Domestic politics in Republican Rome
The formation of the Roman slave-owning republic, accompanied by internal political clashes, took place against the background of an almost continuous struggle with external enemies. The Roman Senate in the 5th-3rd centuries BC persistently pursued a policy of military expansion throughout the Apennine Peninsula. This development in an environment of constant threats has had a strong impact on domestic politics, the economy, the military, and other important government sectors. Main topics on domestic politics in the Roman Republic: - Gracchus Brothers ' Reforms - The Jugurtha War - War with the Cimbri and Teutons - Gaius Marius ' Reform - Sulla - Wars with Mithridates Eupator - The First Triumvirate (Caesar,Pompey,Crassus) - The Second Triumvirate (Octavian,Antony,Lepidus)
Personal coalitions and extraordinary powers in the late Republic are especially clear through the concept of the triumvirate.
Economy and social relations in the Roman Republic
Mediterranean conquests brought booty, enslaved people, tax revenues and economic opportunities to Rome. At the same time, lengthy service, population losses and wartime devastation could weaken particular farming households. The expansion of large estates and slave labour did not mean that free farmers disappeared uniformly throughout Italy.
Aristocratic families competed for offices, commands and prestige. Equestrians participated in trade, lending and tax contracts; their interests could coincide with those of senators or conflict with them. Alliances depended on kinship, patronage and individual legislative proposals as well as wealth.
Provincial governors possessed considerable power, but it is incorrect to say that no law restricted them. Extortion laws and judicial commissions provided ways of prosecuting abuses, although their effectiveness depended on the political influence of the participants.
Slave tradeThe Gracchi’s reforms sharpened disputes over public land and the authority to determine political arrangements. Tiberius Gracchus was killed in 133 BCE; Gaius’ activity in 123–122 ended in his death in 121. Violence became a dangerous means of settling disputes, but the subsequent civil wars cannot be explained by a single cause.
The Social War of 91–88 BCE extended citizenship among Italians. The rivalry of Marius and Sulla involved armed struggles for power and institutional change. Long commands supplied generals with resources, while land and payments for veterans strengthened personal ties between soldiers and commanders.
The alliance of Caesar, Pompey and Crassus was unofficial. Its collapse was followed by war between Caesar and Pompey in 49 BCE. Caesar’s assassination in 44 did not restore the former balance: further wars and the second triumvirate’s powers culminated in Octavian’s sole ascendancy. He received the name Augustus in 27 BCE; Republican offices survived within a transformed system of power.
Roman coin of the 2nd century BC.Related topics
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