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ROME 3
Well, we left off last lecture with Octavian Augustus and
the creation of the Roman Empire. And now we are
going to talk about what life in that empire was like.
The first and most fundamental change you need to
understand is the shift from Republic to Empire. Rome’s
entire governing structure changes. Instead of truly free
elections where citizens vote on government officials, the
emperor controls everything. One person is in charge.
He appoints all government officials either directly or
indirectly and runs the government. The Senate
continues to exist but really has little power other than
advising the emperor.
And, the government itself has a lot more work to do.
Rome is an empire. An empire is the amalgamation or
unification of many countries into one big country—many
countries ruled by one government. (The government of
one country controls other countries.)
And, the Roman Empire was vast. In a time period
where there were no phones or jets or computers to keep
connected, the Roman Empire contained about 100
million people all speaking different languages (from
Greek to Egyptian to Gaelic to Latin), all living in different
countries, and all taking orders from Rome.
This is the fulfillment of that old Greek idea of
Oikoumene, a community of men, all linked through the
structure of the Roman Empire.
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So, what was life like for the Romans?
Expanding on the 12 Tables, the Romans developed an
extensive body of law that applied to everyone. They
came up with ideas like “innocent until proven guilty.”
And, their laws were lasting. As we’ll see later, even
when parts of Rome were conquered by Germanic
barbarians, people continued to live under Roman Law.
The barbarians adopted it as their own. As a result,
almost all European countries base their law on old
Roman law, and US law is in part based on it (The idea
“innocent until proven guilty” is a Roman one).
As I keep mentioning about Rome, the Army shaped
Roman life. Rome had a huge military. I’ve seen figures
ranging from 250,000 to a half a million troops. Whole
cities grew up around these Roman legions. And, these
legions conquered new provinces for Rome (like Britain),
built fortifications (like Hadrian’s Wall), and defended the
empire. Some men even served in exchange for
citizenship in the great empire of Rome.
In terms of trade and transportation, Rome was very
nearly modern. Most people within the empire were
small farmers (later tenant farmers) and these supported
the cities. To get people, soldiers, trade items from place
to place, Rome developed a paved highway system
linking the cities to other cities and to military outposts
and the countryside. Today there is still an expression
that “all roads lead to Rome.” Rome was so important, it
was the heart of this empire, and it was linked through
these paved roads to everywhere else in the world. That
mattered. Still, it took 10 weeks to cross the empire.
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The Via Appia (The Appian Way)—the road connecting
Rome to Capua. Notice that the road meant for cart and
foot traffic now bears the weight of cars.
Romans worked hard, but they continued to enjoy
entertainment. And, as I’ve stressed, they were a
violent, bloodthirsty people, amused by violence. Think
about this for a minute—this entire culture rests on the
shoulders of an enormous military. Most men have
served in that institution. They are desensitized to death
and violence.
So, they continued to enjoy things like gladiatorial
contests, the object of which was death. Can a lion kill a
bear? Can a tiger kill a rhinoceros? Can a man kill any
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of these? Can this man kill that one? Huge crowds
gathered to watch these events, the great spectator sport
of the day. And, if a man were brave enough, the crowd
might call for mercy. Or not. Something mesmerizing
about watching how well a man dies.
Romans also enjoyed brass knuckle fighting, boxing,
theater, mimes, jugglers, dancers, and chariot racing.
Always, practical, the Romans excelled at applied science
and engineering. They built huge buildings, sewage
systems, and aqueducts. Their engineers constructed
roads, bridges, amphitheaters, public buildings, and
water systems that are still in use today. They learned to
make and use concrete and to breed livestock. They
knew some things we can’t replicate today (like how to
cover the amphitheaters for shade).
And, Rome had more than its share of scholars. Galen (a
physician) collected the medical data of his day together
and explored the human body.
Ptolemy worked on astronomy, envisioning an earth-
centered universe (his idea prevailed until the 1600s).
Literature—The Greeks influenced the Romans. But, they
did have some original stuff. Probably the most
important Roman writers were Cicero (late Republic—
political works), Virgil (wrote the Aeneid, a sequel to the
Iliad), Horace (poet), Ovid (love poet—actually exiled by
Augustus for being too racy and living too fast of a life),
Tacitus (a historian).
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As far as daily life:
For the Upper Classes, life was pretty good. They
enjoyed country homes, public baths, banquets, leisure
time, and activities. They ate exotic foods. Some even
imported ice from the mountains for iced drinks. They
drank a lot! Many death records show a life of over-
indulgence. (Some report hemorrhages after consuming
great quantities of wine, others show alcohol-induced
accidents. My favorite Roman death record notes that the
individual’s cause of death was: “he was deceived by a
bull.”). And, they were gluttonous. They ate and drank
until they couldn’t eat or drink anymore and then they
tickled their throats with a feather so they could throw up
and do it again.
For the Poorer Classes, life was much simpler with a lot
more work. Many lived on the dole (free or cheap grain
or porridge and wine).
Regardless of wealth, Romans were prone to violence and
excess.
