ipl-logo

Was Sula Responsible For The Downfall Of The Roman Republic

756 Words4 Pages

The End of Romans
Sulla became prominent during Social War. After gaining command in 88 B.C. Sulla’s alliance was broken with Marius because Sulla did not want to give up his troops. Instead of outright saying Sulla wouldn’t give command, he manipulated his troops to see why changing leadership would be a bad idea. In 82 B.C., Sulla marched his troops for the second time to Rome to take command of the Roman Republic. Upon Sulla’s arrival in Rome, the Senate gave him the title of dictator out of fear of his army. This march led Sulla to bear the most responsibility for the downfall of the Roman Republic because he made the Roman Republic undemocratic, increased violence occuring in the Roman Republic and created public unrest internally and …show more content…

Although Sulla was removing corruption, he caused more harm than good with his dictatorship. “Under Sulla it first became unlimited, and so an absolute tyranny.” For Roman Republic, dictatorship was only supposed to be 6 months longer, but Sulla had power without a term limit. Although, Sulla’s dream was to restore the Roman Republic to its old ways before its corruption, he instead made it more undemocratic. He not only had the power to overrule anyone, but he also change the traditions of positions in the Republic and only allowed people he liked to run for consul and proconsul. He changed the prerequisites to obtain office in the Republic. When he increased amount of positions, it wasn’t for the Republic but to accommodate ambitious individuals. To make the Tribune weaker than the Senate, he made a law that if one held tribuneship, then one couldn’t run for anything else. The position in the tribune was the only postion you have for life. With that, he changed the ways the Roman Republic oversaw the Tribune and the Senate. The tribune and the Senate were supposed to be similarly equal, and Sulla made it so the Senate was the government. His rulings gave way to a dictatorship that was unlike what a Republic would …show more content…

His laws were mostly repealed, making the Roman Republic to be worse off than it was before. Since the Roman Republic could was weak, people like the Triumvirate and later on Caesar dictatorship were able to take control of the Roman Republic. “With simmering unrest, Pompey’s army was used to assassinate those that were enemies of the senate, sulla’s program was overturned so that the tribunes weren’t terminal.” Even though Sulla eventually gave up his power after he restored Republic to his perception of glory, his show of dominance gave rise to more dictators after him. Sulla showed the others after him that being charismatic wasn’t enough to take over the Republic, but showing dominance and one’s vast army made the senate backed down. To have control of the senate, meant you could control the money coming in, and how the administrations should be ran, including increasing and decreasing the amount of members in the senate, quaestor positions and praetor positions. Sulla’s takedown of leadership gave rise to Caesar and later on many other dictators, which made Roman Republic fail and become the Roman

Show More
Related
440 Words | 2 Pages

138 BC, is considered very significant to Roman history and has left a notable legacy behind after his death in 78 BC. Sulla was famous as he left the legacy of the reforms of the Constitutions of the Rome Republic, laws specifically targeted towards the cursus honorum. In these reforms, Sulla aimed to reduce the level of political power the plebeian tribunes had in society, and remove the existing democracy, also believing in adding power to the Roman senate. Despite these reforms lasting many years after his death, eventually revoked by Pompey and Crassus, Caesar still destroyed the reforms in later years, meaning that his legacy in regards to his constitutional reforms were short lived. He also stands out in history, having served as consul twice, and achieving a dictatorship in Rome, alongside many military successes, including his involvement in the Social War.

Read More
195 Words | 1 Pages

Did you know that an estimated 4000 to 12,000 died on the Trail of Tears while trying to relocate for assimilation? The Trail of Tears was one of the biggest relocations in history. This was only one step in the many that it took for the American Indian to become fully assimilated into the American culture. The forced assimilation of American Indians was to be regarded with as a huge event which could be paired with the events of assimilation of the girls in “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves.” In the story “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by wolves you can see the visible evidence that the girls are becoming more and more assimilated into human culture.

Read More
1226 Words | 5 Pages

Sallust, a highly regarded Roman historian, commented that “…fear of its enemies preserved the food morals of the state, but when the people were relived of this fear, the favourite vices of prosperity-licence and pride-appeared as a natural consequence”. This is corroborated by Florus, a criticized Roman historian and poet “The next hundred years were unhappy and deplorable because of internal calamities. The resources and wealth gained in our conquests spoiled the morals of the age and ruined the state, which was engulfed in its own vices as in a common sewer”. Both Sallust and Florus explain how Tiberius’ death caused the senate to resort to violence in order to keep their power. Consequently, the peace in Rome was disturbed and eventually led to the fall of Rome.

Read More
809 Words | 4 Pages

His selfish, egotistical personality made the Romans concerned with the state of their empire. At this point, they turned against themselves. Not knowing whether Caesar would give up his army peacefully, the Senate declared martial law and turned the Republic to the hands of Pompey.

