How Did Julius Caesar Change The Government

Death, uncertainty, and fear all come to mind when thinking about the Roman Empire. When Julius Caesar made the fatal decision of turning the Roman Government into an empire, it hurt Rome forever. Bad leaders damaged Rome’s image while citizens of Rome lived in fear and panic. No one could control bad leaders and limit their power, giving them the freedom to do whatever they wanted. Although Caesar was very popular among common people, there would be many dictators that weren’t. Julius Caesar made a bad choice changing the government, but was able to do it by his popularity and weakening his opponents.

Before Julius Caesar changed the Roman Government to an empire, it was a republic (McManus, Barbara F). A Republic government is when the

This was a huge change from having many people in charge like they did in the republic. Also, citizens weren’t heard as much as they were in the republic. They couldn’t elect who they thought was going to make the best decisions for them; instead they had to obey whatever the dictator said even if they didn’t like his views. Because Rome had conquered so much, its territories were huge. Dictators had to rule all the land by themselves and had to make sure that no one was going to try and rise against them. Because of all the traveling they did to the different areas of the empire, many emperors died young. When a beloved emperor died it left instability throughout the empire and cause citizens to panic. Being an emperor is a job for life, and emperors ruled until they died or, in some cases, were assassinated. Having a bad leader who had the all the power could ruin the empire. Even though Julius Caesar was a good leader for Rome, that did not mean the rest of the dictators were good, strong leaders, too. If a bad leader had all the power and made poor decisions, it will hurt the empire and its inhabitants. Emperors such as Caligula, Nero, and Commodus hurt the Roman Empire’s image, resources, and people. (Gill, N.S). Many dictators had to rule by fear and violence to make sure they weren't overthrown and killed. Ruling by fear and violence resulted in many deaths and uncertainty

Soldiers were more likely to be loyal to your general than the government so Julius Caesar had more control over his men than the Roman Republic. Also, Caesar shared the same hardships as the soldiers during battles. Without the help of his army, Caesar believed he wouldn’t have earned dictator for life and would have been killed earlier in his life. Caesar enacted different social reforms that made him very popular with the common people. Some of the reforms included citizenship for people in the provinces and public land for veterans. (CITATION). Julius Caesar weakened his political opponents by becoming dictator for life. By becoming dictator for life, the senate or any other group that held power could not control him. This prevented from anyone taking Caesar’s power and turning the government back into a