...Oscar Villanueva Why the Roman Republic Decayed and Became the Roman Empire The rise and subsequent fall of the city of Rome was a significant historical event, characterized by the dramatic decline of the republic, to her transformation into an empire. Originally a small provincial town, Rome rose to prominence and produced astounding strengths, which was then lost when Rome became incapable of defending its governing structures of the republic. It is the purpose of this study to highlight these events, giving reasons that led to the decay of the Roman Republic, and the rise of the Roman Empire. The prominence of Rome Rome was a small province town which after many wars became the focus and command center of the vast empire of Rome. However, history tells us that it took hundreds of years and a combat of many wars to rise to this prominence. It gained influence over a significant portion of southern Europe, northern Africa, and Middle East. Rome conquered nearly all the surrounding territories going beyond the Mediterranean Sea. It was this military dominance in the region that helped the Roman republic rise and became a formidable force of influence. The republic had appeasing methods of keeping her citizens happy and content. In this endeavor, Rome respected and protected the people’s local cultures with the sole purpose of keeping the people pacified. The Romans in their quest for improved stability, offered a healthier way of life to...
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...Rome Changes over time: * Transportation * Population * Culture * Government * Trade Fatma Abbas AlKhaja 201409784 Reem Mohammed AlMehairi 201409017 Salha Abdulla AlMeasam AlFalasi 201409016 Maitha Mohammed Matar 201404552 COL 155-508 Dr. Leena Taneja The lifestyle of the ancient Romans was one in which personal comfort, pleasure and style were very important. The Romans developed traditions and a comfortable lifestyle to fit with their concept of family and community. The ancient Romans had an appreciation for hard work, practical thinking and discipline. Although they were sensible people, they had a desire for comfort and pleasure. The Roman Empire included different people from all different cultures. They formed a society that worked together with very defined motivations. * Transportation: Starting in the eighth century BCE, the ancient Roman road networks that spanned more than 400,000 km of roads, including over 80,500 km of paved roads, were important in maintaining the stability of the empire and its expansion. Despite how crowded and narrow they were, they enabled the Romans to move armies, trade goods and communicate. Moreover, they were intended to carry material from one location to another. Although they had roads, travel within the cities was often done on foot. For other purposes, Roman vehicles can be divided into: coach and cart. Coaches were used to transport parties, whereas carts were used to transport cargo. Growing...
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...figure in the late 8th century republic of Ancient Rome, rising to power through his strategic establishment of allies and his significant military accomplishments. As a member of the advantageous patrician class, Sulla rose to power via the hierarchical Roman political ladder (Cursus Honourum). Sulla was the dominant victor of the Italian social war in 91-88 BCE, conducted war against the Mithridates and successfully headed the first civil war in Roman history against Marius. Through his many victorious military accomplishments, he gained support from the Roman senate, was later elected consul and then transitioned into dictatorship. He became a renowned Ancient Roman dictator in 82 BC where he established...
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...of the Roman Empire If you asked someone to name one of the greatest empires of all time, the Roman Empire would surely come up. It is very well known for how great of an empire that it was with its excellent soldiers, brilliant architecture, and expansive road system. Not many people today know that the Roman Empire was not always an empire, there was a time where the power of the nation wasn't held by a single person. Rome was once a Republic, a place where supreme authority is held by the people and the representatives that they elect. The birth of this great empire rooted from tons of wars. Not only did they fight to earn their own territory in beginning against the Etruscans but they also fought the nation of Carthage for more territory which ultimately caused the birth of the Roman Empire. The history of Rome and the true founding of the nation is less dramatic than the actual story. Rather than the founding of Rome including the god of war and Romulus and Remus, the true story involved three tribes ("Rome, History of"). Around 1,000 B.C.E., in west-central Italy, a village was built in Latium by three tribes. Protected by hills from the sea, the city was in a great location for not only defense but also trading on major routes. The Romans were first ruled by the Etruscans, who were the people from the nation of Etruria. They adopted the Greek language, which was forced upon the Romans and they also put Rome into a Mediterranean commercial network. The Romans lived...
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...Rome referred to itself as a democracy, but was it? There were a set of unwritten rules to back up how Roman officials were fair to its citizens. These rules were constantly updated throughout time. Citizens had many legal rights such as the right to a trial, to hold office and to enter contracts. During the time it was a republic, Rome was fair to all of its citizens through its system of electing officials, acting upon citizens opinion and relying on a dictator only during periods of emergency. Rome voted to elect officials in this period of time instead of using the monarchy system they had been using. Two consoles were elected by the citizens for a term of a year instead of a life-long term of a king. The console was the highest elected office of the political republic. The two consoles were elected by voting of all Roman men instead of by relatives passing the title to them. The consoles were given both civil and military responsibilities. One console could veto the other console’s decisions. Through the elected consoles, Rome made the transition from monarchy to a republic and was very democratic. Citizen opinion was highly valued in Rome’s government due to voting and elections....
