roman imperialism

Question 1

How can populares and optimates best be defined? While both types of politicians were elite Romans from traditional patrician families, what best distinguished them from each other?

Answer 1

THESE ARE INFORMAL POLITICAL DIVSIONS that are best distinguished by how they went about obtaining power.
1. Populares; popular-leaning politicians
- rose to power through innovative means; often through the tribunate and tribunitian power
2. Optimates; elite-leaning politicians
- rose to power through traditional means; i.e. the cursus honorum and the senate

Question 2

What were some of the causes of the Roman Republic’s disintegration?

Answer 2

1. empire ruling over distant provinces
2. imbalance of power for both the citizens and those in government (rich v. poor, generals acquired more power than the senate)

Question 3

Who is Tiberius Gracchus? What are notable aspects of his reign?

Answer 3

He was a tribune of the plebs that fought for popular
reform in the late 2nd
century.
1. He wanted to redistribute public land in Italy that had been cultivated by elite Roman’s
2. He placed this bill before the concilium plebus without gaining permission from the senators.
- A group of senators beat
him to death in response to this

Question 4

Who is Gaius Gracchus? What are notable aspects of his reign?

Answer 4

Tiberius Gracchus’ younger brother, he became tribune and pushed for several popular reforms.
1. most popular reform - A bill that subsidized grain for the urban poor
2. The Senate decreed martial law in response to this bill and killed him

Question 5

Who is Marius? What are notable aspects of his reign?

Answer 5

Gaius Marius was a novus homo that rose to power because of military skill.
- He had campaigned successfully in Africa, Germany, and the east
1. His reforms to the army shifted soldier loyalty from the state to their general
- Because of this reform he took control of Rome,
- stood for multiple consulships,
- held consulships back to back,
- and marched on Rome with his army (setting an important precedent)

Question 6

Who is Sulla? What are notable aspects of his reign?

Answer 6

Lucius Cornelius Sulla, successful general and optimate politician.
1. His career was aimed at restoring the domination of the traditional upper class
- He solidified his hold through proscriptions
- When he became dictator he tried to reestablish the power of the Senate over Roman government (unsuccessful)

Question 7

What kinds of benefits did the empire bring to the Romans?

Answer 7

BENEFICIAL FOR THE INDIVIDUAL - specifically generals
1. Could acquire immense wealth and power from their provinces
2. Soldiers could also gain wealth and were promised land upon discharge

Question 8

What were the downfalls that the empire brought to the Roman’s?

Answer 8

PROBLEMS FOR BOTH THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE EMPIRE AS A WHOLE
1. a challenge for the empire to rule over distant provinces
- imbalance of power (triumphant generals acquired more power than their peers in the Senate)

2. for the individuals, divisions between the poor and the rich were exacerbated

Question 9

Was the empire overall beneficial or harmful towards to the Roman people?

Answer 9

Overall, the empire resulted in a more parasitic relationship with the common people imo.
- the empire amassed immense wealth and power
BUT
- the wealth and power acquired was not allocated fairly (i.e. the common people saw this imbalance in power and opportunity which fed into increasing dissatisfaction within the empire; destabilizing it

Question 10

Which major event occurred that allowed for unconstitutional action in the late Roman Republic?

Answer 10

SULLA felt a need to uphold his dignitas after Marius was granted the Mithridates campaign, and used his army to have the senate reinstate his command.

Question 11

After the 2nd Punic War, Rome obtained lots of foreign territories and in need of more commanders, Rome extended the terms of elected magistrates through a process of prorogation. What were some aspects of the magistrates who were granted prorogation?

Answer 11

1. Power was absolute (i.e. no colleague to oppose them and the senate was too far away)
2. This was a new implementation so there were no set
   of rules regarding the proper behavior of these magistrates
   - a charge of mismanagement could be brought but was unlikely
3. Corruption and extortion were common practices (they were even almost expected)
4. Governors could gain material wealth and glory as military commanders
   - achieved through successful wars and quelling revolts of local provinces

Question 12

The increasing wealth of Rome also served to increase the wealth gap between the Roman elite and small farmers, why?

Answer 12

THE SMALL FARMERS WERE THE ARMY
- an increase in wars fought outside of Italy meant that farmers would not be able to attend to their families or crops for extended periods of time
- this forced many families to sell their land and move into the urban city
- the land was then bought by rich neighbors who would create vast estates and have them worked by slave labor, essentially cutting out these smaller farmers completely

Question 13

Describe the short but impactful political career of Tiberius Gracchus.

Answer 13

1. 133 BCE Was elected tribune of the plebs and introduced an agrarian bill, but did not consult the senate before presenting the bill (uh oh)
2. A tribune favoring patrician’s vetoed the bill, Tiberius then called for a vote to remove the vetoing tribune from office
   - he also announced intentions for reelection for tribunate
3. BOOM. a group of senators and their supporters beat Tiberius to death (crazy cuz he was sacrosanct)

Question 14

Describe the short but impactful political career of Gaius Gracchus.

