WEEK FOUR: Italy Threatened Flashcards
War with Jugurtha
- war in numidia
- Rome ineffective in dealing with king Jugurtha
- Gaius Marius elected consul and reformed the roman army
- Marius promised land in Africa to his soldiers as compensation for their service.
war exposed corruption in Rome, especially within the Senate, and led to Marius’ rise in popularity, contributing to the weakening of traditional political structures.
Gaius Marius
Roman general and politician who reformed the Roman army, allowing the poor to join and making it a professional force.
- senate opposed him
Marius in depth
Novus Homo: First in his family to hold high office.
Reforms: Changed the army, allowing the poor to enlist and creating a professional force.
Political Career: Elected consul 7 times, with his 6th consulship in 100 BCE.
Conflict with Senate: Faced opposition from the Senate and the elite.
Land Bill & Loyalty Oath: Passed a land bill for veterans; soldiers took an oath of loyalty to him.
Violence: His soldiers intimidated voters during elections (99 BCE).
Senatus Consultum Ultimum: Given power to arrest Saturninus after violent elections (100 BCE).
Social War
- Fought between Rome and its Italian allies (socii).
- Cause: Allies wanted Roman citizenship and equal rights.
- Outcome: Rome defeated the allies but granted citizenship to most of them, expanding its citizen base
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
- Roman general and dictator.
Known for marching on Rome twice (88 BCE and 83 BCE). - Reformed Rome: Created proscriptions, purging enemies, and increased the Senate’s power.
First Dictatorship: Became dictator in 82 * BCE, later resigned, setting a precedent.
- Supporter of the optimates: Favored the conservative, aristocratic faction.
After Marius dies…
Sulla’s Dictatorship
- instigated uprising of pompus
- made himself perpetual dictator “continual dictator”
famous reform: if you have enough troops you dont have to care about laws you can just push through pretty much
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus
“Pompey the Great”
KNOWN FOR GREAT MILITARY GLORY
Nickname: “kid butcher”
1st important person
* father was friends with sulla so pompey got power
* wanted to be in charge of Spain, agreed by Sulla – pompey proved worthy to lead spain
Marcus Licinius Crassus
KNOWN FOR BEING A RICH BUSINESS MAN
- wealthiest in rome
- interested in business affairs – but when ur in govt u cannot be involved in business so this was problematic
- famous story: he owned the fire department and they would only help if the person sold their lot to them.
Crassus had businesclout, but this dont mattr bc only military glory did
crassus and pompey didnt get along – enemies due to the slave revolt drama – pompey coming to help and he got all the credit (pompey got the triumph, not crassus)
Pompey and the Pirates
Pirates = runaway slaves
- pompey was given charge of all the mediterranean
- people voted for pompey to try and solve pirate problem with a max of 3 years – he did it in 3 months
Solution to Pirates
- pompey built a fleet, and sailed to one end of med to the other proclaiming any pirate willing to surrender will be given free land.
Mithridates
- king of pontus
- led a charge that killed 80,000 romans
Sulla defeated him, but didn’t capture him, so mithridates remained the king of this are - fast forward a bit and Roman govt insisted Pompey is given control against war of mithridates – “war of pontus” – the soldiers came back insanely wealthy
Lucullus
No looting. – wanted to sign peace treaties with everyone he came across instead, and the soldiers under Lucullus were upset because they never got rich this way/ a lot of land
Cicero in Rome
no one in his fam was previously in the senate like the others
DAN FROM BIG BROTHER
- came into promenince as a lawyer
- famously defended entire province of sicily where opposing governor was afraid of execution so he fled instead of showing up for trial
- acknowledged in rome for being the best public speaker
- tri-colon-cruscendo: winston churchill thing
