Rome II
IV) impact of constant warfare: Destruction of Plebian
A) Partricans / Plebian
1) became wealthier than ever (patricians)
2) few plebian rose to partrican rank
B) Equestrian class
1) this class was above the plebian class and below
the partricains
2) consisted mainly of successful plebian
C) Most Plebians
1) during war, farmers come out of the field and
go fight in the army
i) distant wars mean they might leave
for 5-10 years at a time
2) farms would fall into disrepair
3) warfare opened doors to cheap grain
i) Rome must compete with cheap grain
ii) ultimately farmers go broke - then
they lose their land
iii) senators buy the land - convert
it into expense upstart crops like wine
iv) Plebians move to city and become
proletariat
D) Proletariat
1) former farmers find it hard to find jobs
2) slaves did all the city work - proletariat are
left with no jobs or money
E) Roman Allies
1) Get mad because they helped Rome in wars, but
Rome will not give them voting rights
V) Roman Revolution
A) Tiberius Gracchus
1) Patrician
2) served as a military officer in Spain
i) found it was hard to recruit soldiers
- many had become proletariat and were too poor
a) all soldiers had to pay
for their own military gear
ii) wanted to fix the problems with
the army
3) 133 b.c. he runs for tribune (plebian leader)
i) wanted to take conquered land and
distribute it to the proletariat
ii) Senate shoots down this idea
a) the senators wanted the
land for personal use
b) they would use the land
for personal gain, Tiberius offered compensation
iii) he goes to the assembly with his
idea
a) they approve it
b) the plan gets put into
action
4) 132 b.c. Tiberius runs for office again
i) senate decides to kill Tiberius
a) they also kill 300 of
his followers
B) Gaius Gracchus
1) Tiberius's brother
2) runs for tribune in 123 b.c.
3) continues land reforms set by Tiberius
4) Tries to help the allies of Rome
5) 122 he decides to run for tribune again
i) senate kills Gaius and 3000 supporters
*Note: the plebians never used violent tactics to get any of the reforms
that they wanted, but the senate would resort to violence
C) Senate is not without opposition
1) They have a weak army
D) African war; Rome gets beat battle after battle; Cimbri and
the Teutones attack to the North
E) Marius
1) runs for consul - promises victory for the armies
2) defeats the African army
3) runs for reelection to defeat the Cimbri and
the Teutones
4) reelected six times
5) reforms he made as consul
i) paid soldiers - made it easier to
recruit them
ii) made alliances - helped equestrian
class - helped the plebian class
6) Senate is able to turn people against Marius
i) Marius then retires
* Senate is back in charge - back to poor government
- Roman allies start the Social War against Rome
- Rome is in bad shape again
F) Marius and Sulla
1) Marius is called back to fix the problems
2) put down the social war and made a truce with
allies
3) Mithridates of Pontus - how to deal with him?
i) both Marius and Sulla's armies want
to fight Mithridates
ii) Sulla gets the call to fight
iii) Marius goes to the assembly and
they decide he gets to go
iv) Sulla gets angry
a) Marches army into Rome
b) demands sulla gets to
go to the war
v) Marius Marches soldiers into Rome
and decides to take revenge on the Senate
a) Marius takes over and
kills many senators
vi) Marius tries to make changes to
Rome
5) Sulla comes back to Rome with his army
i) sulla kills people all over Rome
ii) starts using proscription - the
taking of a mans land to pay for his army
iii) Sulla takes over Rome
iv) Gives power back to the senate
G) Sulla and the failures of
1) warfare during senate control starts to lead
to Rome's major problems
2) Rome starts to fail due to a few significant
people with power intentions
i) Catiline - very shady politician
- criminal - very rich - very evil man
3) Catiline vs. Cicero run for consul
i) Catiline is evil - runs on the idea
of a cancellation of debts
ii) Cicero is the good guy - wins the
election
4) followers of catiline decide to plan an attack
on Cicero
i) Cicero finds out about the assassination
attempt - kills the conspirators without a trial
5) Rome begins to fall into the hands of men
looking only for prestige and power
i) Crassus, Caesar, Pompey
H) Gaius Julius Caesar
1) was apart of the 2nd triumvirate
2) made himself dictator for 10 years, then 10 more
years, then it appeared that he wanted to be king
3) Senate assassinates Caesar because Rome hated
kings
i) killed by Brutus - possibly an illigitamate
son
4) Assassination put Rome in 13 more years of Civil
War
i) Rome continues to grow though