1. The Century of Civil Wars (133-30 BC)
De Blois, chapter 14, pp

2. Serious problems and discontent
What was the effect of the decline of free peasantry (plebeians) on Rome?
It led to a shortage of recruits, because proletarians were not yet admitted to the army on a large scale.
What did the rural proletarians want?
They wanted a redistribution of the public land for them.

3. Proletarians
What factors contributed to unrest with the urban proletarians?
The day labor jobs dried up as the construction financed by Rome’s lucrative wars ended.
Crop failures, transport problems and the slave revolt in Sicily caused grain prices to rise.
The charity of the patrons was inadequate to support the clients.

4. Publicani
What did the equites who operated as publicani (managing senatorial holdings) want?
They wanted more influence in administration and jurisdiction, especially in the jury court established to handle cases of corruption in the provinces.

5. Italian allies
What were the complaints and demands of Rome’s Italian allies?
Though they contributed to Rome’s expansion, they did not share equitably in the profits from her conquests.
They had to pay their own soldiers, received a smaller share of booty and precluded from holding provincial office or operating as publicani.
They disliked the Roman magistrates’ ruthless behavior, against which they had little protection.
They demanded full citizenship.

6. Tiberius Grachus What was Tiberius Gracchus’ aim?
His aim was to solve the shortage of recruits and at the same time to improve the condition of the proletarians.
Describe the bill (proposed law) he sponsored as tribune.
He revived the old law of 367 that limited the amount of public land that any one individual could own or use in order to free up public land for the landless. He intended to give the excess land to the proletarians, making them eligible for the army

7. Tiberius Gracchus’s bill
Who supported it?
Small peasants and rural proletarians
Who opposed it and why?
Most senators regarded it as a threat to their investments in public land.
What did he do to his fellow tribune who vetoed his bill?
He deposed him.

8. The demise of Tiberius What happened to him? By whom?
He was murdered in public by a group of senators
who saw his bid for re-election as a prelude to an attempt to gain absolute control and
as an interference to their prerogative in state finances and foreign affairs.

9. Gaius Gracchus What was Gaius’ relation to Tiberius?
He was his older brother.
To what office was he elected?
He was elected tribune.
What were his aims?
His aims were to continue the redistribution of public land in Italy and to settle landless citizens in a colony which he intended to found at the former city of Carthage.

10. Opposition to Gaius Gracchus
Who opposed him? Why?
The senators feared that such an overseas colony would become a block of private supporters of Gaius Gracchus.
How did Gaius try to break the resistance to his proposals?
He secured the loyalty of different interest groups by granting them political favors.

11. Political favoritism
What were three specific political favors he had passed or proposed?
One law granted the equites the right to compose juries which tried extortion cases (see. 1.d. above).
He fixed a low wheat price by arranging state subsidies for the purchase of grains to please the population of Rome.
He tried to grant the Italians Roman citizenship.

12. The demise of Gaius What happened to him? By whom?
He and some 3,000 of his followers were murdered by a group of senators and their clients and political allies.
What was the impact of his grain subsides?
They became a heavy burden on the state treasury.

13. Political consequences of the Gracchan reforms
The political consequences of the political struggle of BC
Violence became a means for achieving political aims.
Hostility grew between the senators and the equites.
The senators and the equites (knights) became two separate orders.
Political distinctions arose within the Senate.

14. Populares and Optimates
The aims of the two groups that arose within the Senate
The populares (from populus-people) wanted the popular assembly to pass proposals for reforms.
The optimates (from optimi-the best) were in the majority and wanted things to remain as is.
Contrast the social structure in the late republic (figure 14.1, p. 189) with that in the early republic (figure 12.5, p. 156).

15. Gaius Marius
Against what two peoples did Rome fight between 113 and 100 BC and why?
The Numidians in North Africa revolted.
They collided with Germans (the Cimbri and Teutones) who migrated across the Rhine river.
Why were the nobiles discredited?
There were corruption scandals in North Africa and crushing defeats against the Germans.
Who was Gaius Marius?
He was a competent general, a homo novus (new man) from the equites who was elected consul six times. He reformed the army and defeated the Germans.

16. Marius’ Military Reforms
He implemented a gladiatorial training program for recruits.
He equipped the recruits with better and more varied arms.
He introduced new, more efficient tactics.
He reorganized the army into legions of uniformly armed men, each legion composed of ten cohorts that could operate independently in battle.
He admitted proletarian volunteers, armed by the state, into the army.

19. The financial consequences of reform
What were the two largest burdens on the state treasury?
The cost of arming the proletarian soldiers.
Gaius Gracchus’ grain subsidies.
What action did Rome take to relieve these fiscal burdens?
Rome renewed imperialistic campaigns to conquer new areas which she could tax.
Why did the proletarians enlist in the army?
They sought to improve their economic position and desired a plot of land after the war.

