Download Fall of the Roman Republic

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Power Hungr
y
The Fall of th
e Republic
and
The Beginnin
g of the Emp
ire
Trouble in the Republic
0 The Army seemed invincible, but there were problems in
Rome:
0 Farmers could not farm because of enlistment or bad land
due to Hannibal. Small farms also disappear because of
latifundia. Instead of Romans working latifundia for wages,
land owners brought in slaves to work the land.
0 Government was not ran correctly.
0 Gap between rich and the poor could not be fixed.
0 Cities became overcrowded. Which created its own problems.
Gracchus Brothers
0 Tiberius and Gaius saw the problems in Rome and thought that political
reform would help fix the problems.
0 They saw that part of the downfall was the loss of all the small farms. Small
farmers’ land had been taken by wealthy Patricians/Senators. So, the brothers
wanted to distribute out the public lands to farm on.
0 This outraged many Senators, who plotted and killed Tiberius in 133 BC and
killed Gaius in 121 BC.
Why do we study history?
0 At the beginning of our nation’s
history, Thomas Jefferson believed
that the backbone of the United
States of America was…the small
farmer.
0 Are we doomed to repeat Rome’s
mistakes?
Roman Army Enters Politics
0 Until the crisis in the
Republic, the Roman army
stayed out of politics.
0 Marius becomes consul in 107
BC and begins to recruit
soldiers from poor
neighborhoods.
0 He offers them wages and a
chance to own land.
0 This changes Rome and the
army dramatically.
Rome’s Army Changes
0 The Roman army went from
men that voluntarily served out
of a sense of duty for Rome to
an army that fought for money
and material items.
0 Does this mean that soldiers
fight for Rome, or for their
general?
Sulla Destroys the Republic
0 Sulla learned from Marius
and created his own army
that was loyal to him.
0 He weakened the Council of
Plebs and stepped down
from office.
0 What he thought would be
good for Rome was not.
This caused 50 years of
civil war within the Roman
empire.
First Triumvirate
0 Many leaders used the technique of Marius and Sulla.
0 The First Triumvirate consisted of
0 Gaius Julius Caesar
0 Marcus Licinius Crassus
0 Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey)
“Crossing the Rubicon”
0 Caesar was becoming too popular, and after Crassus was
killed in battle the Senate decided that Pompey should rule
Rome alone.
0 The Senate ordered that Caesar return home and turn over
his 5,000 man army.
0 Caesar feared for his own life, so he returned home
WITHOUT turning over his army. He knew this would
cause civil war…and it did.
0 He drove out Pompey’s army and destroyed it.
Julius Caesar, Dictator
0 Caesar named himself
dictator for life.
0 He was NEVER an
emperor!
0 Lets take a look at Pgs.
284 – 285 and decide
on whether Caesar
wanted complete
control for the
betterment of Rome, or
if he was powerhungry.
Beware the Ides of March
0 Caesar made both friends and enemies within the Roman
senate.
0 His supporters thought that Caesar was making choices
that were best for Rome, while his enemies believed he
wanted to become King.
0 A group of senators plotted to assassinate Caesar,
including Cassius and Brutus.
“Et tu Brute?!”
0 Brutus was a close friend to Caesar.
Second Triumvirate
0 Caesar’s death caused another civil war
within Rome.
0 Of those fighting were; those that
murdered Caesar…and those close to him.
0 Those close to Caesar defeated his
enemies and created the Second
Triumvirate.
0 Marcus Antonius (Antony)
0 Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
0 Gaius Octavius Thurinius (Octavian)
Antony and Lepidus were
some of Caesar’s top
generals, while Octavian
was Caesar’s
grandnephew.
Rome Divides
0 The Second Triumvirate begins to argue and Octavian
forces Lepidus to retire.
0 Octavian and Antony divide Rome. Octavian controlled the
west and Antony the east.
Tragic Love Story
0 Does this sound familiar?
Guy falls in love…forgets about his responsibilities…loses focus…
loses everything!
Antony falls in love with Cleopatra VII. Octavian warns Rome that
Antony wants his army to join forces with Egypt and take control of
the Roman Empire.
War!
0 Octavian defeats the army
and navy of Antony and
Cleopatra at the Battle of
Actium.
0 The two lovebirds run, but
when Octavian closes in on
them…they kill themselves.
Augustus
0 Octavian is now in charge of Rome
at 32. The civil wars are over, but
so is the Republic.
0 Octavian wanted to maintain a
government that involved a senate,
but he knew that the republic would
be too weak to run on its own.
0 He gives some power to the senate,
but most of the power resided in
himself…
0 He calls his new title imperator =
“commander in chief”
We now refer to imperator as…
EMPEROR.
He also changes his name to Augustus
= “the majestic one”