The Success of the Roman Republic and its Socio-Economic Decline

Amanda Iliadis

Dr. Jean Li

November 27th 2016

HIS 275

A Republic is defined as a political system in which sovereign authority is ascribed with the

people.1 The Roman Republic, established in 509 BCE, began with the concept of Res Publica (“public

thing”) but went through several reforms to become the best example of a government represented by

the people.2 The Republic was successful for three reasons in particular. The first success came

following the Struggle of the Orders (500-287 BCE) with the reform to legal equality of both the

Patrician and Plebeian social classes.3 Furthermore, military expansion allowed for an accumulation of

territory and cultural advances for the Roman populace.4 Third, offering citizenship to allies played a

massive role in integrating other cultures into the Roman way, thus, protecting themselves from threat

and maintaining peace.5 Using these examples, it is viable to say that the Roman Republic was a

successful political system. However, the Republic did deteriorate due to the negative consequences of

expansion. With an increase in military campaigns to accrue additional land, Rome was often left

untilled, causing socio-economic tensions.6 The Roman Republic was a successful, relatively

representative governing system due to the instigation of legal equality, military expansion and

citizenship allowance; only declining due to rapid and unrestrained military expansion, causing socio-

economic destruction that resulted in the interference of imperious Generals to calm this discontent.

The Struggle of the Orders (500-287 BCE) was a period of extreme tension between the

Patricians and Plebeians, resulting in a just, reformed Republic that included the shared participation of

both social classes in the political sphere.7 After the Etruscan King's son, Sextus Tarquin, raped the

Roman matron Lucretia in 509 BCE, the Roman populace revolted and sought to design a new

government in which power lay with the people.8 However, the termination of their aristocratic

1 Ralph W. Mathisen, Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations, 2nd Ed., New York: Oxford University Press, 2012, 334.2 Ibid.3 Mathisen, “Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations”, 337.4 Ibid, 341.5 Stambaugh, John E. The Ancient Roman City. (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988), https://books.google.ca/books/about/The_Ancient_Roman_City.html? id=k0mZufizhH0C

6 Mathisen, “Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations”, 364.7 Ibid, 337.8 Livy, Rape of Lucretia. In Caldwell, Amy R. (ed). “Livy, Abe Urbe condita (History),The Rape of Lucretia.” (Sources ofWestern History, Vol.1, 2011), 75.

monarchy did not immediately evolve into the “public thing”. By the early fifth century, the poor

Plebeians desired protection against the Patricians because the Patricians were not relaying political

information to them as previously agreed upon.9 On the other hand, the wealthy Plebeians wanted to

participate in the government, regardless of their social status.10 Henceforth, the new office of

theTribune was created with the task of looking after the Plebeians' interests.11 The following Servian

Reforms (ca. 500 BCE) allowed wealthy Plebeians to participate in the military.12 Furthermore, the

Council of the Plebs (Plebiscites) was created to allow the Plebeians to have voting rights.13 Eventually,

one Censorship was reserved for the Plebs in 339 BCE and some Plebs even gained access into the

Senate.14 Once this censorship was recognized as a constitutional body, it was renamed the 'Tribal

Assembly'; Plebs now had the right to pass laws that were binding to all citizens alike.15

These political reforms of Roman government created legal equality among the Roman

populace, demonstrating the true meaning of Res Publica. After all, when Rome is united it stands as

one, but segregated it is less successful and powerful. Overall, Rome's mixed constitution of aristocracy

(senate), monarchy (consuls) and democracy (populace) served to be a relatively fair government

system, much like Sparta's had been in Greece.16 The Romans achieved political success and equality

after the Conflict of the Orders that served to their benefit by restoring relative social order among the

populace.

Military Expansion provided the Romans with a grand accumulation of territory and

advancement of culture. In order to pay for the military campaigns needed to expand Roman territory, a

9 Mathisen, “Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations”, 337.10 Ibid.11 Mathisen, “Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations”, 338.12 Ibid, 337.13 Mathisen, “Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations”, 338.14 Raaflaub, Kurt A. Social Struggles in Archaic Rome: New Perspectives on the Conflict of the Orders. (John Wiley & Sons, 1986). https://books.google.ca/books?id=x0W5jLevmUoC&redir_esc=y

15 Ibid, 293.16 Polybius, The Histories. The Constitution of the Roman Republic. http://homepage.usask.ca/~jrp638/DeptTransls/Polybius.html

monetary system was invented, making the Romans financially refined.17In the fourth century BCE, the

Roman defeat of the Etruscans and Veii set the premise for Roman expansion and won them territory in

Northern Italy, some of which they gave to the Plebeians.18 After this conflict, the Etruscans became

Roman allies; a wise tactic to ensure support in the case of war or invasion. Likewise, the outcome of

the Samnite Wars (ca. 343- 290 BCE) also resulted in more Italian allies for the Romans and an

assimilation of Samnite culture into Rome.19 By the end of the fourth century, Rome was in control of

the majority of Italy and the strength of Rome's Italian Alliance was proving to be devoted and

trustworthy, as demonstrated in the Second Punic War (218-201 BCE).20

Moreover, the Roman destruction of Corinth in 146 BCE (ending the Punic Wars with Greece),

began a Greco-Roman culture in terms of art, literature and philosophy, which intellectually advanced

Rome.21 The Romans developed variants of Hellenistic culture in terms of literary genres, rhetoric,

Stoicism, Epicureanism and of course, the Greek gods.22 Therefore, the assimilation of other cultures

(particularly Hellenistic) in the Roman state, sparked innovation and an advancement of culture for the

populace. It is valid to assert that Roman expansion allowed for the control of abundant territory in

