PPo owweerr HHuunnggrryy The Fall r is of the Repub ilve lic 7 S ME! and SO The E Beginning o AW f the Empire 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 power- hungry. 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”