leader. His powerful friends convinced Sulla to simply exile Caesar for an amount of time…
As Sallust stated, “Greed destroyed honor, honesty and taught men to be arrogant and cruel. Ambition made men false. Rome changed.” The Roman Republic was critically weakened between 78 and 49 BC. The underlying flaws within the structure of the Senate and the republic itself, political corruption and violence and the formation of the first triumvirate, which should not have been permitted under the democratic state, all contributed to its decline. Manipulating these decaying social and political conditions were significant individuals, who, despite the efforts of the senate, rose to prominence and power, which culminated in Civil war.…
This fan represents the sorrowful story of Lucius and Tarquinius, two friends from vastly different backgrounds and upbringings. The setting is 78 AD in the great Roman Empire. Lucius is a slave and works for the family of Tarquinius, a young and adventurous Roman citizen of noble birth. Despite the fact that Lucius is a slave, Tarquinius always saw him as an equal. They developed a great relationship with each other as Tarquinius grew from a child to a young adult. Their relationship was mutualistic. Lucius would give wise advice to Tarquinius, and Tarquinius would pay him back with admiration and appreciation. However, Tarquinius soon grew bored of his normal way of life in his hometown of Pompeii, Italy.…
The wars against Mithridates and the Parthians in the period 78-31BC are acutely significant on the political developments of the Roman Republic. The expansion of the Roman Empire into Eastern settlements took place under the leadership of an oligarchy, thus, politicians had to distinguish themselves through military achievements to be elected to gain influence in the Republic. Throughout the Mithridatic War, Pompey used his military victory over Mithridates in 63BC in order to gain political recognition in Rome. However, due to the constant fear of the emergence of autocratic behaviour, the senate refused to ratify Pompey’s Eastern Settlement. The intransigence of the oligarchy ultimately stimulated the formation of the first triumvirate, a strategic alliance which intimidated senatorial powers. Correspondingly, this increased intimidation between the three triumvirs, leading to Crassus’s unsuccessful Parthian campaign in which his death marked the breakdown of the triumvirate. Political instability within Rome spurred the outbreak of the civil war providing Caesar with immense autocratic power, undermining that of the senate. Due to Caesar’s assassination in 44BC, the collapse of the Republican political system in Rome was provoked through Antony’s unsuccessful assumption of Caesar’s Parthian campaign and the failure of the second triumvirate. The results of the Mithridatic and Parthian Wars were significant in their stimulation of the downfall of the Roman Republic and provided an insight into Imperial Rome.…
The emperor Gaius is a very misunderstood man, who is often brandished with the label of being ‘Mad’ both by ancient and modern scholars. However, it is my belief, it was the absolute power given to him, at such a young age, which caused him to have a mental breakdown. As emperor, he had no one but himself to stop him doing whatever his heart desires, which explains his increasingly cruel and erratic behaviour between AD 37 when Caligula fell ill and AD 41 when the Praetorian Guard took matters into their own hands and assassinated the 29-year-old emperor. The immense power that Gaius was given is bet described by Ferrill, “The powers it had taken Augustus a lifetime to accumulate, Caligula received in a single moment” .…
Lucius Cornelius Sulla was a well-known optimate Roman general who was able to become a consul twice and a dictator for an unlimited amount of time. While he was holding the position of dictator he got to change numerous laws and establish new ones with the purpose of restoring the law and order of Rome. However, opinions in Rome at this time after his death are divided between those that believe he did a good job and those that believe his actions will cause the end of the Roman republic. As a Roman citizen, I believe his actions will unravel the downfall of the Roman republic. For me, he started his careers with good intentions, but with time he finished it with “evil deeds.” I base my opinion on a series of factors such as the fact that…
The social wars created turmoil all over Italy and Marius, and Sulla were the great leaders of that time. Julius Caesar was excepted at the completion of his education to assume a modest office on the lower end of the long ladder of the Roman political career. however, Julius Caesar was not like other Romans. At a young age he had realized that money was the key to Roman politics as the system had by his time long been corrupt. When he was fifteen years old his father died, with him died the fatherly expectations that Julius Caesar should engage on a modest political career. Instead, Julius Caesar had set out to better himself. His first step was to marry into another but more distinguished family. Further he began building a network of connections some of which with politicians currently out of favour.…