And, living conditions made life sometimes short and
nasty. Plagues ravaged the cities (tuberculosis,
pneumonia, smallpox, diarrhea, malta fever, malaria,
measles).
Life Expectancy quite low. On average, a one year old
child would live to 35, a ten year old to 46, a twenty year
old to 50, a forty year old to 60. But only one newborn
in eight could expect to reach 40.
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I know this looks like just another scary baby head, but it
is a bust made for a sarcophagus. One of the most
touching exhibits at the Vatican is the Roman funerary
art. You might think that these terrible Romans wouldn’t
care if their kids died or whatever, but in this age before
photographs, Romans paid lots of money to have the
likenesses of their dead children made. One of the most
touching pieces I saw was a sarcophagus that had scenes
from the child’s life on it—birth, playing, growing, dying.
The parents never wanted to forget the child’s face or the
child’s life.
Slaves—still a wretched existence.
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Women—status up from the Republican era. They hired
wet nurses so that they weren’t solely responsible for
their children. Their husbands no longer had legal
authority over them (Roman women could sue for
divorce, although outside of the upper class, family life
seems to have been both monogamous and stable). And
they had greater control over their reproductive lives.
Abortion was controversial, but legal. They also knew
some methods of contraception including diaphragms,
and drinking a potion made of the silphium plant (this
plant is actually where we get our symbol the heart for
love—the leaves had a heart shape on them) to induce
spontaneous abortion early in a pregnancy. Christians
and Jews practiced coitus interruptus.
Kids were still educated to be good citizens and to
respect elders. Now, though, they tended to be taught
by nurses or tutors. Poor kids still learned from their
parents. Lots of memorizing.
Most Romans, all educated Romans, knew Greek, but
used Latin in everyday life. There are lingering effects of
this—the Romance languages (Spanish, Italian, French,
Portuguese), the use of Latin by the Catholic Church.
Great fear of fire. Augustus created the first police and
fire departments in history. These didn’t work quite like
you might think, though. The police didn’t take robbers
or bullies to jail; they beat them up on the spot. And, the
fire department didn’t always provide a public service.
Sometimes they would show up and demand payment up
front. If someone couldn’t pay, they might offer to buy
the property for a very reduced price, leaving the owner
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with the choice of losing everything or not quite
everything. Maybe this is where the term “fire sale”
comes from.
Had to deal with chronic problems throughout the
imperial period: unemployment, low wages, not enough
dole.
Rome (the city) itself in the imperial period:
Rome was huge. It had a population of a million (won’t
be seen again until London in the 1700s). A
disproportionate number of people were poor,
unemployed, and on the dole. Unless you were rich, and
even then, city life could be hard, so much so that most
wealthy people also had a villa outside of town.
It was overcrowded. “One man jabs me with his elbow,
another whacks me with a pole; my legs are smeared
with mud and from all sides big feet step on me.”
It was loud. The streets were so crowded in the day that
wagons and carts had to run at night!
Rome was dirty. Graffiti was all over, public latrines
were around, but most people used buckets and then
threw the contents out into the street. This was such a
problem that the city of Rome had to employ poo-cleaner
uppers. Some 60 tons of human waste landed on the
streets of Rome every day. And where did it go when it
was cleaned up? The untreated sewage was dumped into
the Tiber River—also known as the place where people
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bathed, washed clothes, and sometimes drank. Very
unsanitary—diseases.
And, it wasn’t just human waste. Other trash cluttered
the streets. Break a pot? Throw it out the window. And
imagine the pedestrians on the street—apartments had
many stories—it was quite possible you’d be clunked on
the head by someone’s trash. One guy wrote: “If you
are walking to a dinner party in Rome, you had better
make out your will first. For every open window is a
source of potential disaster.”
And there again is the horn of a dilemma. The first floor
of apartments were often shops, bars, and eateries. The
higher the apartment, the cheaper it was. But while all
apartments could be washed away in any of a great
number of floods, the higher apartments were harder to
get out of in case of a fire. And all people had to lug in
water from the public fountains except the wealthy who
could afford to have it piped in. (But lead). The higher
the apartment, the harder to reach.
For the poorest, though, it didn’t matter. They lived on
the streets or in apartments that they rented by the day.
Having said all of this, the Romans were sort of clean
personally. Certainly no Mesopotamians. Public baths—
most people go daily. Bathe naked, so separation of the
sexes.
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A tile walkway at the baths of Caracalla. Bath complexes
in the Roman Empire had warm, cold, and hot baths, art
work, changing rooms, often places for prostitution. They
were more like recreational centers—and they were
lavish. Also, like so much that the Romans did, these
baths contained lots of symbolism. This walkway, for
example contains stones from all over the empire—the
Romans as they walked it literally were walking on the
world.
Last thing—constant reminders of empire—coins “the
roads have been rebuilt.” Put out as propaganda by
emperors.
Now I’m going to take a little digression and talk about
something that developed within the context of the
Roman Empire—CHRISTIANITY.
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I’ve talked only briefly to this point about Roman religion,
mentioning that they were polytheistic and that they had
adopted the old Greek gods and goddesses.
Through time, it became customary for Romans to
worship their emperor as a god.
