The Decline of the Republic

1. The Decline of the Republic • Mass of unemployed landless men allowed for the rise of ambitious men • No trust in Senate to resolve the issues • Romans were no longer dedicated to civic duty, hard work and simplicity • Now Rome was guided by corruption, greed and personal gain

2. The Gracchus Brothers: The Republic’s last hope • Plebian brothers who became Tribunes and attempted reform in the late republic • Socialism? • Fixed grain price • Redistribute land • They were both murdered by the Senate because they were a threat

3. The First Triumvirate • Pompey, Crassus and Caesar • Pompey (GnaeusPompeius) • Was only 28 when he was given command of an army in Spain (77 BC) • Marcus LiciniusCrassus • An ambitious Senator who gained power and fame by defeating the slave army of Spartacus in 73 BC • 70 BC both of these men demanded special honor and election to Consulship • Opened the floodgates for attacks on the power of the Senate

4. The First Triumvirate • Gaius Julius Caesar • Noble birth (Venus?) • Allied with Crassus in the 60’s BC to gain military commands (Governor of Spain) • Upon his return he strikes up the First Triumvirate with Pompey and Crassus • Elected Consul in 59 BC and then moves on to rule Gaul for 5 years

5. The Rise Julius Caesar • By 50 BC JC had 13 legions • After the death of Crassus in 53 BC Pompey (now sole Consul) began working against JC in Rome • The Senate cut short his appointment and asked him to return to Rome without his armies • When he crossed the Rubicon River in 49 BC he began a civil war against Pompey’s army • By 45 BC he is victorious and ruled Rome as dictator

6. The Reforms of Julius Caesar • Julian Calendar • Relocated 80,000 poor, cancelled loan payments for a year, Public works to create jobs, land to the poor and to veterans • Reorganized local government • Increased Senate to 900 (plebs, gauls etc) • Extended citizenship off the peninsula • All power was his (consul, tribune, priest, military, the courts)

7. The Death of Julius Caesar • March 15, 44 BC JC was assassinated by the Senate (Cassius and Brutus) • They had no real plan and all they created was 13 years of civil war that will lead the end of the Republic • They were jealous of Caesar and guarding the traditional powers of the Senate • Antony and rabble rousing

8. ….Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral …He was my friend, faithful and just to me: But Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honourable man….He hath brought many captives home to Rome, Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill: Did this in Caesar seem ambitious? When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept: Ambition should be made of sterner stuff: Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honourable man. You all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And, sure, he is an honourable man. I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,But here I am to speak what I do know. You all did love him once, not without cause: What cause withholds you then to mourn for him? O judgement! thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason….

9. The Second Triumvirate • Mark Antony, Octavian and Lepidus • Goal: To avenge the death of Caesar • They are eventually victorious in Macedonia • No real plan either split the Rome 3 ways • Lepidus (Africa) • Antony (East) • Octavian (West)

10. Antony and Cleopatra • Antony married Cleopatra in 37 BC (divorced Octavia) • She claimed that her son was the heir to JC not Octavian • Antony and Cleopatra are defeated at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC • Octavian: now controls Rome