The Crisis of the Roman Republic refers to an extended period of political instability and social unrest that culminated in the demise of the Roman Republic and the advent of the Roman Empire. A crisis is a turning point or decisive moment in events. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ...

Background

The Crisis of the Roman Republic began in the 200s BCE, when Hannibal devastated Italy, during the Second Punic War. Although the Romans ultimatley prevailed, the war left many small landowners deeply in debt. In many cases, the wealthy were able to purchase the farms of the indebted poor, and to operate large landholding with slaves aquired during the course of Rome's post-punic conquests. (3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events BC 168 Battle of Pydna -- Macedonian phalanx defeated by Romans BC 148 Rome conquers Macedonia BC 146 Rome destroys Carthage in the Third Punic War BC 146 Rome conquers... Bust of Hannibal Hannibal (247 BC – 183/182 BC; sometimes referred to as Hǎnnibal Barca) was a Carthaginian politician and statesman who is considered to be one of the finest military generals in history. ... Combatants Roman Republic Carthage Commanders Publius Cornelius Scipio†, Titus Sempronius Longus Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, Gaius Flaminius†, Fabius Maximus, Claudius Marcellus†, Lucius Aemilius Paullus†, Gaius Terentius Varro, Marcus Livius Salinator, Gaius Claudius Nero, Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus†, Masinissa Hannibal Barca, Hasdrubal Barca†, Mago Barca†, Hasdrubal Gisco, Maharbal, Syphax, Hanno the... Wiktionary has related dictionary definitions, such as: slave Slave may refer to: Slavery, where people are owned by others, and live to serve their owners without pay Slave (BDSM), a form of sexual and consenual submission Slave clock, in technology, a clock or timer that synchrnonizes to a master clock...

Tiberus and Gaius Gracchus

Beginning in 133 BC, Tiberius Gracchus tried to redress the grievances of displaced smallholders. He bypassed the Roman senate and passed a law limiting the amount of land belonging to the state that any indiviudal could farm. This would have resulted in the breakup of the large plantations maintained by the rich on public land and worked by slaves. The oligarchic nobles responded by murdering Gracchus. Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC 140s BC - 130s BC - 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC Years: 138 BC 137 BC 136 BC 135 BC 134 BC - 133 BC - 132 BC 131 BC... Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (Latin: TI·SEMPRONIVS·TI·F·P·N·GRACCVS) (163 BC-132 BC) was a Roman politician of the 2nd century BC. As a plebeian tribune, he caused political turmoil in the Republic by his attempts to legislate agrarian reforms. ... The Roman Senate (Latin, Senatus) was a deliberative body which was important in the government of both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. ... A state is an organized political community, occupying a territory, and possessing internal and external sovereignty, that enforces a monopoly on the use of force. ... A plantation is an intentional planting of a crop, on a larger scale, usually for uses other than cereal production or pasture. ... Oligarchy is a form of government where most or all political power effectively rests with a small segment of society (typically the most powerful, whether by wealth, family, military strength, ruthlessness, or political influence). ...

About nine years later Tiberius' younger brother, Gaius, passed even more radical reforms. In addition to settling the poor in colonies on land conquered by Rome, he passed the Corn Laws through the commons, entitling the poor to grain at subsidized prices. Additional laws allowed tribunes of the people, like himself, to serve multipe terms, and replaced the senators' authority over the courts with that of the knights. Gaius was also murded by the oligarchs. Gaius Gracchus (Latin: C·SEMPRONIVS·TI·F·P·N·GRACCVS) (154 BC-121 BC) was a Roman politician of the 2nd century BC. He was the younger brother of Tiberius Gracchus and, like him, pursued a popular political agenda that eventually got him killed by the conservative faction of the... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... Tribune (from the Latin: tribunus; Greek form tribounos) was a title shared by several elected magistracies and other governmental and/or (para)military offices of the Roman Republic and Empire. ... The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ...

Gaius Marius and Sulla

The next major reformer of the time was Gaius Marius. Like the Gracchi, Gaius Marius was a populist. Unlike them, he was also a general. He abolished the property requirement for becoming a soldier. The poor enlisted. Following the Roman clientela system, they were often more loyal to their generals than to the Roman state. Marius employed his soldiers to defeat an invasion by the germanic Cimbri and Teutons. His political influence and military leadership allowed him to obtain many successive terms as counsel. This article is about the Roman General who reorganizaed the Roman army, for other people known by the name of Marius see Marius (Disambiguation) Gaius Marius Gaius Marius (Latin: C·MARIVS·C·F·C·N)¹ (157 BC — January 13, 86 BC) was a Roman general and politician elected Consul an... Populism is a political philosophy or rhetorical style that holds that the common persons interests are oppressed or hindered by the elite in society, and that the instruments of the state need to be grasped from this self-serving elite and used for the benefit and advancement of the... A General is an officer of high military rank. ... A soldier is a person who serves in an armed force for pay. ... Clientela was a Roman law, or social convention that linked Plebians with the legal, social, and sometimes economic protection of Patrician families. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Cimbrian War. ... The term Germanic peoples may refer to: the Germanic tribes that in the first millennium were seen as a barbarian threat by the Roman Empire and its successors; the Germanic Christianity that in the second millennium came to dominate much of Northern Europe, politically organized in the Holy Roman Empire...

Sulla, one of Marius's subordinates, contested with him for supreme power. After the senate awarded Sulla the lucretive and powerful post of commander in the war against Mithridates, Marius' political machinations resulted in his being appointed commander in Sulla's stead. Sulla seized power and marched to the east with his soldiers. Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (Latin: L·CORNELIVS·L·F·P·N·SVLLA·FELIX) ¹ (ca. ... Elaborately-gilded drug jar for storing mithridate. ...

Marius himself launched a coup in Sulla's absence and put to death some of his enemies. He instituted populist regime, but died soon thereafter.

When Sulla returned from the wars, his victorius army defeated the forces of Cinna, Marius's populist successor. He inaugurated a dictatorship and purged the state of many populists. A reign of terror ensued in which some innocents were denounced merely to seize their property and enrich Sulla's followers. Sulla's coup resulted in a major victory for the oligarchs. He reversed the reforms of the Gracchi and other populists, stripping the tribunes of the people of much of their power and returning authority over the courts to the senators. Cinna, a Roman patrician family of the gens Cornelia. ... A successor function is the label in the literature for what is actually an operation. ... It has been suggested that Dictator be merged into this article or section. ...

Aftermath

The conflict between the masses and the populists, on the one side, and senatorial oligarchs, on the other, continued. Julius Caesar, although a patrician senator, championed the cause of the commoners. He led his armies, hardened in war against the Gauls, to victory in the Roman Civil War. He instituted a dictatorship and promulgated laws favoring the commoners and his soldiers. Ultimately, he was assassinated by disgruntled senators. Gaius Julius Caesar (IPA: ;[1]), July 12, 100 BC – March 15, 44 BC) was a Roman military and political leader. ... Map of Gaul circa 58 BC Gaul (Latin Gallia, Greek Galatia) was the region of Western Europe occupied by present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ... There were several Roman civil wars, especially during the time of the late Republic. ...

In the aftermath, more civil wars ensued. Ultimately, Octavius, Caesar's nephew and adopted son, won power and became the first Roman emperor. Henceforth, power would reside in the emperor backed by armed forces loyal to him, rather than in the senate or the people. A civil war is a war in which parties within the same culture, society or nationality fight for political power or control of an area. ... Octavius (Welsh: Eydaf) was a legendary king of the Britons, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth. ...