Category: Roman Republic

The rise and eventual breakdown of the Roman Republic is deemed to be one of the most important events in Roman history. Marcus Tullius Cicero had a lasting impact on the downfall of the Roman Republic, however this impact, once explored more, can be seen to be a less obvious and underlying cause. Due to Cicero’s politically-charged writings, mislead beliefs and power-hungry associates, cracks began to form to become what is now known as the downfall of the Roman Republic. The question that will be explored in this historical essay is, ‘How significant was Marcus Tullius cicero in regards to the downfall of the roman republic?’. This will be investigated through the exploration of his relationships with fellow political associates, Julius Caesar and his heir, Octavian and his political and impactful writings.

Cicero lived in a time of internal discordance and by his time, a number of fatal weaknesses had undermined the ‘ideal’ Roman Republic system. Despite this, his writings are still considered to be one of the best recorded bodies of correspondence, its influence barely waning over the centuries. It is believed that through him and his writings, the creatives of the renaissance and enlightenment eras were able to discover the riches of classical rhetoric and philosophy. The “highly important almost 900 surviving letters by Cicero” recorded the events of the day and historically solidified his opinions and thoughts on the events of that era. Despite this, historians argue that his works should be “taken with a grain of salt because Cicero was writing and delivering them in order to achieve some legal outcome and/or political goal and by his own admission, not above saying misleading or inaccurate things if he thought they would be effective” (Clayton, N/A). Becoming worthy of preservation by the “early Catholic church declaring him a ‘Righteous Pagan’” and “Saint Augustine and others quoting liberally from his works The Republic and The Laws” (New World Encyclopedia, 2017), Cicero’s memory was able to live on long after his pen touched paper. Cicero “subordinated philosophy to politics” (Clayton, N/A), and through his writings and speeches, explored the “defence, and if possible the improvement, of the Roman Republic” and “the politicians he believed were corrupt”. Two people that revolved around Cicero’s life that he especially discussed were Julius Caesar and his son, Octavian.

When the Roman political and legal system underwent the change to become a republic, it meant that a senate governed Rome. Two consuls held the power to appoint members, their strict incumbency restrictive to avoid a dictatorial emergence. Despite their restrictive ways, discontent within the senate resulted in civil wars and further, the culmination of the dictatorship of Julius Caesar. In the minds of the various, Julius Caesar was a tyrannical dictator who had usurped the Roman constitution. Marcus Tullius Cicero, however, was a strong advocate for the restoration of the Roman Republic and very against Caesar’s ways, with most ancient authors who wrote about him noting that he was disinclined to engage in military service and hated violence. Despite this, he did not participate in the conspiracy to assassinate Caesar, allegedly congratulating the assassins ‘well done’ instead. Furthermore, authors John P.V Dacre Balsdon and John Ferguson of the reliable secondary source, Encyclopaedia Britannica state “in the months following Julius Caesar’s assassination in 44 BCE, Marcus Tullius Cicero delivered several speeches that urged the Senate to support Octavian in his struggle against Mark Antony. When Octavian and Antony reconciled, a centurion murdered Cicero on Antony’s order. Cicero’s head and hands were nailed to the rostra in the Roman Forum” (Dacre Balsdon & Ferguson, 2019). This information on his death is corroborated in Appian’s primary recount, when it is stated that “As he leaned out of the litter and offered his neck unmoved, his head was cut off. Nor did this satisfy the senseless cruelty of the soldiers. They cut off his hands, also, for the offense of having written something against Antony. Thus, the head was brought to Antony and placed by his order between the two hands on the rostra, where, often as consul, often as a consular, and, that very year against Antony, he had been heard with admiration of his eloquence, the like of which no other human voice ever uttered” (Appian, N/A) and the articulately written source by National Geographic stating “Antony ordered that the severed head and right hand be displayed as trophies on the rostrum in the Forum so that all Rome could contemplate them. The rostrum was the very platform from which Cicero had been acclaimed by the crowds for his oratory” (Banos, 2019). Each of these sources provide a fluent, emphatic recount of Cicero’s assassination and despite the fact that there could be some bias, it can be believed that these sources and their information are reliable. Cicero’s indignation towards Caesar when both of them were alive was clear. This can especially be seen when Cicero discusses Caesar ‘on duties 3.83’ stating, “Behold the man who conceived a great desire to be king of the Romans and master of the entire world, and accomplished this. Whoever says that this desire was honourable is a madman, since he approves of the death of the laws and liberty, and considers their hideous and repulsive suppression glorious” (Cicero, N/A). This source could obviously contain bias as it is coming from Cicero’s point of view, as some of his sources are known to be “self-serving” however, this is an authentic and reliable source. One would think once Caesar was assassinated, Cicero’s issues with him would cease. However, Caesar known as his son, Octavian caused even more issues for Cicero.

