Julius Caesar
Augustus Caesar
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As the Roman Republic grew in power, the Senate (which did most of the governing of Rome), began to be controlled by the most powerful and weathly Patricians of Rome. These Patricians used their power to aquire more land, more wealth, and would often ignore the problems facing the people of Rome. As the corruption of the government become more commonplace, more and more citizens of Rome became unhapy, which created instability throughout the Republic.
The Roman Republic would spend about 50 years engaging in civil wars, which are wars fought between people of the same country. These internal conflicts would lead to a change of how Roman armies were formed. Since the beginning of the Roman Republic, much of the army was made up of land owning farmers, who were also the ones most likely to be unhappy with the corrupt Roman Senate. The leaders of the Roman military would now instead find soldiers among the poor urban citizens, who usually did not own property. With this new way of recruitment, a lot of power was given to Roman general, who usually had the loyalty of their soldiers, as they would reward their soldiers with land and riches for following their orders. Three generals would eventually emerge as the most powerful men in the Republic. These men were Crassus, Pompey, and Julius Caesar. They would eventually form the First Triumvirate, which is s government ruled by 3 people with equal power. These three men would split up the empire into three parts, each taking a part to rule over. Crassus would eventually die in battle, leaving Pompey and Caesar to split ruling the empire. The Roman Senate, fearing the amount of power that Caesar was obtaining by winning military victories in Gual (modern day France), asked Pompey to rule Rome by himself, and demanded that Caesar to give up his power. Caesar refused, bring his army south to Rome , and starting another civil war between him and Pompey, which Pompey would eventually lose, leaving Caesar as the sole ruler of the Roman Republic. Caesar would set himself up as Dictator (absolute ruler) of Rome. Caesar became very popular with the people of Rome by giving land and money to the poor of Rome. He also increased the number of members of the Senate to 900 in an attempt to add his supporters to the Senate, which would help him gain more power. On March 15, 44 B.C., members of the Senate assassinated Julius Caesar in an attempt to end in rule of the Republic, and to regain the power that they had lost. Immediately after Julius Caesar's death, a Second Triumvirate would emerge. Three men, Octavian (Ceasar's heir), Marc Antony (Ceasar's top general and ally), and Lepidus (commander of Ceasar's cavalry). These men would crush all those who stood against them, including the senators who assassinated Julius Ceasar. As they took control of the Roman Republic, only two of the men, Octavian and Antony, emerged as the most powerful men in the Republic. The Second Triumvirate would soon break apart as Octavian and Antony both wished to take the others power. This would lead to another civil war, with Octavian emerging as the victor, and Antony, with his ally Cleopatra VII commiting suicide to avoid become Octavian's prisoners. With his victory, Octavian becomes the sole ruler of Rome. He would eventually strip the Senate of his power, and crown himself Emperor of Rome, and taking the name Augustus Caesar, in honor of his Grand Uncle Julius Caesar. This turn from republic to empire would bring about the greatest period of peace of prosperity in Roman history, and would become known as the Age of Augustus. |