But, there were people within the empire who were
excused from having to worship the emperor because
they were monotheistic.
>>Can you think of who any of these groups might be?
Our old friends the Jews. Most Jews in the Roman
Empire were living in Judea, which had become a Roman
Province in 6AD.
And the Jews then, as now, had a tradition of expecting a
MESSIAH, a savior.
Through time, this idea got sort of mingled with another
idea of the Jews, Rabbis. Jews may have been taken
over by the Romans, but they didn’t like it and in many
instances they rebelled against the Romans. So,
ultimately, the Jews were suppressed and banned from
Jerusalem, and scholars, Rabbis, took over leading the
religion. (not new—diaspora before).
Christianity rose from this. Some Jews merged the idea
of wandering teacher or rabbi with the idea of a messiah
and there was Jesus.
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So, Christianity developed as a sect of Judaism. But, it
established what members saw as a new order. God
wanted a relationship with men. Jesus was the link
between men and God. And God would forgive men if
they asked him.
Well, Romans were very afraid of this new religious sect.
Christians refused to worship the emperor, they preached
the end of the world (which Romans interpreted as the
end of Rome), and they talked about Jesus as lord. And,
worse, they refused to accommodate other sects. They
were intolerant. (Romans were very tolerant of most
religions—a person could worship most anything and any
way they chose. But, one could not say that they had the
corner on the salvation market without arousing
suspicion and anger.)
Also, Christianity was totally unfamiliar to Romans. Not
only was it Jewish in nature (starting with the old Jewish
law, the 10 commandments), but it had no hierarchy—
only individuals of equal rank. This was very un-Roman
to the Romans who loved order and wanted to know
everyone’s place in relation to everyone else. And, it was
not a religion of those who mattered. It was a religion
that called to and appealed to the meek and lowly
(Romans were proud, liked status). The Lord’s Supper
suggested cannibalism.
So for many, many years, Christians were persecuted.
Some were thrown to wild animals in gladiatorial events.
They were imprisoned. (Fish symbol that you see on cars
today was developed so that Christians would know each
other, but others would not know them. It allowed
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Christians to recognize other Christians and Christian
meeting places without risking discovery and
persecution.)(But, while some emperors persecuted
Christians really vigorously—like Marcus Aurelius and
Diocletian—most emperors punished Christians only if
they became a threat to good order or Roman rule).
But, despite persecution and despite being very un-
Roman, Christianity spread.
Why?
Well, there were a few reasons why Christianity didn’t
just die out.
1. Martyrs (someone who dies for what they believe
in)—belief is attractive.
2. As conditions grew worse in the Roman Empire, the
meek and lowly category grew. Christianity
promised heavenly rewards. People needed security
and it also promised that. (Poor, slave, women)
(and a lot more have nots than haves).
3. As Roman citizens converted to Christianity, it
became more Roman, more organized (hierarchy—
successors of the apostles—Patriarchs, Bishops,
Priests…) Not just a religion of individuals of equal
rank anymore. And it used the Latin language
(continued to do so until mid-20
th
century). (Later a
Pope). Also more acceptable culturally—Paul (place
of women). Male-dominated v. Gnostics. Pick and
choose gospels.
4. Emperor Constantine stopped persecuting Christians
and by 337 AD converted himself. Story is he saw a
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cross in the sky and heard “By this sign you will
conquer” just before winning a battle. Some records
say really his mother nagged him into it. Constantine
also tried to make Christianity more uniform and
organized. He had Christians hold the Council of
Nicaea to pick which gospels to include and which
doctrines to adhere to. (When you look at your New
Testament gospels, they were chosen at this
meeting). It didn’t work as well as he had hoped.
The Christians really couldn’t agree and so there
ended up being different sects anyway (some groups
walked out on the council altogether) like the
Gnostics who give women a higher place in religion
and accept gospels like the Gospel of Mary
Magdalene.
5. Eventually after Constantine, Christianity became
THE official religion of the empire and pagans were
persecuted.
After the Roman Empire collapsed in the West, in Europe,
Christianity, a Roman institution, not only survived, but
became one of the chief organizing forces of Europe.
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ROME
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Back to business…When Rome became a geographic empire,
it acquired a whole new set of problems.
1. Government—After the Punic Wars, the question
became how to govern an area so large. Rome’s
Republic was only designed to run a city. How do you
make a government designed to run a city run an
empire that stretches all across and around the
Mediterranean Sea?
Well, Rome really fell down on the job. Where it had
given citizenship to many of those Italian peoples it
conquered, it gave ally status to many of those away
from Rome or even “province” status to them (in other
words, Rome ruled them as conquered peoples—
which, of course, they were). And instead of
extending the Republic itself, Rome ruled its provinces
through provincial governors. Many of these
governors were far more interested in lining their own
pockets than in ruling well. And, the Senate back in
Rome was far more interested in lining its pockets as
well. As Rome expanded, the Senate controlled the
Army, finances, foreign affairs, and new territories and
nobles there gained even more wealth and power.