Answer 14

1. 123-122 BCE Elected tribune and pushed through a series of bills meant to alleviate problems of the poor.
2. In response, the senate issued a “senatus consultum ultimum” declaring a state of martial law
3. Consul Opimius and senate supporters cornered
   Gaius and his men, and pushed for Gaius to commit suicide

Question 15

What was the bill that Tiberius Gracchus presented without consulting the Senate?

Answer 15

AN AGRARIAN BILL: would confiscate the public land being illegally used by larger estates and redistribute it to the urban poor.

Question 16

What was the most notable bill that Gaius Gracchus introduced that was meant to alleviate problems of the urban poor?

Answer 16

A GRAIN LAW: the state would buy and import grain and then Rome would then sell it slightly below market value

Question 17

Why were the political careers of the Gracchi notable?

Answer 17

Their careers offered a model for politicians who found themselves at odds with the senate.

Question 18

What were the three major precedents set by Marius?

Answer 18

1. He allowed poor, landless Romans to serve in the
   army.
   i.e. the promise of war spoils for these poor citizens meant that he created an army that was more loyal to their general instead of the Roman state
2. Held five consulships in a row.
   - typically, there was a minimum of 10 years in between an individual’s consulships
3. He was a general first and a politician’s second.
   i.e. first of his family to attain consulship (novas homo) which meant he also had minimal familial connections and a limited background in politics
   - his political career was owed to his success as a general

Question 19

Sulla, coming from an old senatorial family, came into conflict with Marius after serving in Marius’ Jugurthan campaign. What were the stages of events that occurred which resulted in the conflict with Marius coming to a head?

Answer 19

1. 88 BCE elected for consulship
2. At the end of his term, he was almost given the lucrative campaign against Mithridrates of Pontus but the campaign instead went to Marius.
3. Feeling a need to uphold his dignitas, he asked his men, from his almost campaign, to pledge their loyalty to him and then led them to Rome.
4. The senate declared Marius and his supporters to be enemies of the state and Sulla’s command was
   reinstated.

Question 20

What major precedent was set by Sulla?

Answer 20

He used his army to solve an internal political problem. uh oh.

Question 21

What events led to Sulla’s dictatorship?

Answer 21

1. After his command was reinstated, Sulla departed from Rome which allowed Marius to take advantage of his absence.
2. 86 BCE Marius was reelected for his 7th consulship through use of his army just as Sulla had done.
   - he died shortly after
3. Cinna became dictator while Sulla was still away
4. 84 BCE Sulla returned to Rome after completely a successful campaign.
5. He then began a long-term project of the Republic’s “restoration.”

• ca. 80 BCE Sulla retired and left Rome.

Question 22

In 84 BCE, Sulla returned to Rome And began his long term project of restoring the Republic. What were the 3 major steps taken to reach this goal?

Answer 22

1. Sulla removed any opponents
2. He then appointed himself dictator for life.
   - the senate granted him “imperium rei publicae constituendae causa”
3. Once his position was firmly established, he
   introduced many reforms that resulted in a thorough overhaul of the Republican system.

Question 23

What were the three notable variables that caused the breakdown of the Republican system?

Answer 23

1. The growth of the Roman Empire
2. the competition between Roman elite
3. the power disparity between Roman elites and the poor classes

Question 24

What were the three most notable reforms made by Sulla during his dictatorship?

Answer 24

1. BIGGEST REFORM - diminished the power of tribune
   - those who sought election were barred from seeking any other elected office
2. Reaffirmed the length of time between terms of office
3. Sought to clamp down on the freedom of governors in distant provinces
   - they were forbidden to cross the borders of their province or initiate war without the permission of the senate

Question 25

Crassus and Pompey complemented each other well. In 70 BCE, both announced their intentions to run for consul, Crassus qualified but Pompey didn’t. How did they pressure the senate into allowing for their co-consulship?

Answer 25

They supported popular demands for the restoration of the powers of the tribunate.

Question 26

What was characteristic of the newer generations of politicians?

Answer 26

THE OPPORTUNISM AND SHIFTING OF PARTY LOYALTIES

Question 27

Cicero was a lawyer who may have wanted to split Pompeii and Crassus, what were significant events that occurred throughout his career which led up to the development of the first triumvirate?

Answer 27

1. 70 BCE He gained fame after successfully prosecuting Verres.
   - Verres was a Sullan accused of various crimes by Sicilians at the end of his term, through associating with the Sicilians, Cicero integrated himself with Pompey
2. Although he was a novus homo, he obtained many elite friends during his early career.
3. 63 BCE Cicero took credit for uncovering a plot to overthrow the Roman government and insisted on the execution of conspirators
   - Catiline and is failed election resulted in his supporters rebelling.
4. Cicero won the case, defeating Catiline, but did not earn the win the acceptance from old nobility that he wanted.
5. Pompey and Crassus asked for Cicero to join their informal coalition, but he declined.