The Roman Republican
Cycle (350-30 BCE)
By Megan Nickel
Population Dynamics
Population Dynamics
 First
Phase (225-200 BCE)
 Population decline because of Hannibalic
War
 22% population decline from 3 to 2.35
million people
Population Dynamics
 Second
Phase (200-100 BCE)
 Population increase by 44% from 2.35 to
3.39 million people
Population Dynamics
 Last
Phase (100 -0 BCE)
 Population declined as a result of constant
civil wars, high urbanization, and, during
later stages, massive state-sponsored
population transfers
 Population is back down to levels that it
was in 225 BCE at the beginning of the
cycle
Population Dynamics
Social Structure and Elite Dynamics
 The
Highest Stratum of Society
 Senators were the governing class during
this period
 They provided officers for the military,
served as government officials and had
large religious roles
 They were also wealthy land owners
Social Structure and Elite Dynamics
 Next
highest social stratum
 Equestrians- lesser aristocrats who served
as cavalry in the army
 Businessmen and merchants
 Jury service reserved for equestrians
Social Structure and Elite Dynamics
 Lower
stratum
 Common population- small landowners
 Served as infantry
 Voted in public elections
 The wealthiest of this class and the
equestrians dominated the vote and also
paid most of the property tax
Social Structure and Elite Dynamics
 Next
lowest stratum
 Citizens with property who Turchin
supposes were far above the subsistence
level of wealth
 Lowest
stratum
 Slaves, foreigners, landless citizens and
freedmen
Social Structure and Elite Dynamics
 Around
300 BCE the bulk of the population
were the small landowners
Social Structure and Elite Dynamics
 300-200BCE
 Based
on the number of Roman cavalry
and infantry, Turchin estimates that the
ratio of elites (senators and equestrians) to
non-elite landowners was 1:10.
 Non-elite landowners make up majority of
population
Social Structure and Elite Dynamics
 Elites
followed the same pattern as the
rest of the population
 Increase moderately until 250 BCE
 Decrease until 200 BCE
 Rapid increase from 200-100 BCE
State Finances
 From
the fourth century to the first, Rome
increased its territory 600-fold
 This solved the problem of landless
citizens
 Rather than relying mainly on taxes, the
Roman government and elites were able
to live off of the spoils of conquest
 State revenues increased during the 3rd
century because of wars, but stagnated
during the 2nd because there were no
more territories to conquer
Sociopolitical Instability
 From
342-132, Rome experienced no civil
war
 The century following this period was
almost constant civil war
Sociopolitical Instability
Long Expansion (350-180 BCE)
 Population
doubled and territory
quintupled, thus population density
declined taking care of the problems of
landless citizens and also decreasing
struggles for internal resources
 Everyone was focused on external wars
 During 2nd half of 3rd century, population
declined because of war
Long Expansion (350-180 BCE)
 After
200 BCE, all Roman wars were
fought externally and thus fewer casualties
 Roman territory remained the same size,
so population density increased by up to
50%
Stagflation (133-29 BCE)
 This



period was preceded by
Popular immiseration
Intense intra-elite competition
Stagnation of state revenues
Stagflation (133-29 BCE)
 This
period is an example of a classical
demographic-structural crisis
 It involved state collapse and chronic civil
warfare
 The Republic underwent a deep
transformation
 The population of small landowners
dwindled while the population of landless
citizens and slaves skyrocketed
Stagflation (133-29 BCE)
 The
wars during this period took a huge
toll on the small landowners
 The elites, who profited the most from the
wars, bought out most of the land, causing
the small landowners to become part of
the growing urban poor
 This process is called latifundia
 This theory is under debate
Stagflation (133-29 BCE)
 Because
Rome’s territory stayed the same
while the population doubled in size, the
land was divided up into too many small
pieces which could not support families
 Much of that land was sold to the wealthy
elites
 Also, because of the higher population
density, epidemics became more severe
Stagflation (133-29 BCE)
 There
was much inflation between 150
and 50 BCE
 There was an increase in industry, trade
and urbanization
 People were coming from rural areas to
cities for economic opportunity
Elite Dynamics (During Stagflation)
number of elites during the 2nd century
BCE increased along with their
consumption levels
 The entire senatorial class increased its
cost of living
 The amount of wealth they had increased
tremendously
 The gap between rich and poor grew
larger
 The
Intra-elite Competion (During Stagflation)
 21
families dominated 80% of the Senate
during these years
 Sometimes the position of Senator was
continued on from grandfather to father
and even down to son
 As the number of possible senators
increased, intra-elite competition for
Senatorial positions also increased
 The position was passed from father to
son less frequently
State Finances (During Stagflation)
 From
146-91BCE, the state finances were
fairly healthy
 After that the denarius was debased to
95% silver
 By 89 the treasury was empty and the
money shortage continued through the
rest of the century
Increasing Social Pressure (During Stagflation)
 Both
upper and lower classes were
growing discontent
 As intra-elite competition grew, state
finances stagnated
 There were no more profitable places to
conquer
 Eventually this all culminated in a full state
collapse
Late Republican Crisis
 The
first evidence of decentralization was
slave revolts which began in 138 BCE
 The slave revolts were met and stopped
by a unified elite class
 In 133 BCE Tiberius Gracchus tried to
alleviate some of the problems by
distributing land among landless citizens,
but he was murdered along with 300 of his
supporters
Late Republican Crisis
 Tiberius
Gracchus’s death split the elite
class and eventually led to civil war
 His brother was killed a short while later
after he tried to promote his brother’s
plans
 After their deaths, there was a short period
of stability
 The stability did not last long because of
the intense intra-elite competition
Late Republican Crisis
 During
the 60’s and 50’s there was
relatively no civil war
 The territory expanded with the conquests
of Gaul and Asia Minor
 The state’s finances were still fragile
 The last period of civil war lasted from 4931 BCE
 The Republican Cycle ends in 27 BCE
with the establishment of the principate
End of Disintegrative Trend
 The
period after Tiberius Gracchus’s death
was the decentralization of Rome
 This was due to elite overproduction
End of Disintegrative Trend
 Civil



wars had three affects on society
Up to one half of elites were killed, thereby
solving the elite overproduction problem
Reproductive rates were lowered because of
abortions and infanticide
There was an inflation of honors
End of Disintegrative Trend
 Many
elites chose to be content with their
status and did not strive for senatorial
positions
 By the end of the civil war period, Romans
had a strong desire for peace
Conclusion
 The
Roman Republican Cycle is different
from other secular cycles because of its
huge territorial expansion
THE END