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Rise and fall of the roman republic essay
Rise and fall of the roman republic essay
Rise and fall of the roman republic essay
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efore Julius Caesar took over, the Roman Empire was not ruled by one person. It was ruled by two consuls who were elected by the citizens of Rome. Rome was then known as a Republic.The Republic was destroyed by imperial expansion. The Mediterranean narrows significantly between Rome and Carthage, meaning that these two ancient republics would fight to the death for control of transportation and commerce. Long and numerous wars can and did destroy republics. Republics tend to turn into empires when they fight and expand by securing bigger defensive and commercial corridors. The three Punic wars against Carthage slowly turned Rome into an empire.Victories abroad led to unforeseen changes at home, economically, socially, and politically. Slaves imported as the spoils of war drastically altered the economy of the agrarian republic. They undercut the prices of the …show more content…
A senate composed of patricians elected these consuls. At this time, lower-class citizens, or plebeians, had virtually no say in the government.The government of the Roman Republic was organized into three branches. One branch made laws; another ran the daily affairs of government; a third branch acted as judges. The republic had a system of checks and balances. This system was designed to prevent one branch from becoming too strong. It did not separate powers like the United States government does today, however. Judges helped run the government and could lead armies. Some leaders who ran the government also helped make laws.In my opinion the best form of government was the Roman Republic because it had a lot of power.It was so organized not saying the senate wasn' but the Roman Republic government was more organized.The system was designed to not make a branch which was smart.A lot of people made laws and the Senate had a lot of people but they wouldn't organized has well has the Roman
The roman republic constitution was a set of guidelines and principles passed down through precedent, the roman republic instead of creating a democracy such as that the Athenians created, a monarchy which was previously being used by previous roman rulers and an aristocracy which Sparta used, the Constitution combined elements of all three of these governments to create a combined government known as “Senatus populusque que romanus” (S.P.Q.R) this meant “the senate and the roman people”. The Roman magistrates were elected officials during the period of the Roman kingdom, the ‘king’ (although the Romans preferred not to be called a king and instead a rex) of Rome was the principal executive magistrate, his power was absolute similar to that of a tsar
Julius Caesar -- Britannica School. Then he began to climb the ladder of power in the Roman government and eventually was elected as a consul. While consul, he was sent to govern the province of Gaul and set out to conquer the entirety of Gaul.... ... middle of paper ... ... Julius Caesar did cause the downfall of the Roman Republic because he changed the way they governed.
The Roman Republic, was a government, governed by an intricate constitution, which was based on the idea of separation of powers. The Roman Republic, began in 509 B.C, after the end of the Roman Monarchy and lasted for over 450 years. The constitution of the Roman Republic was highly influenced by the struggle of power between the rich families, the patricians, and other Romans who were not from famous or rich families, the plebeians. Their government was divided into three main sections, very much like the Legislative Branch, Executive, Branch, and Judicial Branch. Nowadays, the Senate and assembly resemble the Legislative Branch. In the Roman Republic, the Senate was the most powerful group. The Senate passed all laws and collected taxes. The second part of this branch, was the assembly, and the assembly was elected by the Romans from the plebeian class. The assembly elected consuls, tribunes (representatives from the plebeian class), and made laws. All members of the Senate were part of the patrician class and at the head of the Senate were two consuls. The Consuls controlled the Roman army and in order to become a consul, you had to be elected by a majority of all the citizens in Rome. The consuls, are like our president and the Executive Branch. Although the method of separation of powers came from the Roman Republic, that is not all that came from the Roman Republic that became part of the United States...
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
Upon reading the excerpt, it could be said that the power of the consul could have possibly been the mightiest of the three. There was the consul, the Senate and the People. Yet, how interesting it is that without the People, the consul and the senate would cease to exist. Just as a house finds it’s stabilization on a foundation build on rock, the consul and senate find their strength standing upon the power of the people of their nation living their ordinary everyday lives. However in the same regard, the Senate needed the People just as much as the People needed the senate. The relationships between these two were very much a give and take and communication was essential. Polybius stated that the People had what seemed like the most important role, for the reason that they themselves were the decision makers of those under the law. They were the jury, the ultimate say. Polybius wrote, “As a result of all of these factors, the Senate fears the masses and is ever mindful of the People.” (Porter, 1995) It is optimistic to say that this type of government, with this type of constitution in place was a rather successful one.
Over the span of five-hundred years, the Roman Republic grew to be the most dominant force in the early Western world. As the Republic continued to grow around the year 47 B.C it began to go through some changes with the rise of Julius Caesar and the degeneration of the first triumvirate. Caesar sought to bring Rome to an even greater glory but many in the Senate believed that he had abused his power, viewing his rule more as a dictatorship. The Senate desired that Rome continued to run as a republic. Though Rome continued to be glorified, the rule of Caesar Octavian Augustus finally converted Rome to an Empire after many years of civil war. Examining a few selections from a few ancient authors, insight is provided as to how the republic fell and what the result was because of this.
From 100 BC to 44 BC, Julius Caesar changed Rome through his rise to political power, conquest, feuds and assassination. Over time Caesar gained acclaim through his multiple political roles in Rome such as Pontifex, governor and Praetor, leading him to become dictator. He formed an alliance with Crassus and Pompey that ruled Rome for seven years, but led to a civil war later on. Julius Caesar conquered many countries that helped him change the map such as the conquest of Gaul. Caesar played a vital role in the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Empire, which cause him to be assassinated and make rise to Octavian as the next ruler. All of these aspects are what allowed Julius Caesar to change Rome.