Italy as well as colonies in the Mediterranean, Africa and Asia, acquiring invaluable allies and inspiring

a matured culture.23 Essentially, with the use of expansion, Rome was constructed into a powerhouse

without limits, a Republican Empire.24

However, Rome's rapid and undisciplined expansion was also the only cause for the slow

decline of the Republic. In order for the Romans to acquire new territory and maintain hold of those

provinces, a dedicated and loyal army was essential. Roman soldiers were away from home for

extensive periods of time, increasing with the installment of longer military campaigns.25 This means

17 Mathisen, “Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations”, 355.18 Ibid, 342.19 Mathisen, “Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations”, 345.20 Ibid, 251.21 Mathisen, “Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations”, 357.22 Ibid.23 Mathisen, “Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations”, 355.24 Ibid, 341.25 Mathisen, “Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations”, 364.

that thousands of farmers (some with families) were away fighting Rome's wars while their land was

left untilled.26 Thus, the production of food declined, leaving little money to pay for the farm itself.

Many farmers were forced to sell their land to the wealthy, losing their Roman citizenship along with

their position in the army.27 As a result, the Roman army was depleted of soldiers, and slave plantations

were formalized as a means of driving the economy during this period of poverty.28 Naturally, there

were many, frequent slave revolts, causing further socio-economic upheaval. When there are revolts

and riots, someone will usually step forward in an attempt to end them and claim that victory.

The Gracchus brothers, for example, were the first to attempt putting down the slave revolts,

distribute land and redistribute power from the higher classes so that the rich would not continue to get

richer and the poor would obtain more wealth.29 Their attempt failed, but led to the Age of Generals,

beginning with Gaius Marius' Voluntary Army.30 The Age of Generals originally sprung out of the idea

to abolish the Senate's power over the military, but essentially, transformed into a period when

individual men (army Generals) believed they had the power to establish new constitutions, acting in

opposition to the Senate. 31Generals began to seek dictatorial power (beginning officially with Sulla),

which challenged the Roman mandates of Res Publica and anti-monarchy, the core of their Republican

constitution.32 It has been verified that the fall of the Republic can be attributed to the concentration of

power into the hands of one man (always Generals) stemming from socio-economic turmoil.

Citizenship was another means of generating allies for the Romans during their time of military

expansion, assimilating other cultures into the Roman way. During the end of the Samnite Wars in 290

BCE, Roman citizenship became something to strive for and was looked upon as an 'ideal'.33

Citizenship allowed allies of war to be fully assimilated into Roman culture which protected the

26 Mathisen, “Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations”, 364.27 Ibid.28 Mathisen, “Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations”, 365.29 Ibid.30 Mathisen, “Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations”, 369.31 Ibid, 372.32 Mathisen, “Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations”, 374.33 Ibid, 344.

Romans from future threat by those they conquered. As discussed previously, the Romans made allies

with the Etruscans, Samnites, Latins and Carthaginians; these cultures also acquired Roman citizenship

which protected Rome from being attacked by these regions in future.34 This was a clever yet subverted

defensive tactic used by the Romans to protect themselves whilst maintaining peace.

To be Roman, was to be a privileged individual who lived under Roman law, educated to put

aside all competitive instincts for the good of the people.Thus, this mandate encouraged unity and

patriotism in relation to Roman political inclusion. If Rome had not allowed the provision of

citizenship to its allies, then those regions could consider fighting back when their strength was

regained. For other regions and nations, Roman citizenship was a way to embrace Roman ideals and

policies of inclusion leading to mutual trust; for Rome, citizenship was about cultivating valuable

allegiances with other states as a means of support and protection which proved valuable for centuries.

The success of the Roman Republic is evident in its legal equality following the Struggle of the

Orders, military expansion and the instigation of citizenship; however, its decline is attributed to the

negative consequences of rapid expansion leading to mass socio-economic crisis. The Republic was

successful because instead of maintaining an aristocracy or an absolute monarchy, Rome formalized a

governing system that was essentially led by the people. This system rivals Sparta's in ingenuity as it

was a mixed constitution at its core, attempting to preserve the rights and needs of the people.

Furthermore, Rome's military expansion secured territory, allies and promoted assimilation between

cultures. Rome's assimilation with other cultures transformed and advanced the achievements of the

populace, providing an intellectual Roman state that would continue to evolve through the generations.

Allowing citizenship to regions outside of Rome provided safeguarding against future invasion and

preserved valuable allegiances that were necessary to Rome's future success.

The Republic achieved great success do its vigilance in creating a strong, just government while

simultaneously increasing the glory and stability of Rome. The Roman Republic's success is significant

34 Mathisen, “Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations”, 344.

because, through investigation, contemporary scholars can identify the ways in which the Romans

contributed to many of the political ideas, structures and constitutions of the present day.

Bibliography

Livy, Rape of Lucretia. In Caldwell, Amy R. (ed). 2011. “Livy, Abe Urbe condita (History),The Rape

of Lucretia.” Sources of Western History, Volume 1, pp. 72-76, Bedford/St. Martin's.

Mathisen, Ralph W. Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations. 2nd edition. New York: Oxford University

Press, 2012.

Polybius, The Histories. The Constitution of the Roman Republic.

http://homepage.usask.ca/~jrp638/DeptTransls/Polybius.html

Raaflaub, Kurt A. “Social Struggles in Archaic Rome: New Perspectives on the Conflict of the Orders.”

John Wiley & Sons. 1986, Books.google.ca: Google Books. https://books.google.ca/books?

id=x0W5jLevmUoC&redir_esc=y

Stambaugh, John E. The Ancient Roman City. Johns Hopkins University Press.1988, Books.google.ca:

Google Books. https://books.google.ca/books/about/The_Ancient_Roman_City.html?

id=k0mZufizhH0C