Consequences of Empire
I Social and Political Changes at Home
II Marius and Sulla
III Civil Wars
Consequences of Roman Expansion
1. Social Changes
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Dramatic Changes in Roman Society
Massive influx of slaves and wealth (plunder) increased gap
between rich and poor
Many ordinary soldiers returned to heavily mortgaged or ruined
farms; some were dispossessed, swallowed over by latifundia (large
plantation type farms worked by slave-labour);
Competition for political office among elite dramatically accellerated;
conspicuous consumption becomes part of competition; election
campaigns for become extremely expensive;
Military success (i.e. multiple triumphs) became essential
component for political competition (had to outdo Scipio Africanus);
Reputation as successful general interrelated with acquisition of loot
and wealth: attracted support and allowed to pay debts incurred to
finance election campaigns
2. Changes in the nature of Roman
politics
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After‘Struggle of the Orders’ there were two ways of passing
legislation: 1. the older Centuriate Assembly, 2. The Plebeian
Assembly (after 287 BCE) passed plebiscites, binding on all citizens
The importance of patron-client relationship was undermined by
new legislation.
Development of two factions in the Roman senate 1. Populares
(those senators who used the tribunes and Plebeian assembly to
legislate). 2. Optimates (those who legislated through the consuls,
senate and the centuriate assembly
Note: Populares vs. Optimates not an ideological or party division,
senators often changed sides depending on what avenue appeared
more promising in advancing their interests
Problem: the constitution itself – the Roman senate was an advisory
body, relying for centuries on their auctoritas (influence and
respect); had no legislative power; – their advice: senatus
consultum – accepted until Flaminius and the brothers Gracchi
The Main points of Social
discontent
Resettlement of Land: Dispossession of farmers –
reduced pool of recruits; discontented landless
 Ager Publicus = Public Land: unfair distribution; large
landowners taken over large tracts and treated like their
own for generations
 Settlement of veterans (land needed).
 Private ambitions of the political elite.
 Discontent of equestrians – could not get fair legal
redress – jury courts in hands of senators
 Tensions between Rome and her Italian allies over: 1.
Ager publicus. 2. lack of political (did not have full
citizenship).
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Gaius Flaminius
232 BCE Gaius Flaminius –first one to pick up
land bill and bypass the senate:
 proposes a law to settle Roman landless poor in
Po Valley on land annexed in 283 from the
Gauls;
 opposed by senate; goes directly to Plebeian
assembly to have laws passed (plebiscite)
 Consequence: set dangerous precedent; but
Land resettlement issue does not go away
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Tiberius Gracchus’ land bill
Redistribution of public land in Italy
 Holdings limited to 500 jugera
 Against interests of oligarchy- many wealthy would have
to be removed from land which they occupied as their
own, opposed by most senators
 To pass his land reform, Tiberius bypassed the senate
and went directly to the plebeian assembly
 Forcibly removed his colleague Octavius who sided with
senate and vetoed Tiberius
 Tried to stand for second term
 Murdered by mob of angry senators on day of his
election –
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Gaius Sempronius Gracchus
Tribune in 123 and 122 B.C.
Renewed land bill; Promoted new colonies
 Reduced military hardship
 Promoted citizenship grant for all Italian allies
 Supplied urban poor with cheap corn (grain)
 Gave equestrians extortion courts and tax farming rights
in new province of Asia
 Attracted large blocks of clients cut across many social
classes
 Stood 3rd time for election as tribune – senate issued a
SCU = Senatus Consultum Ultimum = final senatorial
decree - Gaius Gracchus and supporters hunted down
and killed
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The land problem
Plutarch, Life of T. Gracchus 8.1-4
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“Of the land that the Romans gained [in Italy] by conquest of their
neighbors, part they sold and part they added to the public domain. This
latter common land they assigned to those of the citizens who were poor
and landless, on payment of a small rent into the public treasury. But when
the wealthy began to offer larger rents and to drive the poorer people out,
a law was enacted [367 B.C.] that no person could own more than three
hundred acres of public land. This act for some time checked the avarice of
the rich and aided the poor, who retained the land they had rented in the
past. Later, however, the rich men of the neighborhood managed to get
these lands into their own possession by using fictitious names, and finally
they claimed most of the public land as their own. The poor who were thus
deprived of their farms, no longer registered for service in war, nor did they
care about the education of their children. In a short time there were
comparatively few free laborers left in Italy, which swarmed with gangs of
foreign slaves. These the rich used in cultivating the lands from which they
had driven the free citizens. Gaius Laelius, the close friend of Scipio, tried to
reform this abuse; but meeting with opposition from men of influence he
soon desisted, fearing a disturbance; as a result he received the name of
“the Wise” or “the Prudent,” both meanings belonging to the Latin word
Sapiens…Tiberius, however, being elected tribune of the people, embarked
upon the same venture without delay….” (Lim & Bailkey, 2005)
In Tiberius’ Own Words
Plutarch, Life of T. Gracchus 9.4-5
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“The wild beasts of Italy…have their own dens as places
of repose and refuge, but the men who fight and die for
their country enjoy nothing more in it than the air and
the light; having no houses or settlements of their own,
they must wander from place to place with their wives
and children. The army commanders are guilty of a
ridiculous error when they exhort the common soldiers
to defend their sepulchers and altars, for not one among
so many Romans has an ancestral altar or tomb. They
fight and die to maintain the luxury and wealth of other
men. They are called the masters of the world, but they