And, they pressed for more. Many of the provinces
were denied citizenship and yet were pressed for more
and more taxes. Practice of Tax Farming grew up (The
Senate auctioned off the right to collect taxes in the
provinces and allowed tax collectors to keep whatever
taxes they collected beyond what was actually due.
The image we get is off tax collectors shaking people
down for money. In theory the provincials were
supposed to pay less in taxes than citizens, but it
didn’t work out that way in practice).
So, what actually happens is that Rome creates by its
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treatment of the people in the provinces a DISLOYAL
GROUP OF SUBJECTS.
2. Citizen-Soldiers—Rome depended upon its
landholding citizenry to serve in the military. But as
the Roman Empire grew larger, these citizen-soldiers
had to be away from home for longer and longer
periods of time. And, when they couldn’t get home,
they couldn’t tend to their business—they couldn’t plant
or harvest their fields or see to it that the crops got
sold at market. So, these guys who were compelled to
serve in Rome’s military had to hire people to work
their farms while they were away, rely upon slaves to
do the work in their absence, or expect their wives to
pick up the slack. The result was disaster. Many hired
hands took the opportunity of a man’s absence to steal,
sell all the tools and flee, and slaves tended to slack off
in their master’s absence. Women might have been
willing to work hard, but on the farm they already had
too much of their own work to do—getting water,
weaving cloth, storing and preparing food, and caring
for children.
So the result was disaster. Many of these citizen-
soldiers returned from serving Rome to find their own
affairs in a mess. Farms were wasting, taxes could not
be paid. For some who had been away years, wives
had turned to prostitution in order to support
themselves and children had starved to death.
A good example of this was an important general
named Regulus. While he was off fighting for Rome,
his hired hand sold all of his farming equipment and his
livestock. Because Regulus was important, the Roman
Senate helped him to recover his losses, but normally
no help forthcoming.
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Most citizen-soldiers who returned to find their lives a
mess had little recourse. If they still owned their land,
they could sell it to wealthy nobles who bought up land
to create huge estates called Latifundia (“spacious
farm”). (Sometimes if a senator or aristocrat acquired
farms all around a farm that didn’t default on taxes,
they would simply take that far too as part of their
latifundia—they stepped on the backs of ordinary
Romans and of veterans to get richer). If they had
nothing left they would move penniless to the cities
where they hoped to get a job or to get on the dole
(free grain or porridge and cheap wine given out daily
by the government to prevent starvation). The Roman
Government set up a dole system for those who
couldn’t get jobs or had lost their livelihood.
Once they had lost their land, these guys were no
longer eligible for military service, so that was not an
avenue of revenue open to them. Many of them took
the dole and earned a bit extra by selling their vote.
This was the human cost of imperialism. Empire
destroyed the personal lives of the citizens of Rome.
This created at least the potential for DISLOYAL
CITIZENS in Rome.
3. Values Changed as Rome became an Empire. Wealth
replaced character as the main value of the Romans.
People started to care more about their personal
finances than about Rome and they cared more about
whether they prospered than whether Rome was well-
governed. You especially see this with senators and
aristocrats who opted for war because they hoped to
profit or who took other people’s land away. From the
beginning of the Republic, Rome had land laws
restricting the amount of land any one person could
own so that wealth disparity would never grow too
great. After the 1
st
Punic War, rich Romans simply quit
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paying attention to these laws, gobbling up as much
land and amassing as much wealth as they could. One
of the worst problems to strike Rome in the wake of
empire was DISLOYAL LEADERS, the growth of a
class of Romans who cared more for self than for state.
4. Huge number of slaves—in the process of becoming
an empire, Rome created an enormous class of slaves.
After the third Punic War, the size of the Roman slave
population expanded to millions of people. About 1.5
million. And this created several other problems. For
those farmers who had been displaced from their land,
there were no agricultural jobs because slaves began to
fill these. Also, treated very badly by the Romans,
slaves were prone to revolt, although, as I’ve
mentioned, revolt meant certain death.
Probably the most famous slave revolt in Roman history is
the revolt of Spartacus in 73 BC. Spartacus was actually
probably a freeborn Thracian, and some sources indicate
that he had served in the Roman military (maybe an
auxiliary unit?). But he may have deserted the Army,
been captured, and been sold into slavery and sent to the
gladiatorial school at in Capua. Gladiatorial schools were
very, very harsh. Because the end product is supposed to
be a professional killer—a gladiator. Conditions were bad
and ultimately Spartacus and about 70 or 80 other
gladiators decided to escape (the ancient records say they
used “kitchen implements” to break free—I don’t know
what this means, but I always picture wooden spoons and
pots and pans!).
Once on the outside, the gladiators had access to the
wagons of real weapons. Other slaves began to join
Spartacus and despite Spartacus’s efforts to restrain
them, this group of slaves started looting and plundering
the countryside. Spartacus ended up attracting about
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120,000 bound for freedom. They were trying to fight
their way out of Rome, not trying to reform or overturn
the Roman government really (Well, it depends which
historian you believe—some of the ancient writers like
Appian and Florus claim Spartacus just wanted out of
Rome and to be free again, but others suggest he wanted
to overthrow the Roman government and become
something like a king). But the numbers were astounding
and Rome had a difficult time putting the revolt down.
