Download End of Republic/Triumvirate Powerpoint

The Fall of the Roman Republic
After the Punic Wars

100+ years of instability
thanks to Hannibal
◦ Governing new provinces
◦ Social and economic
problems
A) Governing New Provinces

Roman Senate ruled the provinces
◦ Governor appointed annual (usually a
Praetor) but not paid
Private companies of professional tax
collectors (publican) bid for tax contracts
 Over-taxation caused the provinces to be
in a constant state of revolt against
Roman rule

B) Social & Economic Problems

Ruin of the small Roman (plebeian)
farmer
◦ Hannibal physically destroyed southern Italy
◦ Because many Roman farmers served in army,
they returned home to ruined farms
◦ Rome offered no compensation for damages
◦ Wealthy patricians bought up large estates
◦ Large patrician-owned farms able to undercut
few remaining farmers due to economy of
scale
Social & Economic Problems, cont’d

Creation of the unemployed city mob
◦ Farmers migrated to Rome for work but no
gainful employment to be found
◦ Unemployed mob tried to survive by selling
their vote to wealthy patricians
 Patricians offered “bread and circuses” in return
Social & Economic Problems, cont’d

Slavery
◦ 2/3 people in Italy were slaves
◦ POWs and criminals
 Main source of slave labour
◦ Slavery was hereditary
◦ Republic lived under constant threat of slave
revolts
 Spartacus

Discontent of new middle class
◦ Some plebeians became wealthy businessmen but
Senate denied them positions as senators or
governors
Social & Economic Problems, cont’d

Discontent of Italian allies
◦ After Punic Wars, allies permitted to
 Have some form of local gov’t
 Trade with Rome
 Inter-marry with Romans
◦ But they lost their land after the wars and had
no vote to sell to the patricians (not citizens)
◦ therefore., allied plebeians demanded Roman
citizenship to they would have a vote to sell
Brothers Gracchi
Reformers? Socialists?
 Read Echoes, p.176 and describe who the
Gracchus Brothers are and what they
hoped to accomplish

Growing Power of Generals
VS
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
138 – 78 BCE
Gaius Marius
157 – 86 BCE
Marius & Sulla

100 BCE: Marius formed Roman citizen
army
◦ 16 years service + 4 in reserve; retirement
pension
91 BCE: Italian allies rebel due to Senate
refusing them enfranchisement
 87 BCE: Sulla (Marius’ right-hand man)
crushes last of rebels – results in political
power

Growing Power of Generals


Senate gives Sulla command in war against
Mithradates (eastern king); Marius jealous
and angry and convinces Senate to change
orders
Sulla refuses to disband troops and marches
on Rome
◦ Passes reforms to protect position and has
Senate outlaw Marius

While Sulla is off fighting Mithradates, Marius
marches on Rome
◦ Bloody reprisals and enemy purge

87 BCE: Marius dies and his ally, Cinna,
controls Rome until his death in 84 BCE
First Triumvirate (62-54 BCE)
Caesar
Crassus
Pompey
These three men acted in concert because their individual
demands were met with stiff opposition in the Senate
First Triumvirate Players
Julius Caesar
Marcus Crassus
Pompey the Great
Julius Caesar
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Born in 100 BCE
Aristocrat
Quaestor in Spain
Popular with mob b/c offered free grain
Unusually fair to opponents
Waited until 42 yrs to be elected Consul
Grievance: Senate refused to make him a
governor
Marcus Crassus
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Born to patrician family
Wealthiest man in Rome
Leader of the Equities
Ran private fire dept
Crushed slave revolt of Spartacus
Grievance: Senate refused to aid troops
who suffered losses in Asia Minor
Pompey the Great
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Lead general in Rome
Cleared Mediterranean of pirates
Put down Spanish revolt
Made Syria and Palestine Roman provinces
Landless soldiers became loyal to general
rather than state
Grievance: Senate refused to give land to
his veterans
Agreement of First Triumvirate
Crassus’ wealth got Caesar elected coconsul with Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus
(silenced by intimidation)
 Caesar passed laws to give Crassus and
Pompey what they wanted
 Caesar’s daughter, Julia, married Pompey

Breakdown of First Triumvirate

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Point form notes from Echoes p.179-180
Crassus: defeated by Parthians and killed (53
BCE)
Pompey: started opposing Caesar and agreed
to senatorial demand (50 BCE) that Caesar
disband his army
◦ Caesar refused (would leave him defenseless) and
crossed the Rubicon (49 BCE) with army, thus
entering Italian territory
◦ Pompey beaten back to Alexandria; defeated and
decapitated
Civil War
Caesar as Dictator
46 BCE: Julius Caesar had himself
appointed Dictator for 10 years
 45 BCE: Dictator appointment extended
“for life”; became Pontifex Maximus (Chief
Priest)… now has all responsibility for
decision making

◦ Now acting more like a king than a guardian
of the Republic

15 March 44 BCE: The Ides of March
◦ Brutus, Cassius, et al. stab him to death
After Caesar’s Death
Brutus
Cassius
The Second Triumvirate
Republic plunged into civil war after
Caesar’s assassination
 Power struggle:

◦ Octavian: Caesar’s 19-year-old great nephew;
adopted as his son and named chief heir
◦ Marc Antony: Caesar’s best friend and loyal
general
◦ Lepidus: former general in Caesar’s army and
leading lieutenant of Antony
The Second Triumvirate (43-33 BCE)
Octavian
Marc Antony
Marcus Lepidus
Final Battle for Supremacy
40 BCE: Triumvirate divided Republic: Antony in east,
Octavian in west, Lepidus in Africa (pushed out and made
Pontifex Maximus within 5 years)
 36 BCE: Octavian’s admiral, Marcus Agrippa, defeated Sextus
Pompey (son of Pompey the Great) in naval battle
 Marc Antony met, fell in love with, and married Cleopatra

◦ Ruler of Egypt, descendent of Ptolemy, former lover of Caesar
(had his son Caesarion)
34 BCE: Antony and Cleopatra divided Roman East between
their family (Caesarion + 3 children)
 2 Sept 31 BCE: Octavian and Agrippa defeated forces of
Antony and Cleopatra at Battle of Actium off west coast of
Peloponnese
 Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide; Caesarion (political
threat) killed
 Octavian (AKA Augustus) now master of the Roman world
