E. Social and Economic Effects 1. many Roman generals, traders, and government officials became super

rich

a. from conquest and from controlling trade routes

2. wealthy families created which were huge estates

E. Social and Economic Effects

3. was used to work the latifundias instead

of regular poor Romans a. wealthy landowners have two choices:

i. pay poor Romans to farm

ii. use slaves who work for free...duh

b. poor farmers sell their small plots of land to big landowners and move to Rome and

other cities

4. the gap between the wealthy and poor begins to widen

at an alarming rate

a. plebeian (pleb) mobs form and begin to riot

E. Social and Economic Effects

5. government became increasingly

; greed and selfishness

replaced early Roman values

(Horatius)

a. remember what Biggie Smalls said,

“mo money, mo problems.” RIP Christopher George Latore Wallace

F. Attempts at Reform

(133 – 123 BCE)

1.

attempt from the Patrician class

a. asked the Senate to give land to poor Roman

farmers (give the everyday Roman a job)

b. asked the Senate to use government money to

buy food for the poor

c. the Senators did not want to share; they saw the

Gracchus brothers as threats to their wealth

F. Attempts at Reform (133 – 123 BCE)

2. Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus were murdered by hit men paid

for by the Senators along with thousands of others

a. this began a series of unrest in the Roman capital

G. Decline of the Republic

1. unrest lead to (when a nation is fighting against

itself)

2. The two sides of the Roman civil wars were:

a. The Senate – who wanted to rule as they always had (like a mafia boss)

b. Popular Political Leaders –wanted to take power for themselves (from

the Senate) and pass reform laws to help the poor

G. Decline of the Republic

3. Slave uprisings, allies revolt, and Roman armies are forced to

fight one another

G. Decline of the Republic

4.

a. popular politician who was also a great general

b. conquered Gaul (modern-day France) and brought incredible

riches and slaves to Rome

c. Caesar was given an ultimatum and chose to fight instead of

surrender

d. attacks Roman armies loyal to the Senate, defeats his rival

Pompey, and puts down rebellions in provinces i. proclaims

e. forced the Senate to name him a permanent dictator...in other

words, a king which the republic was supposed to prevent

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:LocationRubicon.PNG

G. Decline of the Republic

5.

(48 – 44 BCE)

a. created public works and gave

unemployed farmers jobs to do

b. gave public land to the poor

c. reorganized the provinces and

government and made it more efficient

d. introduced a new calendar based on

the Egyptian model (the basis for our

calendars today)

G. Decline of the Republic

6. – March 44 BCE

a. to save the Republic and remove the threat, conspirators

assassinated Julius Caesar as he entered the Senate building

G. Decline of the Republic

7.

a. after Julius Caesar dies, the Roman world is

again in civil wars and chaos

b. Marc Antony and Octavian join forces and hunt

down Julius Caesar’s murders i. Marc Antony was Caesar’s best and most loyal general

ii. Octavian is Caesar’s book-smart grandnephew

c. After eliminating Caesar’s murders, the two

fight between themselves

d. at the decisive battle of Actium, Octavian and his Roman

Legions defeat Marc Antony and his lady friend Cleopatra

and their combined Roman and Egyptian armies

G. Decline of the Republic

8. Octavian takes the title “ ” which means the exalted one and becomes a king in all but name a. The Senators remain, but the republic government now takes

orders from Caesar Augustus (Octavian)

b.

V. Roman Empire and Roman Peace

*REMEMBER*

- Roman Civil War

- Spartacus

- Gius Julius Caesar

- Octavian becomes Caesar Augustus