Subsequently, competition for power led to civil wars that paved the way to the growth of a one-man leadership. Gradually, dictatorship replaced republic government, and when Augustus rose to power, he became the sole and undisputed leader of Rome. This marked the beginning of the Roman Empire, where the ruling was carried out through Augustus’ policies. Augustus’ foreign policy focused on the expansion of the Roman Empire. However, scholars have argued as to whether Augustus’ policy was out of aggressive conquest and greediness or simply, defensive imperialism.
It appears that Caesar's death marked an epoch in Roman history where civil wars were once again resurrected. Furthermore, Caesar introduced social and economic reforms. In his process of ameliorating Rome's social condition, the provinces became richer as the Roman businessmen were restricted from exploiting them. This is crucial because a country's capital is strongly related to the government's stability. Besides that, the poor were helped when he established a public works programme, which provided employment to them.
As the story goes, Rome was founding in 753 B.C. by two brothers Remus and Romulus who were raised by wolves. The two brothers started fighting over the leadership of the land. Eventually Romulus killed Remus and took control own his own. The city was only a small settlement at that time. As the civilization grew, the Etruscans took over. The Romans drove out the Etruscans in 509 B.C. By this time Rome had become a city. As the empire came to its peak it included lands throughout the Mediterranean world. Rome had first expanded into other parts of Italy and neighboring places during the Roman Republic, but made wider conquests and made a strong political power for these lands. In 44 BC Gaius Julius Caesar, the Roman leader who ruled the Roman Republic as a dictator was assassinated. Rome descended into more than ten years of civil war. After years of civil war, Caesar's heir Gaius Octavius (also known as Octavian) defeated his last rivals. In 27 B.C. the Senate gave him the name Augustus, meaning the exalted or holy one. In this way Augustus established the monarchy that became known as the Roman Empire. The Roman Republic, which lasted nearly 500 years, did not exist anymore. The emperor Augustus reigned from 27 BC to AD 14 and ruled with great power. He had reestabl...
The Roman government had many debts to pay. They also had to find a way to fund for the upkeep and development of its roads and army. The government decided to excessively tax the people, who viewed this as unjust. Much of Rome’s wealth came from the wealthy places it conquered, but they eventually reached a point where there were no longer any wealthy rivals to conquer. The Roman Empire never actually established an efficient currency system, and eventually, due to inflation, money became worthless. The empire that was once known for its excessively elaborate architecture and system of roads began to fade away because of its loss of wealth. Also, their trading stopped because of the dangers involved in traveling. This caused small farmers to eventually completely die out, or hide behi...
The Roman Republic can be seen as a template for how the United States Government was formed, and still to this day consists of. The First influence that the Romans had on our government was their idea for a republic. They, our country as well, wanted their people to have a vote on who would represent them in government. The U.S. representative type of government was influenced by this. Today we vote for the people representing us in our Senate, House of Representatives, and our President. One of the main influences that the Ancient Romans had on the U.S. Government was the idea of the division of power. Today we have executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. The Ancient Romans had a very similar set-up. In Rome when organizing a government, there were many different styles between monarchies, the Senate that was the aristocracy, and the voice of democracy in the people. These acted as their different branches of government. As the U.S Government has an executive branch which consists of our President and Vice President, the Romans had counsels which acted as executive leaders for a year, and controlled the military (“The Roman Republic”). The Ancient Romans also obtained a Senate, similar to our government. In Rome, it was 300 members of the wealthy and self-serving. Today, there are career senators, and elite men in society. This is the legislative branch of our government that has been derived from the Ancient Romans. Also within the legislative branch of the Romans, they had numerous assemblies like that of the U.S. Government’s House of Representatives, based on where each member lives. Our judicial branch was based off of the Roman’s Praeto...
This new Republican government, which was administered by the consuls, was not the easiest to transform. Because of the expansion in Italy, the government began to initiate political institutions. These institutions enforced laws and provided authority which were very similar to imperium. “The Romans had a clear concept of executive authority, embodied in their word imperium, or “the right to command” (Spielvogel 117). Since the Romans were very sensible in their actions, they made and implemented them only as needed. The most essential positions held were the few elected magistrates and the two consuls who were “chosen annually, administered the government and led the Roman army into battle” (Spielvogel 117). If the consul was otherwise occupied, either a dictator or praetor would assume responsibility for the time being.
The Roman Republic was founded in 509 BC after the ruling Tarquins abused their extensive power as monarchs and were overthrown. The goal of the Roman Republic was to have a strong government, governed equally by the patricians and the plebians, and to avoid another Roman Monarchy. For years Rome was guided by great men, such as Cincinnatus and Scipio Africanus, who led the Republic through hard times, conquering such enemies as the Etruscans and the Carthaginians. Large-scale war united Roman society in its common goals. However, after Scipio’s victory at Zama in 202 BC, a new Roman world began to take shape. Roman soldiers returned home from their victory to find that they could not pay for their farms, becoming “squatters” on their own lands after having to sell them to richer men. The Senate became corrupted, and despite the Gracchi brothers’ best efforts, the rich patricians soon monopolized nearly all aspects of the Republic, from trading and “farming” to governing the people. After marching on Rome, Sulla became dictator in 82 BC. After Sulla, the First Triumvirate: Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar, owned virtually all power in Rome, yet each had his own desire to defeat the other two and become Emperor. When Crassus died in battle, Caesar had his chance. He defeated Pompey and marched on Rome, victorious. After declaring himself Dictator for Life, Caesar was assassinated, and another Civ...
Philosopher A: In the Republic, the Senate was the primary branch of the Roman government and held the majority of the political power. It controlled funds, administration and foreign policy, and had significant influence on the everyday life of the Roman people. When Augustus came to power, he kept the Senate and they retained their legal position. The Emperor’s rule was legitimized by the Senate as he needed the senators experience to serve as administrators, diplomats and generals. Although technically the most authoritative individual in Rome, Augustus strived to embody Republican values.