Download Expansion of the Military and Civil War

Expansion of the Military and
Civil War
The Decline of the Roman
Republic
400 BCE – 27 CE
Timeline for Ancient Rome
• Kingship: 750 to 509 BCE
• Early Republic: 509-287 BCE
• Middle Republic: 287-133 BCE
– Punic Wars
• Socioeconomic & political impact
• Cultural impact: transformation of religion
• Late Republic: 133-27 BCE
• Empire: 27 BCE – 476 CE
Unification
of Italy
450-250
What impact did warfare likely
have on the Roman Republic?
A. It became more democratic
B. It became much poorer
C. Military discipline became central to
Roman culture
D. It changed the distribution of power in the
republic, with generals becoming more
powerful
Which of the following is the necessary
component of a republic?
A. Separation of powers
B. Loyalty to the state
C. Rule of law
D. Representative government
E. Something else
The Oath of the Horatii – Patriotic Duty
The
Twelve
Tables
Roman
Law c. 450
BCE
Publius
Cornelius
Tacitus
56-117 CE
Based on Agricola, what topics
engaged Tacitus’s interests
How did Tacitus’s perspective
influence his writing?
What events may have
influenced that perspective?
Centurions
instilled
discipline in
Roman
legionaries
Discuss Tacitus
• Given that Tacitus was born in the first
century CE, what can his writings tell us
about the political culture of early Rome?
• What was Tacitus’s attitude toward the
political system during his lifetime?
• What was his attitude toward his father-inlaw?
Which of the following was a
central topic of Agricola?
A. The Roman conquest of Britain
B. The Roman Conquest of Gaul
C. The Roman Defeat by Herman the
German
D. The Roman struggle against the Cimbri
What developments did the introduction to
Tacitus highlight as having a big influence
on Rome between 300 and 100 BCE?
A. The invasions of the Celts and the
Germans
B. The Punic Wars
C. The rise of the Plebeian Assembly
D. The rise of a class of wealthy nonpatricians, known as equites, or knights
What did Tacitus admire about
Agricola
A. His sense of moderation and proportion
B. His recklessness in war
C. His drive to succeed at any cost
D. His admiration for the Britons’ attachment
to peace
What was Tacitus’ attitude toward
the barbarians to the North?
Why was this topic so pressing
during his lifetime?
How did the political climate during his
lifetime influence his perspective?
What was Tacitus’s attitude
toward peace?
How did he describe the
Britons?
Centurions
instilled
discipline in
Roman
legionaries
Unification
of Italy
450-250
Samnites
Cornicen
Legionary
Standard
bearers:
Signifer
&
Aquilifer
The Alps
Domitian
and
Vespasian
The Flavian
rulers of the
late first
century
Hannibal’s
Victories in
Italy
218-216 BCE
Tiberius and Caius Gracchus
Gaius Marius
157 – 86 BCE
Lucius Sulla
138 - 78 BCE
Gaius Julius
Caesar
100-44 BCE
Which Roman principle partly inspired
him to write about his father-in-law’s life
A. The separation of powers
B. The rule of law
C. Reverence for ancestors
D. The glory of Rome
The Republican Empire: Overview
• The Romans maintained their republican
traditions for hundreds of years as they
expanded their political influence throughout the
Italian peninsula
• However, as the wars of aggression brought
their citizen soldiers further from home,
especially during the Punic Wars, the social
underpinnings of the republic began to falter
• Increasingly Rome became the home of a
landless mass of dispossessed citizens who
relied on government support for survival
Background on the Roman Army
• Highly organized
– Command structure
• Highly Specialized functions
– Layout of the Camps
• Earthen walls
• Replicated structure
• Provided basis for many permanent cities
– Engineering
•
•
•
•
•
Stone walls
Aqueducts
Siege craft
Ramparts
Bridges and roads
Background on the Roman Army
• Training exercises in the Roman Army was no
different from combat except for the amount of
bloodshed; in some ways it was actually harder
– Double weighted swords and javelins
– 20 mile marches with weapons, armor, and equipment
• Virtually all soldiers knew at least the rudiments
of construction engineering from ditch digging
and wall building to the construction of canals
and aqueducts
• To join a legion, one had to be a Roman citizen,
although by the first century BCE this
requirement was frequently evaded
Background on the Roman Army
• Between the early years of the republic and the
first century BCE, a full tour of service in the
legions had increased from seven to 20 years
• Soldiers were paid directly by their legionary
commander, the legatus; this practice increased
but did not guarantee loyalty to the legatus in
times of crisis
• Discipline in the Roman army was intense
– Its most brutal form of punishment was decimation,
flogging to death, usually reserved for those who fled
in battle
The Roman Army: First Century BCE
• Roman Legions – 28 throughout the Empire
– Known for flexibility in battle
– Infantry carried javelins and short, broad swords
