Reading practice 56
SOCIAL SCIENCE: Julius Caesar and the Fall of the Roman Republic
Gaius Julius Caesar is popularly considered the founder of the Roman Empire, though it would be more accurate to consider his political rise as marking the end of the Roman Republic. The distinction, which some would call insignificant, is more than mere semantics. The founding of the Empire rightly belongs to Caesar's great-nephew, Augustus Caesar, who was adopted by his uncle as his heir. The Republic had been under considerable stress for several years before Gaius Julius was born, thus he did not create the fissures that led to the collapse of the Roman Republic, though he did capitalize on them brilliantly1. Gaius Julius's singular success as a politician and general has guaranteed him a place among the most influential persons in world history.
Rome's social troubles began in a land crisis. Roman armies were traditionally made up of small landholders—farmers who, by law, had to own a minimum number of acres to join the military service. Unfortunately, a series of wars in the late-third and early-second centuries BC kept these farmers away from their land, frequently leading to bankruptcy. The small farm plots were taken over by the wealthy upper class, who farmed the plots with slaves won in foreign wars. With no more land to farm, the returning soldiers settled in Rome, where they added to the unemployment dole and increased political instability. Adding to the problem, once the soldiers were landless, they could no longer enlist in the army. This led to a significant problem for military recruitment.
The first notable Romans to address both issues were the reformers known as the Gracchi Brothers. Starting around 133 BC, the older brother, Tiberius Gracchus, tried to reform the system by proposing to confiscate, or take, public land to distribute to returning soldiers. He hoped this would solve the unemployment crisis and increase the number of men eligible for the army. Unfortunately, the land had been leased, often at very low rates, to wealthy members of the Roman Senate. At this time, Rome was governed by two political bodies: the Senate and the Assembly. The Senate was made up of wealthy landed nobility and was often in conflict with the more populist Assembly. Not surprisingly, the senators bitterly fought government seizure of the land, which they considered their own property4. In the end, Tiberius Gracchus was murdered, though the Roman Senate passed a modified version of the Gracchan land laws to quell public outrage. When the younger brother, Gaius Gracchus, began his reforms 10 years later, he was able to extend political rights to the lower classes and reduce opportunities for bribery and corruption among the upper classes. He, too, was murdered for pushing the system too far.
The reforms of the Gracchus brothers were soon apparently championed by a new political leader, Gaius Marius, although Marius's real fame came from his military genius—especially after he brutally halted the invasion of German tribes into Italy. He successfully reorganized the Roman military, in the process doing away with the land requirement. Marius also challenged the traditional structure of the army where nobility were regularly given authority over lower-class officers with more experience and ability5. Julius Caesar later exploited this reform, promoting officers based on ability not class, to tremendous success in Gaul and elsewhere.
Marius's role as champion of the lower classes was solidified when he opposed the Roman general Cornelius Sulla. Sulla was allied with the Roman Senate, who feared Marius's ambition and influence with the masses. Sulla believed in strengthening the power of the Senate against the popular Assembly6. To this end, he marched his armies against Rome, defeating Marius and establishing himself as Dictator. While Sulla eventually resigned the dictatorship peacefully, he had exiled or killed thousands of political opponents during his reign. Some critics say the real end of the Roman Republic occurred during the struggle between Marius and Sulla.
Julius Caesar was related by marriage to both Marius and Sulla. Despite this patrician background he chose to promote his connections to Marius7. Like the Gracchi brothers, Julius Caesar supported the redistribution of public lands to the poor and protected the grain supply (a large part of the unemployment dole). In his armies, he promoted ability before social rank. He was also widely seen to support the middle and lower classes against the privileges of the aristocracy, namely the Senate. The senators saw him as a traitor to their class and, therefore, to the Republic itself. When Julius Caesar was eventually assassinated8 by a group of senators, the outcry from the general population was completely unanticipated. The resulting political chaos ultimately led to the rise of Augustus Caesar as emperor, effectively ending the Roman Republic forever10.
