The Catalinarian Conspiracy and the Late Republic

Civil War on Pompey In 49 B.C., Gaius Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon with his army, declaring civil war on Pompey and his supporters in the Senate. In this paper, I will explore the political and legal issues that pushed Caesar to the brink. Looking at Rome’s political struggles at the dawn of the first century B.C., it becomes apparent that the groundwork for Caesar’s Republic shattering revolt was lain down by Marius and Sulla. To be more specific, the stage was set by the class struggles between the Aristocracy, who demanded control of the Republic by virtue of tradition, and the masses, which demanded a voice. Marius made a major step in pushing the Republic towards constitutional upheaval when, in 107 B.C., he abolished the property requirements for military service (Meier, 29).

To pay for these, he borrowed money from Crassus. This united the two men, who also found common cause with Pompey. When Caesar returned to Rome in 60 BC after a year as governor of Spain, he joined forces with Crassus and Pompey in a three way alliance known as the First Triumv... ... middle of paper ... ... violated, she was maligned by gossips, and Caesar then divorced her, telling the Senate that Caesar's wife must be above suspicion. His next marriage which was in 59 b.c. was to Calpurnia and was politically motivated.

2012. Laughton, Eric. "Two Passages of the Oedipus Tyrannus." The Classical Review 52.6 (Dec. 1938): 210-11. JSTOR.

Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus joined forces to form a triple leadership called the First Triumvirate. The rulers of Rome’s states and colonies suspected that one man would soon emerge as the complete ruler. Antipater, ruler of Idumea, played one ruler against the other to seek favor. Crassus invaded Jerusalem and stole the temple treasure while war broke out between Pompey and Caesar. Antipater sided with Pompey until Pompey was defeated, and then switched his loyalty to Caesar.

As tribune Minucius Rufus proposed to repeal one of Gaius’ bills, he gathered support. In a minor disturbance, a servant of consul Opimius was killed. The senate was forced to pass a resolution that consuls should see to it that the Republic came to no harm. Opimius summoned to arms senators and equites against Gaius and Flaccus who had occupied the Aventine hill. After failed negotiations they and their supporters were defeated and killed.

“Chapter 4: The Civil War of 68-69, the Flavian Dynasty, and Nerva.” pp. 167-205. - Scarre, Christopher. The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome. London: Penguin, 1995.

Under his own initiative and expense... ... middle of paper ... ...nd, in a historic act of rebellion, crossed the Rubicon river into Rome, officially waging war against the City’s leaders. Caesar successfully defeated Pompey’s rule and, after spending a few years in Egypt and Asia, assumed the role of dictator of Rome. During his reign, Caesar enacted many new statutes, most notably citizenship reform, governmental expansion, and reorganization of the calendar. As Caesar appointed to himself even more dictatorial powers, both his enemies and allies became increasingly disenchanted. A conspiracy formed composed of Senators who planned Caesar’s assassination on the Ides of March 44 BC.

The Arch of Titus is known for its depictions of the spoils brought back to Rome after the destruction of Jerusalem. As a result of the Jewish attacks on Roman installations and the start of a revolt against Roman rule in 66 CE, the Roman Emperor Nero granted Vespasian a special command in the East to be responsible for putting down this revolt. In response to the crisis, Nero placed the seven legions in Syria under Vespasian’s authority and named Titus, one of Vespasian’s sons, as legate of the 15th Legion of Apollo. Titus’s role in the crushing of the Jewish revolt is hard to discern. Most of the information regarding his actions comes from the Jewish Wars by Flavius Josephus, a Jew with a strong Roman bias, who consistently portrayed Titus in a highly favorable light.

130-143) 3. Tom Holland, Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic, Abacus Publishing, 2004. (Pg. 50) 4. Suetonius, Robert Graves (translator), The Twelve Caesars, Penguin Classics, 2007.

he went to Hispania (modern-day Spain) to fight alongside Caesar. He was shipwrecked along the way, and had to cross enemy territory to reach his great-uncle; an act that impressed Caesar enough to name Octavius his heir and successor in his will.”(Augustus). By the time of Caesar's assassination, Octavian defeated the conspirators who murdered Caesar in a series of battles and divided Rome's lands among them. This lead to the establishment of The Second Triumvirate, in which they shared the power among the divided territories with Mark Antony in charge of Egypt and East, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus with Africa and Octavian the West. Over time, the alliance that formed fell apart.