How Did Rome Change Over Time

Rome, throughout history, has always been talked about as a civilization that thrived and pushed the boundary of expansion, one that is marvelled and glorified today. Between the years 509 BCE to 476 CE, Rome developed and grew into the civilization that is well known today. The Roman civilization lasted up to 1,000 years and conquered more territory than any civilization before it. Rome 's constant territorial expansion resulted in changes in its governmental structure from a Republic (representative democracy) to an Empire. However, during this period, the social aspects of Rome in respect to maintaining two classes, the plebeians and the patricians, remained unchanged in their lifestyle. Furthermore, trading continued to be an important

Originally, Rome governmental power rested with the Assembly, which consisted of tribunes, consuls, and magistrates. The Senate, which had little power, advised the consuls on matters affecting daily life. However, when Rome was in a crisis, dictators could be appointed by the consul for a period of six months. Eventually, during the fall of the republic, a new group emerged called triumvirates. Triumvirates were a group of three people who ran Rome.The first triumvirate consisted of Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus. Eventually, the first triumvirate fell and Julius Caesar rose to power calling himself Dictator for Life. The second triumvirate was no different, consisting of Marc Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian (later known as Augustus) Caesar. As history repeated itself Octavian, Julius Caesar 's son, rose to power. However, he declared himself emperor and thus started the era of Roman emperors. At the time, Rome continued to trade along the Silk Road which was created by the Han Dynasty in China. It is possible that while trading with China, Octavian may have seen the Han’s use of civil service to make sure citizens were qualified for a government job and implemented the same idea into Rome. During this time, after the end of the Republic to the beginning of the

While Rome’s government did change, its class system remained the same throughout the civilization in terms of their lifestyle and jobs. The Roman Republic had class systems based originally on descendants from powerful families and clans (Haber Patricians). Patrician was the name given to wealthy citizens in Rome and they only made up ten percent of the population of Rome (Haber Patricians). Their jobs consisted of holding office and running the military. The poor were called plebeians. They were the farm workers, artisans, merchants, and those who were in the military fighting as soldiers. Those plebains in the military did own land, however unlike the patricians the plebeians were not able to send others in their place due to a lack of money. The plebeians, however, did create a position to represent them in government, this position was called the tribune (Haber Plebeians) for them to be able to voice their needs. As the Republic ended, the plebeians rioted hoping to gain more representation in government. However, the opposite happened and the patricians were able to maintain their control through maintenance of the social gap. At the beginning of the Empire, with government structure shifting so that the Senate is the highest power and new reforms being made, such as hierarchical seating in the theater, the large gap between the classes remained unchanged. This era of peace in Rome was called Pax Romana and it helped to further divide the social classes although