Themes Of Roman Society During The End Of The Republic

The later Roman Republic and early Roman Empire controlled most of modern day Europe through Northern Africa to Asia Minor. This time of complete dominance over much of the known world propelled Rome into a new era of wealth and prosperity that allowed Romans to look past military expansion. The Roman state now turned towards betterment of society and the “craving for a good education.” Education was seen not only as a tool for the furthering of personal careers, but as a way to improve Rome. Education passed along virtue and the skills necessary to run the Republic and early Empire. This knowledge began in the home, transferring from father to son through the role of fathers as paterfamilias or head of household. Fathers were in charge of ensuring the best possible education for their sons in hope that they would further the ideals and goals of a glorious Rome. Education, through the different steps of the informal Roman education structure and through the influence of the father, furthered the ideal of Roman virtue and ensured generations of virtuous leaders.

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 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.

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 video called Ancient Rome – The Rise and Fall of an Empire “Revolution”, is a documentary that has many series and the first one I began with was featuring the story of Tiberius Gracchus. He is the son of Tiberius Gracchus the Elder and his mother was Cornelia Africana. In the beginning of the video it begins with show Tiberius Gracchus the Elder at his death ceremony he looked ill and quite pale with white foggy eyes with flies flying around him and Rome did a ceremony of his death. Before him was Gracchus sitting in a throne like chair and there were five dancers wearing a molded mask of Tiberius Gracchus the Elder’s face, like studied in class. It was just a big ceremony to remember him, speeches were given and then the cremation of

Most of these attributes were derived from the Grecian culture around 210 BC and disseminated all over Rome (Nardo, 60). Not only did the people contribute to the arts, but so did the government, which built bronze statues of the emperors or Gods, like the statue of Marcus Aurelius in 175 AD, and decorated the currency with elaborate drawings (Hinds, 172). A lasting example of the Roman taste of the arts was preserved in Pompeii after the volcanic eruption. According to written documents, a museum owned by two wealthy businessmen in Pompeii was available for public viewing, which displayed the gratitude of the people of Pompeii toward their own culture (Hinds, 178).

“Tiberius and his brother Gaius were regarded in Roman tradition as the initiators of the revolution which led to the breakdown of the Republic.” (Roebuck, 1966:506)

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.

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.

The Roman Republic was a time were most of the power lay over the Senate. Elected Roman citizens would decide on important issues, similar to the senate in our government today. During the Imperial period changes occurred. Changes which consisted on creating public work programs, which provided more jobs for the poor. By doing this it opened up more opportunities to the lower class. To be able to have more income and be able to contribute to the community in Rome. Something that the reading mentions is that Augustus found the city of Rome as " a city of brick" and left it as " a city of marble". This explains perfectly the transition between the Roman Republic and the Imperial period because, during the Roman Republic people were sort of still told what to do as compared to the Imperial period where all people were treated more equally than before. Everything was not perfect during the Imperial

Rome became a powerful empire engulfing much of Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia and what seemed like this great entity called the Romans were always in the search of more territory and land to conquer and assimilate into their ever growing vast empire. However, this was not always the case, before Rome became one of the greatest empires in all of history, Rome was a republic. They were government consisted of a Senate who much like our country today represented certain classes of the citizens of the Republic. During the growth and rise of the Roman republic conquering neighboring territories and competing for land grabs was not Romans primary objectives. Romans

The Roman Republic was a period of ancient Rome that traditionally dates from 509 BC, after the fall of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, and ending with the formation of the Roman Empire in 27 BC. Many since have questioned whether the political system of the Republic was in fact a democracy; the argument is yet to come to a head. Democracy comes from the Greek word ‘demokratia’, it is derived from the word ‘demos’ meaning people and ‘kratos’ meaning power. The term democracy is commonly accepted in modern day society as ‘A form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.’ In this case, the Roman Republic certainly had democratic aspects of its political system. The senate was a governing body of the Republic and consisted of a permanent group of 300; they approved legislation, provided advice and controlled foreign relations. There were also 360 annually elected magistracies who aimed to achieve uncontested order. In addition to this, there were many other roles in the political system of the Roman Republic; including consuls, censors and the Tribunes of the Plebeians, which all had varying roles within the system. The issue of whether the Roman Republic was a democracy or not has likely come from the fact that the political system looks different from every angle. Polybius, who was a Greek politician writing mainly in the second century BC, agreed with this argument

The ancient Roman Empire was the largest empire (which peaked between 200 BCE and AD 200) and one of the great and admirable in the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization. The ancient Roman Empire was able to reach the top levels of tourism activities with its excellent technological, economic and political achievements. For example, the Roman Empire had more advanced water tenders, fire defence and sewage disposal compared to other empire such as Mesopotamia and ancient Greece.