Spartacus and his slaves wiped out several Roman legions
sent against them and Rome even had to recall its Army
from Spain to take care of the problem. Eventually,
Roman legions under Crassus and Pompey did defeat
Spartacus and his slaves, the last 6000 of them being
crucified all along the Appian way between Rome and
Capua, but the horror of such a huge slave revolt was not
easily forgotten and slaves if anything were held under
even tighter control than before. Rome had a huge
class of DISLOYAL SLAVES and their very existence
threatened both the physical and economic security of
Rome. (Wealthy men used slaves to farm their lands. This
meant that small farmers couldn’t compete, displaced
farmers could not find jobs, and the state had to pick up
the tab by providing the dole. And, all the while many of
these rich citizens had tax breaks—in Rome it was small
farmers who funded the state).
5. The Rich got richer and the poor got poorer. The
Punic Wars led to an increasing disparity in wealth—a
chasm between rich and poor. And, the class of poor
Romans grew even as the wealth of rich Romans
mushroomed. Who will pay the taxes? How will poor
Romans survive? What will the end game be? This
situation is bad for any society.
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Well, over time, these problems got so bad that reforms
were needed not only within the provinces, but within Rome
itself. And so various reformers tried to force changes.
133 BC Tiberius Gracchus was selected Tribune
(Assembly of Tribes). Though he himself was elite (his
father had been consul and his mother was from the
patrician line of Scipio) he saw the troubles of the poorer
classes so he tried to help them (or, as some less charitable
contemporaries noted, he could gain more power by using
the masses). Basically what he wanted to do was restore
limits on the amount of land senators/Romans could own
and use for themselves and he wanted to move landless
people to the lands he confiscated from Senators having
more than their allotted amount and also to some of the
public lands that had been acquired during the Punic Wars.
This had several effects. It moved people back into
eligibility for military service (because now they had land)
and it gave them an economic boost. But probably the
biggest effect it had was to really make those Senators with
large estates very angry. And in the end it became a
contest of wills, the Senate refusing to finance Tiberius’s
plans and Tiberius in retaliation vetoing Senate laws and
claiming the use of newly conquered territories which the
Senators viewed as their own. Tiberius was not above
breaking the law to get what he wanted. He ran for a second
tribuneship (not legal—only once and only one year). In the
end, wealthy Senators were so unhappy that a group of
them along with their supporters (clients) and the Pontifex
Maximus (the chief priest of Rome) simply clubbed him
and 300 of his supporters to death and then threw their
bodies into the Tiber River (this denied the men a proper
burial—criminals’ bodies were disposed of in this way).
Think about this—300 Roman citizens were put to
death in Rome without due process—their murders were
outside the law! What is the implication here? When the
Romans established the Republic, it was set up so that no
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one man could ever rule in his own interest as a tyrant
again. But, the larger philosophy underpinning the Republic
was that no man should be above the law. For the Romans,
the law was supreme. The Romans loved the law.
123 BC Tiberius’s brother Gaius Gracchus became
Tribune 9 years after his brother’s death at age 30. He
reaffirmed his brother’s old land laws, reduced senatorial
control of military/provincial governors, and used bribery in
order to get legislation enacted that would use public funds
to buy grain to be sold cheaply to the poor. Think of what
the Gracchus Brothers are trying to do—to address those
problems: Make the government serve the state, address
the problem of displaced citizen-farmers, end the financial
stress placed on the state by the dole. By Gaius’ time, most
people were willing to let these reforms go. Like Tiberius,
Gaius was willing to break the law to accomplish his ends—
he ran for and was elected to a second consulship. The
Senate did nothing. But, Gaius wanted to go a step further,
to get rid of provincial disloyalty—he proposed granting
citizenship to some of those provincials. No Roman, rich or
poor, wanted this. Tensions came to a head when Gaius
came to the Senate to argue for some of his reforms and in
a scuffle the servant of one of the consuls, Maximus, was
killed. In retribution, Maximus led a mob against Gaius and
3000 of his supporters. These were killed on the Aventine
Hill (Remus’s Hill). Gaius died, but rather than allow
Maximus to kill him, he had his personal slave stab him to
death. 3000 Romans murdered in Rome.
The problem for Rome after all of this was that the reforms
meant to take care of other problems had created a far
larger problem—one that cost Rome its stability. For the
first time really in Roman history, VIOLENCE replaced
LAW as the primary tool of Roman politics. Remember,
going back even to the foundation of the Republic and
overthrow of the monarchy, Romans had recognized the
need to follow the law. But the murders of the Gracchus
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brothers signaled a real change where Violence and not Law
would be the primary tool of Roman politics.
And as far as the Republic was concerned things really went
from bad to worse.
(Stop and Explain EMPIRE as geographic/political
reality)
(Geographic empire simply means a place becomes huge,
with one place ruling other places. Rome becomes this first.
The city of Rome dominated and ruled over other cities.
Later, though, Rome would become and empire politically—
instead of being run by an elective body, the Roman Empire
would be ruled by an emperor, or essentially a king.)
