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JULIUS CAESAR and the ROMAN LEGION

JULIUS CAESAR and the ROMAN LEGION. Comparative Civ.12 Ms.Carey Chapter 5-Rise of Rome. Military Reform & the Rise of the Roman Generals.

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JULIUS CAESAR and the ROMAN LEGION

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  1. JULIUS CAESAR and the ROMAN LEGION Comparative Civ.12Ms.Carey Chapter 5-Rise of Rome

  2. Military Reform & the Rise of the Roman Generals • Throughout early Roman history, soldiers had been farmers who had tilled their fields, sowed their grain, and then went off to war only when necessary. They would always fight over the summer months to return home for the fall harvest. • However, as Rome grew, their ‘citizen armies’ of farmers was getting smaller. Not as many citizen soldiers owned land in Rome and with the population growing, they needed more food. • Grain therefore, was becoming scarcer and that meant that for the farmers that did own land, they had to return to their farms and make sure the harvests were growing.

  3. The Republic Army… • The Early Roman army was the armed forces of the early Republic • The early Roman army was based on an annual levy. • The infantry ranks were filled with the lower classes (plebeians) while the cavalry were left to the patricians, because the wealthier could afford horses. •  The commanding position of the army was given to the consuls, "who were charged both singly and jointly to take care to preserve the Republic from danger".

  4. After the 2nd Punic War: • After the 2nd Punic War, the Romans acquired an overseas empire, which necessitated standing forces to fight lengthy wars of conquest and to garrison the newly gained provinces. • Thus the army's character mutated from a temporary force based entirely on short-term conscription to a standing army in which the conscripts were supplemented by a large number of volunteers willing to serve for much longer than the legal six-year limit. • These volunteers were mainly from the poorest social class, who did not have plots of land to tend at home and were attracted by the modest military pay.

  5. Gaius Marius (155-86 BCE) • Gaius Marius formed the Citizen Army of early Rome. • He later realized that Rome was growing and that it needed a more standing army. • A standing army is a permanent force, not one recruited only in times of need. • Marius worked with the Republic and began steps to creating the first Roman Army…

  6. The Creation of the Legion • Marius made the following changes: 1) all soldiers had a fixed term of service (16 years in the ranks- 4 as veteran) - with the possibility of being called after 2) After a person retired, he would get a pension, or a plot of land and was then allowed to marry. - (no marriages while in the army) 3) Soldiers now got regular pay, food, and clothing allowances. 4) He created a reformed ‘Legion’ and a new Aquila (eagle insignia) for pride.

  7. THE LEGION • Marius’s new military arrangements were called the: “Marius’s Mules” • The ROMAN LEGION was now a heavy infantry unit of about 6000 men, broken down into smaller subdivisions called COHORTS. • There were 10 cohorts to a legion, and each cohort had about 480 men. • These units were then divided further into six smaller units called CENTURIES with 80 men in each. • These centuries had to report to a CENTURION (Sergeant)

  8. STRUCTURE

  9. Complications in the Legion… • A recruit would begin his service in the most junior century position of the junior cohort of the legion. • As he gained experience, the soldier could work his way through the ranks to the PRIMUS PILUS, the centurion commanding the first century of the first cohort. • Ordinary soldiers looked to their generals for security, pay and pensions, not the Republic. • Rome did not pay the soldiers- the Generals were responsible for them.

  10. Rise of Julius Caesar… • Long before Julius Caesar came to power, the Roman Republic had entered a state of rapid decline. • The rich had become wealthier and more powerful as a result of Rome's many military successes. • Meanwhile, life for the average Roman seemed to be getting worse • In addition, slavery was on the rise, and violent slave revolts were commonplace.

  11. The Rise of Caesar: • Finally, a new practice developed in which the army was paid with gold and land. Soldiers no longer fought for the good of the Republic but fought instead for tangible rewards. • Gradually, soldiers became more loyal to the generals who could pay them than to the Roman Republic itself. It was within this changing atmosphere that military leaders such as Julius Caesar were able to seize control of and put an end to the Roman Republic. • Julius Caesar was a man of many talents. Born into the patrician class, Caesar was intelligent, educated, and cultivated. An excellent speaker, he possessed a sharp sense of humor, charm, and personality. All of these traits combined helped make him a skilled politician. • Moreover, Caesar was a military genius. His many successful military campaigns gained him broad support and popularity among the common people. Caesar also won the undying loyalty of his soldiers, who supplied him with the necessary muscle to seize power.