– Grew in size from approximately 3500 to 6000 soldiers
during first century BCE
– Proportion of cavalry increased from 1/7th to ¼ of fighting
force
– Led by a legatus who commanded
• 10 cohorts, each under control of a senior centurion
• 60 centurions who originally exercised command over 100 soldiers
(later 80)
• six tribunes who handled administrative issues; five of these were
from the equestrian class; one from the senatorial class
– Centurions had virtually limitless power over their men;
they carried a staff as a symbol of their authority
Conquest 400-250 BCE
• Fist major conquest occurred in early fourth
century
• Between that victory and 220 BCE, the Romans
gained control of all of the Italian peninsula; their
peace terms varied significantly
– enslavement
– grants of partial citizenship
– alliances
• All conquered peoples were required to provide
military aid in time of need; Rome did not tax its
Italian subjects
• Wars of aggression were presented to the people
as
– necessary for the defense of the republic
– a sign of the gods’ favor for Rome
Conquest 250-150 BCE
• The Punic Wars - a series of wars that pitted
Rome against Carthage, its powerful rival in
North Africa
– First War (264-241) erupted when Carthage made
inroads into Sicily; Rome gains control of Sicily,
Corsica, and Sardinia; Rome expands its naval
capabilities
– Second War (218-201) - The daring Carthaginian
general Hannibal marches troops and elephants over
the alps and almost captures Rome; Rome eventually
sacks Carthage
– Third War(149-146) - Rome levels Carthage and
establishes Roman government in N. Africa
Consequences of Conquest:150 BCE
• Roads built throughout the peninsula
• Rome gains control of western Mediterranean
commerce
• Trade and dissemination of Roman culture and
language
• Decline of the yeoman farmer
– normal agrarian patterns disrupted
– as wars lasted longer and took men further away from
home, the number of fatherless and landless families
increases
– many of these families move to Rome and and require
public support for their survival
– the population of the city swells to over 200,000 by 300
BCE
Consequences of Conquest c. 100
BCE
• During the last half of the second century BCE, a
popular political faction championed the cause of
the landless Roman soldier
• The wealthiest members of Roman society
generally opposed measures aimed at restoring
land to the yeoman farmer/soldier and hired
thugs to assassinate the Grachus brothers, the
leaders of the popular faction
• From approximately 133 BCE until 44 BCE,
Roman politics became increasingly violent until
it erupted in civil war after the murder of Julius
Caesar in 44 BCE
Leaders During the Republican Empire
• After the death of the Gracchi, Roman generals
and consuls became increasingly influential in
politics beginning in the late second century BCE
(c. 100 BCE) when republican institutions
increasingly lost power
• By the time of Julius Caesar, the republican form
of Roman government had given way to a series
of Army generals assuming power in order to
“save the republic”
– The power of the senate weakened
– Troops in Rome
– Generals, such as Marius and Sulla, rely on booty to
command loyalty of their troops, who ensured political
power and occupied Rome
Growth of the Military
• From the time of Julius Caesar (50 BCE) to
Diocletian (300 CE) the Roman Army consisted of
about 150,000 legionaries (approximately 30
legions) and 150,000 auxiliaries
• Auxiliaries were non-Roman citizens organized
into 500 man cohorts under Roman commanders
• Auxiliaries often fought on the front lines
• Auxiliary soldiers received about ½ the pay of the
legionaries and attained Roman citizenship upon
retirement
Summary
• Rome occupied a strategic location in the
middle of Italy and in the middle of the
Mediterranean
• By the second half of the third century BCE (c.
220), it had gained control over Italy; during the
next 200 years, it exercised imperial power over
the entire Mediterranean basin
• This spectacular growth placed enormous
strains on the republican social and political
customs and institutions
Summary
• During the transition from republic to
Empire, civil wars wrought destruction and
havoc on the city of Rome and the people
of the Italian peninsula
• Rome’s inability to maintain its republican
institutions in the wake of its imperial
acquisitions induced many historians to
assume that republics must necessarily be
limited in size
Summary
• As the size of the Roman state grew, the opportunities
for accumulating wealth through political office also grew
• By the second century BCE political offices were
increasingly held by those who sought wealth and
power; the political ideals of the early republic, which
included serving the interests of the common people,
had given way to power plays cloaked in republican
rhetoric
• In addition, violence and factional interests became
increasingly common during the last 100 years of the
Republic (150-50 BCE)