In 105 BC, A man named Gaius Marius tried to follow in
the footsteps of the Gracchus brothers and help the poor of
Rome (in part to further his own political career). He served
as consul 6 times (not legal), and commanded Rome’s
African Legions. Rather than levying a draft to fill the ranks,
he called for volunteers—citizens without land were welcome
as were non-citizens! This was a distinct shift in Roman
policy where soldiers always had to be landowners and
citizens.
Marius (Julius Caesar’s uncle) saw this as a reform, but was
it good for Rome?
It did help solve some problems. Those landless veterans
could find gainful employment and get off the dole. (the
state did pay a small stipend to soldiers out of which they
had to purchase their clothing, food, weapons, etc.), but
soldiers in a winning army stood to gain much more. Under
Roman law, the spoils really did belong to the victor—the
commander of a victorious army owned what he took
(except land). And a smart victorious commander shared
that booty with his soldiers to keep them happy. So,
allowing landless men to serve meant that the state would
9
spend less on welfare and reap more in taxes (sales tax;
land tax) and would have more troops. And, allowing non-
citizens to serve in exchange for citizenship could help turn
disloyal subjects into loyal citizens (Rome actually had the
most lenient citizenship policy in the ancient world—even
former slaves could aspire to citizenship and new citizens
came in on an equal foot with native-born in most respects).
Gaius Marius
But, these reforms were very bad for Rome. Because in
practice what happened is it created a new kind of Roman
soldier, one who was not loyal to Rome and its institutions,
but rather to the general who could provide him with status
and wealth. Soldiers became more loyal to their leaders
than to Rome.
And what’s the danger of that? (could overthrow the
government and set up a tyranny).
Well, Marius did become a very powerful general with troops
loyal to him because he was the one paying them. For a
while, everything looked okay, though. Marius got old and
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retired to his farm and new men rose to be consuls and
praetors.
But, in the 70s BC, one of Marius’s rivals Lucius Sulla (an
optimate who hated the populares) became consul and the
Senate chose Sulla to lead an army against a rich Greek king
named Mithradates in the east. Jealous, Marius returned to
Rome and insisted that he should be named commander
instead. The Senate wouldn’t budge and so Marius got one
of the tribunes to hold a plebiscite and in the vote the people
said Marius should fight Mithradates.
Was this legal? No, only the Senate can choose the
commander.
It was too late, though. Sulla had already drafted his army.
So, Sulla went to the Senate to ask them to declare Marius
an outlaw. But, he didn’t go alone. For the first time in
Roman history, a commander brought an armed army into
the sanctum (sacred city of Rome). Sulla marched his army
to the Senate and the Senate had no choice but to declare
Marius an outlaw as Sulla demanded. (The Romans couldn’t
do anything. They simply stood on the top of their houses
cursing at the troops and showering them with small rocks).
Satisfied, Sulla left to fight Mithradates in the east.
But, he left Marius behind and alive. Marius gathered
together his own army—one cobbled together of slaves and
ex-gladiators and poor rabble—and marched it into the
streets of Rome. And he demanded that the Senate declare
Sulla an outlaw, which it did. Marius then had his political
enemies put to death (including the remaining consul). Who
knows what might have happened, but Marius then died. He
was old!
When Sulla returned in 81 BC, he found Rome in a mess. So
he marched his army in again and declared himself dictator.
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It’s ironic—Rome was a mess because Sulla marched his
army into Rome and now he is declaring himself dictator to
fix that very mess. And none of this is legal! Who elects
dictators and for how long?
But, Sulla took over and in the 3 years he ruled Rome he
executed 1000s of Roman citizens. It was sort of a witch
hunt where informers were rewarded, but sometimes
informers turned in people just because they didn’t like
someone or for personal reasons. Sulla butchered so many
of his political rivals that no one felt safe. Plutarch records
that a young senator even pleaded with Sulla: “We are not
asking you to pardon those whom you have decided to kill;
all we ask is that you free from suspense those whom you
have decided not to kill.”
Sulla really polluted the Republic and government became
more corrupt under him than it had ever been before.
Sulla, though, saw himself as a reformer. He restored age
limits for elected officials, reimposed a limit on how many
times a man could hold a magistracy (twice in 10 years),
expanded the Senate to include some of the equestrians (a
notch below the senatorial clas), and tried to get rid of the
power of the public—he abolished the plebiscites leaving
tribunes without much power.
And then he retired and went back to his farm where he died
a year later. Sulla’s epithet is very telling—and very Roman:
“No friend ever served me and no enemy ever wronged me,
whom I have not repaid in full.”
Sulla’s rule set the stage for more ambitious Romans to try
and rule Rome. In fact, Pompey the Great asked the
question, “If Sulla could do it, why can’t I?” Pompey is really
the hero of the late republic. There were lines he would not
cross. But, another man was on the rise who would not shy
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away from gaining power through any means—Julius
Caesar.
Julius Caesar was actually alive during Sulla’s rule. At one
point, Sulla ordered that Caesar divorce his wife, a woman
named Cornelia, and when Caesar refused, Sulla ordered
that Caesar be executed. But, he fled and eventually was
pardoned. Sulla regretted the pardon saying, “In Caesar
there are many Mariuses.”
