Download Factors in the Death of the Roman Republic

Factors in the Death of the Roman Republic
(a – j from Chp. 6, sec. 2)
a) Rome’s increasing wealth & expanding empire brought many problems.
b) There was a widening gap between rich & poor.
c) Thousands of captured POW’s became slaves, driving the cost of labor
down.
d) Small farmers, competing with slave labor & suffering losses from
fighting, could not make a living so they sell out to large estate
owners & become homeless poor or migrant laborers.
e) Discontent increased among both slaves & the lower class.
f) The murder of two reformers, the Gracchus brothers, brought violence to
the streets as their followers clashed with government forces.
g) Mercenaries (soldiers for hire) who were loyal to the commanding officer
who paid them replaced citizen-soldiers soldiers who fought for the
glory of their country.
h) Politicians/ generals began to develop their own private armies.
i) Julius Caesar used his military success as an opportunity to set himself up
to be dictator of Rome. The army and common people welcomed him
as dictator, convinced he would do a better job at addressing Rome’s
problems than the old republican government did.
j) Rich landowners lived on huge latifundia, often created by land taken
from plebeian farmers who were off fighting in Rome’s army.
k) Wealthy Romans, including politicians, became corrupted by money and
luxury.