  12. 1) Pompey the Great (106-48 BCE)2) Crassus (115-53 BCE)3) Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE) • By now, Romans understood that any man backed by either a powerful army or a band of ruthless, armed thugs, could usurp the constitutional government. • Julius Caesar began his rise to power in 60 B.C.E. by forging an alliance with another general, Pompey, and a wealthy patrician, Crassus. Together, these three men assumed control of the Roman Republic, and Caesar was thrust into the position of consul. Historians have since dubbed the period of rule by these three men the First Triumvirate

  13. The Roman Generals… • These men were all military adventurers who cared nothing for the Republican Constitution by which they had prospered. • According to their own private arrangement, these three men split the government of Rome among themselves in 60BCE and formed the FIRST TRIUMVIRATE, or “The Rule of the Three Men”. • Caesar had the armies of Northern Italy & respect from Gaul. • Crassus crushed the bloody slave rebellion led by Spartacus and crucified 6000 ex-gladiators along the Via Appia before heading to Persia. • Pompey was already a war hero from vanquishing the pirates of the Mediterranean and Carthage. • But….no private agreement could outline ambition and greed…

  14. Triumvirate Breaks Down:Civil War Over time, however, the triumvirate broke down. • Crassus was killed in battle, and Pompey began entertaining ideas of ruling without the dangerously popular Julius Caesar. • While Caesar was fighting in Gaul (modern-day France), Pompey and the Senate in Rome ordered Caesar to return to Rome without his army. • But when Caesar crossed the Rubicon River in northern Italy, he brought his entire army with him in defiance of the senate's order to come alone. • This fateful decision led to a civil war. Caesar defeated Pompey's forces and entered Rome in 46 B.C.E., triumphant and unchallenged…

  15. Caesar RespondsFights Pompey all the way to Egypt! • Caesar decided to bring his army into Rome. Pompey hurried to the defense of the Senate & Republic but was beaten back on all fronts. • Julius Caesar pushed Pompey’s troops out of Italy and all the way to Egypt where Pompey’s army was defeated. • Julius Caesar then decapitated Pompey and was now the last remaining member of the Triumvirate. • It was also during this time that Caesar met Cleopatra….

  16. Caesar becomes Dictator… • After Pompey’s death, Julius Caesar appointed himself Dictator for 10 years. • In 45 BCE, he changed it to a life position. • In the same year, he became PONTIFEX MAXIMUS (Chief Priest) and assumed virtually all responsibility for decision making in Rome. • He was now behaving more like a King than a Guardian of the Republic. He was even offered a golden crown by a young supporter- MARC ANTONY.

  17. Julius Caesar • Popular with the poor people- he drained the marshlands so they could have their own farm land, lowered the taxes based on income, invented the Julian Calendar (modern calendar), and made sure the people had food. • BUT….he made some enemies along the way. • His glory would be short-lived….On March 15th 44 BCE, a day known as the IDES OF MARCH, several self-proclaimed ‘defenders of liberty’ decided to assassinate Julius Caesar.

  18. BRUTUS and CASSIUS • On March 15th, Brutus, Cassius, and other Senate conspirators, attacked Julius Caesar in the Roman Forum in Pompey’s theatre and stabbed him to death. • They believed they were ‘defending liberty’ by killing a man who self-appointed himself dictator for life.

  19. Caesar Dead!Octavian comes to Power • After Caesar’s death, there was a struggle for power. Caesar had controlled the army and many felt the next leader should be another General, namely Marc Antony who had been Caesar’s Co-Consul during his dictatorship. • However, Caesar had a son with Cleopatra, and Cleopatra wanted her son to be heir. The Senate refused. • Caesar’s nephew, Octavian, fought with Marc Antony over who should be leader of Rome. • Octavian and Antony fought and eventually Antony was killed, and Octavian took power. From this point on, he was known as AUGUSTUS CAESAR and declared himself EMPEROR OF ROME. • Augustus still called the Empire a ‘Republic’ but he only let the Senate meet to keep them happy. They had no real power. • Augustus kept all the real power for himself.

  20. AUGUSTUS CAESARThe Roman Empire & the Emperors • Augustus Caesar was a good ruler. • Improved the city • Re-organized the Legion • Chose good Governors for the Roman Colonies • Had hundreds of miles of Roman Roads built • Improved trade and communications • Began the ‘Age of the Emperors’ He began a 200 year period that would be marked by 66 different Emperors. The Emperor was not a King so the title was not hereditary, anyone who had support from important people could become Emperor.

  21. Summary • Rome would not have been able to expand without the power of the Roman Legion. The military Generals, like Julius Caesar, invaded as far away as Britain and Gaul (France) and as far away as Egypt. • When Caesar was murdered, a new form or leadership emerged in Rome basically ending the Senate and Republic and beginning the ‘Age of the Emperors’. • Octavian (Augustus Caesar) was the first of these Emperors and built up the ‘Empire’ further than it had ever been. • Stay tuned for more on the EMPERORS OF ROME….. :)

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