Transcript The Roman Revolution

The Roman Revolution
The end of the Republic
146 BC – 27 BC
•
Rome was an empire built upon sacked
towns, shattered armies, slaughtered
villagers and townsmen, raped women,
enslaved prisoners, plundered lands,
burned crops and mercilessly overtaxed
populations.
Michael Parenti,
The Assassination of Julius Caesar, 2003
Social
Structure
in Ancient
Rome
The domestic struggle between rich and poor intensified…
• By the 3rd century BCE, Rome’s population separated into
two distinct political parties: the Populares Party
(reform-minded with democratic tendencies) versus the
Optimates Party (conservatives who viewed any
change to the existing status quo as an attack on their
wealth and power.)
• The power of the Populares resided in the Popular
Assembly
• The power of the Optimates operated through the
Senate.
Consequences of expansion…
• The Hellenization of Rome
• Most benefits of expansion went to the wealthy,
patrician class
• Citizen-soldiers returned home to find their lands
ravaged and unproductive and in debt• Increase in slave population displaced small,
independent farmer…
• Ruined farmers, on the brink of bankruptcy
joined the ranks of unemployed in Rome
• By 150 BCE, a revolution was brewing:
The Gracchus Revolution
TIBERIUS GRACCHUS (c.168 -133 BCE) & GAIUS GRACCHUS (c.159 -121 BCE)
Tiberius Gracchus, Tribune in133 BCE
• Challenged traditional
political practices by rallying
the poor…
• Enforce an old law limiting
latifundia-estates to 500
acres ...
• Sell/rent public lands to the
poor
• Distribute lands of
deceased king of
Pergamum to the poor
Reaction to the plans of Tiberius:
• The Senate said no,
but was overridden by
the Assembly
• Senate feared its loss
of power
• His mistake- sought
2nd term as tribune...
landowners provoked
a riot; Tiberius was
clubbed to death
• **-1st time ever that a
tribune was attacked
and killed.
Gaius Gracchus, tribune in 123 BCE
• Resurrect brother’s land
reform plans
• Give colonial lands to
retired soldiers
• Establish price controlscheap grain subsidized
by the government
• Initiate public works
projects
• Extend citizenship
Gaius meets fate of his brother…
• He and 250
followers were
killed by optimate
death squads
who later
rounded up and
executed an
additional 3,000
democrats.
• But he created
75,000 new
landowners
• Gracchi
legacy...last true
reformers
The beginning of the end…
• After the Gracchus Revolution, the next
100 years was dominated by a series of
rival generals, representing the two
political parties, who engulfed Rome in
civil wars, using their troops as personal
possessions to further their own political
ambitions, undermining the constitution,
and leading to the collapse of the
Republic.
Gaius Marius 157-86 BCE
• Early fame:
defeated the
Numidians in
North Africa
• Later, defeated a
Germanic force
of 300,000 (The
Cimbri, and Teutones)
• Won an
unprecedented
(and illegal) 6
terms as
consul…
Marius as innovator …terrible consequences
• Enlisted landless poor into
his army, supplied them
and rewarded them with
his own money- loyalty of
soldiers was to him.
•
“Marius’ mules” -army
was streamlined-improved
training, had to carry their
own equipment-no
followers/hangers-on.
• The army, no longer an
instrument of the
government, became a
private possession of
generals
Lucius Sulla, 138-78 BC
• He emerged during
the so-called “War
with the Italians” 9188 BC
Marius and Sulla: the first civil war
Marius – the Populares party
Sulla – the Optimates party
Sulla the conservative
(the Optimates)
• Increased Senate to 600
• Restored Senate veto
over plebeian assembly
• Forbid tribunes from
offering legislation not
approved by the Senate
• Denied Tribunes any
other office
• Set minimum age to
hold office at 42
2nd Civil War
Caesar (the Populares)
vs
49-46 BCE–
Pompey (the Optimates)
Any questions?