How did geography help the Romans conquer Italy?

Answer 1

The Alps in northern Italy protected the land from invasion, while the seas on three sides allowed for easy travel and trade.

got my answer from apex (:

The Alps were of limited use. The Cimbri already attacked northern Italy by crossing the Alps in 105 BC. The Alemanni carried out a series of raids in the same area by crossing the Alps in the 2nd century. Visigoths and then Orstogoths crossed the eastern part which is not as high as the northern and western parts. The Lombards invaded by crossing the Alps. Many Holy Roman Emperors crossed the Alps with their army.

Italy lies in between the eastern and western basins of the Mediterranean, giving it a good strategic position in a crossroad area. Sicily is very close to Tunisia (which is were Carthage was. Apulia is very close to Greece. The Adriatic sea is narrow, so Illyricum was not far.

Answer 2

At a local/regional level, the hills of the city provided protection. The mountains to her east provided plenty of sources of water which were taken to Rome by aqueducts. The hills of the region provided volcanic rocks which were good building material. Rome was by the only Ford on the River Tiber, which in her early days made her the main north-south communication point in the region. The Tiber also provided a navigable link to the sea, which was only 14 miles to the west (nowadays it is 16 miles away). This was very valuable when Rome became the centre of a thriving trading network around the Mediterranean Sea. Agriculturally, the land in the region was of average fertility.

On a wider scale, Italy lies in the middle of the Mediterranean, between its eastern basin and its western basin. This made easier for the Romans to expand into the Mediterranean both westwards and eastwards and to control both basins of the Mediterranean.

Answer 3

The Alps (Mountain range in northern Italy) kept the Gauls from invading Rome many times. Rome was near the center of the Mediterranean Sea so this also helped it trade lol with good false with many other places. The geography also allowed Italy to support a navy which would help in its military campaigns.

Answer 4

Geography did not help the Romans to expand into Italy. Prior to this expansion, geography was a security problem in the first 150 years of the Roman Republic. Rome spent most of her time defending herself against attacks by neighbouring people: Volsci, Aequi, Sabines, Etruscans and, at times, other Latin cities. Being near so many neighbours made Rome vulnerable to pillaging attacks or attempts to curb her power through war.

Rome's expansion into Italy begun during three wars with the Samnites who lived on an area of the mountains which run across the peninsula. This geography was favourable to the Samnites as mountains are easier to defend and more difficult to attack.

Rome's expansion into Italy was due to a state which was able to mobilise two (later four) armies at the same time and fight on two or more fronts simultaneously (with this they surrounded the mountains of the Samnites and also fought against their allies in different areas of Italy), a willingness to change military organisation (Rome's army changed its battle formation and adopted that of the enemy after a humiliating defeat) and dogged determination (such as the building of the first military road which went to the front of the war). Geography was more of a hindrance than a help.

Also note that Rome did not conquer Italy (except for the north). Instead she chose to turn the Italic peoples into allies. They retained independence in exchange for supplying soldiers who fought alongside the Roman legions.