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Republican Government
2 Consuls Rulers of Rome Served one year term
Senate Representative body composed of patricians
Patricians- Noble families Tribal Assembly
Representative body for plebeians Plebeians- lower class
Roman Reforms
Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus Gave the poor grain and small plots of free
land
Gauis Marius Recruited an army from the poor and
homeless Gave them land for their service Professional standing army
Problems
Class tensions Gracchus brothers reforms did not
work Civil War Breaks out 88-82 B.C.E New generals emerge
Sulla vs. Marius Sulla named Dictator
Tries to Reform Rome Reforms ultimately fail
Sulla relinquishes his power back to the Senate
The First Triumvirate
Group of three rulers 60 BC – Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey dominate Rome for 10 years Breakdown of Triumvirate:
Julius Caesar governing Gaul Crassus sent to Persia Pompei stays in Rome
Caesar marches on Rome 49 B.C.E. Reforms as an Absolute Ruler Death- Ides of March 44 B.C.E.
The Second Triumvirate
Octavian, Mark Antony, and Lepidus ended in violence
Octavian defeated Antony & Cleopatra in battle of Actium 31 BC
Begins the Roman Empire
Caesar Augustus
Octavian claimed to restore Republic Augustus – exalted one Imperator – supreme military commander
(emperor) Had right to select his own heir
Very simple and frugal
Pax Romana27 B.C.E- 180 C.E.
207 years of peace Roman Empire spanned more than 3
million square miles Population: 60 - 80 million
Roman Empire
Ecomony 90% engaged in agriculture Luxury items obtained through trade Denarius – common coinage Roman Roads
Government Soldiers of Roman Army left in the provinces
to govern Often intermarried with locals
Locals allowed to keep customs and religious practices
Roman Weaknesses
Roman empire was an empire with long, exposed landward frontiers. African Coastal provinces flanked by deserts
False sense of security Europe never satisfactorily defended
Even after 100 years of conquest/expansion Most crucial mistake Caesar made was not
expanding beyond the Rhine river and accepting those cultures Would be bitter about not being included in the
Roman Empire
Problems of the Western Empire
Sprawling Size Long, vulnerable land frontier
Civil Wars Uneasy relations with Persia Christianity
Subversive- challenged worship of Emperor as divine
Germanic peoples coveted Roman Wealth