what led to the decline of the roman republic and the ultimate rise of dictator julius caesar?
The Roman Republic was founded in 509 B.C.E. after the terminal Etruscan king that ruled Rome was overthrown. Rome's next regime served as a representative republic in the form of a commonwealth. Initially, Rome's wealthiest families, the patricians, held ability and but they could hold political or religious offices. Everyone else was considered plebeian, and no member of this group could hold function. Over a menstruum of well-nigh 200 years, however, the plebeians fought for and gained power within the government.
At the heart of the Roman Democracy was the Senate. The Senate brash on matters pertaining to rules governing the urban center and population. In the democracy, members of the patrician form served every bit advisers to the other governing bodies of the republic. Although the Senate did not formally make laws, the prestige of its members gave the Senate great influence over Rome's police force-making bodies.
The Senate lasted every bit a sole governing body for the republic for but a brief time, lasting from the republic'south founding in 509 B.C.E. until 494 B.C.E., when a strike orchestrated by the plebeians resulted in the establishment of the Concilium Plebis, or the Councilof the Plebs. This gave the plebeians a vocalization in the government. As a result, new legislative, or law-making, bodies of the Roman Republic were formed. Chosen assemblies, these legislative bodies shared power in the following means:
- Comitia Centuriata— This body decided nigh war, passed laws, elected magistrates (consuls, praetors, and censors), considered appeals of majuscule convictions, and conducted foreign relations.
- Concilium Plebis— This torso elected its own officials and formulated decrees for observance by the plebeian form; in 287 B.C.E., information technology gained the power to make all decrees binding for the entire Roman community.
- Comitia Tributa— The tribal assemblies, open up to all citizens (who only could exist free, adult males), elected minor officials, canonical legislative decisions often on local matters, and could wield judicial powers but could only levy fines rather than administer punishment.
Leading the republic were two consuls who were elected by legislative assemblies. They served for one year, presided over the Roman Senate, and commanded the Roman military. Though their power was somewhat limited by the institution of other magistrate positions, the consuls were effectively the heads of country.
The republic stood strong for several centuries. However, every bit Rome'south power and territory expanded, internal conflicts began to emerge as citizens and families struggled for power. For example, in the 1st century B.C.Due east., the famous Roman orator Marcus Cicero uncovered a plot by a Roman senator, Lucius Catiline, to overthrow the Roman government. Some citizens, such equally the Gracchus brothers, attempted to institute authorities reforms and social reforms to assistance the poor. Ultimately, factions emerged (loyal to either the patrician or plebeian classes or to a specific military general), hostilities erupted, and a series of civil wars plagued the democracy. During these civil wars, a prominent general and statesmen named Julius Caesar began gaining significant ability. He commanded the loyalty of the soldiers in his army and enjoyed admission to substantial wealth after conquering the province of Gaul.
The Senate, fearful of Caesar's power, demanded he give up control of his army and render to Rome as a citizen. Caesar refused, instead marching his army south straight into Rome. Equally a result, some other civil war erupted between Caesar and his chief political rival, Pompey. Caesar emerged victorious and was named dictator for life. Previously, the title dictator was given to an appointed, and temporary, leader in times of military emergency. Other leaders within the republic feared Caesar would go a tyrant with this new title. To prevent this, a grouping of senators conspired and assassinated him. In response to Caesar's death, his nephew and heir Augustus defeated the conspirators. He then established himself every bit the first Roman emperor.
The Roman Empire dramatically shifted power away from representative republic to centralized majestic dominance, with the emperor holding the most power. For example, nether Augustus's reign, emperors gained the ability to innovate and veto laws, as well every bit command the army. Furthermore, the emperor wielded significant authority over those who served in lower-level executive positions. No citizen could hold office without the emperor's consent. As a issue of this redistribution of power, the pop assemblies that functioned during the republican period became less important and lost power.
While the associates became near ceremonial, the Senate survived. Primarily, the Senate survived during the early period of the empire equally a legitimizer of an emperor's rule. The powers given to the emperor still came from the Senate. Since the Senate was equanimous of Rome's elite and intellectual citizens, they impacted public opinion. With this power, the Senate could declare an emperor to be an enemy of the state, or following an emperor's removal or death, the Senate could officially wipe the record of his reign from official history.
