The Romans had numerous incentives to go to war in 200 BCE, which included but were not limited to fear, pride, revenge, and economic growth. Rome was a fast-growing empire and its next step was to expand out of the Italian peninsula and become a Mediterranean power. Rome feared Phillip V, thinking that he was aligning with Egypt to begin another Macedonian War, and would attack Rome’s Aetolian allies. During the Sabine Wars, Rome voted to go to war not because the Sabines attacked them, but rather because they feared how powerful the Sabines were becoming. This fear of other powerful nations repeatedly drove Rome to war and was used to “justify” the war. However, Rome realized that wealthy states could be made to pay lucrative indemnities, …show more content…
After the conclusion of the Second Punic War in 201 BCE, Rome placed a massive indemnity of 10,000 talents on Carthage that would be paid off over fifty years (Ward 111). This wealth provided Rome the means to continue to grow and funded the state. Realizing that there was fortunes to be won at war, Rome now had an economic incentive to go to war. Once Rome defeated Macedon, Phillip agreed to pay an indemnity of 1000 talents, half immediately and another half over ten years (Ward 117). Since the Second Macedonian War only lasted until 197 BCE, Rome now had two foreign nations filling its treasuries annually. The Romans now could see the economic opportunity that war presented and it encouraged them to continue to wage new wars. For example, after the Spartan War, Sparta owed 500 talents and after the War with Antiochus III, Syria owed 15,000 talents (Ward 119). In total, by 188 BCE, Rome was receiving 1,300 annually from three different nations, passively increasing their wealth and funding new campaigns to further increase their …show more content…
While many of the accusations that Cato makes benefitted his career, these accusations must have been made with some evidence. According to Plutarch, when Cato served under Scipio in Africa, “he saw his commander was not only indulging in his usual lavish personal expenditure, but was also squandering extravagantly high pay upon his troops” (Plutarch 123). This display of wealth shows that Scipio possessed a vast amount of wealth to indulge himself while on campaign and it also shows that Rome was well funded as well, since it could pay the high salaries of the troops. If Rome was not in a position of vast wealth, censors would have noticed this incident of Scipio paying his troops high salaries. This though was apparently a non-issue until Cato accused Scipio of his lavish and corrupt lifestyle. In addition, during the Sack of Epirus, “so great was the booty that 400 denarii were appointed to each cavalryman and 200 to each foot soldier, and 150,000 human being were led away in slavery” (Reinhold 77). The financial gains that soldiers acquired during war most likely outweighed what they could produce during peace. Consequently, these soldiers were Roman citizens and the decision to wage war fell to the comitia, these men were likely to vote for war. Since the common soldiers as well as generals and commanders were increasing their
The Second Punic war, beginning in 218 BC, was the second major war between the Roman Empire and the Carthage. Around the same time, the Roman Empire deployed troops to the Northeastern peninsula of Spain to keep reinforcements, from the Carthaginian South, from getting to Hannibal’s armies in Italy to assist them. In A Histor...
Throughout history, we have seen conflicts escalate when the winner punishes the loser. Usually the loser becomes sour, and retaliates with an even stronger opposition than the first. We have seen these incidents in the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage, and the World Wars. The first Punic War was based off of land claims and being the "ruler" of sea trade. After Carthage lost, Rome made this country pay heavy taxes and support little or no army.
Ruthless expansionists- The ruthless expansion of the Romans was evident in the Punic Wars. “The population of Rome itself increased to unheard-of levels: From somewhere around 100,000 before the first Punic Wars to easily five times that figure a little more than a century later.” 1 (pg. 188) Through the Punic Wars, Rome gained Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, and Spain. Expansion was important because more land meant more resources for the Roman
Fall of Rome - the military's role. The Military's Role in the Beginning of the End of Rome The fall of Rome occurred over many centuries and was caused by several factors including military decay, barbarian invasions, and the failure of the government to respond to these problems. While these problems existed to a greater or lesser degree, since the end of the 2nd century, their effects were accelerated by the reforms of the emperors Constantine and Diocletian.
What was Julius Caesar’s motive for launching the Gallic Wars? Multiple arguments can be made to better understand his intentions. The first argument is that Caesar was responding to aggression in order to preserve the sovereignty of Rome. The second more likely explanation is that Caesar took over the Gaul to improve his political strength within the Roman republic and did so by exploiting the Celts. Caesar’s war commentaries, show evidence of his conflicting motives and actions in his invasion of the Gallic regions.
A reason why the fall of Rome happened is because of the constant wars they were having and the heavy amount of military spending. All of the constant warfare that was happening required heavy military spending, the Romans army became very over well stretched because they kept on needing more and more soldiers. As they kept needing more and more soldiers, they began to let other foreigns join the army.
