Effects Of Social Upheavals

This new republic was plagued by tension arising from the class differences of the patricians and plebeians. The Gracchi brothers attempted to equalize things, Gaius Gracchus proposed a redistribution of farm land that would benefit the plebeians. The end result was rather unfortunate as he was killed; his other brother was also killed ten years later for similar reasons.

The economy of Rome was suffering. Rome had a great deal of money but they didn’t know what to use it for. Too much money was being used to provide protection and keep unity in the empire. Cities began to crumble that became poor and some cities even began to lose control. The senate became dishonest and then they started giving away their spots in office. Some people murdered or assassinated the emperors (Doc. A), and that’s when city revolts fired up and citizens of Rome started rebelling against government. The civilizations economic rottened.

In 132 BCE, Tiberius Gracchus was elected tribune of the plebs. Tiberius proposed massive land reform that would break up some plots owned by the wealthy and powerful and give it to poor and landless Roman landlords. Naturally, this legislation was supported by the plebeians and opposed by the wealthy patricians. The Senate was especially opposed to this proposal. Therefore, there was a large clash (relatively unheard of in the past) between the Senate and a tribune. The other consul, Octavius, blocked Tiberius’ proposal using his power as tribune to block any business. Tiberius was able to use his power as tribune to extraordinarily remove Octavius from office. This was unprecedented to use these powers for this purpose and it purported to open the Pandora’s box for other politicians to use their powers in extraordinary ways to subvert Roman republicanism. Tiberius was killed but his brother Gaius came to power as tribune nine years later to carry the mantle for populism. Gaius expanded his populism past land reform into cheap grain and making juries in corruption trials come from the equestrian and not senatorial class. Because

Rome’s government became more authoritarian and oppressive towards the plebeians, which also affected Rome socially in negative ways. Additionally, Rome had frequent civil wars over the succession to the throne and the title of the emperor of Rome. In a 50-year period, 26 emperors gained control and only one died of natural causes. To make situations worse, the empire was divided into two parts, the East and West, by a man named Diocletian. During this time, Rome was under attack and the richer eastern Roman empire did little to help the West. Rome could have prevented this all if Rome wouldn’t have engaged in such political violence. Rome was doing extremely well with Julius Caesar in power during the Roman Republic, but the Senate murdered him because he wanted to become the dictator, without considering the fact that nothing would have changed. If Rome let Caesar lead, then Rome would’ve been in a better

There was a military crisis, with lack of eligible recruits for the legions, aggravated by the Spanish and Sicilian wars. There was tension in the oligarchy between leading factions (Claudii / Sempronii and the Scipios) as they struggled for political superiority. And amongst all these problems was the failure of the ruling nobility within the senate to deal with these problems.

The Roman Republic was established in 509 B.C. BC after overthrowing the Etruscan kings. As democracy was getting started in Athens, the Roman aristocrats (the rich) wanted to get rid of Etruscan kings so they can get more power. They needed the poor men to fight for them. So they promised the poor men that they would be given power in the new government, if they can help get rid of the Etruscan kings. The poor men decided to help, and together the king was threw out in 510 B.C. But once the kings were out, the rich did not give the poor men what they had promised. So the poor men protested and went on strike. The Roman aristocrats had to make a concession, and they let the poor vote. People in Roman Republic voted for representatives who express their opinion like the way United States does. But the only people who could be elected to the Roman Senate were the rich people. Then the poor made the aristocrats agree that the poor men could also elect tribunes, who can say no to any

Rome’s ferocity in the regal period began a cycle of war they would eventually become infamous for. Their soldiers came from all but the poorest of social classes and a large chunk of the Roman army was dependent upon the revenue war brought in. Any land won would be given to the wealthiest of Romans, usually patricians, who would use it as a means to control the poorer classes, usually plebeians. During

Rome’s Senate basically had no control over the behavior of their citizens towards the end of their civilization which lead to their leaders being assassinated every 3-4 years, Along with that, the romans had a polytheistic belief system until Christianity made its way to Europe. Rome then took in this religion which juristically changed their way of life. This weakened the system that they had built up for many years by shifting focus away from the glory of their state. Their old polytheistic views also fit in with their government system and when that was dropped, there was a lot of conflict between the people and the roman government. This conflict made many negative impacts on Rome like weakening Rome’s (once strong) military and causing tension between Rome’s government and their people, concluding that without a strong central government, a society is not able to run correctly.

