roman republic to empire
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ROMAN REPUBLIC TO EMPIRE
60 BCE to 180 BCE
Republic to Empire
Small minority of Roman citizens are running the government Senate is made up of wealthy landowners
who serve for life Senators and the wealthy bought large tracts
of land for large-scale and highly profitable agriculture
Small farmers could not compete with large-scale agriculture
Created economic and social crisis in Rome as small farmers moved to Rome seeking economic opportunity
Reform: Gracchus Brothers
Rome had large population of poor Made up of small farmers who gave up their
land because they couldn’t compete with wealthy landowners
Gracchus brothers proposed reforms to help poor Land-reform bills to prevent large scale
agriculture Return public lands to small farmers
Gracchus brothers were assassinated by the wealthy class for their reform ideas
Roman ArmyTraditionally, the Roman Army recruited from the landowner class, who could afford armor and weapons. By first century BCE, the Army was stretched too thin and needed more soldiers. Gaius Marius, a famous general, recruited his soldiers from among the poor. He promised land in exchange for their service. • This gave soldiers the opportunity to become landowners
and possibly rise through the social classes• It made the soldiers give their allegiance to their general,
not Rome Once an army became loyal to their general instead of Rome, generals found themselves with more power – the power of force.Roman generals started to use their armies to gain political power by threatening or actually invading Rome.
Roman Generals
Gaius Marius Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Changed way armies were recruited
Gave generals more power
Forced generals to enter politics to get land for their troops
Civil war broke out when Sulla had command of army in Asia Plebs tried to give
command to Marius
Sulla brought his army back to Rome and fought Marius
Sulla defeated Marius and became dictator
Sulla
Used dictatorship to try to restore power to the Senate instead of generals
Instead showed future leaders how they could control Rome Army loyalty Bribed Tribunes of the Pleb into making
laws Left behind legacy of generals seizing
power by force and having Senate appoint them dictators
First Triumvirate
From 82 to 31 BCE, Rome was involved in several civil wars as generals tried to gain power.
In 60 BCE, three men emerged as victors and were able to dominate the political scene in Rome: Crassus, the richest man in Rome Pompey, a military hero Julius Caesar, a military commander
from one of the oldest families in Rome
First Triumvirate
First Triumvirate
Joined together in 60 BCE Pompey received command of Spain Crassus received command in Syria Caesar received command of Gaul
(France) All three used their commands to
enrich themselves and gain the loyalty of their armies
Crassus was killed in 53 BCE, ending the triumvirate
First Triumvirate: Aftermath Pompey, heavily influenced by a Senate allied
against Caesar, was convinced to take command of Rome Caesar was ordered to disband his army and
return to Rome Caesar would face charges of treason,
bribery, and illegally fighting a war in Gaul, so he refused to step down
Caesar kept his army and crossed into Rome at the Rubicon (as a result, “Crossing the Rubicon” has come to mean unable to turn)
Caesar marched on Rome, starting a civil war against Pompey’s forces
Caesar defeated Pompey, who fled Rome with most of the Senate
Julius Caesar
•Used military to seize power•Became dictator in 47 BC•Gave land to poor•Gave political offices to friends•Weakened Senate by enlarging it•Changed to 365 day calendar (was Egyptian)
Second Triumvirate
Caesar’s heir: Octavian Caesar’s nephew: Marcus Antonius Caesar’s cavalry commander:
Lepidus Three men took control of Rome Lepidus went to Africa Ocatvian and Marcus Antonius split the
rest of the Roman territory by East/West, Antonius took the East, went to Egypt Octavian stayed in Rome and gained
power
Second Triumvirate
Octavian vs. Antonius
Lepidus was soon out of power, crushed between the two opposing forces of Octavian and Antonius
Antonius fled to Egypt and allied himself with Cleopatra (his mistress – he fell in love with her)
Octavian pursued Antony with his army, had battle at Actium
Antony was defeated and a year later, he and Cleopatra committed suicide rather than surrender to Octavian
Age of Augustus
After Antony’s suicide, Octavian was supreme ruler of Rome
He promised to restore the Republic, but actually became the first emperor
In 27BCE the Senate granted Octavian the title of “Augustus”, meaning the revered one
He still controlled army, so Senate was not powerful
Was granted title of imperator, or emperor
Age of Augustus
Octavian kept standing military of around 150,000 men
Stabilized the Roman Empire
Expanded borders of known Empire
Defeated when he tried to expand into Germany
Early Empire – 14 BCE – 180 CE Empire had a strong
military First four emperors
after Octavian were all from his family Tiberius Caligula Claudius Nero
Early Empire
Emperors became more powerful, took power from the Senate
Emperors became more corrupt the more power they gained
Nero killed all his opposition, including his own mother
Military abandoned Nero, who committed suicide
Pax Romana
Pax Romana was period of peace and prosperity
Five good emperors came to power during Pax Romana: Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Anonius Pius, and Marcus Aurelius Respected ruling classes Ended arbitrary execution Maintained Peace throughout empire Domestic policies of building including
aqueducts, bridges, roads, harbors
Empire ExpandsRome expands under emperor Trajan
Empire becomes too large to be easily governed
Hadrian withdrew from Mesopotamia, strengthened fortifications along the Rhine and Danube Rivers
Built Hadrian’s Wall in northern Britain to keep out Picts and Scots
At its height, the empire was 3.5 million square miles and had a population of over 50,000,000 people
Early Empire
Emperors allowed conquered people to maintain local customs
Citizenship was granted to some conquered people, especially the wealthy and those accepting of Roman rule
In AD 212, the emperor Caracalla granted everyone Roman citizenship
Cities are critical in spreading Roman culture, including Latin, literature, and laws
Culture is Greco-Roman, since Greek was used throughout most of the Eastern part of the Empire
Economic & Social Conditions Early empire was prosperous and peaceful
High levels of trade throughout the Empire Puteoli is chief port in Italy, along with Ostia, which
was at the mouth of the Tiber River Luxury items came from as far east as China
(along the Silk Road) Farming remained the chief occupation of
Roman prosperity Large estates called latifundia dominated
farming Sheep and cattle were raised on a large scale,
mostly using slave labor Large gulf between the very wealthy and the
poor Poor were dependent on handouts of grain
from the emperor
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