20. Senate opposition to distributing land
Why did the Senate oppose distributing land to ex- soldiers?
They feared it would lead to the formation of military colonies which would support their former commander.
One of their greatest fears was a disturbance of the balance of power within the oligarchy. See figure 14.3, p. 191.

21. An example that the Senate’s opposition was valid
In 103 and 101 BC serious conflicts broke out concerning the foundation of colonies for Marius’ veterans.
Although Marius remained loyal to the Senate, a few radical populares, in their capacity as tribunes, used violence to persuade the popular assembly (Concilium Plebis) to pass land and colonization bills.
Marius’ veterans were granted land in Tuscany, the Po valley and North Africa, widening the breach between the optimates and the populares.

22. Citizenship for the Italian allies
When was the Social War?
91-88 BC
Who was Rome’s enemy in this war?
Their former Italian allies
What were the results of the war?
Rome won militarily, but admitted the Italians to the Roman citizenry.
Adult male Roman citizens increased ~400,000 to 1.03M
The Italian contingents were abolished- they served in the Roman legions.

23. Citizenship for the Italian allies (2)
Italy came to consist of self-governing communities of Roman citizens. The differences between Romans and Italians disappeared.
Describe the order formed by the Italian notables in the 50 years after the Social War.
They formed a third order below the senatorial and equestrian orders.

25. Decline of the popular assemblies
How did Roman citizenship change as a result of the significant increase in numbers?
Roman citizenship came to be a legal concept, a set of private and civil rights, instead of a political concept because only a small percentage of citizens still voted in the assemblies on a regular basis.
Who came to dominate the popular assemblies, how?
Usually the popular assembly was dominated by a group of citizens living in Rome who gave their votes to men who granted them bounties, organized games and behaved like demagogues.

26. The First Civil War When was the First Civil War?
88-82 BC
What individual conflict precipitated the First Civil War?
Marius vs Sulla
What did they compete over?
Supreme command in the war against Mithridates, king of Pontus, a Hellenistic kingdom in Asia Minor
Who granted command to Sulla?
The Senate supported by the optimates

27. The First Civil War (2) Who transferred command to Marius?
The popular assembly (Concilium Plebis) supported by the populares and publicani
What was Sulla’s response to this transfer of command?
He marched his army into Rome and occupied the city – outrageous!
What did Marius do after Sulla departed to fight Mithridates?
He seized power in Rome and executed some of Sulla’s followers.

28. The First Civil War (3)
What did Sulla do after he defeated Mithridates?
He returned to Italy with his experienced army and defeated Marius.
He had himself declared dictator without the six month limit.
He enriched his soldiers and settled them on land confiscated from his political enemies.
He began a reign of terror executing about 100 senators and 1600 knights.
He introduced a set of new laws with which he hoped to restore stable government.

29. Sulla’s major reforms
Statutory rules replaced unwritten standards of political conduct.
He ejected the knights from the juries, but admitted 300 of them to the Senate, increasing the Senate to 600 and marking the end of any internal cohesion in the Senate.
He created five new permanent criminal courts presided over by praetors.
He stripped the tribunes of many of their powers and disallowed them from running for higher offices, thus reducing the impact of the populares.

30. Sulla What happened to Sulla? Sulla admired the legendary Cincinnatus
He voluntarily resigned in 79 and died soon thereafter (in 78).
Sulla admired the legendary Cincinnatus

31. The years BC
What problems plagued Rome during the thirty years between Sulla and the Second Civil War?
An aggravation of internal problems and s number of major wars
Who were the three most powerful politicians during in these years?
Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey), Marcus Licinius Crassus and Gaius Julius Caesar

32. The years 79-49 BC (2) Where did Pompey restore order?
Pompey restored order in North Africa, Sicily and Spain
What did Crassus do for which he most remembered?
Crassus repressed Spartacus’ slave revolt in a bloody battle.
What was the long term impact of Crassus’ victory?
There were no more major slave revolts for over 300 years.

33. The years 79-49 BC (3) What factors contributed to this situation?
Slaves were treated in a slightly better manner.
They were no longer large, homogeneous concentrations of recently enslaved slaves.
The proportion of slaves who had been born into slavery and therefore had never known freedom increased.
Slaves hoped to be released some day as manumission became increasingly common.