have not one foot of ground to call their own.” (Lim &
Bailkey 2005)
The murder of Tiberius Gracchus
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Those who were farther off, however, wondered at what was going on and
asked what it meant. Whereupon Tiberius put his hand to his head, making
this visible sign that his life was in danger, since the questioners could not
hear his voice. But his opponents, on seeing this, ran to the senate and told
that body that Tiberius was asking for a crown; and that his putting his
hand to his head was a sign having that meaning. 3 All the senators, of
course, were greatly disturbed, and Nasica demanded that the consul
should come to the rescue of the state and put down the tyrant. The consul
replied with mildness that he would resort to no violence and would put no
citizen to death without a trial; if, however, the people, under persuasion or
compulsion from Tiberius, should vote anything that was unlawful, he
would not regard this vote as binding. Thereupon Nasica sprang to his feet
and said: "Since, then, the chief magistrate betrays the state, do ye
p191who wish to succour the laws follow me." 4 With these words he
covered his head with the skirt of his toga and set out for the Capitol. All
the senators who followed him wrapped their togas about their left arms
and pushed aside those who stood in their path, no man opposing them, in
view of their dignity, but all taking to flight and trampling upon one
another.
Continued 1
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5 Now, the attendants of the senators carried clubs and staves which they
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20 This is said to have been the first sedition at Rome, since the abolition of royal
power, to end in bloodshed and the death of citizens; the rest though neither trifling
nor raised for trifling objects, were settled by mutual concessions, the nobles yielding
from fear of the multitude, and the people out of respect for the senate. And it was
thought that even p193on this occasion (Plutarch, Life of Tiberius Gracchus 19-20)
had brought from home; but the senators themselves seized the fragments
and legs of the benches that were shattered by the crowd in its flight, and
went up against Tiberius, at the same time smiting those who were drawn
up to protect him. Of these there was a rout and a slaughter, and as
Tiberius himself turned to fly, someone laid hold of his garments. 6 So he
let his toga go and fled in his tunic. But he stumbled and fell to the ground
among some bodies that lay in front of him. As he strove to rise to his feet,
he received his first blow, as everybody admits, from Publius Satyreius, one
of his colleagues, who smote him on the head with the leg of a bench; to
the second blow claim was made by Lucius Rufus, who plumed himself
upon it as upon some noble deed. And of the rest more than three hundred
were slain by blows from sticks and stones, but not one by the sword.
The First Tribunate of C. Gracchus (123 BCE):
Plutarch, Life of C. Gracchus 5
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“Of the laws which he introduced to win the favor of the people and undermine the
power of the Senate, the first concerned the public lands, which were to be divided
among the poor citizens; another concerned the soldiers, who were to be clothed at
public expense without any deduction from their pay, and no one was to be
conscripted into the army who was under seventeen years old; another gave Italians
the same voting rights as the citizens of Rome; a fourth related to the supply of grain
and the lowering of its price to the poor; and a fifth regulated the courts of justice.
This last law greatly reduced the power of the senators. Hitherto they alone sat as
judges and were therefore much feared by the common people and the equestrian
order. Gaius added three hundred citizens of equestrian rank to the senators, who
also numbered three hundred, and trusted the judicial authority to the whole six
hundred. In arguing for this law he showed in many ways unusual earnestness;
whereas other popular leaders had always turned their faces toward the Senate and
the place called the comitium, he now for the first time turned the other way, toward
the people, and continued to do so thereafter – an insignificant change of posture,
yet it marked no small revolution in state affairs, in a way transforming the
constitution from an oligarchy to a democracy, his action implying that speakers
should address themselves to the people and not to the senate.” (Lim & Bailkey,
2005)
The impact of the Gracchi:
on Roman politics
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With murder of the Gracchi violence had entered Roman
politics
Land issue remained unresolved will continue to cause
problems
Political elite polarized (populares v. optimates) gained
New avenue for ambitious politicians to gain power;
tribunate now very powerful tool
Undermining patron-client relationship by using social
discontent as political platforms; politicians able to
attract large blocks of supporters (clientes)
Increasing tension with Italian allies: about
1.Mistreatment by Roman magistrates, 2.Unfulfilled
promises of citizenship
External threats to Roman power (i.e. Jugurtha in
Numidia; The Cimbri & Teutones in Gaul)
Citizenship for the Italian Allies
The Social War (91-89 BCE)
term from Latin socii = allies
 91 BCE: M.Livius Drusus (tribune of plebs) proposes
another law to enfranchise the Latin Allies (Socii)
 Legislation blocked by nobles and Drusus dies under
mysterious circumstances
 Last straw for Italian allies who finally revolt
 Bitter fighting ends in 89 BCE with the enfranchisement
of all the Latins those Italians who had not revolted
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By 70 BCE, all of Italy south of the river Po are
granted Roman citizenship – End of this conflict
The Social War
..All Italy took up arms against the Romans. The rebellion began with the
people of Asculum, who had put to death the praetor Servilius and his
deputy Fonteius;..The fortunes of the Italians was as cruel as their cause
wad just, for they were seeking citizenship in the state whose power they
were defending by their arms; every year and in every war they were
furnishing a double number of men, both of cavalry and of infantry, and yet
were not admitted to the rights of citizens in the state which through their
efforts had reached so high a position that it could look down upon men of
the same stock and blood as foreigners and aliens….
