Roman Republic Problems

577 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Short note on decline of the roman republic

advertisement The problems that led to the fall of the Roman Republic The Roman Republic was in trouble. It had three major problems. First the Republic needed money to run, second there was a lot of graft and corruption amongst elected officials, and finally crime was running wild throughout Rome. 1. Rome needed money to run. The Republic needed money to pay the legions, to build roads, sewers, aqueducts, and arenas, and to pay for the welfare programs that fed the poor. To get this money Rome created a system called tax farmers. A tax farmer was a person who bought the right from the Senate to tax all the people and business in a certain area. The biggest problem with this system is that the senate didn't set up any controls on the tax farmers. They didn't say how much taxes were, or who got taxed. They left all that up to the tax farmer. …show more content…

While most Romans were willing to pay taxes, and even allow the tax farmer some profit, many of the tax farmers went way beyond what people expected. Many of them saw this as a way to get rich. Plus, since the tax farmer decided who got taxed and who didn't, you could bribe the tax farmer to make your taxes low or maybe tax your competitors out of business, or if you had enough bribe money, maybe both. If a Roman citizen didn't pay their taxes at whatever amount the tax farmer set, you and your entire family could be sold into slavery. Even with the tax farmer system, the Roman government wasn't getting enough money and Rome was going broke. 2. Elected officials were

Show More
Related

  • The History of the Fall of Rome: Is the United States Also Destined to Fall?

    1522 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Roman Empire spent money on the poor citizens of their nation. However, no, this did not deplete necessary funds that were for running the nation. The Roman Empire tried to hide the problem of all their poor citizens with the “bread and circuses”. In theses circuses the roman citizens would go to be entertained by blood fights and other events, such as chariot racing and mock sea battles.

    Read More

  • The History of the Roman Government

    4408 Words  | 9 Pages

    The Romans have had almost every type of government there is. They've had a kingdom, a republic, a dictatorship, and an empire. Their democracy would be the basis for most modern democracies. The people have always been involved with and loved their government, no matter what kind it was. They loved being involved in the government, and making decisions concerning everyone. In general, the Romans were very power-hungry. This might be explained by the myth that they are descended from Romulus, who's father was Mars, the god of war. Their government loving tendencies have caused many, many civil wars. After type of government, the change has been made with a civil war. There have also been many civil wars between rulers. But it all boils

    Read More

  • The Civil War: Why Was The Civil War Inevitable?

    714 Words  | 2 Pages

    The beginning of problems for the Roman Republic began when their government started having issues. When the government started having issues, they revolved around Pompey and Caesar,

    Read More

  • Han Dynasty Research Paper

    1306 Words  | 3 Pages

    The ruler of the roman empire struggled to keep all borders safe which resulted in using most of the taxes to try and protect Rome a quote from the article “8 Reasons Why Rome Fell” explain why this led to decline “If Rome’s sheer size made it difficult to govern, ineffective

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Taxation

    1024 Words  | 3 Pages

    Taxation is as old as civilization itself. Kings and governments collected tribute from their peasants and citizens even before the invention of currency. Taxes in a form of cattle and labor were popular. However, in the modern era every industrial nation taxes their citizens though multiple ways. Federal income tax and sales tax are some examples of government taxation. Taxation is essential for any government, as it is their primary source of income. For instance, the Internal Revenue Service, a U.S. government agency responsible for tax collection, “receives over 140 million individual tax returns and collects over $950 billion in taxes” (Wood). Considering taxation is human made, it does have flaws that affect both the poor and the rich.

    Read More

  • The Twelve Tables

    1452 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rome was changing. The people of Rome were changing. The citizens of Rome were getting tired of being ruled by others. They wanted to rule themselves. So after years of fighting against the last king of Rome, who was Tarquin the Proud, the people of Rome took over, and created a new form of government called a republic (Mr.Donn). In Rome’s republic, citizens of Rome would vote for their own leaders. Now, Rome was not ruled by heirs to the throne, but by the power of citizens that strove to become great leaders. From 509 to 82 BCE, the Republic of Rome thrived. In 451 BCE, ten men were chosen to write the first ten tables of the Twelve Tables after long opposition by the patricians to publicly educate people about the rights they had. One of these ten men was lucky enough to write the last two “tables” to make The Twelve Tables. Some of the rights included in The Twelve Tables were a person’s innocence until proven guilty and a person’s right to pay off debt. During this time, the Roman Republic annihilated Carthage and poured salt on their fields as Rome grew and became stronger. When 82 BCE came around, Cornelius Sulla, a conniving dictator took over Rome when he named...

