The fascination with the Roman Empire begins with the end of the Roman Republic after the defeat of Marc Anthony at Actium by Octavian and Agrippa. Under Octavian, better known as Augustus, a glorious period of 180 years began which defined the Pax Romana, a period of prosperity, security, and relative political stability. What caused the transformation from Republic to Empire? Was this transition inevitable and positive? These questions not only help to more clearly evaluate the processes at work in the ancient world of Rome, but can apply to future empires that are often used as examples of the Roman model.
The Turbulent Final Years of the Roman Republic
Following the Punic Wars, Rome expanded rapidly, adding territory and bringing in wealth through tribute. Corruption in the external provinces tied to members of the Senate and other powerful Romans undermined the integrity of what the Republic stood for. Historians have asked if Rome’s expansion ironically led to the end of the Republic.
One contemporary comment suggested that in the first year of a governorship, the Roman proconsul made enough money through corruption to recoup the bribes paid in order to obtain the post; in the second year he made enough money to pay the lawyers he would need to defend himself against bribery; the money obtained in the third year would be enough to retire on in comfort and wealth.
Conflict between the dispossessed Roman farmers and the wealthy speculators that bankrupted them also weakened the fabric of traditional Roman society. Grain speculators that controlled foreign shipments timed the arrival of grain in order to deliberately lower the price of grain. This forced many local farmers to sell their small land holdings to the very men – usually powerful Senators, who manipulated the prices.
These speculators established vast estates, worked by the thousands of slaves entering Rome from the newly conquered provinces. During the first century BCE, slave revolts furthered weakened Rome, most notably the Spartacus Revolt which took several years to quash.
Civil War and Senate Challenges
The first significant war pitting Roman against Roman began in 90 BCE when Consul Marius led his personal legion against Consul Sulla. Sulla won the contest and imposed an extended dictatorship, intending to restore order by enlarging the Senate to 600 and putting policies into place that would avoid future civil wars. Yet Sulla’s three protégés, the First Triumvirate, continued civil war, each man motivated by the desire for power and control.
Challenges to the Senate began in 133 BCE with the leadership of Tiberius Gracchus and his brother Gaius, both Tribunes. Demanding justice for the Roman farmers, they forced legislation that would deprive the wealthy men of the Senate of their ill-gotten riches at the expense of the everyday Roman. Both tribunes were assassinated.
The First Triumvirate, composed of Julius Caesar, Marcus Crassus, and Pompey the Great, rapidly disintegrated after Sulla’s death. Crassus died fighting in Persia and Pompey died in Egypt. Upon the death of Caesar on March 14, 44 BCE, a Second Triumvirate was born to deal with the conspirators. The Senate was purged. Among those killed was Cicero, a patriot and defender of the Republic.
Birth of the Empire
The Second Triumvirate dissolved after Caesar’s assassins were slain in Greece. Marc Anthony, smitten by the wiles of Cleopatra of Egypt, broke with Octavian, the inheritor of Caesar’s name. His death allowed Octavian to return to Rome as sole ruler or “first citizen,” as he titled himself. Although the Senate still existed, the Republic was no more. Rome was now governed as an empire.
Sources:
- Mary Boatwright and others, The Romans From Village to Empire: A History of Ancient Rome from Earliest Times to Constantine (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004)
- Michael Grant, History of Rome (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1978)
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