Towards the end of the Roman Republic, Cicero attempted to defend the Republican government that Rome had maintained for almost 500 years. He put too much misguided trust into the heir and follower of Caesar, Octavian, to help him preserve the Republic. The result of this trust was that Octavian overthrew the republic, exiled many of his enemies and left “Cicero’s head and hands were nailed to the rostra in the Roman Forum” (Dacre Balsdon & Ferguson, 2019). Cicero’s biggest mistake can be found in him asking the senate to make Octavian proprietor and give him military command. After Caesar was assassinated, in the months succeeding, “Cicero delivered several speeches that urged the Senate to support Octavian in his struggle against Mark Antony” (Dacre Balsdon & Ferguson, 2019). Cicero was “elected Praetor…at the earliest age permitted by law” (Simkin, 1997) allowing him to have power in his society. Through this power he was able to not only urge to senate to support Octavian, but also “uncovered and suppressed an attempted coup led by Catiline”, later “executing five of the conspirators without trial” (Steel, 2009). This is corroborated by ‘philosophers.co.uk’ source stating that “He exposed the Catilina conspiracy which foresaw his assassination and overthrow of the Roman Republic” (philosophers.co.uk, 2012). So, it can be seen that, despite the fact that lead to negative consequences, Cicero maintained a great influence in his society and therefore, the senate, when listening to his ideas of allowing Octavian to gain political power, would have, at the least, listened, and at the most, followed his words. Cicero nurtured Octavian, basically raising him, and through this created an ambitious and political man. However, once Octavian reached the position of Consul, he figuratively stabbed Cicero in the back and wouldn’t pay any ounce of attention towards him. To push the figurative knife in just that little bit deeper, Octavius became politically friendly, and eventually joined forces with Cicero’s political opponent, Mark Antony. National Geographic Society’s reliable source states that “Cicero remained loyal to the Roman Republic during his career. He viewed the informal alliance known as the First Triumvirate to be in direct opposition to the principles of the republic and authority of the Senate. By refusing to join this alliance, Cicero left himself vulnerable to attacks from his political enemies. This became an issue for Cicero when he came under fire for speaking out against the political figure and tribune Publius Clodius”.

Although, Cicero did not have as much of a massive impact on the breakdown of the Roman Republic as someone like Julius Caesar or Pompey, Cicero made actions that caused butterfly effects. These butterfly effects, such as his involvements against Caesar and with Octavian, enabled cracks to form and breakdown the Roman Republic. As said in the words of Brundisium on the 29th of April, 58 B.C, in a letter to young Cicero, “Goodbye!”.

Weakness in military recruitment was only the beginning of issues for the Republic. Crises kept occurring throughout 149 BCE-88 BCE. The Romans didn’t care for any new city-states so they intentionally minimized administration, which caused issues with provinces. The provinces felt they lacked contributions to the Roman government. An extortion court began in 149 BCE to try corrupt governors but was not very effective. The government continuously failed to integrate provinces into administration or society. Soon arose the Agricultural-Military Crisis as thousands of farmers were fighting Roman Wars instead of working their land and the army recruiting base became small. In 133 BCE, Tiberius Gracchus, a tribune of the plebs, tried to relieve this crisis by enforcing a Land Law. Tiberius had power in his position and as a result, a group of senators murdered him and hundreds of his supporters. The Italian allies felt a strong burden from Rome’s wars and felt they weren’t benefitting; in 125 BCE, a bill was pushed for their Roman citizenship and was denied. Italians threatened to leave the alliance so Romans needed to act fast. Tiberius’ brother, Gaius rose to the tribune position in 123 BCE, expanded land distribution, and transferred the extortion court to the knights, working against the senate. The senate lost some power. Gaius and his supporters ended up being executed, a corrupt act making it clear that the current senate was not working. In 103 BCE, an uncontrollable slave revolt occurred. Italian allies were tired and had enough. In 95 BCE, Italians in Rome were expelled and son of Gaius Gracchus, and his Roman supporters, was assassinated for encouraging the senate to enfranchise Italians. The Italians had had it at this point and began a revolt known as the Social War in 90 BCE. They created their own country, Italia, with a senate and formed an army. Slave population increased and Romans were treating these slaves so poorly that in 73 BCE, a slave led a very strong army that harshly defeated Roman armies. In the final years of the Republic, downfall was catalyzed by the triumvirates. In the first triumvirate, the senators Crassus, Pompey, and Caesar, took authority away from the senate. These guys got everything they wanted at first but their group soon crashed and burned.

In the final downfall of the Roman Republic, the two triumvirates were only dragging the Republic down. After the first triumvirate collapsed, with Caesar being the only remaining member and soon being assassinated, the second triumvirate arose. The senators in the second triumvirate were all huge fans of Caesar and sought revenge against Caesar’s enemies. The group formed in 43 BCE by Lepidus, Antony, and Octavian. The three split up in their control of the Roman world, dividing the world into three parts. Lepidus controlled Spain and Africa, Octavian had Italy and Gaul, and Antony took care of the East. These three had more tension among them than the first triumvirate and formed malice intent amongst themselves eventually. Octavian was the most successful of the three and gained much power after defeating many in battles. He then sought Lepidus and exiled him in a small town which forced Lepidus to retire. Antony and Octavian were left to control the Roman world split up into two parts but soon they turned against each other with their own armies. Antony’s men lost their desire to follow him and even turned over to Octavian. When Antony realized his fate, he fled to Egypt knowing he would survive there. This left Octavian with an extremely large military force and left him powerful. Throughout 31 BCE – 21 BCE, Octavian returned to Rome as an administrator, a more suitable role for him, gained power and respect, reformed Rome and solidified his own power and the Roman Principate. Octavian wanted to restore the Republic in some way. He received a new title and name, Augustus. He quickly gained respect and admiration from the people. It was to be realized that the Roman Republic was dead and something new was rising. The Roman Empire had begun in 27 BCE and Augustus called it ‘The Principate’.

