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Roman Republic Research Paper

693 Words3 Pages

The Roman Republic was an ancient Roman civilization that was created after the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom in 509 BC, and ending in 27 BC with the creation of the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic was created in order for the rich men named aristocrats to gain even more power by removing kings from the Roman government. Soon after, the Roman upper class turned politics into a violent competition in their strive for power. Gaius Marius’ creation of “client armies” led soldiers to become more loyal towards their commander than the republic. This resulted in a commander named Lucius Cornelius Sulla overtaking Rome with his client army and establishing himself as a dictator. Finally, the civil war between Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompey ended …show more content…

They abused an oath known as sacrosanctitas, or the right of tribunes to not be physically harmed, to take control of Rome. With this oath in place, Tiberius bypassed the Senate and instead used the Plebian Assembly to issue land and farms to those without them. Both brothers ignored the tradition of tribunes being only elected once by announcing they will run for the next election, resulting in Tiberius being killed by angry senators. When Gaius tried to instate new courts to put senators on trial for political corruption, the senators advised the consuls to defend the republic by killing him. This ultimately resulted in two factions being created, the “supporters of the people” in the populares faction, or supporters of the “best” whom belonged to the optimates …show more content…

Using a “client army”, or hired mercenaries, he seized Rome’s highest offices and forced the Senate to support him. Notably, Sulla’s army consisted of commoners that did not own land or weapons. This ended up being crucial in Sulla’s capture of Rome, where his “officers except one deserted him … but his common soldiers followed him” (Hunt, 166). Sulla killed his opponents and anyone that dissented him, leading to the senate to become terrified of him. The senate, aiming to avoid execution, allowed Sulla to become a dictator, an act that was supposed to be only temporary, which gave him permanent immunity from prosecution. Sulla’s career revealed that war went from defending the republic to acquiring wealth and social

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