The study of historical facts about the fall of empires and republics still attracts the interest of many researchers. This is due to the fact that the acquired knowledge can give valuable insight and help solve some problems in the modern world. Thus, this scientific paper aims at how a series of racing strong military men and inter-class conflict influenced the fall of the Roman Republic. I believe that both structural and individual problems contributed to its fall. This is because they are in a direct relationship with each other. An example may be the wrong decisions made by the ruler about economic policy, which will lead to a downturn in the economy and discontent among citizens. Thus, this can cause subsequent problems with an incorrect solution, of which many problems can also accumulate. This is precisely what happened to the Roman Republic, where the causes and consequences of problems influenced the disappearance of the empire.
It was one of the main reasons for the fall of the Roman Republic, which led to other events that were problems related to the economy. They followed after the end of multiple conquests and smoothly turned into political ones. As is already known, thanks to historical sources, the final point was the murder of Caesar. As a consequence of the multiple expansions of the lands of government, Roman citizens no longer had to pay taxes. However, this wealth led to open corruption in the elections, and senators bought at the expense of considerable contributions to the election campaign (Arena 1). Thus, these actions led to the establishment of various laws that worked toward the affluent classes.
The figures who promoted the struggle for the rights of people, which arose because of the hole between the classes, were the Gracchi. Both brothers pursued this idea and wanted to improve the lives of the lower classes of society. In addition, due to the problem of unequal distribution of land, the Gracchi sought to seize land from the rich population, that is, representatives of the senatorial class. With the help of this initiative, if such representatives of the lower classes, such as soldiers and peasants, were moved. Another initiative was to provide subsidized grain to the needy and pay for the clothing of poor soldiers.
Another reason that contributed to the fall of the Roman Republic was the optimates and populares. The former was the dominant group in the Senate, and the representatives of the latter were their direct opponents. The optimates were on the side of the oligarchy, and the popular focused more on popular support against the ruling oligarchy. Thus, the power of the Senate was not based on the law, which led to the loss of legal control over the people.
Equally essential figures were Marius and Sulla, who are considered symbols of the formation of chaos in Roman society. Gaius Marius’ reforms abolished the maniple system and replaced it with a single cohesive unit. The consequence of this innovation was the formation of a contubernium. Marius, because of his desire to rule, appealed to the will of the crowd and despised the traditions of the Senate. As already mentioned, the decisive impetus for the fall of the republic was the assassination of Caesar. During his activity, discontent grew strongly, and many feared that this negatively threatened the republic. It was also fueled by the fact that the concentration of absolute power in the hands of one person threatens democratic institutions. Because of this, the “Liberators” movement killed the dictator during the conspiracy. Thus, all these events gradually influenced the fall of the Roman Republic.
Work Cited
Arena, Valentina. “Fighting Corruption: Political Thought and Practice in the Late Roman Republic.” Oxford University Press, 2017.