Transcript Republic to Empire

Roman Senate
 200 B.C. Roman senate and Patricians controlled Gov’t
 Plebeians gained right to elect tribunes (10) to protect
their interests
 Tribunes could veto (block) laws
Unrest
 The senate bought out small peasant owners land
Caused a number of poor individuals to drift to the city
of Rome.
 Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus- Tribunes who were
killed by senators for urging them to give land back to
the poor
Marius and Sulla
 General Marius promised land to the poor if they
joined army and swore allegiance to him
 Senate employs General Sulla to seize control of the
army and defeat Marius  Civil War!
 Sulla wins with better trained Army
First Triumvirate
 Three Men- Crassus, Pompey, and Julius Caesar divide
power over empire
 Triumvirate- a Gov’t ruled by three people.
Power struggle
 Caesar commanded in Gaul
 Pompey commanded Spain
 Crassus commanded Syria
 In 53 B.C. Crassus was killed in
battle
 Leads to senate asking Pompey to
rule Rome and Caesar to surrender
 Caesar is popular with Plebs
Caesar takes control
 Caesar Crosses the Rubicon
river heading back to
Rome no turning back
 In 45 B.C. Caesar won a civil
war in Rome and became
the first dictator
Death of Caesar
 While dictator Caesar
gave land to the poor
 Kept senate but added
members to diminish
power
 In 44 B.C. he was
assassinated
- Senators believed Caesar
wanted to remain
dictator for life.
The second triumvirate
 Octavian, Mark Antony,
and Lepidus formed the
second triumvirate
 Eventually Octavian
(Caesars nephew) and
Antony took control
Battle for Rome
 Antony allies himself
with the Egyptian
Queen Cleopatra VII
 Battle of ActiumOctavian Crushes
Antony’s navy and army.
 Antony and Cleopatra
return to Egypt where
they commit suicide.
 Octavian becomes
Emperor Augustus