The Decline of the Roman Republic The Roman Republic gave way to the Roman Empire in 27 B.C.E. for a number of reasons. Stewart Perowne notes that the inherent problem with any republic is whether a government of the people can sustain territorial integrity against its own domestic foes. A robust government may be too strong for the liberties of its own people, whereas a weak government may be unable to maintain its own existence. A group of discontented individuals, too few in numbers according to domestic law, can break up their government and for all intents and purposes put an end to free government. Many historians mark the end of the Roman Republic by four events; the rise of popular tribunes, the rise of private armies, the first triumvirate, and Caesar's dictatorship. Between 133 and 121 B.C.E. two brothers, Tiberius and Sempronious Gracchus used the power of the plebian tribuneship to seize power in Rome. They used their sacrosanctious (the right of a tribune not to be harmed physically) to veto all other public activity in the city in order to force the senate and the magistrates to focus on their own political plans. Tiberius Gracchus wanted to restore the military by reclaiming public lands and giving them to the landless poor citizens to farm. Additionally the land attempt was made to grant Italian Roman allies Roman citizenship. The two men, along with their political ambitions, were killed through mob violence incited by the aristocracy. Rome's army
While the fall of the Roman Empire is well known, the exact causes of why it fell can be difficult to pinpoint. Many historians believe that Rome 's downfall was due to poor leadership, weakened economics, or perhaps a combination of the two along with other seemingly unrelated factors. However, there is a string of evidence suggesting that there were three main components that took place to bring about the fall of the Roman Empire. These determinant attributes did not happen all at once, and there was a domino effect with each one directly influencing the others. The fall of Rome occurred after a series of preventable events, including unacceptable emperors, the heavy reliance on slaves, and the increasingly uncontrollable borders of Rome.
Chalking up the fall of the Roman Republic to a decline in traditional Roman morality, while not false, sells the events and changes that were the causes for the fall of the Republic short. At the end of The Third Punic War with Carthage we arguably see the Republic at its height. However in only a decade things begin to change, we see events that send Rome as a Republic past a point that Rome could not recover. Gaius Marius’s military reforms, specifically that of allowing for the captive cencsi, men who owned no property, and the creation of professional soldiers is the true catalyst for the downfall of the Republic. By enacting these reforms Marius opened up military duty to Rome’s largest group of citizens, however it created unforeseen issues, such as what to do with these men once they returned from battle. These reforms opened the door for military generals like Sulla and Caesar to gain the unquestioned support of their troops, in many instances gaining more respect from the soldiers then they had for the Roman state itself. These military reforms are a constant through line through the fall of the Republic, touching large political issues such as the conflicts between the Populares and the Optimates, or the rise of The First Triumvirate; socioeconomic issues such as the rise of Roman aristocracy, development of a slave based agriculture system to the profits from war. The complexity in which these reforms help lead to this immoral Roman state is complex and has been
The roman republic came into existence at the termination of the Roman kingship in 507 B.C.E. The last king of Rome, Tarquin the Proud, was expelled by Collatinus and Brutus, as a result of his arrogance involving the matter of one of his relations raping the wholesome Roman matron Lucretia and her subsequent suicide. The rape of Lucretia was really a representation of the frustration that the roman citizens felt regarding the kingship. The later kings had little regard for roman values and the roman populus, which they used as something of a slave labor force. Brutus and Collatinus became the first Roman Consuls, elected by popular vote.
The Roman Empire is known as one of the strongest empires in history, due to their advanced technology, strong military leaders, and republican government. As the empire started to expand, so did their power. However, after years have gone by, the Roman Empire started to fall. Their fall may have been caused by political reason, such as the empire being just too much to handle, Diocletian splitting the territory in half, and their government corruption.
The expansion of Rome, the ruling of Julius Caesar and his death, and the civil war that followed his death all led to the collapse of the Roman Republic.
Some policies and institutions of the Roman Republic were useful to help them succeed in conquering first Italy and then the Mediterranean world. Before of the institution of the republic, the romans were a monarchy since their beginning and they were basically a pastoral people. Rome suffer several changes and improvements under the control of the Etruscan kings. The Etruscan were civilization settled north of Rome in Etruria, and they once had control over almost all the Italic peninsula. The Etruscans influences in Rome were profound, they transformed Rome from a pastoral community to a city (91). The Etruscan built the street and roads that help the development of temples, markets, shops, streets, and houses. They basically brought urbanization to Rome. It is fairly to say that the Rome republic was a fusion between the elements of the Etruscan civilization and the Rome elements. The combination of the different political institutions and policies made the Romans succeed in their conquest territories.