34. Pompey and Crassus Who were elected consuls in 70 BC?
Crassus and Pompey
What change did they make to Sulla’s reforms/
They undid the restrictions that Sulla had imposed on the tribunate.
How did Pompey benefit from this change?
On two occasions friendly tribunes succeeded in persuading the Concilium Plebis to grant him important commands with powers that exceeded consular and proconsular powers and applied in several provinces, against Senate wishes.
imperium majus = greater imperium

35. Pompey and Caesar
How did Pompey consolidate his power in Asia Minor and the Levant?
He reorganized Asia Minor into a system of provinces and vassal kingdoms and annexed Syria (province) and Judea (vassal)
How did Caesar rise to power in Rome?
Standard political career
As a popularis follower of the Gracchi and Marius, he prosecuted many of Sulla’s men
Generosity and popular behavior won the support of Rome’s lower classes
As governor in Spain he defeated the last free tribes

36. Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar
How did Crassus rise to power?
He had started as Sulla’s 2ic but had gradually gone over to the popularis.
Champion of the publican in the Senate
Gained influence by lending money to many senators
Who is the Senate opposed Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar?
The optimates (of course)

37. Catiline and Cicero Who exposed Catiline’s conspiracy? Cicero
Consul M. Tullius Cicero, a homo novus from the equestrian order and politician with great rhetorical skills
Cicero
He tried to steer a middle course in the Senate, between the popularis and optimates

38. The first Triumvirate
In 60 BC, three politicians privately agreed to assist one another in their political struggles.
Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar
In 59 BC they got Caesar elected as consul.
Caesar got the concilium plebis to
pass a bill granting land to Pompey’s veterans
give him an important command in Gaul
From BC Caesar conquered all of Gaul up to the Rhine River, becoming one of the richest men in Rome, with a large political backing and a devoted army, the best in the world.

39. Chaos in Rome
During the 50’s BC, Rome was the scene of fierce political struggles involving mob violence and mock trials
The demagogue Clodius
Clodius’ grain bill brought a mass of impoverished citizens and freed slaves into Rome
The Senate granted Pompey special powers to stop the resulting chaos and violence
57 BC: to improve the supply of grain to Rome
52 BC: to control the mob violence

40. And then there were two
Crassus had himself appointed to an important command against the Parthians at the eastern border of Syria, but in 53 BC he lost the war and got killed (you have to both win and survive to gain power)
Back in Rome, Pompey aligned himself with the optimates for fear of Caesar’s rising star.
We are left with
Pompey vs Caesar

41. Cicero’s solution to the chaos
Cicero (in the spirit of Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Politics)
 De Re Publica (On the Commonwealth)
De Legibus (On the Laws)
Harmony between the higher orders
End to greed and ambition of powerful
Mixed constitution
Rule by senators chosen for their virtues
Limited polis view

42. The Second Civil War (49-45 BC) and its aftermath (44-30 BC)
Pompey (optimates) vs Caesar (popularis)
Caesar won
He restored order in Egypt, helping Cleopatra become queen
In 47 BC he was appointed dictator
In 44 BC Caesar was made dictator for life
Reforms
Tightened control of provincial governors
Limited recipients of wheat in Rome to 150,000
Settled 40k veterans and10sk proletarians and freedmen from Rome in colonies

43. The Ides of March Caesar governed Rome like an absolute monarch
He was assassinated, on 15 March 44, by the optimates Brutus and Cassius in response to his becoming dictator for life.
His followers and soldiers, led by Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony), Marcus Lepidus (Lepidus), and Gaius Octavius (Octavian, Caesar’s grandnephew, adopted as son in his will), seized control in Rome.
Brutus, Cassius, one of Pompey’s sons opposed them.

44. The Second Triumvirate
Caesar’s inheritance brought Octavian and Antony into conflict
Senate supported Octavian (because they thought he could be controlled)
In 43 BC, Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus worked out their differences (temporarily) and formed the 2nd Triumvirate
The concilium plebis granted them dictatorial powers

45. The 2nd Triumvirate in 42-36 BC
In 42 BC, Antony and Octavian decisively defeated Brutus and Cassius at Philippi in Macedonia
Octavian restored order in Italy while Lepidus ruled Africa and Antony ruled the eastern half of the empire
Octavian
Antony
Lepidus

46. Lepidus browbeaten by Antony and Octavian
Lepidus browbeaten by Antony and Octavian. Illustration to Shakespeare's Julius Caesar by H. C. Selous.

48. Antony and Cleopatra
After a costly defeat by the Parthians, Antony, dependent on Cleopatra’s grain, allied with her
Octavian convinced everyone else to support him against Antony and Cleopatra’s “Eastern despotism.”
Octavian defeated them in 31 BC at the naval battle of Actium, and in 30 BC he conquered Egypt, prompting their suicide in Alexandria

49. And then there was one
Octavian returned to Italy and used his copious Egyptian booty to buy land for 10s k unneeded soldiers
Octavian had brought the civil wars to an end as sole surviving ruler
He owed his victory to
A group of faithful friends who helped him and won his battles for him
Caesar’s soldiers who regarded him as Caesar’s own son
Caesar’s agents and henchmen, who supported him financially and in any other way they could