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Economic and social decline in Rome
Political structure of rome in the late republic
Political structure of rome in the late republic
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The great many changes that came about within Greece’s history were due mainly to political and moral reformers. Solon, an Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet who is still well known for his efforts to legislate against political, economic, and moral decline in Athens. Draco, a legislator, who established a set of harsh but just laws in the city of Athens and there are many more. Rome also had its share of reformers, some more successful than others. In this essay I will be talking about a, particularly famous, pair of reformers in Rome’s history, the Gracchus brothers.
Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus were both born of an aristocratic family. Their father Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was a notable consul and military leader, their mother, Cornelia Africana, was the daughter of Scipio Africanus. While still young, the boy’s father died leaving the matter of their education to their mother. Cornelia ensured that both boys had excellent Greek tutors, teaching them oratory and political sciences. The older brother Tiberius was elected an officer in the Roman army. He won great admiration during Rome’s campaign against Carthage when he was the first over the walls of Carthage.
At this time, Rome was in a bad state of affairs. Many of the
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family owned farms in and around Rome had fallen into bankruptcy, due to the inability of the families to tend the land and pay taxes while the soldiers were away fighting. These lands were then sold and divided among large land owners who, to further expand their estates drove the farmers off the land and replaced them with slaves. “Then the poor, who had been ejected from their land, no longer showed themselves eager for military service, and neglected the bringing up of children, so that soon all Italy was conscious of a dearth of freemen, and was filled with gangs of foreign slaves, by whose aid the rich cultivated their estates, from which they had driven away the free citizens” (Plutarch 161). Tiberius, however, now an elected tribune of the people, took this matter directly into his hands. He aimed to address these problems by reclaiming lands from wealthy members of the senatorial class that could then be granted to soldiers; by restoring land to displaced peasants; by providing subsidized grain for the needy and by having the Republic pay for the clothing of its poorest soldiers. Tiberius put a commission in charge of redistributing land back to the soldiers. This angered a lot of senators and wealthy people because they feared that they too would have their lands taken from them. In order to oppose these reforms the senators bribed certain tribunes to vote against Tiberius but in the end they failed. The senators then threatened to put Tiberius in jail once his year was up being tribune. This then forced Tiberius to run for re-election. The senators got wind of this and stopped him from being re-elected. They then gathered a large mob including some of them personally and marched to the Forum, armed with clubs. Upon seeing Tiberius and his followers the mob attacked them and “of these there was a rout and a slaughter, and as Tiberius himself turned to fly, someone laid hold of his garments. So he let his toga go and fled in his tunic. But he stumbled and fell to the ground among some bodies that lay in front of him. As he strove to rise to his feet, he received his first blow, as everybody admits, from Publius Satyreius, one of his colleagues, who smote him on the head with the leg of a bench; to the second blow claim was made by Lucius Rufus, who plumed himself upon it as upon some noble deed. And of the rest more than three hundred were slain by blows from sticks and stones, but not one by the sword” (Plutarch 192). Even after his death, the commission continued to redistribute land but at a lot slower pace than Tiberius had hoped for. Tiberius’ dream to reform Rome’s corrupt society did not stop with his death but was continued by the rising of his younger brother, Gaius Gracchus, to rank of tribune only two years later. Gaius was influenced greatly by the reformative policy of his older brother and his murderous death at the hands of a senatorial mob. Gaius gained support from the agrarian poor by dividing public land between them and from the urban poor with various popular measures. He passed a law that “curtailed the power of the senators; for they alone could serve as judges in criminal cases, and this privilege made them formidable both to the common people and to the equestrian order” (Plutarch 209). Gaius was a spectacular orator and he soon won the people over to his side but he also made dangerous enemies. He replaced some of the senators at court with equestrians and allowed them to control a court that tried senators for misconduct in provincial administrations. Thus, he became an enemy of the senatorial class. After serving two years as tribune and with massive support Gaius decided to run for re-election.
