Discuss the contributing factors and progress of the fall of the Roman Republic
Discuss the contributing factors and progress of the fall of the Roman Republic.
The Roman Republic embraced concepts greater than simply political institutions, forming a way of life that included ideals such as duty and restraint that were in a sense as if not more essential than the actually governmental process. The Republican government was complex with the main elements being the Republic's chief officials (magistrates) who were called Consuls, the aristocratic peers in the Senate and the popular ensembles. This complexity rather than enabling the Republic to adapt to new situations actually caused it's evolution to be held back due to petty internal frictions between it's own separate groups. For example, when the "struggle of the orders" took place due to personal ambitions instead of balancing power between the patricians and the plebeians it actually created a new upper class even more jealous of it's privileges than the first. Yet it is how these frictions came about and how traditional and essential values were lost that really answer the question of why the Republic failed to adapt and finally collapsed.
The main contributing factor to the collapse of the Roman Republic to most was its own expansion out of the confines of Italy caused by a series of foreign wars with kingdoms such as Carthage, Mainland Greece, Hellenistic and Asia Minor which acquired new territories for Rome. One example is that the government gave responsibility of these provinces to senators, giving the consuls and praetors extended terms of office, by one year, making them pro-consuls and pro-praetors. This may sound innocent enough but these terms proved much less constrained for the senators who were much further away from Rome and were not under the watchful eyes of their peers. This new found freedom was the perfect breeding ground for ambition, which soon began spilling over from the provinces to the domestic politics of Rome. Throughout the fall of the Roman Republic these petty struggles of ambition between key senators and factions brought the Republic a great deal of instability. In the 140's for example a powerful faction, headed by Scipio Aemilianus, were blocked by rivals when trying to legislate an issue, yet almost a decade later those very rivals proposed an issue that was almost identical. In the Roman Republic it was becoming very clear that the issues themselves were becoming less important to the ambitious political factions than their own personal power mongering.
This ambition influx is just one example of how the tentative methods with which Rome governed itself in its early city-state stage failed when Rome was becoming an Empire. It is clear here that there was a great weakness in the central government to control the provincial governors. Polybius was right when he said that the Roman constitution rested on a delicate balance of power that relied heavily on the Roman's own sense of duty and restraint. Rather than change and define their political system logically as the world changed around them the Romans preferred to rely foolishly on tried and tested institutions.
It is no wonder that the traditionalists saw the new wealth flooding into Rome as damaging to these traditions and age-old ideals. The family, for instance, went from being a traditionally self-sufficient unit to buying slaves to educate their children and do most if not all of the household work. Bigger plots of land could also be bought by families all of the wealthy families as they did not have to pay the salves they bought to work on it. Soon larger estates were being managed with a lot more financial success than the smaller farmers could ever hope to match, especially as these farmers had to also compete against the taxed produce from new provinces, such as grain from Sicily. The new and original wealthy citizens were also encouraged to finance building programs to enhance their reputations that in turn brought new facilities and employment vacancies. The towns now began to attract many small farmers who were disillusioned with making an unprofitable living in the highly competitive, corporate agricultural industry. Unfortunately in terms of the Roman Republic the shift in population caused great urban instability as there was not enough work to support the growing urban population, leading to most being supported on the patronage of the rich.
The Roman Republic embraced concepts greater than simply political institutions, forming a way of life that included ideals such as duty and restraint that were in a sense as if not more essential than the actually governmental process. The Republican government was complex with the main elements being the Republic's chief officials (magistrates) who were called Consuls, the aristocratic peers in the Senate and the popular ensembles. This complexity rather than enabling the Republic to adapt to new situations actually caused it's evolution to be held back due to petty internal frictions between it's own separate groups. For example, when the "struggle of the orders" took place due to personal ambitions instead of balancing power between the patricians and the plebeians it actually created a new upper class even more jealous of it's privileges than the first. Yet it is how these frictions came about and how traditional and essential values were lost that really answer the question of why the Republic failed to adapt and finally collapsed.
The main contributing factor to the collapse of the Roman Republic to most was its own expansion out of the confines of Italy caused by a series of foreign wars with kingdoms such as Carthage, Mainland Greece, Hellenistic and Asia Minor which acquired new territories for Rome. One example is that the government gave responsibility of these provinces to senators, giving the consuls and praetors extended terms of office, by one year, making them pro-consuls and pro-praetors. This may sound innocent enough but these terms proved much less constrained for the senators who were much further away from Rome and were not under the watchful eyes of their peers. This new found freedom was the perfect breeding ground for ambition, which soon began spilling over from the provinces to the domestic politics of Rome. Throughout the fall of the Roman Republic these petty struggles of ambition between key senators and factions brought the Republic a great deal of instability. In the 140's for example a powerful faction, headed by Scipio Aemilianus, were blocked by rivals when trying to legislate an issue, yet almost a decade later those very rivals proposed an issue that was almost identical. In the Roman Republic it was becoming very clear that the issues themselves were becoming less important to the ambitious political factions than their own personal power mongering.
This ambition influx is just one example of how the tentative methods with which Rome governed itself in its early city-state stage failed when Rome was becoming an Empire. It is clear here that there was a great weakness in the central government to control the provincial governors. Polybius was right when he said that the Roman constitution rested on a delicate balance of power that relied heavily on the Roman's own sense of duty and restraint. Rather than change and define their political system logically as the world changed around them the Romans preferred to rely foolishly on tried and tested institutions.
It is no wonder that the traditionalists saw the new wealth flooding into Rome as damaging to these traditions and age-old ideals. The family, for instance, went from being a traditionally self-sufficient unit to buying slaves to educate their children and do most if not all of the household work. Bigger plots of land could also be bought by families all of the wealthy families as they did not have to pay the salves they bought to work on it. Soon larger estates were being managed with a lot more financial success than the smaller farmers could ever hope to match, especially as these farmers had to also compete against the taxed produce from new provinces, such as grain from Sicily. The new and original wealthy citizens were also encouraged to finance building programs to enhance their reputations that in turn brought new facilities and employment vacancies. The towns now began to attract many small farmers who were disillusioned with making an unprofitable living in the highly competitive, corporate agricultural industry. Unfortunately in terms of the Roman Republic the shift in population caused great urban instability as there was not enough work to support the growing urban population, leading to most being supported on the patronage of the rich.