The matter of incorporation of inhabitants for the Roman Empire, perhaps referred to as ‘immigration’ today, was very important for the Empire to be successful and Augustus knew this. I couldn’t agree more with Augustus’ choice to actively begin integrating the inhabitants of provinces into the Roman World. This helped to give a welcoming feeling to the provinces from the Romans. This has been an issue in the Republic but was so crucial. Having good participation and inclusion from the provinces was important so that they would feel they had the same interests as the Romans. This would lead the provinces to fight willingly alongside of the Romans with their own hearts and motivate them to stay loyal to the Empire. The incorporation of inhabitants into the Empire was so important because without it, the provinces would revolt and not cooperate as occurred before in the Republic. Literal wars are avoided as long as this incorporation is maintained. Augustus fueled the Golden Age of Roman Literature when he obtained poets and writers. The literature that blossomed in the Roman Empire was very impactful and important to the people. For example, a hymn was written in honor of the Secular Games, which are a big event for the Romans that marks a significant time period. I see this as a way to celebrate an important tradition. Also, one of the best works, the ‘Aeneid’, became a Roman national Epic and some of it was taught to schoolchildren. Expanding the education to literature was important to increase knowledge. Another piece on Roman history had quite an impact. Having Roman’s history written in literature is important to preserve the history. This work also persuaded Greeks to think of Roman Rule with some positive aspects to it and that Romans were truly an ancient part of the Greek world. This brings recognition to the Romans. In general, society in Pax Romana was finally in a good place. Rightful citizenship was important for the Roman Empire because lacking it brought chaos to the Republic. The senate also became more representative of the people and this brings the government closer to the people. Women were gaining more rights and this meant that now everyone was participating in social and cultural activities equally which brought men and women as people closer together. Slaves are not to be forgotten as a part of the society as well. Slaves were being treated better at this point and were more satisfied and compliant. This meant that senators could leave their estates having trust in the slaves and knew their estates were being well maintained.

Overall, the Empire seemed to have successfully fixed those issues that gave the Republic so much trouble.

The Roman Republic was successful because of Citizen-soldiers and the Punic wars, but viewed as a failure because the 12 table laws, and the citizen-soldiers as well. The citizen-soldiers were a success because they had a skillful army that was well trained and was very large, so they had no problems when invaders came, “Rome’s success was due to skillful diplomacy and to its loyal, well-trained army. The basic military included about 5,000 men”. The Punic Wars were also a success because it led to Rome becoming an empire with more land, and they conquered the city of Carthage, “In the first Punic war, Rome defeated Carthage and won the island of Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia. In the Third Punic War, Rome completely destroyed the 700-year-old city of Carthage. Carthage and the region surrounding it became the new Roman province of Africa”. The 12 table laws were a failure because the government failed to put them out for the people to see until they said something about it, because the farmers, merchants, and artisans did not really know what the laws were until they did this. “Plebeian demands for power shaped politics in the early republic. Rome inscribed on 12 tablets, which were set up in the Forum, Rome’s marketplace. For the first time, the Laws of the Twelve Tables made it possible for plebeians to appeal a judgement handed down by a patrician judge”. The citizen-soldiers were a failure also because if a soldier fled from battle they were to be put to death, “If a unit fled from battle, however, one out of every ten men from the disgraced unit was put to death”.

The Roman Empire was able to be successful from Conquest and Julius Caesars reforms; however, it was unsuccessful because of Economic and social issues and invasions. Conquest was a success for the Roman Empire because along with trade, it gave them riches to make mansions and have luxuries. “Conquest and greatly expanded trade brought incredible riches into Rome. They built lavish mansions and filled them with luxuries”. Another success was Julius Caesar’s reforms, He gave jobs to people who didn’t have any and land to the poor. “He launched a program of public works to employ the jobless and gave the public land to the poor”. The failure of economic and social issues was that the city was being taxed a lot a money for the army and left a lot of poor farmers. “High taxes to support the army and the bureaucracy placed heavy burdens on business people and small farmers. As a result, many poor farmers left their land and sought protection from wealthy landowners”. Another failure was invasions, Rome got waves of invaders and its power was fading. “New waves of invaders were soon hammering at Rome’s borders, especially in the west. The Roman Empire had already lost many territories, and Roman power in the west had ended. By contrast, the Roman empire in the east would continue to flourish for centuries to come”.