Julius Caesar
Caesar came to be one of the most spectacular figures of the
Roman Republic. He was popular, intelligent, attractive, and
by all accounts good looking. In fact, when he was young
he was sent on a diplomatic mission to acquire ships from
the king of Bithynia and the rumor was that he had
succeeded by agreeing to sleep with the homosexual king
(Nicomedes) he was dealing with.
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Throughout his political career, Caesar served in various
positions, as Tribune, Senator, Aedile, and Praetor.
But of course, he is more famous for his later activities.
In 60 BC Caesar formed an alliance, called the “Three
headed monster” by contemporaries, which we call the First
Triumvirate. The members of this group were Pompey,
Crassus, and Caesar. Basically they promised to support
each other politically to get their agendas passed and to
further their own interests and power. Caesar wanted an
overseas command to get rich from conquest. Crassus, the
wealthiest man in Rome, wanted the Senate to reduce the
tax obligations in places where his clients had bid too high
for the right to tax. Pompey wanted land for his veterans.
But it didn’t last. They did accomplish many of their goals,
but through illegal means often, and they didn’t get along
that well. Remember, these were ambitious Romans. They
don’t really want to share. Eventually, Crassus decided to
get the one thing he lacked—military reputation by fighting
the Parthians. He was killed at Carrhae. That left just Caesar
and Pompey, who had a falling out. As part of the alliance,
Pompey had married Caesar’s daughter Julia, but she died in
childbirth and Pompey refused another marriage alliance.
So, by the 50s BC Pompey was in Rome and Caesar was in
Gaul and with no Crassus to balance them out Caesar and
Pompey engaged in a deadly game of tug of war for power.
By 49 BC, political rivals made it clear to Caesar that he
could not return to Rome as a private citizen without being
prosecuted (Under Roman law an officeholder could not be
prosecuted—so Caesar wanted to remain in office forever so
he could not be prosecuted for any of his crimes). So, when
the Roman Senate ordered Caesar to return to Rome and
leave his army behind, Caesar made a fateful decision to
take his army with him. He crossed the Rubicon in
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January 49 BC, triggering an automatic civil war.
Caesar allegedly said, “The die is cast.”
(I want to pause here for just a moment. Oftentimes, it
seems like a no-brainer that Caesar took his army to Rome.
But, didn’t he have other options? Caesar could have
crossed the Rubicon alone and gone to face trial. But, he
also could have just turned back around and gone back to
Gaul with his army. His army was loyal—they would have
followed Caesar anywhere. Why didn’t Caesar just go
become king of Gaul? I think this is an important illustration
of what it meant to be Roman. I think Caesar could have
had power and wealth outside of Rome, but it wouldn’t have
meant anything without being Roman. As much as Caesar
might have turned on the Republic, he still wanted to be
Roman. Taken in that context, Caesar’s only choice was to
cross with his army—to seek power in and from the state he
loved.)
By 46 BC, after a lot of warfare and a little dabbling with
Cleopatra (sources say she had herself smuggled to him
naked in a rug—she bore a son Caesarian) Caesar managed
to take control of the Roman government, ruling as an
autocrat. He would announce his decisions to the Senate
and they would pass them without a debate or vote. In
other words, even though Rome still technically had a
Republic, Caesar was in reality ruling as a king without the
title.
By 44 BC, the Senate had named Caesar dictator
perpetuus or dictator for life. They didn’t really have a
choice. He was the puppeteer pulling all the strings.
Now that doesn’t mean Caesar did only bad things. Some of
what Caesar did as dictator was good for Rome, and
especially for ordinary Romans. And ordinary Romans
adored him. He strengthened Rome by granting citizenship
to all provincials—meaning they have a reason to be loyal to
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Rome now, he gave public lands to veterans in return for
their service—again strengthening ties to Rome, and he
gave grain to the poor. He was responsible for the creation
of the Julian calendar, the basis for our calendar today.
But, under Caesar, the Republic disappeared. The Senate
became only advisory. People really had no voice in
government because the institutions set up to give them a
voice were all controlled by one man, by Julius Caesar.
And, remember when I talked about Rome getting rid of its
absolute monarchy in the very beginning, I said they would
never trust a monarch again? Well, Julius Caesar was too
close to a king for comfort. And you have to think beyond
the immediate situation to the implications it could have.
If they let Caesar rule because he was doing some good
things for Rome, what precedent does that establish?
What’s going to happen once Caesar dies? And in the end,
what will happen to the quality of leadership and ability of
people to change things they don’t like? Freedom v.
Security, a big issue even today. How much are you willing
to give up for safety and in the end will it make you any
safer?
At any rate, the Senators, even some of Caesar’s closest
friends, perceived that if Caesar lived, Rome, the spirit of
Rome would die (or perhaps they perceived that their own
power would die?).
March 15, 44BC—the Ides of March—Senators attacked
Caesar in the Senate with daggers, killing him. His friend
Brutus was among them—the Shakespearian line, “Et Tu
Bruti?”