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...The Roman Republic to some extent was a democracy. While the Roman Republic was not as democratic as the United states is today, there are many things that you would have been different in ancient Rome to make it a true democracy. The Roman Republic was democratic in the way that they allowed the citizens of Rome to vote and they had a constitution that they followed; however, they weren't in the aspect such as they allowed slavery. All though they weren’t too liberal with many aspects they still allowed the poor to vote as long as they were in Rome. Citizens would have to travel to the city of Rome in order to vote. So many of the roman citizens wouldn’t, or couldn’t travel to the city of Rome to vote. As a result only 2% of all roman citizens...
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...The name Babylon means “Gate of God”. The location of the ancient city was along the Euphrates River and today is marked by a long stretch of ruins east of the river. Which is ninety kilometers south of Baghdad, Iraq. This was one of the main trading points of the ancient world because of its central location. Some important events that happened there are things that have shaped the way we live today and we still use the 24 hour day they created this form of counting has survived for four thousand years. Another important event that happened there was the building of the tower of Babel the people built this tower to try and reach Heaven. It was most likely that the tower was used as a place of worship and to create a common religious Centre, Gods only merciful alternative was to separate the people into different languages and countries to disable there plans. Because he had also promised himself never to destroy the earth with floods again because of the disobedience of mankind. So the punishment was quite mild compared to the global flood. “Archaeologists have dreamed of finding the ruins of the tower but have been unsuccessful. There may be biblical evidence as to why they have not found this tower of extreme significance” (Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas) The story is much more than God simply interrupting a building project but it marks the origins of the languages and nations of the earth. “Babylon is even home to one of the Seven Wonders of the World, The Hanging Gardens...
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... Horace and Livy. The most important historical aspect of the literature at this time was how it served to support Emperor Augustus’ rule and his strong beliefs in traditional Roman values. This paper will focus on the ways in which these authors supported the values and beliefs of Augustus, and to what aspect their literature helped and supported the change in Rome during the transition from Republic to Empire. These authors’ works were intrinsically tied to the era in a very unique and important way. The theme of traditional rural Roman values, and the importance of the countryside to the integrity of Rome were extremely prevalent in their works, as well as in the policies of Emperor Augustus. This signified the extreme importance of Augustus’ focus on restoring traditional Roman values, and when supported by the writings from Virgil, Horace and Livy, has proven to be one of the most significant aspects towards the success of Augustus’ transformation of Rome into the Empire it would become. When we examine the contribution that Virgil, Horace and Livy made to the Augustan rule in the newly formed Roman Empire, we cannot begin without mentioning some of the skepticism that occurred during the initial years of the transformation. This is evidenced well in an excerpt in Livy’s The Early History of Rome: I would have [the reader] trace the process of our moral decline, to watch, first, the sinking of the foundations of morality as the old teaching was allowed to lapse,...
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... The Roman Empire is one that has historically been shown in a positive light to the western world. We think this way despite the fact that we have a very limited knowledge of this empire that began to flourish over two-thousand years ago. What we do have are beautiful works of art and architecture that have stood the test of time, as well as books from famous writers such as Cicero and Plutarch who have told grand tales of Roman life and the powerful men who ruled and waged battles on a grand scale. Even with our vague knowledge of the Romans we still know leaps and bounds more about them than those who they conquered and due to their sheer power and our sense of wonderment learning more about their culture and the morals they tried to uphold, we find ourselves taking the Roman side since this is the one side of the story that most of us know. Roman conflict and the wars that they waged are explained in detail by historians and texts but interestingly enough, not much is given in the way of the thought process or motive behind the wars, nor about the people whom the Romans conquered. So what truly lay behind the Roman war machine then and how did they justify their actions as they fought with different people one after the other? Despite all the awe and wonder the Roman image seems to project in modern times, the way they justified their wars to themselves and to their people tells the tale on the what truly lay at the root of the empire. Rome was an empire...
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... “After reading 10 papers by other students – one on each of the assigned books – what was the one main reason why Rome ceased being a Republic and became an Empire? What relevance does this have to modern America? Take the “God and Gold” book into account.” The Roman Republic was doing well from its beginning in 510 BC: it developed a good form of government: the senate, legislative assemblies and the executive magistrates. It had won a lot of its adjacent territory, and had great leaders. These great leaders brought more quality to the Rome Republic but as other great leaders, some of them wanted more. Human beings have always been driven by ambition; it has always existed and always will. This is the instinct that drives people to invent new goods or go through new paths. The ambition of its leaders and the fear of its people lead to the fall of Roman Republic in conjunction with the decisions the Senate made in these times. ! The ambition of Julius Caesar can be seen throughout his actions1. When Britain was invaded by Rome twice in 55 BC, the troops were headed by him. The first time, Caesar was unsuccessful at capturing Britain. Caesar did not give up, his ambition brought him back a second time, making a deal with the king Mandubracius and successfully securing part of Britain for Rome. After this battle Caesar, got to cease power over Rome in a clash against Pompey and the Senate2. Later, he was promoted to “dictator in perpetuity.” This great ambition brought...