Gaius was a Roman general. He is known for annihilating manipular military formations and restructuring the structure of the legions into separate cohorts. Marius saw the need to increase troops and the requirements for recruiting policies to be relaxed. He helped defeat the Germanic tribes, which gave him the title of “the third founder of Rome”. He was a significant part in Rome’s switch from a Republic to an Empire. He even helped legions become more loyal to their generals than to the state itself. Marius was elected seven times to the position of consul. However, on his seventh election he decided to invade Rome, but died seventeen days into his seventh consulship.…
Thus, by concentrating on the main levers of government in his hands, Caesar was able to control all the main spheres of life of the Roman society. He expanded the social composition of the ruling elites, integrating almost all the available layers of Roman society into it, and he solved a number of vitally important social issues that helped him to restore peace in the…
“[Gaius] had deprived Senators of judicial powers, interfered in foreign affairs, championed popular sovereignty and made a takeover bid for the patronage of all Italy. His own power was not merely more blatant than that of Tiberius but had lasted twice as long, raising the very real threat of regnum based on popular support. This fear was strengthened when Gaius stood for election a third time, which suggests he was indeed trying to revolutionise, not merely reform, Rome 's…
Between the approximate times of 44 BC and 29 BC Rome went through a rather extravagant change of management following the assassination of Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar was a Triumvir in the first Roman Triumvirate, and he made great strides in the direction of modern systems of government, with the election of certain power figures, and having the first written law. However, even though many people loved the actions of Caesar, some still resented him. So this led to conspirators gathering support and assassinating Julius Caesar. However, Rome changed more after Caesar fell than when Caesar was influencing the decisions made.…
Marius was a very influential and strong general during the time of the romans. Although he had good military tactics, his time as a statesman was different he was ill equipped to be a statesman. He wasn't smart and did not have good impacts on the roman people. He was covered up in (as plutarch states) “ smoke screen of moralizing”.…
Through his time as a General of Rome and a Roman dictator Sulla left behind a legacy of fear and failure, a multitude of problems. Sulla is said to be a contributing factor of the fall of the Roman Empire and had changed Roman history forever.…
The traditional dates for the Roman Republic are 509 to 27 B.C. The latter part of this period from 133 to 27 B.C. is known as the late Republic. It is also known as the Roman Revolution. The result of this revolution was the emergence of the Roman Empire and the catalyst has traditionally been linked to a single Roman citizen called Tiberius Gracchus. The wake of his brief political career left Rome much different than it had been. Like a crack in the wall of a dam, Tiberius revealed a weakness in the Roman system of government that would soon spider out of control until it could no longer hold back the deluge of the building political tension. What was this weakness?…
The Social War would see the rise of Lucius Sulla to both military and political power as he led the southern Legions to victory during the rebellion. Marius had returned from retirement to lead the northern Legions. Once the Social War was ended, this created a power duel between the two commanders. The Republic soon fell into full-scale civil war, requiring Sulla to direct his Legions against Marius’ supporters holding Rome. Sulla became the first general to lead Roman legions against the city of Rome itself. The war would rage on for one and a half years before Sulla prevailed. He then carried out a series of purges to remove his enemies, a political tool that was becoming more and more common in the Republic. With much of his opposition removed and an air of terror instilled, Sulla was appointed dictator, whereby he then doubled the size of the Senate and gave it veto power over the Plebeian Assembly, in effect changing the balance of power in the government. At the same time, this gave him overwhelming support from the Senate. He also stripped the tribunes of much of their power, while limiting the powers of provincial governors. Sulla would resign his dictatorship for a consulship…