The war started because of conflicting interests between the two, especially the expanding Roman Republic. At the end of the war, thousands of lives were lost, Rome ascended into power, conquering Carthage and becoming the most powerful state in the Mediterranean. During one point of the Second War, or the Hannibalic War, Carthage nearly brought Rome to her knees. With reinforcement from their Gallic allies, Carthage defeated the Roman army in the Battles of Trebia, Trasimene, and Cannae. Had Rome not defeated Carthage, the history Western civilization would be drastically altered, shaping a very different world than the one we live in today. It is said “All roads lead to Rome”. There is a lot of truth to this quote because Rome, with all its power and glory, paved the road for our modern society; it allowed Christianity to spread and flourish, the basis for democracy, and served as melting pot of cultures and customs.Rome can be considered one of the greatest influences on Western civilization, leaving us with priceless gifts that we will always
Rome was once one of the world's greatest empire until around 200 BCE when Rome started to crumble. The Fall of Rome did not happen suddenly, it took about 1100 years to take place. The first two centuries as an empire were named the "Pax Romana", which meant the time of Roman peace. The Romans were living the life, without a worry in the world. So how and why did Rome start to collapse, if the empire was was doing so grand and magnificent? To answer that question, the primary reasons that Rome started to decline were that the Romans had difficulty with their government which caused social problems/decay, their military was falling behind on their duties and became indolent, and natural disasters.
Since the beginning of time, man has waged war on his neighbors, his friends and his enemies. In many cases these wars were caused by power-hungry nations that were in the process of expanding their empire and ended up stepping on the toes of another superpower or ally of a superpower. In the case of the first Punic War between Rome and Carthage, Carthage was extending its empire and they stepped on Rome’s toes. During the course of this war the winner was unclear but at times victory seemed eminent for both sides until Rome finally won. The Romans had control in the first part of the war but this would not last. After the Romans first win they decided that they needed a victory over the city of Carthage but this would turn the tides in favor of the Carthaginians. For some 15 years after this defeat of Rome the tides went back and forth between the two but would eventually lead to the Romans victory. After the victory, Rome made some very harsh demands and Carthage filled those demands even though some of them were very extreme.
Rome became a powerful empire engulfing much of Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia and what seemed like this great entity called the Romans were always in the search of more territory and land to conquer and assimilate into their ever growing vast empire. However, this was not always the case, before Rome became one of the greatest empires in all of history, Rome was a republic. They were government consisted of a Senate who much like our country today represented certain classes of the citizens of the Republic. During the growth and rise of the Roman republic conquering neighboring territories and competing for land grabs was not Romans primary objectives. Romans believed in the well being and wealth of Rome, and if that meant the total destruction of a potential adversary, then as history will show that is unfortunately to the detriment of the adversary what happened.
In order for the Romans to invade and conquer other provinces, they had to spend heavily on their legions. The Roman armies and supply lines became over-stretched resulting in thousands of soldiers being recruited and deployed from Rome into other territories as invaders or defenders. They also depended on soldiers to defend the borders of the lands they had conquered from barbarian attacks which resulted in the increased manufacturing of weapons and more money being spent on soldiers. High military spending left the Romans with very limited resources for other essential government projects such as the building of more public houses and the development of roads and aqueducts as well as leading to inflation. The over-expenditure on the military led the citizens of Rome to refuse the policies and laws enforced by the government and riots were commonplace in Rome during its last century.... ...
The Civil War in the eyes of most people is not glorious, but rather one of the worst crimes you could possibly commit when the state is all-important. Only under the most extreme circumstances should one be allowed to (in the eyes of the people that is) begin a Civil War with just cause. Caesar took this into consideration, but too many things were going wrong in Rome for him not to begin the war.
The Roman Republic had an upstanding infrastructure, a stable social system, and a balanced constitution that solidified Rome’s greatness. Regardless of its achievements, however, the Roman Republic owes much of its success to classical Greek cultures. These cultures, in conjunction with the fundamental values of Roman society, certified Rome as one of the most significant powers the world has ever seen.
The War with Veii played a significant role in the expansion of the Roman Empire. The war, which ended in 410 B.C., set in motion an entirely different Roman army. No longer was the army a volunteer militia, instead it became a paying and contractual organization. The “Roman victory brought an end to Rome’s most threatening neighbor and began its rise to prominence in the central Italian peninsula” (www.warandgameinfo.com).
“He is said to have been tall of stature… except that towards the end.” What was it that really led to the fall of the Roman Republic? There are a lot of different factors to consider when trying to determine what caused the collapse. By examining The Rubicon, The Life of Julius Caesar, and some accompanying handouts from class, this paper will discuss how the Roman Republic did not collapse because of one factor. The collapse of the Roman Republic was like that of a game of Jenga. Factors were pulled out of the Republican system just like a game of Jenga until the Republic could not stand anymore.