This was an unconstitutional, yet not necessarily illegal, action but he managed to pull it off. However, Gaius’ plans to extend rights to non-Roman Italians were eventually vetoed by another tribune. A substantial portion of the Roman poor, proud of their citizenships, turned against Gaius. With Gaius’ support from the people weakened, some of the senators were able to crush the Gracchan movement by force. A mob was assembled to assassinate Gaius. Knowing that his death was inevitable he committed suicide and the remaining three thousand of his followers were put to death. All of Gaius’ reforms were undermined except for the grain
laws. Both the Gracchus brothers were honorable men, highly educated by Greek tutors and proven in battle. They had all the qualities to lead people but because of the great evil that had taken place in the hearts of the people of Rome, they were killed. The people of Rome were living corrupt lives and they did not want to change them for something they knew was better. Tiberius Gracchus tried to help the poor by redistributing land that had been taken from them by wealthy senators and he was eventually killed for this. His younger brother Gaius Gracchus took his brothers example, partially out of admiration and resentment for his brother’s murderers. Gaius tried to overthrow the senators and help the people but being threatened of death he committed suicide.
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, born 138 B.C. to a minor branch of the Cornelian gens, has been heralded as a fortuitous and cunning man, a formidable commander, and yet an unfit politician with perplexing motives. Sulla’s early campaigning allowed him to rise to great military distinction, and earned him the later invaluable respect of his fellow soldiers. Nevertheless, his career illustrated the demoralisation of the Republic and contributed to its ultimate degeneration. The reformative measures he took in his last years of power - which were intended to preserve the Republican institution, were homicidal and ephemeral; they were altogether ineffectual compared to the example of Sulla’s own career. Sulla chose for his own epitaph, ‘no one ever did more good to his friends, nor more harm to his enemies’ (Southern Utah University, p.6).
Augustus was born in Rome on September 23, 63 B.C. He was originally named Gaius Octavianus, but when his great-uncle, Julius Caesar, was murdered, he took his name. Augustus’ real father died when his son was only four. Augustus was adopted in Julius Caesar’s will and was left to be his heir at the age of eighteen. Caesar was very fond of his grand-nephew and he sent him to the College of Pontifices at the age of sixteen. When Caesar was assassinated, Augustus was in Illyria, where he was sent to serve. It was only when he returned to Italy that he learned he was his great-uncle’s heir.
Before Solon was name to reform the laws of the city, Athens was in great chaos. Solon had to tackle issues that were within the city itself. Because of the fact that only aristocrats and nobles were given the power to elect man, many of the “common people” were against that notion; as a result, quarrels between the common people and the aristocrats arose. Furthermore, due the the war that the Athenians just finished, and the accumulation of debts, the poorest of the poor had their lands seized and either sold themselves as slaves or their children and family members.
"When Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus sought to establish the liberty of the common people and expose the crimes of the oligarchs, the guilty nobles took fright and opposed their proceedings by every means at their disposal" - Cicero. The Gracchi brothers were clearly well intentioned men who had the interests of Rome at heart, instead of their own, which was a common attitude amongst the other senators. The reforms of the Gracchi were long over-due and their programs were genuine attempts to deal with Rome's problems. During the Gracchi's existence, Rome was facing a number of social, political and economic problems. They were frustrated with the conservatism and selfishness of the oligarchy and so adopted methods which threatened the balance between the senate, the magistrates and the people which had existed for a very long time - in this way they can be regarded as revolutionary. It is likely that they interpreted the problems far too simply, and they failed to see that Roman society had changed. The Senate also failed to see these changes and reacted to the Gracchi's actions in the only way they could - violence. The senate felt threatened by the Gracchi's methods, and as a result violence was used for the first time in Roman politics.
It is surprising indeed that Even today, tyrannies and dictatorships exist in the world when more than two and a half thousand years ago the ancient Athenians had developed a functional and direct form of democracy. What contributed to this remarkable achievement and how it changed the socio-political. scene in Athens is what will be considered in this paper. The paper will have three sections, each detailing the various stages. of political development from the kings of Attica to the time of Pericles when, in its golden age, Athens was at the height of its. imperial power.
