Ch 8, Sec 3: The Fall of the Republic

Problems in Rome• Gov’t officials stole money• Problems between rich

and poor were never solved

• Farms were destroyed• Food was scarce in some

areas• Cities were overcrowded

and dangerous

Farmers were ruined

• Farms were ignored while men were at war• Farms destroyed by the army of Carthage• Rich farmers were becoming poor

LatifundiasLat-e-fun-dia

• Large farms in Rome• Poor farmers were competing against rich

Romans who bought up the land• Used war prisoners as slaves-worked cheaper

than Roman citizens• Further increased the divide between rich and

poor

Poor Farmers and City life

• Sold land and moved to cities• Could not find work easily• Slaves took most city jobs from the plebeians• Took jobs for little pay• Caused the rich and poor to fight

Tiberius and Gaius

• Brothers and gov’t officials• Saw the problems in the cities• Wanted to give land back to the poor farmers• Seen as threats – they were killed for their

ideas by the rich senators– Proved the rich could break the law and get away

with it

Marius takes office

• Roman military leader became a Consul

• Hired poor farmers/soldiers and paid them with money and land

• Changed the army from volunteers for Rome to loyalty to Marius

• Needed to gain political power to pay off land promises

Sulla takes office

• Army generals started fighting each other for power

• Sulla took over• Took away the power of the

Council of Plebs• Gave power to the

Patricians/Senate• Caused 50 years of Civil War

First Triumvirate Takes Powertri-um-ver-ate

• Julius Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey shared power of Rome

• Military leaders turned political allies• Each man took control of a different area of

Rome:– Crassus-Syria– Pompey-Spain– Caesar-Gaul (France)

Rise of Caesar as Top Ruler of Rome

• Caesar became powerful and was loved by the poor• Caesar took over Britain• Senators feared Caesar and told him to return

home and made Pompey top ruler of Rome• Caesar ignored their order and brought his

army into Rome to take over as top ruler

Caesar Takes Over

• Declared himself dictator for life (not 6 months)

• Got rid of senators who tried to ruin him• Hired loyal people to become senators• Gave out citizenship to anyone in Rome’s

territory• Created jobs and gave out land for the poor• Created a new calendar that we use today

Some People Feared Caesar

• Thought Caesar wanted to become a king• Some senators plotted to kill him including Brutus and Cassius• March 15, 44 B.C.-Caesar was stabbed at the

Senate building• Led to a civil war between the senators who

killed Caesar and Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus

Second Triumvirate

• Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus won the civil war and created the second triumvirate

• Could not agree on how to rule• Lepidus forced out of office• Octavian ruled the west• Antony ruled the east

Antony and Cleopatra

• Created an alliance with each other

• Fell in love• Antony wanted to become

the only ruler of Rome• Octavian declared war on

Antony

Battle of Actium• 31 B.C.- off the west coast of Greece• Octavian’s army/navy destroyed Antony’s

military• Antony/Cleopatra forced to hide in Egypt• Results: Antony/Cleopatra killed themselves

and Octavian created the Roman Empire as it’s only ruler

Octavian becomes Augustus

• Octavian set up a republic form of gov’t• Believed the republic form of gov’t had problems that could not be solved• Gave some power back to the Senate• Octavian took the position of imperator or

“emperor”• He changed his name to Augustus-means “the

revered or majestic one”

In-Class Activity

• Hand out worksheet

• Read the Notes and answer the 10 questions that follow.

• Independent activity

Meeting People

• Julius Caesar – part of the First Triumvirate of Rome; became a hero to Rome’s lower classes; declared himself dictator of Rome in 44 B.C.; stabbed to death by his enemies on March 15.

• Octavian – Caesar’s grandnephew who inherited Caesar’s wealth; part of the Second Triumvirate in 43 B.C.

Meeting People• Antony – one of Caesar’s top generals and part of the

Second Triumvirate with Octavian and Lepidus; ruled over the eastern part of the Roman Empire and fell in love with Cleopatra VII, an Egyptian queen and planned to make himself sole ruler of the republic.

• Cicero – a political leader, writer, and Rome’s greatest public speaker; argued against dictators and called for a representative government.

• Augustus – “the revered or majestic one”; title that Octavian took and was known from that point as Augustus.

Building Vocabulary

• Latifundia – wealthy Romans bought up small farms to create these large farming estates

• Triumvirate – a political alliance of three people.

Locating Places

• Rubicon – a small river at the southern boundary of Caesar’s command area (Gaul, which is modern day France); this is where he marched into Italy and forced Pompey’s forces from Italy.

• Actium – off the west coast of Greece; where Octavian crushed the army and navy of Antony and Cleopatra in 31 B.C.

Read to Discover

• Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus – prominent officials who worked for reforms; thought most of Rome’s problems were caused by the loss of small farms and wanted the Senate to take back public land from the rich and divide it among landless Romans.

• Marius – a military leader who became consul in 107 B.C.; recruited soldiers and paid them wages in return for their service and promised them land.

Read to Discover

• Sulla – a military leader who drove Marius and his other enemies out of Rome and made himself dictator. He weakened the Council of Plebs and strengthened the Senate and then stepped down from office.

• Crassus – military leader and one of the richest men in Rome; part of the First Triumvirate of Rome, along with Julius Caesar and Pompey; killed in battle in 53 B.C.

Read to Discover• Pompey – military leader who ruled Spain as part of

the Second Triumvirate; Caesar forced him out of Italy and destroyed Pompey’s army in Greece in 48 B.C.

• Brutus – Senator who led a group who plotted to kill Caesar because they were afraid he wanted to be king.

• Cassius - Senator who led a group who plotted to kill Caesar because they were afraid he wanted to be king.