All of these wars happen because of the many leaders that were hungry for power and wanted to make Rome the best that it could be. Unfortunately, they did it at the expense of others. The government system in Rome consisted of the royal family that had the most control with the King having the most power. The King and other selected members had an extraordinary power, as stated in the textbook (TEXTBOOK) called “imperium, the right to issue commands and to enforce them by fines, arrest, and physical punishment, including execution” (CITATION). This type of power can be dangerous if not used with caution. In 168 B.C.E. a man by the name of Tiberius Gracchus tried to help give back to people by proposing a land distribution act. He offered to take land from the wealthy and redistribute it to the poor. The bill proposal was vetoed not once but twice. At this point, Tiberius Gracchus’s brother, Gaius Gracchus, a great tribunate and now help his brother.

In Ancient Rome, during the course of the years 90-88 BCE, many noteworthy events occured and many important people lived. Those events were primarily military and government, regarding both the wars and who were involved. The Social War, Lex Julia, and a few Roman generals all shaped the military and government of Ancient Rome at the time. These changes continued on to have an effect on the Roman Empire.

Gaius Julius Caesar rose through the ranks from Roman general to Emperor. A critical role he played in Roman politics, was his role in the events that were to lead to the downfall of the Roman Republic and the growth of the Roman Empire. He joined with Crassus and Pompey to form a political alliance. This alliance of three would go on to dominate politics in Rome for several years. “Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus now formed a triple pact, jointly swearing to oppose all public policies in which any of them might disapprove” (Graves and Suetonius 19). The conservative ruling class of the Roman Senate opposed their attempts to accumulate power through the use of populist tactics.

     Two problems facing the late Roman Empire was the instability and non unification caused by inner family civil wars. Rome's rapid expansion, after the Punic Wars, resulted in changes that permanently divided the state. Both Aristocrats and Plebeians wanted total control of Rome and tried to destroy each other. Civil war was the the only way to solve problems in politics. Consequently, the power of the military became strong. Control of Rome's armies changed from the government to the generals because the soldiers began to listen to their generals rather than to the Government. On dismissal from military service, the soldiers had no farms to return to, and they

The Roman Republic was a system of procedures formed by tradition; there was no written constitution or legally binding legislation. Precedent and consensus set procedure creating the parameters for acceptable behaviour. However, it was near the end of the 2nd century BC, where the system began to deteriorate and fall, ultimately causing the civil war in 49 BC. The boundaries of acceptable behaviour were stretched by politicians such as Caesar and Pompey and as a result new perilous precedents were set. Violence along with the use of an army became a political tool in the domestic, political sphere. The civil war laid on the foundations that constitutional methods proved ineffective in the face of an inadequate aristocratic government and therefore Caesar and the senate lead by Pompey used violence and rebellion against each other in an attempt to stabilise the administrative system of government and essentially control Rome. Caesar himself ignited the civil war as a result of the unstable Roman Republic, major events such as rebellion and revolts, senate and the political sphere and the breakdown of the triumvirate, which fuelled the motive for civil war. The corrupted Roman system alongside with personal issues and disagreements became the catalyst for the civil war of 49 BC and consequently set the parameters for the new dictatorial Roman world.

Short-term social changes include a sense of government invasiveness, of transgression of fundamental human rights, and of expunction of privacy, while such economic changes reflect Legalist ideologies of rewards for compliance, such as direct compensation and medical and education access, along with punishments for defiance entailing fines and exclusion from aforementioned

In 133 BCE, Tibérius Grácchus was elected a tribune in Rome and sought to bring positive change. His efforts and those of his brother, Gáius Grácchus, threatened Rome’s aristocracy. Tibérius proposed redistributing lands and limiting the size of individual holdings. His and three hundred followers were killed in the Forum. About ten years later, Gáius proposed giving grain to the poor and extending, what Morey calls, “Róman franchise to the people of Ítaly” (p. 90). Morey suggests that Gáius’ “corn law” became an institution, which led to an even greater influx of the poor, into Rome seeking grain, and that Gáius’ reforms, including enfranchisement, led to his death, along with a few thousand fellow citizens