Livy’s The Rise of Rome serves as the ultimate catalogue of Roman history, elaborating on the accomplishments of each king and set of consuls through the ages of its vast empire. In the first five books, Livy lays the groundwork for the history of Rome and sets forth a model for all of Rome to follow. For him, the “special and salutary benefit of the study of history is to behold evidence of every sort of behaviour set forth as on a splendid memorial; from it you may select for yourself and for your country what to emulate, from it what to avoid, whether basely begun or basely concluded.” (Livy 4). Livy, however, denies the general populace the right to make the same sort of conclusions that he made in constructing his histories. His biased representation of Romulus and Tarquin Superbus, two icons of Roman history, give the readers a definite model of what a Roman should be, instead of allowing them to come to their own conclusion.
4)Rosenstein, Nathan Stewart., and Robert Morstein-Marx. A Companion to the Roman Republic. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2006. Print.
In an attempt to promote justice and equality, Lycurgus and Solon fostered political, social, and economic reformations in their cities. Lycurgus instituted elders, redistributed land, made currency worthless, and established common messes. Lycurgus created a strictly equal city. However, it limited Sparta as a whole to advance. On the other hand, Solon works to resolve this problem in Athens by creating fairness for people with different upbringing. Solon allotted political privilege according to wealth instead of lineage, abolished slavery, and wiped the poor’s slate of debt clean. To alleviate social injustice, Lycurgus promoted strict equality while Solon understands socioeconomic inequalities are inevitable and still attempts to even out the playing field so that each person has the agency to advance.
Tiberius was a man of just reasoning and great honor. To have been a son of Tiberius Gracchus the elder, virtue was one of the traits that would pass along with his name. Tiberius married the daughter of the great Scipio who defeated Hannibal. This not only added to his fame, but also provided support. “We are told, moreover, that he once caught a pair of serpents on his bed, and that the soothsayers, after considering the prodigy, forbade him ...
Caesar was born into a traditional influential and respected family. It is this influence that he used to make his way to the top of the Roman leadership. His use in warfare and military conquests are legendary although he had at first concentrated in pursuing political actions. He won the first elections in his political career at the early forties. He was el...
At an early age, Tiberius was given military command and in his first campaign he won great renown with his troops and the Senate. He followed this up with another victory in Pannonia and for his efforts he received a triumph in Rome, the single greatest honor any general could receive. Augustus granted him the powers of a Tribune. Tiberius cared greatly for the welfare of his soldiers and they responded with respect and deep ...
Plato. “Republic VII.” Trans. G.M.A. Grube. Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy From Thales to Aristotle. Comp. and ed. S. Marc cohen, Patricia Curd, and C.D. C. Reeve. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1995. 370-374
Roman vs. Greek Civilization Although both Roman and Greek civilizations shared similarities in the areas of art and literature, their differences were many and prominent. Their contrasting aspects rest mainly upon political systems and engineering progress, but there are also several small discrepancies that distinguish between these two societies. This essay will examine these differences and explain why, ultimately, Rome was the more advanced civilization of the two. Greece, originally ruled by an oligarchy ("rule of the few"), operated under the premise that those selected to rule were selected based not upon birth but instead upon wealth.
The march towards developing a democratic society is often obstructed with societal unrest due to the influence of the status quo on the instruments of power. Before the rule of Solon, Athens underwent this same rule, as there was much discontent among the social classes in Athens. The society suffered financial disparity that often was the trigger for the war among the rich and poor in the society. This was a major factor that forced Solon into power to institute policies that would see a reformed Athens. By so doing, the society was looking for an avenue that would guarantee democracy and a society that is fair for everyone. The city-state of Athens was the epicenter of the revolution for the Athenian democracy during the fifth century BC. In the Athenian democracy, the electorate voted for the legislation of bills instead of a direct democracy where the electorates are tasked with electing representatives who later developed the bill. Among the first people who made significant contributions to the development of the Athenian democracy were Solon (594 BC), Cleisthenes (508/7 BC), Pericles (495 – 429 BC) and Ephialtes (462 BC). Pericles was the longest serving democratic leader who contributed much development in democracy in the city. This paper will give an account of the age of the Pericles.
The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the History of Greece: Classical Greece. Ancient Greece.org. -. [3/13/2014] http://www.ancient-greece.org/history/classical.html>. Roman society, Roman life, Roman society. n.d. - n.d. - n.d.