Download The Weakness of the Late Republic

10/14/2005
The Weakness of the Late
Republic
The Roman
Empire at the
time of Julius
Caesar:
military might
but internal
instability
Results of Imperialism
Crises of the Late Republic
Economic: flood of wealth from the empire into Italy
Rich became richer, poor became poorer
Establishment of large estates and slave-based commercial agriculture
Social
Think Spartacus!
Ruin of the small farmer
Increase of the urban proletariat
Decrease in the citizen soldier, rise of professional soldiers loyal to
their generals
Repeated threats of slave revolts
Political
Division of wealthy into the politically empowered and the relatively
disenfranchised
Rise of demagogic politics and political violence—The Roman
Revolution
Tribunes like the Gracchi appealed to the people to outmaneuver the senate
Generals began to use their armies as political tools
10/14/2005
20. The Weakness of the Late Republic
20. The Weakness of the Late Republic
2
1
10/14/2005
Rise of the Generals
Marius
Sulla
Conquered much of the East for Rome
Crassus
First to use army against the government: Sulla’s march on
Rome
Dictatorship
Pompey the Great
Created the first “professional army,” more loyal to himself than
the state
Depended upon populares politicians (senators who worked through
the people rather than the Senate) to provide pay and pensions for
his soldiers and veterans
Put down the slave revolt of Spartacus
“First Triumvirate”
Alliance of Pompey and Crassus with a young up-and-coming
politician, Julius Caesar
10/14/2005
20. The Weakness of the Late Republic
3
Sallust, Commentator on an Age
Sallust, c. 86-35 B.C.
Political career
Early phase
Served as an officer of Caesar between 49-45 B.C. in the Civil Wars
Governor of Africa Nova (Numidia, which Caesar had reduced to a
province)
Retired from politics after Caesar’s death in 44 B.C.
Expelled from Senate in 50 B.C. for alleged immorality.
Caesarian phase
Expelled from the Senate for corruption and mismanagement of a
province when he was governor
Retired from public life
Turned to history writing
Became a critic of the politics and behavior in which he had
engaged!
10/14/2005
20. The Weakness of the Late Republic
20. The Weakness of the Late Republic
4
2
10/14/2005
Sallust and History
Early works rejected the annalistic model in favor of the
historical monograph
Used episodes, the Jugurthine War and the Catilinarian
Conspiracy, to illustrate the larger theme of Roman decline
Style
Followed model of Thucydides
Accuracy?
Short, terse sentences for “historical momentum”
Archaic diction
Use of speeches
Not a rigorous pursuit of truth but a dramatic narrative with
vivid characters meant to illustrate moral decline—the
moralizing tendency of Roman historiography
“Sallust’s monographs were much admired in classical antiquity . . .
and later by St. Jerome and St. Augustine. They continued to be
popular through the greater part of the Middle Ages, supplying more
ideas and suggesting more turns of phrase than any other pagan
author.” (Handford, 8 adapted)
10/14/2005
20. The Weakness of the Late Republic
5
The War Against Catiline
Prologue: The Greatness and Decline of Rome
Early Romans—poor, simple, austere—were models of good
morals and traditional values
Power and greatness led to a decline in values
“But when our country had grown great through toil and the practice
of justice . . . when Carthage, the rival of Rome’s sway, had perished
utterly, and all seas and lands were open, then Fortune began to
grow cruel and to bring confusion into all our affairs. Those who had
found it easy to bear hardship and dangers, anxiety and adversity,
found leisure and wealth . . . a burden and a curse. Hence the lust
for power first, then for money, grew upon them. These were, I
may say, the root of all evils.” (packet, 74-76)
The attempted revolution of Catiline
In 63 B.C., a renegade and desperate patrician senator,
Catiline, attempted a coup and social revolution
The consul of the year, Cicero (more below), managed to
suppress the plot
Sallust saw Catiline’s attempt as symptomatic of the
corruption of the Roman Late Republic (see packet, 76-77)
10/14/2005
20. The Weakness of the Late Republic
20. The Weakness of the Late Republic
6
3
10/14/2005
The Career of Cicero
Background
From a wealthy Italian family important in local affairs but not at
Rome
Cicero had a thorough Latin and Greek education, studying
rhetoric and philosophy
Gained a reputation as a public speaker, particularly in the law
courts
Was the first person (a novus homo) in his family to be elected to
offices in Rome and enter the Senate
Cicero’s consulship
As a novus homo, or new man, Cicero tried to become part
of the senatorial aristocracy by joining with the optimates
(conservative politicians who worked through the Senate)
Elected consul in 63 B.C.
Saw his successful suppression of the Catilinarian Conspiracy as his
“finest hour”
10/14/2005
7
20. The Weakness of the Late Republic
In Catilinam I
Cicero’s View of the
Catilinarian Conspiracy
"Cicero Denouncing Catiline“ By Cesare Maccari
Rhetorical devices in first paragraph
(packet, 79-80)
What is his problem and how does he
try to bluff Catiline into leaving the city
of Rome?
Cicero lacked political support and hard
evidence
10/14/2005
20. The Weakness of the Late Republic
20. The Weakness of the Late Republic
Used his hearsay
evidence to discredit
Catiline, made him
fear that Cicero knew
more than he does
Catiline forced to show
his hand, flees the city
but not arrested
Personification of
Rome in ¶ VII (packet,
83)
Peroration (conclusion)
in ¶ XIII (packet, 86-87)
8
4
10/14/2005
Caesar and Cato
After Catiline fled Rome, Cicero arrested his fellow conspirators
Although junior magistrates, Sallust portrays Caesar and Cato
the Younger as prime movers in the senatorial debate about the
Catilinarian conspirators
Caesar, praetor-elect and newly chosen pontifex maximus
Advocates house arrest for life of conspirators
Cato, tribune-designate but also noted for his Stoicism and
incorruptibility
Moves swift, capital punishment
Sallust’s characterization (packet 77-78)
Caesar: generous, compassionate, populist, avid for glory
Cato: upright, austere, stoic
In a time of moral decline, Sallust sees them as the greatest of
the Romans . . .
10/14/2005
20. The Weakness of the Late Republic
9
Career of Caesar
Patrician and populares, revolutionary,
dictator, and noblest of the Romans
10/14/2005
20. The Weakness of the Late Republic
A patrician popularis
His consulship
Conquest of Gaul
The civil war against Pompey
Cleopatra
His dictatorship and assassination
20. The Weakness of the Late Republic
10
5
10/14/2005
Caesar the Builder
Above: Julius Caesar’s
Temple of Venus
Genetrix in the Forum
Iulium. Right: The
Roman Forum and other
fora at the time of
Augustus. Note: A –
Sulla and Catulus’
Tabularium; K –
Caesar’s Curia Iulia; and
M – Temple of Venus
Genetrix.
10/14/2005
20. The Weakness of the Late Republic
20. The Weakness of the Late Republic
11
6