Rubicon: The Last Years of The Roman Republic In the non-fictional book Rubicon: The Last Years of The Roman Republic written by Tom Holland, the author discusses several problems that of Ancient Rome faced, which led to the fall of the Roman Republic. While reading this book, there are several times where the readers will be able to question if the United States are Rome. Some of Rome’s problems are similar to the United States of America and to their society today. This review will be consisted of the culture of Rome, the political views of Rome, and whether it is better to have freedom or security. In the beginning of the book, the last century of the Roman republic appears be the most important. This was the time period when Rome …show more content…
Overall, this book tells the story about the establishment of the Roman Empire and the end to the Roman Republic.
Based off of the culture of Rome in this book by Tom Holland, the readers are able to compare the childhoods in Rome to the childhoods in the United States today. In many aspects, the United States and Rome have some similarities. They both have had to throw off a foreign power to establish a nation and they both have controlled land outside of their borders. ”Hardness was a Roman ideal” (Holland 109). In Rome, the mother’s job is to have a boy to live on the men legacy. A “boy trained his body for warfare, a girl for childbirth” (Holland 111). In Rome, it is known that boys are raised to become men that are ready to go to battle. Around the age of fifteen, Roman boys would undergo a ritual about transitioning them from their childhood into manhood. This ceremony involves them removing their bulla and the tunic they wore throughout their childhood, and putting on a Roman man’s toga while being escorted by their fathers and their other relatives. As for the Roman girls, the age of marriage for them could be as young as the age of twelve years old. Roman women on the other hand, are known to become a stay at home wife and give birth to children. Women are also responsible for taking care of the household such as cleaning, raising the children, and taking care of their husband. In America, once a child turns eighteen years old, both female
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 fall of the Roman Republic was caused by the expansion of Rome, and it’s class tension, the ruling of Julius Caesar, and all things that followed Julius Caesar’s
The Roman Republic was what built up the foundation for the Roman Empire. During the Republic, a small group of people started from scratch and developed their own systems, which later develops into the Roman Empire. The strong leaders of the Republic had conquered much land and people for Rome. The Roman Republic thus ignites Roman civilization, which leads on to the second step- the Roman Empire.
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.
The Roman Republic has ended. The new regime has taken over and turn into something that the Romans thought would never happen an Empire. The common citizens had no more say in his own government. The dictators of Rome made sure the poor stayed poor and the rich stay rich. The dictators used “bread and circuses” to distract the
Arguably the greatest contribution to the eventual downfall of the Roman Republic was the institution of Gaius Marius' popular, yet dangerous reforms, and his repeated usage of questionable political tactics to achieve his underlying personal goals. By undermining the power of the senate through illegal political conduct, and by introducing reforms that created the open potential for abuse of military power, Marius paved the way for future military monarchies, civil conflict and the eventual downfall and segregation of the Roman Republic.
The era dominated by Roman empire is one the most well-known and influential periods of history, home to famous names from Julius Caesar to Jesus Christ. At its height, Rome’s territory stretched from the Atlantic coastline to the Middle East, reigning over 60 million people, one-fifth of the population of the ancient world. However, the Roman empire’s treatment of their conquered people’s and their own citizens ultimately led to the permanent downfall of Rome.
Although the fall of Rome remains obscure, what many historians fail to realize is that the decline of the Roman Empire was the epitome of cause and effect relationships. Properly analyzing the fall of Rome leads historians to realize that a chain of circumstances, beginning with the political corruption of the Western empire, was a catalyst for superfluous military spending and economic failure, all which contributed to the fall of Rome. Because the Praetorian Guard would select the highest bidder and put him into office, the emperors would not represent the people as a whole and did not instill the beliefs that the people held. In Document 1, Roman Emperors, 235-285, a chart shows the inconsistency of the Roman emperors and the violence
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.
Many anthropologists and historians have speculated about the different causes and effects of the fall of the Roman Empire. Some have even stated that Rome did not fall but instead, was merely transformed. However, there were many causes that did end this prodigious empire. Many seemingly small decisions made by powerful emperors over the course of just over a century lead to its destruction. In this paper it will be established that the Roman emperors, in an effort to save their political power, made adjustments to warfare/treaty practices and made political changes which over time lead to the inevitable collapse of the realm, this caused a drastic regression in the living standards of the Roman citizens, implying that the Empire did indeed collapse and not transform.
The book A History of Rome was written in the 1920’s and published in the US. It originated from the research and thoughts of Tenney Frank, a multilingual professor at John Hopkins University. Its purpose was to inform the general public but specifically, people that have an interest in the politics and culture of ancient Rome. He also said that his book is for use in college classes because there was a shortage of books on the topic in his time. It attempts to give a consecutive story rather than paragraphed facts. A value of this source is that it goes in great depth and is very comprehensive. This is valuable because this book contains details not included in other sources. It
In the later half of the fourth century the Western Roman Empire fell after nearly a five hundred years of dominance and is still widely considered the world’s greatest superpower (Andrews). Many people attribute the crumbling of the empire to multiple different reasons, like corrupt and insane leaders to overspending and inflation. As J.B Bury said once “the fall of the roman empire was a series of contingent events. In this paper we are going to cover the three main reasons. Political and Economical problems plus problems with the military(Wood).
Since its start in 509 B.C., the Roman Republic was glorious until everything became corrupt. The fall of the Roman republic occurred because of many different reasons. Luckily, due to great leadership, reforms, and conquests, Rome was able to regain its fame as a well governed civilization. The city of Rome was a major place in the world with the many new developments it added to society, like how Rome had an elected Senate which governed it. This led to the rise of the Roman Empire which was ruled by Augustus Caesar.
The Crisis of the Roman Republic alludes to an expanded time of political flimsiness and social distress that finished in the death of the Roman Republic and the appearance of the Roman Empire, from around 134 BC to 44 BC.