    Read More

  • Gracchi Brothers Economic Plan

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    The taxes would have been much more affordable and the plan would have provided more job opportunities than just farming. The taxes would be much more affordable in Rome because many plebs look for grains while shopping for food and the price will be lowered. This shows that the plebs will be saving more money which means they can afford more needs around Rome. This law is shown in the text, “lower the prices of grain and lowering the price of rent to the common people,” (Yero 45,46). This demonstrates that multiple key purchases inside of Rome will be much more affordable. The prices of grains had been lowered meaning that the plebs are having much more money available. This is important because if the cost for products are less, than the economy is changing so the plebs are making a fair amount of money now because the cost for what they buy is less. They can afford taxes and pay for other miscellaneous items that they want on their land that they live on. Another positive part about the Gracchi Brothers plan is that it offers more job opportunities than farming. In a previous reading, it stated a citizen who owns land in Rome can become a Roman soldier. This means that when a pleb had received land from the government they can put themselves or sons into the military to have multiple sources of income. This is a positive part of the the plan because it gives plebs more job opportunities for them and their

    Read More

  • The downfall of the Republic

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Failure of the Roman Republic was inevitable as it was an unjust system of government and it was left vulnerable after the attempted changes instigated by the Gracchi as the Gracchi exposed the weaknesses in the political structure allowing future politicians to manipulate the system. The changes made by the Gracchi left the Republic in a state of pandemonium as it destroyed political stability as well as creating opportunities for future individuals to rise above and challenge the system.

    Read More

  • The Rome Republic: The Success Of The Roman Republic

    1230 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Roman Republic had an upstanding infrastructure, a stable social system, and a balanced constitution that solidified Rome’s greatness. Regardless of its achievements, however, the Roman Republic owes much of its success to classical Greek cultures. These cultures, in conjunction with the fundamental values of Roman society, certified Rome as one of the most significant powers the world has ever seen.

    Read More

  • The Fall Of The Roman Empire Analysis

    712 Words  | 2 Pages

    Over time, ever-increasing taxation placed a massive burden on the Roman people with the majority of these taxes falling on the poorest members of society. The plight of the masses slowly ate away at the foundation of the Roman economy, especially following the final division of the empire in 395. The Roman economy in the West simply lost the ability to function in the face of overwhelming exterior and interior pressures”. This shows that to the author of this article, the economy played one of the bigger roles in the collapse of the Roman Empire. It also shows that the failing of the military, and the economic downfall were linked, the military gradually declined, and thus so did the economy of

    Read More

  • The Fall of The Roman Republic

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Roman Republic ultimately failed due to the lack of large-scale wars and other crises that had united the Roman populous early in the history of the Roman Republic. Roman leadership and honor became compromised. In the absence of war and crisis, Rome’s leaders failed to develop the honor and leadership necessary to maintain the Republic.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Patricians And Plebeians

    528 Words  | 2 Pages

    The division of the public land which was acquired in wars was unjust. According to the law, the public land was shared by the whole Romans, but because the political unfairness, patricians controlled the government. The public land was controlled by patricians in fact, and plebeians didn’t get any benefits from them, although they had paid a lot of cost to acquire the land by serving in the army. This was another main reason why plebeians were so poor and

    Read More

  • The life of Matthew

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tax collectors were highly disliked by society because they were greedy and dishonest with their people. According to the Roman Empire’s system of collecting taxes, Matthew would have already paid all the taxes ahead of time and then collect them from travelers and citizens to compensate himself.

    Read More

  • How To Cross The Tiber River

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    The newly established Roman Republic had somewhat of a freakout before finally coming to an agreement that they needed to somehow unite the country. The Republic purchased grain from the Volsci and from Cumae, nationalised licenses for the sale of salt, as well as

    Read More

  • Similars In Ancient Societies: Similarities And Differences

    1438 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...wealthy and had no political power in the early Roman Empire. They started out with no rights but as time went by a struggle emerged for plebian rights and eventually they earned their equality by rights of the law after years of political fighting. The most important political institution that was created during this time was the Senate who created a sense of stability in Rome and offered advice to the console of Rome. It helped Rome keep order in the land and aided in the governing of the people.

    Read More

More about Roman Republic Problems

Open Document