The Rise Of The Roman Empire

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.

Julius Caesar was and still is considered to be one of the greatest military generals in history. His combination of leadership skills, military genius, and speaking ability propelled him to the forefront of Roman society. Born on June 12/13 100 B.C., Caesar was born into an ancient aristocratic family. Around the age of 16 after his father had died, Caesar had joined the military. It was apparent from this time onward that Caesar was especially gifted in the arts of strategy and warfare. By the age of 30 Caesar had begun making political strides in his perpetual quest for glory and prominence. During this time he would work closely with his friend and future mortal enemy, Pompey. In the next ten years, Caesar would become governor of Spain and ascend to the position of consul. His partnership with Marcus Licinius Crassus further increased Caesar’s rise to power, as Crassus himself was a powerful politician and general, who was arguably the wealthiest man in all of Rome. Along with Pompey, the three men formed what came to be known as the First Triumvirate. Although Caesar was aligned with Pompey, he never ceased to find ways outmaneuver him, qualities that would eventually precipitate Rome’s civil war. Continuing his military conquests, Caesar would become the governor of Gaul, which is now modern day Belgium and France. After ascending to this position, he’d engage in a near decade-long conquest of Gaul known as the Gallic War. Probably his most successful battle and

Julius Caesar military activities were significant in Gaul, Germany and Britain, which as a result contributed to the fall of the Roman Republic. The combined result of Rome’s wars of expansion and competition among its leading men placed immense strain on the republic system. Julius Caesar, an ambitious man, craved the need for power, which he saw Gaul as an opportunity to conquer as Gaul lacked political unity and discipline. With the help of his devoted army and his genius with military tactics, Caesar was able to conquer Gaul with its advantages in favor for himself, gaining popularity as well as exploring new foreign grounds where no Roman has been before. However with great power Caesar was faced with new enemies and the challengers of Roman senate, which contributed to the fall of the Roman republic.

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,

The other two triumvirs agreed to grant Julius Caesar the office of consul in 59 BC. He was appointed the governor of Roman Gaul in 58 BC and built up an army there. Caesar marched north into Gaul and defeated the Helvetii. Caesar's military contributions to the empire were significant, but he destroyed the Republic with his civil wars. His march on Rome exploited the precedent of Sulla, whose own march was due to far more legitimate political issues. Caesar simply didn't want to be prosecuted for the innumerable laws he broke during his consulship, and so refused to lay down his arms when ordered by the Senate and People of

He became driven and wanted to get to the highest positions in Roman politics. In 65 BC, Caesar was appointed an 'adele' and put in charge of public entertainment in Rome. He also courted the friendship of Rome's richest man, Crassus. In 59 BC, Caesar was appointed a consul and in 58 BC he went to Gaul, France where he served as governor. He was successful in this position and conquered even more land for the Roman Empire. Julius was a general and commanded an army of over 50,000 loyal men. In 49 BC the Senate ordered Caesar to hand over his army to their control. He refused. Instead Caesar advanced on Italy but paused at the line that divided France Gaul and Italy - the River Rubicon. Roman law said that a governor was not allowed to leave his province. Caesar ignored this law, crossed the Rubicon and  advanced to confront his enemies in Rome. The Senate considered this to be a treasonable offence but there was little they could do. Caesar had a very powerful and experienced army following the defeat of his enemies Julius Caesar returned to Rome in 45 BC as a dictator.

The conquest of Gaul took place from 58 BCE until 51 BCE, in which Caesar fought in a number of large battles including the decisive battle of Alesia in 52 BCE, which completed the conquest and gained Rome full control over Gaul. During his time as proconsul, Caesar saw a great opportunity in obtaining control over the Gallic province to the North of Rome, as he believed that the centralization of power was accomplished through gaining land. By the end of the Gallic Wars in 51 BCE, Caesar had “reduced to the form of a province the whole of Gaul enclosed by the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Cevennes, the Rhine, and the Rhone – about 640 000 square miles” (Suetonius, Julius Caesar, 25). One of Caesar’s motives for taking control of this much land was that it was a major expansion of the Roman frontier. It created a complete “circuit of his empire, which would then be bounded on all sides by the ocean” (Plutarch. 579). Caesar’s strong interest in centralizing power within Rome died with him, the old form of a republic government was exhausted. Knowing this, Caesar made no attempt to mask his opinion, bypassing traditional practices (Bradley, 393). With Caesar naming himself Dictator perpetuo “Dictator for life” in 47 BCE, the senate soon began to see Caesar’s power as a major threat to their own roles as senators. A step towards imperialism was a result of Caesar’s death and his idea to centralize power in Rome through an individual, forthcoming the second

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.

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).

