansion of Roman power. What factors combined to make the creation Roman domination of the Mediterranean possible? Use the evidence you have just examined to support your claims and observations.