By achieving their goals through protesting against the senate, the Romans learned they could achieve whatever they wanted if they put enough pressure on the senate, and with a consul who supported this type of behavior nothing could stop the non-aristocratic roman class from getting what they wanted, or what they were tricked into wanting.
Three ideals and traditions of the Roman Republic, lust for power, greed, and loyalty, each contributed to the collapse of the Republic. Desire for power played a major role in the collapse of the Republic because Caesar, the man who arguably began the Republic’s downfall, marched on Rome because he wanted power. The second ideal that led to the Republic’s collapse was greed and the power of money, for example bribing officials in Rome, Crassus’ shocking alliance with Caesar, and Pompey’s strategy to fight Caesar during the first civil war. The last ideal that aided the downfall of the Republic was loyalty, specifically citizens’ loyalty to political leaders or military generals, loyalty between generals and their veterans, and loyalty between political leaders.
The Roman Republic was created as a result of Rome’s early and tyrannical kings. This new democratic system was supposed to balance the power between two consuls and the senate in order to prevent any one person from controlling the entire population. It also aimed to ease relations between the separate classes by allowing slaves to purchase their freedom and by allowing anyone to move up in the class system from plebian to senator. The early phase of the Roman Republic was marked by successful foreign conquests, financial prosperity and a well-functioning government; however, as the years went by the republic slowly started to fall.
Ancient Rome was an empire so dominant, wealthy and economically- stable which came to a dramatic fall in the period of 250AD- 500AD. Ancient Rome faced unexplained unfortunate events which crumbled the Great Empire from the affluent empire to a impoverished society. For centuries historians have timelessly theorised and analysed many debates and research in relation to the Fall of the Roman Empire. What really caused the predominate Roman Empire to fall? Did Rome fall naturally? Was disease, such as malaria a major contributor to the Fall of the Empire, Was man -made infrastructure a problem during Ancient Roman times? Was the fall a natural event? Was the climate changing causing natural disasters? Maybe, perhaps, all the theories interweaved with each other at the same time causing a catastrophic downfall, defeating the Ancient Roman Empire. Edward Gibbon (Gibbon, 1909, pp 173-174.) quoted,
There are many contributions to the fall of the roman republic. Three of the main ones can be linked to the Actions and legacy of Sulla, Caesars military campaigns and Caesars dictatorship. The decline of the Republic began in the middle of the second century B.C. with political, economic, and social events. These events in addition to the burdens of civil war on Rome, lead to the inevitable failure of the Republic.
The Roman Republic was a “democratic” republic, which allowed first citizens to vote, and to choose their governors in the senate (Hence, their consuls). However, it was a nation ruled by its aristocracy, and, consequently, the entire Republic`s power was concentrated in a few individuals. Furthermore, the Senate was controlled by Patricians, which directed the government by using wealth to buy control and power over the decisions of the senate and the consuls. This situation aroused the inconformity of the people; as result, a civil war took place in the Republic (destroying it), and then the Roman Empire was born.
However, this influence that the Senate had on the magistrates and popular assemblies was meant to protect the Republic from “popular whims” or the stupidity of the commoner (Gwynn, 24) . Although one could argue this made Rome an aristocracy, this in no way downgrades the justice of the government. The system of checks and balances ensured that the Senate could never be in complete control. More importantly, “the People, who by their votes, bestow honors on those who deserve them” (Tingay and Badcock, 45). The Populus had the right to reject or pass laws or choose war or peace.
The rise and fall of the Roman Republic is quite simple. In early republic, social division determined the shape of politics. Political powers were in the hands of a hereditary aristocracy the patricians whose privileged legal stated was determined by their birth members of certain families. The romans created several assemblies through which men elected high officials and passed ordinances. Four people each had a part in fall of the roman republic Marius, Sulla, Julius Caesar, and Augustus.
Riots and violence of any kind that history tells us, and whose members of the plebs are negligible actors, manipulated by the nobility. Uprisings are ultimately acts of emotional release that have no influence on the course of history. Gruen thinks that it is particularly wrong to consider the last decades of the Roman Republic as a revolutionary period. In that case, what causes the fall of the Roman Empire. Raepsaet-Charlier states, “Must we really conclude from this review that "the civil war causes the fall of the Republic and not the opposite." And even if so, in my view it is relocating the problem”. I agree on her position, Gruen decided to write a book about the last generation of the Roman Republic but does not answer an essential question. What causes the fall? His book is highly detailed, but his conclusion is clearly inferior compared to the rest of it. It should have been the title, “The Political System in the Last Generation of the Roman Empire”.