At the time of Augustus'due south reign, the Roman Empire had solidified control over the Italian peninsula, established North African colonies following its victory over Carthage during the Punic Wars and controlled big swaths of territory in Spain and Gaul. Nether the emperors, Roman territory expanded further, dominating most of the European continent, including Britain and major areas of modern-twenty-four hours Eastern Europe.
This expansion, while bringing to Rome keen wealth, power, and prestige, ultimately helped bring nearly its downfall. Even with the Roman road organization contributing to the mobility of the armed services and trade, the price of maintaining the vast empire weighed heavily on Rome's treasury and its political administration. Added to this brunt were increasing raids and attacks by foreign tribes and communities. Emperors attempted to solve these problems through internal reforms.
For instance, the emperor Diocletian split control of the Roman Empire into two halves, a western and an eastern portion. Diocletian believed the territories throughout the empire would be easier to command and support if they were overseen past two administrations. Future emperors attempted similar reforms, but ultimately internal conflict between the eastern and western halves, external force per unit area by foreign tribes, and the ongoing depletion of Rome's wealth and infrastructure finally rendered the empire vulnerable to collapse.
In C.E 476, the last of the western Roman emperors, Romulus Augustulus, was dethroned. Nevertheless, the eastern half of the Roman Empire, identified in history as the Byzantine Empire, would last another thousand years until falling to the Ottoman Turks in C.Due east. 1453.
Though the Roman Republic stood for several centuries, tensions within the authorities began to tear it apart. Civil wars started between groups with different loyalties, which brought about the transformation of the commonwealth into an empire. The Arch of Severus (center) was added during the majestic phase of Rome, an add-on to a republican icon, the Roman Forum.
Photograph by Peter Phipp/Travelshots.com
assassinate
Verb
to murder someone of political importance.
upper-case letter penalization
Noun
death penalty.
censor
Verb
to ban, edit, or suppress textile for political or social reasons.
ceremonial
Adjective
used for a ritual or formal occasion.
collapse
Verb
to fall apart completely.
conquer
Verb
to overcome an enemy or obstacle.
consul
Noun
ane of two principal officials of the aboriginal Roman republic who were elected every year.
council
Noun
grouping of people selected to act in an informational, administrative, or legislative capacity.
democracy
Noun
arrangement of organization or government where the people determine policies or elect representatives to practise and then.
dictator
Noun
person with complete command of a government.
emperor
Noun
ruler of an empire.
Etruscan
Adjective
(~768 BCE-264 BCE) people and culture native to Etruria, in what is now northern and central Italian republic.
executive
Noun
person with a loftier corporeality of say-so and ability in a company or business.
foreign
Adjective
having to do with another civilisation, state, or nation.
formulate
Verb
to develop or create.
Gaul
Noun
Western European civilization that became a major function of ancient Rome.
government
Noun
organisation or order of a nation, country, or other political unit.
head of state
Noun
public representative of a nation, sometimes the official leader of a state's government.
infrastructure
Noun
structures and facilities necessary for the operation of a society, such equally roads.
Julius Caesar
Noun
(100 BCE-44 BCE) leader of ancient Rome.
Ottoman Empire
Noun
(1299-1923) empire based in Turkey and stretching throughout southern Europe, the Middle East, and Due north Africa.
overthrow
Verb
to forcibly remove from power.
patrician
Substantive
a noble or person of high rank.
Noun
piece of state jutting into a body of water.
pertain
Verb
to be related or continued to something.
plebeian
Substantive
common or low-ranking person.
political
Describing word
having to exercise with public policy, government, administration, or elected office.
prestige
Noun
positive reputation.
prominent
Describing word
important or continuing out.
Noun
division of a country larger than a town or canton.
religious
Adjective
having to do with spiritual belief.
representative
Substantive
someone or something who acts in place of a grouping of people.
Roman
Adjective
having to do with the culture of aboriginal Rome, including the kingdom, republic, and empire.
Roman Empire
Noun
(27 BCE-476 CE) menstruum in the history of ancient Rome when the country was ruled by an emperor.
significant
Adjective
important or impressive.
sole
Adjective
only or private.
strike
Noun
situation of people refusing to work in order to call attention to their working conditions.
swath
Noun
path or line of material.
Substantive
country an animal, man, or government protects from intruders.
victorious
Adjective
having won.
vulnerable
Adjective
capable of being injure.
Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/romes-transition-republic-empire/
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