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...During the last century BC the Roman Republic was in turmoil, civil wars had wrecked the country, and out of these conflicts came a powerful dictator the general known as Sulla. Sulla took power through corruption and violence. His dictatorship was characterised by the constitutional reforms that he tried to implement in order to prevent future violence, and paradoxically to retain the traditional Roman power distribution. These reforms did not create an environment in which the Roman Republic was better off, the senate was weakened and corrupted and he failed to curtail the power that the major generals had gained through the Marian reforms. Furthermore he damaged the republic by setting a precedent for future leaders to follow when he marched on Rome with his own army, an example which would be followed by generals such as Caesar. Whilst there was a certain inevitability surrounding the fall of the Roman Republic, some scholars believe that through concerted efforts to reduce the power of the military Sulla could have saved the Republic. Sulla’s reforms, whilst they were able to be enforced by him, curbed the violence and made the Roman Republic a more civil society, however, once he was no longer around the Republic reverted back to violence and instability. This shows that these reforms lacked popular following and there was no longevity in them. Sulla’s dictatorship, though brief, made many changes to the Roman system that would not remain in place after his leadership ended...
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...fought by the Roman Republic and other cities through out Italy. These cities were previously known as allies to Rome. But they turned on Rome and took them by surprise by turning on them, which caused the Social War. The Social war could also be know as the War of Allies, because of who it was between. This war took Rome by surprise because the word allies in the Latin language typically means "associates" but this war showed that they were not true allies to Rome. Land Ownership and the Impact of Slave Labor- Owning land showed a bit of power and fortune in Rome. But owning land came with labor to the farm and things that had to be done. Therefore, land owners would buy slaves, or slaves that were born in the household that would do all of the works on the farms for the landowners. After all, freedom from this was almost a reward to the slaves. Without the slaves, the landowners would have to do all the hard...
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...The Roman Empire The Roman Empire was one of the strongest empires in all of mankind. The Roman Empire has such a rich history and shows how power and strategic tactics can run an empire efficiently. The Roman Empire was characterized by an autocratic form of government which meant the top leaders made all the important decisions. They had a large territorial area around the Mediterranean which went into present day Europe, Africa, and Asia. Rome history starts at the time it was know as Rome Republic and was ran by royal Rome. There Imperium was in command and are represented by consuls and the senate and assembly. Rome in their Republic they started their conquest as they fought Carthage in three Punic Wars. Carthage main advantage was their navy and Hannibal was leading Carthage to victory over Rome and take over. But Rome had its own power in Scipio Africanus and he ended Hannibals victory run and they were able to hold Carthage back and became the the power of the west with a great strategic army. The fall of the Republic started with Julius Caesar he mid wife of the Roman Empire and was more of a dictator figure. Julius Caesar was part of the first triumvirate of the new Roman Empire. He was ulitmately betrayed at the end of his term. Octavian, the adopted son of Julius Caesar, would take over after Caesars untimely end. He lead Rome to its second triumvirate and was the first empire of Rome. After Emperor Augustus took over and was a very low profile ruler and...
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...The Romans were a very powerful civilization who conquered a lot of land and territories, after Rome was founded at around 753 B.C.E. This powerful empire which is better known as the “Roman Empire” flourished under three different periods which are The empire which was ruled by an emperor, the Republic which was ruled by the Senate, and Monarchical period which was ruled by Kings. Although the Roman Empire was a strong and powerful one, they had their fair share of problems to include a civil war and other conflicts that slow them down for a little, but didn’t stop them. The main question is, how did the Romans come to dominate Italy? The answer to this question can varies, but the Romans used brute force and military power along with alliances to conquered and dominate Italy piece by piece. The Romans learn the true value of the word alliances and used it to their advantage during the conquest of Italy. This was...
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...In 510 BC, Rome witnessed a revolt against the rule of the Etruscan kings. According to George Reiff, there is a traditional story about this revolt. It was in this time that King Tarquinius Superbus’s son, Sextus, raped the wife of the nobleman, Tarquinius Collatinus (George Reiff, 2011. Retrieved from http://www.george-reiff.com/rome/early_roman_republic.htm). Kevin Thalersmith added that Tarquinius Collatinus’s wife Lucreatia felt so ashamed that she committed suicide, consequently enraging the Romans. Moreover, Thalersmith stated that the Romans were so angered by this tragedy that they reached the point of revolting and overthrowing King Tarquin and eventually form the Roman Republic (Kevin Thalersmith, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.helium.com/items/1523487-siginificance-of-the-revolt-against-king-tarquin). According to Klaus Bringmann in an excerpt of his book, A History of the Roman Republic, the revolt against King Tarquin was led by Lucius Ionius Brutus, who was the nephew of the king himself through marriage. He may have been the king’s relative, but Brutus still hated Tarquin because his father Marcus was illegally seized of his wealth after his death, leading Brutus to realize that Tarquin was being an abusive king, using the power to steal his inheritance. Furthermore, Brutus was viewed as a fool by Tarquin and he was ridiculed by being promoted to Tribunus Celerum or second in command, a gesture which showed that he was mocked by a tyrant. His older brother was...
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