Fall Of Romanian Republic And Julius Caesar History Essay

When people imagine a great imperium, most think of Rome. The Romans had great thoughts and programs which would hold made any current imperium seem bantam. From the great enlargement led by consummate tacticians to the immensely progress authorities which our authorities is modeled after today, the Romans had a fantastic hereafter, if non for its many defects. The early enlargements led to the separation of an already seesawing societal category, the authorities had many holes which rewarded the wealthy and the greed of Lords and people of power weakened a authorities which could hold been to the full polished. The rise of Julius Caesar after the agreement with Pompey would hold been longer lived if the senator ‘s powers were n’t relinquished for the “ better of the people. ” All of this and more would finally take to the autumn of the Roman Republic and subsequently the Roman Empire. There were many factors which led to the autumn of the Roman Republic which include the battle of authorities breakability, the negative influence of the Gracchi, the First Triumvirate and the absolutism of Julius Caesar.

To understand how Rome finally fell, one must get down before the little city state grew. After the concluding Roman male monarch was exiled, Rome attempted to construct a little, but slightly effectual authorities described as an oligarchy or ruled by “ few ” ( Asimov 28 ) . As a Republic, the Romans gave power to a leader by electing him into office, similar to what we do today. This official, known as the pretor, was kept in cheque by another pretor who was in office. Efficaciously, nil would go on unless both wholly agreed on an issue which better notes their place as consuls. Today in the American authorities, there are three subdivisions ( Executive, Legislative and Judicial ) which appear to be efficient plenty to properly “ look into ” each other. Like our executive subdivision, the Roman consuls were in charge of the military and led them into conflict ( Asimov 24-25 ) . Similarly to the American Judicial subdivision, Romans had their ain Judgess called quaestors which overlooked all of the tests. This was the beginning of a suited system of regulating, but the issue was the people who could be elected to keep these places were of a certain category.

The two chief societal categories in the early Roman Republic were the patricians and the plebeians, plebs for short. The patrician category consisted of Lords and wealthiest land proprietors. The plebs were the mundane societal category of normal, mundane citizens which included merchandisers, workers, and the hapless. During the beginning of the immature authorities, the lone people who could be elected into the taking places were the patricians. This restriction of power led to a split in the two categories. Basically, the voice of all was non heard because merely the patricians were able make of import determinations affecting mundane activities and lawmaking. Not merely was the state of affairs unfair, but the deficiency of attention for all citizens increased the separation of categories. The illustration Asimov gives is this:

“ Why should the patrician attention? He was good plenty off to last the difficult times. And if a common husbandman went into debt, the debt Torahs were so rough that the plebeian would hold to sell himself and his household into bondage to pay off the debt. It would be the patrician landholder to whom he was in debt and for whom he must so break one’s back. ( 29 )

This deficiency of attention forced the plebs to seek alternate manner of life. In 494 B.C. , a big population of plebs left Rome to make their ain authorities. This move initiated the patricians to compromise with their overpoweringly big populations of plebs. This via media gave the plebs a voice in the authorities, but was still really limited. The new voice of the plebs were the tribunes. These elected functionaries merely represented other plebeians and could merely voice their sentiment on public issues. The add-on of these new functionaries added another cheque to equilibrate Roman authorities. An illustration of this was the freshly added ability of the tribunes veto an unjust jurisprudence ( Asimov 30 ) .

Although it appeared the Roman Lords attempted to be more just, the greed and “ loss of power ” to the tribunes made internal discord evident. The tribune ‘s safety became more a big issue after the incident with Coriolanus incident. These and similar events led to the codification of Roman jurisprudence in 450 B.C. This was an effort to forestall the patricians in senate from “ flexing the jurisprudence. ” Besides, it gave the tribunes the ability to support both themselves from the unjust advantages established by the patricians and their lives. Ten patrician work forces, called decemvirs, were elected to keep power until the Torahs were finished. The new Torahs were written on bronzy tablets and were therefore called the Twelve Tables which was the foundation of their jurisprudence ( Asimov 32 ) .

Again, the adaptative ability of the Romans resulted in another reasonable solution. Whenever a job arose, they were able to decide the issue. The inquiry so is why were at that place so many issues during this epoch? Even after they moved on to a apparently better authorities, the patricians and plebeians arrived at another route block. The decemvirs, harmonizing to Roman tradition, stayed in power even after the Torahs were written. More issues that revolved around the battle of entire control plagued the senate. Again the plebeians wanted to go forth because of these events, but big part of the population forced the patricians to listen and the decemvirs relinquished their place. Soon power would be more equally spread as the plebeians place to better influence legislation increased and the integrating of the two categories in matrimony allowed the less fortunate more chances ( Asimov 33 ) . With more and more chances to go a stable and just authorities, Rome was on the right way. Although they took a measure in front in their adulthood, there was a important reverse many historiographers believed contributed to the autumn of Republic.

Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, better known as the Gracchi, were two brothers who sought extremist reform which many believe increased tenseness in the senate and diminished power due to a big separation of thoughts. Their male parent was both a politician and military leader, which theoretically gave them the tools to win. After his decease in Spain Cornelia, the Gracchi ‘s female parent, made certain her boies were knowing citizens before they were combatants. Her dedication to her lone “ gems ” would craft the foundation of a politically strong, but socially destructive dreamers. The older Gracchi, Tiberius, initiated the way to reform after witnessing the horrors of unfairness and societal inequality in Rome. In 134 B.C. he was elected as a tribune and his first effort to convey equality was the thought of a land reform. Basically, his program was to do the available land more evened out to all citizens of Rome ( Asimov 138-40 ) . Although this was a healthy program for the plebs, the job began with the current landholders.

The patricians, both in senate and out, were angered by this impression. Although there technically was a jurisprudence which supported Tiberius ‘ reform, the affluent patricians would lose a great part of their land ( Asimov 139 ) . To protect their land, his oppositions used their governmental system and pecuniary strength to derive an advantage. Since no new jurisprudence would be pass if a veto by the tribune party was raised, their scheme was to purchase their manner into protection. The other tribune at the clip was a adult male name Marcus Octavius, who was believed to be a friend of Tiberius. After a few payoff from the patricians, Octavius proved to be a friend merely to the highest bidder. The usage of his power to blackball successfully prevented the new reforms to be passed. This caused Tiberius to gesticulate the remotion of his former friend and co-tribune. In fact, this improper move granted the senate more grounds to take this extremist. His decease was at hand after his term so he attempted to hold himself reelected illicitly. This ended ill due to his oppositions claim of Tiberius ‘s effort to be a sovereign. The Republic would hold nil to make with this once more, so Tiberius did non go a tribune once more. After he lost his place in the senate, he was viciously murdered by his oppositions and dumped into the Tiber River ( Asimov 140-41 ) .

Finally, Gaius played an of import function for the reformists. After his brother ‘s decease, he was elected a tribune a