Breakdown Of Rome Essay, Research Paper
Essay on the dislocation of the early Ancient Roman democracy.
For work forces who had easy endured adversity, danger and hard uncertainness, leisure and wealths, though in some ways desirable, proved onerous and a beginning of heartache. Sallust
The causes for the dislocation of the early Roman Republic can non be attributed to a individual event, tendency or single, instead it was due to a combination of all three in changing grades. The principal and cardinal cause was the dislocation of the political cheques and balances, peculiarly the Cursus Honorum from 133 BC onwards. This corruption occurred both by chance and through the insurgent behaviour of persons, unconsciously and consciously sabotaging the cloth of the democracy in their pursuit for power and glorification. One significant result of this incapacitation was the outgrowth of force as a political agency. Once this had occurred the terminal of the old democracy was heralded an bossy absolutism was born.
The democracy was born out of a collapsed monarchy and was specifically geared to forestall a centralisation of power. The mechanisms to this terminal were contained in the Cursus Honorum, a papers that outlined the ladder of offices. It demanded, among other things, 10 old ages of military or legal service before any magistrature could be held, one-year election and two old ages between back-to-back offices ( Plutarch, 1974. p.140 ) . This system was designed to guarantee that no person could go excessively powerful by spliting legal power between several groups and leting for veto.
The Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius are frequently blamed for doing divisions and antagonising the nobility and peculiarly the senate by presenting Torahs and statute law that, although advancing equalitarianism for the hapless, were accelerators to later breaches of the Cursus Honorum. Both Tiberius and Gaius had Torahs enacted without confer withing the senate. This weakened the senate & # 8217 ; s power and started a tendency of disregarding the senate that remained until the dislocation ( Plutarch, 1986. P 176 ) . These Graccian reforms included the execution of a public assistance system whereby Romans citizens would be given free maize and the Lex Agraria or land reforms that broke down the latafundia and increased the figure of small-scale farms. The public assistance maize system non merely aroused violent choler from the aristocracy but besides created an urban rabble ( Suetonius, 1979. p.42 ) that relied on press releases and subsequently participated in force. Tiberius Gracchus ran for election to the tribunate for two old ages consecutively ( 123 and 122 BC ) . This was in direct contradiction to the Cursus honorum. The senate, when they heard of Tiberius & # 8217 ; program, killed him. This action was important, due to it being the first clip that force had been used for a political terminal, it was non to be the last.
Marius and Sulla, great leaders of Rome from 119 to 78 BC, can be attributed portion of the incrimination for the dislocation of the democracy. Their changeless quarreling led to factional combat amongst the people and finally to civil war. Marius came into power before Sulla and, like the Gracchi, showed a inclination towards upseting the position quo and antagonized the aristocracy. Marius & # 8217 ; reforms centered on military alteration, the most controversial of which was the extension of military service for the landless category. This apparently undistinguished reform had broad reverberations since it created semi-professional soldiers instead than a citizen reserves ( Bradley, 1990. P 270 ) . Since no pension strategy was organized, the soldiers were mostly dependent on their commanding officers for payment and pensions of land. This dependance led to the soldiers being & # 8220 ; tied & # 8221 ; to their commanding officers, leting for the ulterior development of ground forcess that were loyal to persons instead than to the province. Marius & # 8217 ; disdain for the Cursus Honorum is illustrated by his standing in the consular elections while non in Rome, a station that he gained
and held for six old ages. This action was in direct contradiction to the regulation of annual consulships in the Cursus Honorum and allowed Marius to set up a power base that he used for his ain political designs.
Both Marius and Sulla used force openly as a political agency. The first such incident was during the tribunal election where Marius killed Nonnius, a political opposition to his friend Saturnius. This was non the lone illustration of force from Marius. When returned from expatriate, he killed everyone who had of all time offended him and took their land for himself. Sulla was non much better, holding a similar prohibition list and sometimes adding names to the list merely to get belongings. Hosts of Roman soldiers, who had effectualy turned into private ground forcess, carried out these executings. This pattern of obtaining soldiers for personal agencies led finally to the widespread usage of force and finally to civil war.
Near to the terminal of the democracy, a triumvirate arose, uniting the three most powerful work forces in Rome-Pompey, Caesar and Crassus. Caesar engineered the brotherhood, utilizing the military and political accomplishment of Pompey and the Financial and political power of Crassus for his ain benefit. He manipulated both work forces to go through statute law and reforms that would spell the terminal of the democracy and slingshot him into an bossy Dictatorship.
Caesar, upon election to his first consulship in 59 BC, was faced non merely with a hostile senate, but besides a big proportion of the tribunes, moving on behalf of the Lords, that seemed determined to oppose his amendments. A comparatively moderate measure to supply pensions for Pompey & # 8217 ; s veterans was met with drawn-out and systematic obstructor ( Bradley, 1990. p336 ) by the senate. Caesar chose so to short-circuit the senate and took the measure straight to the assembly where it was vetoed by a tribune named Bibulus. Upon cognition of this, he presented the assembly with Pompey, who vowed to utilize force if necessary to support the people & # 8217 ; s rights. The measure was later passed. Caesar, harmonizing to Suetonius, governed entirely, and did really much as he pleased. ( Suetonius, 1979. p.110 )
Each of the work forces was greedy for glorification and power, demanding victory and ovations for military and political triumphs. Their earlier wrangles over such things had been damaging for the democracy but their eventual brotherhood was to be its ruin.
It is interesting to observe nevertheless that, in the words of Plutarch. All of these work forces & # 8220 ; came to an black and ineffective terminal & # 8221 ; . ( Plutarch, 1974. p.213 )
Near to the dislocation, force was used about as a affair of class in political activities. From 133 BC rabble force became platitude. Many politicians were dragged off and butchered by angry rabbles, non the least of whom was Caesar himself. This tendency towards violent declaration of political issues is good documented. Pompey used this component to his advantage, stirring up the crowd to the point that people were afraid to talk out against him since if they did, they were apt to be beaten to decease by his protagonists or murdered by his ground forces.
The apogee of these events and tendencies was the dislocation of the Republic and the arrested development into a absolutism, a system that survived until the autumn of the Empire 100s of old ages subsequently. The seeds for the autumn were planted really early in the signifier of societal and political jobs that continued for the Romans long after the dislocation of the democracy. Although brilliant in their military and the development of physical substructure, the Romans made the error of allowing the carefully and meticulously located system of cheques and balances autumn asunder, taking with it the stableness and possible for political equalitarianism that had made the Roman imperium great.
Rome shall die & # 8211 ; compose that word
In the blood that she has spilt.
William Cowper
Joseph Clark apter @ up.net.au