Introduction Julius Caesar was a great man and the general of a Roman army. In 49 BC, he marched his roman army over the Rubicon and took over Rome. After which, he had himself made dictator for 10 years. Which was later extended to dictator-for-life. In 44 BC a conspiracy group was formed, led by Marcus Brutus and Cassius Longinus and involved 60 senators.

In 60 BCE, Caesar did what the Senate had been fearing, he came back to Rome and wanted to run for Consul. Unfortunately, the Senate denied his attempt to run for Consul, but he was able to gain the help from Crassus and Pompey, which contributed to his gaining of the position of Consul in 59 BCE. After his term in 58 BCE was over, Caesar went north to conquer Gaul. As time passed, nearly 9 years, Caesar wanted to return to Rome, seeing as he conquered Gaul, and become Consul. Unfortunately, the senate wanted to prosecute Caesar for the events that happened in 59 BCE. On top of this, one of his supporters, Pompey who was now Consul, stopped supporting him because he was threatened by the success Caesar had in Gaul. In the winter of 49 BCE, Caesar went to his winter quarters in an attempt to come to an agreement with Pompey. Unfortunately, an agreement was not made between the two and the Senate gave complete control of the Roman Empire to Pompey. This event is what prompted Caesar to cross the Rubicon River. The Rubicon was a border between the two provinces each of the men occupied. This act carried out by Caesar and his army was illegal under Roman law and was categorized as an act of war, a Civil War.

Caesar first joined the roman military in 81 BC. His first great achievement was being the first army commander to invade England in 55Bc and again in 51Bc. Also during the period he served as governor in in Gaul form 58 BC to 50 BC he was successful and gained more land for the roman empire After his campaign in Egypt and beheading Pompey Caesar marched towards Asia minor where he defeated the Pharnaces in 47 Bc in the battle of Zela. Caesar was so delighted with his win he sent a letter t o his friend with a message that stated the famous lines of Caesar “ Vini, Vidi, Vici” meaning I came, I saw, I Conquered. The romans were overjoyed with this news and praised him for his achievements. But with his great military accomplishments also came with his downsides. During his reign in Gaul the senate ordered for causer to hand over his control but he refused and advanced into Italy and crossed the river Rubicon - which is against roman law. A governor should not leave the province they are ruling this was exactly what Caesar did. When he crossed the river immediately civil war broke out however he continued into rome where he faced his enemies. The senate was almost powerless and could do little because his power in the military was to strong and experienced for his enemies to fight back. Caesar became a dictator for life in

Once Caesar’s wife, Cornelia, had died, he remarried to a woman named Pompeia who ironically was “a wealthy Optimate granddaughter of the Emperor Sulla.” Caesar went on to gain the support of Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey or Pompey the Great) and become friends with Marcus Licinius Crassus, the wealthiest man in Rome, which allowed him to run for generalship and Chief Priest in 63 BC. He divorced Pompeia after finding out she cheated with another man, and moved to Spain to serve as praetor of Hispania. Caesar served as consul in the year 59 BC and with his friends Pompey and Crassus, led as the first triumvirate for 10 years. From 58 BC to 50 BC, Caesar led his Roman army to conquer Gaul, modern day France, and making him loved by his soldiers and a hero to the Roman people. He prevented Germanic attacks in his conquered lands by building walls and making a spectacle of his armies, a message the German tribes understood clearly. To finalize the conquest of Gaul in 52 BC, Caesar killed the Gallic leader Vercingetorix in the Battle of Alesia. In 50 BC Pompey, who was running the senate in Rome, ordered for Caesar and his troops to return to the capital, but Caesar refused the senate’s orders and brought his army across the Rubicon River of Italy to Rome to fight Pompey’s army in 49 BC where Pompey and his army fled. Caesar then defeated Pompey’s armies in Greece, Egypt, Asia, and

The more conservative people in Rome did not like Caesar and continued to block his attempts at being re-elected to political offices (Gruen 13; “Julius Caesar“). It did not help that Pompey took the conservatives’ side on many topics, which hurt Caesar’s political campaigns even more (Gruen 13). After crossing the Rubicon river on January 10, 49 B.C., Caesar defeated Pompey and his troops, and his army forced Pompey’s to surrender (Gruen 13; “Julius Caesar“). In his attempt to go after Pompey, Caesar fled to Egypt and conquered many groups in Italy along the way(Gruen 13; “Julius Caesar“). Once in Italy, Caesar met Cleopatra and eventually, the two would

Continuing on his success, Caesar was unstoppable, but even though he was an ally of Pompey, Pompey envied Caesar and did not really support him that much through his success. Jealousy struck him. Crassus, on the other hand, had not grown fond of Pompey. They reconciled once again at a conference in Luca in 56 BC. This peace expanded Caesar’s reign for another five years, because he gave Crassus a five-year rule in Syria and Pompey in Spain for five years. Syria marks the location where Crassus was killed in battle. (Julius Caesar Biography, April