Read More
932 Words | 4 Pages

He was elected consul several times, and was the undisputed ruler of rome He provided land pensions for his soldiers, restricted the debts of a huge percentage of Rome’s debtors, and modified the calendar to make it appear more like the one used today Caesar was stabbed 23 times by the Senators in Rome because they declared that he had too much power Octavius, Lepidus, and Antony created a triumvirate, but it failed because it created a war Octavius won against Antony in the war, changed his name to Caesar Augustus, adopted the title emperor, and started printing coins The Roman Republic was not intact, and the Senate became useless Rome was first a city, then a city state, and then a republic Hannibal did not win against the Romans, so they were able to acquire

Read More
972 Words | 4 Pages

In this particular chapter, Polybius contributes how the Romans were able to rise to power was due to the system of government that was in place. He goes into in-depth analysis of the flaws each system of government had in the past, from kingship, aristocracy, and democracy, as well as pointing out their strong points. He stated that “For it is plain that we must regard as the best constitution that which partakes of all three elements (kingship, aristocracy, and democracy)” (Polybius, VI. 3). He concluded with the idea of a mixed government, where each part of the government will serve as a check of balance to one another.

Read More
1808 Words | 8 Pages

Reasonable and noble concepts on the surface, however, were underlying with their own contempt for the Senate and optimate party. What could be seen on one side as an attempt to rectify a dangerous and debilitating social system was viewed on the other as nothing more than a power grab and a flagrant attack on the Republican institutional ideas of the time. The goal of the betterment of society as a whole was lost, and victory became the only objective. As ambition and personal motivation became the predominant theme of the Late Republic, the social fabric that long-held Rome together, against all odds, was being torn apart due to the reforms that were set in

Read More
978 Words | 4 Pages

The new acquisition of land benefitted the rich in the Roman Republic, who eventually drove out the poor with larger rent prices. In response, Tiberius, as tribune, proposed a land bill that distributed land to needy citizens, as well as limiting one person from holding more than 500 acres of land. As a result, the poor people of the Roman Republic were assisted and Tiberius gained more of a following due to his populist platform. Land bills like these, also, would increase the participation of the common people in Roman politics in response to the consequences of empire. To sum up, the agrarian reforms by Tiberius Gracchus as tribune transformed the political system by appealing to the common people who felt threatened by the powerful elite, though led to some political

Read More
665 Words | 3 Pages

He managed to hold up Rome with his strength and character for his lifetime. The senate felt threatened by him so they killed him. There was a wide range of emotions and it started many civil wars. This completely caused a change in the government, and borught about the Roman Empire. Afterwards Octavian became the emperor that the new Roman Empire needed.

Read More
913 Words | 4 Pages

Many different internal and external pressures lead to the destruction of the Roman Republic. Cornelius Sulla, a Roman general, dictator and optimate, anticipated and was aware of the results of many powerful and

Read More
215 Words | 1 Pages

The political impact of Sulla's dictatorship was also significant. He used his position as dictator to strengthen the Roman state and centralize power in the hands of the Roman elite. This included measures such as increasing the power of the Roman Senate and strengthening the military.

Read More
1512 Words | 7 Pages

It seems that the fall of the Roman Republic was not a singular event that occurred instantaneously, but rather a long process that saw the increasing use of methods outside of Republican institutions to settle conflicts between members of the aristocracy over political power. Even as the Roman government transitioned form Kingdom to Republic and then to Empire, the competition between aristocratic families remained a relative constant in across the centuries. So too has the desire to mythologize the past. The romans attributed both the fall of the Kingdom of Rome and the fall of the Roman Republic to moral rot, while a more reasonable assessment might place the blame on a dissatisfied and competitive elite class and an inefficient and unresponsive governmental system that was unwilling or unable to address their concerns. In much the same way, modern observers of the Roman Republic have tended to mythologize the fall of the Republic in the service of creating a moral narrative about the unconscionable tyranny of Cesar and the righteousness of the Senate, or whatever alternative narrative is befitting of the historical moment and audience.

Read More
1608 Words | 7 Pages

Sulla’s rise to power was significant with his dictatorship forming an important part of Ancient Roman history and the demise of the republic. Lucius Cornelius Sulla was born into a patrician family however he was not born into wealth this came later in life. In 107BC Sulla entered the political field serving as praetor to Marius who was the consul at the time. From this role, Sulla began to make his way up Rome political spectrum. Whilst in the office as praetor Sulla demonstrated his administrative ability and would later demonstrate his military ability this enabled Sulla to secure absolute power of Rome for many years.

Read More
1534 Words | 7 Pages

What is Gothic Literature? Gothic literature can be defined as a piece of literature that uses dark compelling words to create a story for readers. Creating pleasure and without a doubt leaving a sense of terror in an audience, it remains a fictional combination of the supernatural, and the living bound together. This is a recipe for an epic suspenseful story.

Read More
1255 Words | 6 Pages

For starters, he is the reason the Roman Republic fell and the Roman Empire rose. Despite the rise of the empire was a relatively good geographical outcome, the fact that it was governed by a dictatorship, created a few problems. One being that most Romans were not in favor of a monarchical life. But, when he came into power the first thing that he did was make extreme cutbacks on the Senate. This can also be a result of his power thirst.

Read More

More about Was Sula Responsible For The Downfall Of The Roman Republic

Related Topics

Open Document