The question is, should the senators have put Caesar to
death or should they have just let him rule? Was the
Republic already dead? Did Rome need a Caesar to prevent
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it from being pulled apart by other ambitious Romans and
civil wars?
Caesar had heard rumors he was in danger, and he refused
a bodyguard, but he still didn’t plan to die quite so soon.
And so he left as heir his 18 year old nephew, Octavian.
Octavian is an interesting character. No one really thought
that in a scramble for power Octavian would come out on
top. He was short, had bad teeth, and was not very healthy.
His body was covered in spots and his chest and belly had
many birthmarks. He just didn’t look like a Roman ruler.
Octavian (with some re-touching, I presume)
But, Octavian had a very tough personality. He was willing
to be ruthless if need be.
So when Caesar died, Octavian did enter the scramble for
power. And he joined in a mutual support group called the
2
nd
Triumvirate—made up of Octavian, Mark Anthony
(before people hated him for dumping J Lo), and Lepidus.
These three sort of carved up the Roman Empire among
themselves. Mark Anthony took the East (Greece and
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Egypt); Lepidus took the West (Iberia); and Octavian took
Italy and Rome itself.
But problems arose between them. While Octavian was not
faithful to his own wife, Livia, he had a very strict sense of
morality (in fact he exiled two of his daughters for
immorality—sexual). And he hated Mark Anthony for
shacking up with Cleopatra. When Anthony divorced his
wife, Octavia (Octavian’s sister!), for Cleopatra and changed
his will so that Cleopatra’s children would inherit everything
when he died, Octavian was outraged. Octavian read
Anthony’s will in public and asserted that it could not be the
will of a true Roman. So the Senate, which was by now
under Octavian’s control, declared war on Anthony.
(Lepidus by now had withdrawn from the fray—Octavian got
very angry with Lepidus and forced him out of the alliance—
that is a testament to the power wielded by Caesar’s young
nephew in a very short time).
In 31 BC, Octavian fought Anthony for Egypt—which had
been only loosely under Roman control, still being ruled by
the descendants of Ptolemy—and in the end, Anthony and
Cleopatra committed suicide, giving Octavian a victory as
well as making the very rich Egypt a direct Roman Province
(actually, it was Octavian’s personal province). Octavian
then put to death Cleopatra’s son by Caesar, Caesarion, his
step brother since Caesar had adopted him. (Where did
Anthony and Cleopatra’s children go? Weirdly, Octavia raised
them! The Romans wanted to deify Octavia when she died.
She was considered so good.)
Octavian was undisputedly in control of Rome. But,
Octavian remembered how things had turned out for Caesar
when he looked too much like a king. And, more clever and
learning from Caesar’s mistakes, Octavian decided to not
look like a king even though he was in reality in control.
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In a symbolic ceremony, he surrendered all of his power to
the Senate in 27 BC. And he called himself “princeps” or
first among equals. His title, though, given by the Senate,
was Augustus, an archaic word for “revered.”
Octavian ruled as a dictator, but left senators enough room
for their own ambitions. He maintained the forms of the
Roman Republic. And, he lived in a spacious house on
Palatine Hill, rather than in a palace. And so people didn’t
realize he was the puppeteer. And as a result, he ruled for a
long time and died a natural death. And, he reorganized the
Roman Empire, setting off an era of peace within Rome—an
end to the civil wars that had plagued it. He died when he
was 76 years old in 14 AD.
30BC is considered the date that the Roman Empire
begins because for all practical purposes Octavian was an
emperor. And from then on until its decline and fall, Rome
would be ruled by emperors, with only the facade of a
republic.
We are not going to talk about all of the Roman emperors.
There were many of them. Some were good like Octavian
and some were very bad like Caligula and Nero.
After Octavian—Tiberius (adopted son, had to divorce wife
he loved on Octavian’s orders, built aqueduct system), Julian
Emperor—Caligula (made his horse consul, was insane and
brutal and was murdered), Claudius (scholarly, conquered
Britain, d. 54 AD when his wife probably poisoned him),
Nero (fire—did he start it? Fiddled. Committed suicide).
Then military emperors.
But, the key point of this is, Octavian ruled wisely and well.
He put in place policies and traditions that would carry the
empire another 200 years. He set off 200 years of peace
(the Roman Peace—the Pax Romana) One of my favorite
stories is that Augustus was walking through the streets on
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Rome, hurrying on his way somewhere and an old woman
stopped him to say she needed to talk to him about
something. Octavian told her he didn’t have time, but the
old lady insisted, “If you don’t have time to listen to those
you mean to rule, you don’t have time to be emperor.” So,
he stopped and listened. And, until the reign of Diocletian
almost 300 years later all Roman citizens had the right to an
audience with the emperor.
But, what was the legal process for getting a new emperor
when an old one died? There was no legal way—Rome was a
republic. And what way did Romans have of getting rid of
bad emperors? There was no legal way. And, so the stage
was set for trouble from the first emperor forward. Rome
would be at the mercy of emperors and the fate of Rome
would depend upon the personal characteristics (both
strengths and failings) of a single man.