Download Factors in the Decline of the Roman Republic: • Slow sluggish form

Factors in the Decline of the Roman Republic:
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Slow sluggish form of government for a large territory
Returning veterans in central Italy needed parcels of farmland
Price of grain; importation of grain; poor soil
On-going civil war for almost a century
Societal decline: divorce, illegitimate children, adultery
Assassinations, bribery, and corruption in government
Decline in birth rate; economy needs steadily growing population
Ambitious men unwilling to share power
Public lack of confidence in government
Cato warned of it; Polybius predicted it; Cicero saw it happen
Competition between social classes (pleb., patric., equet., prolet.)
Competition between political parties (optimates vs. populares)
Bad lessons (examples) from Marius and Sulla: personal armies
Factors in the Decline of the Roman Empire
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External military pressures from Germanic tribes and other tribes
Internal splits between eastern and western empires; division of administration
Succession – because the office of princeps was unconstitutional
Decadent, lethargic, complacent upper class
Ill-disciplined legions because of competitive generals
Loss of civic virtue; outsourced defense to mercenaries
Germanic tribes invent iron horseshoes and magnetic compass
Low population growth, decline in birth rate
Changing climate (weather)? Pacifying Christianity?
Persians – Sassanids – Huns – Goths – Gauls
Economics – price controls, debased currency, over-taxation
Plagues, Agricultural Practices / Over-Farming, Lead Pipes
“Brain drain” when intelligent leadership class commits suicide
Petronius describes it among moneyed people: what about lower class?
Stoicism and Epicureanism fail to stop decline
Unsteady hierarchy breeds disorder: imperial apparatus was unconstitutional
“Luxury is more ruthless than war,” said Juvenal.