 The war carried off more than 300,000 of the youth of Italy. On the Roman
side in this war the most illustrious commanders were Gnaeus Pompeius,
father of Pompey the Great, Gaius Marius, Lucius Sulla ,,Quintus Metellus..
So bitter was this Italian war, and such its vicissitudes, that in two
successive years two Roman consuls, first Rutilius and ..Procius Cato were
slain by the enemy, the armies of the Roman people were routed in many
places…..(Velleius Paterculus, Compendium of Roman History II.15.1-17)
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II Marius and Sulla
The first series of Civil Wars
Gaius Marius
(157 – 86 BCE)
http://www.vroma.org/images/raia_images/marius.jpg
Gaius Marius
a novus homo
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Born c. 157 BCE - a Roman citizen at Arpinum, prominent local equestrian
family; a novus homo
Novus homo = new man - first in family pursuing a public career
Married into patrician Julian family;
Served under Scipio Aemilianus at Numantia in the Spanish War and
distinguished himself as outstanding soldier
119 BCE elected tribune with support of L. Caecilius Metellus
109 BCE – went with Q. Caecilius Metellus to Numidia as second in
command against king of Numidia, Jugurtha – fall-out over Metellus’ poor
handling of campaign;
108 BCE – goes to Rome despite Metellus opposition to stand for the
consulship (at age of 51)
107 Elected consul with the support of: 1. Equestrian class, 2. The Roman
army, 3. middle and lower class Romans
Senate reappointed Metellus as commander against Jugurtha; the
Plebeian assembly overruled it and sent Marius instead
Marius’s success
Supported by lower classes and equestrians who looked
to novus homo to end to senatorial corruption and poor
military leadership
 Supported by landless poor (proletarii) by enrolling them
into the army with the promise of land at end of term.
 Supported by army for his skill and competence as
commander; external military threats called for an
outstanding military man for the consulship
 His rustic simplicity appealed to ordinary soldiers
 Marius’ election to the consulship revealed the deep
class divisions in Roman politics
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The Career of Gaius Marius :
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Held 7 consulships (107, 104, 103, 102, 101, 100, 86 BCE) several
consecutive - disregarding the cursus honorum (career path)
107 BCE: 1.Defeats Jugurtha,
104-100 BCE: 1 .Elected consul 5 times because of fear of the
Cimbri and Teutones, 2. Army reforms – admits proletarii into army
with promise of land at end of term;
a dangerous precedent: soldiers owed Marius personal
loyalty
100 BCE – supported by Tribune, L. Appuleius Saturninus, passed:
1. Law granting land to Marius’ veterams., 2. Grain law
(stabilizing/controlling prizes)
After 100 BCE becomes more and more conservative, supports the
nobility; becomes less popular with end of military threats looses
support
86 BCE becomes consul once again – by force
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
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quaestor under Marius in Africa, 107-105 BCE and against the German
tribes, 104-103 BCE;
In Africa arranged the capture of Jugurtha by persuading king Bocchus of
Mauretania to betray his ally From old patrician family; successful commander in Social War
88 BCE: consul; command against King Mithridates VI of Pontus;
conflict with Marius; Marius (through tribune Sulpicius Rufus) had
command against Mithridates transferred to himself;
Sulla is insulted, marched on Rome (first march on Rome); Marius and
Cinna flee; Sulla goes east to fight Mithridates
87 BCE: Marius and Cinna raise an army and re-take Rome; Sulla declared
an enemy of the Roman State;
86 BCE Marius and Cinna “elected” consuls
82 BCE: Sulla retakes Rome (second march on Rome); Is made
“dictator”; takes revenge on enemies: Proscriptions follow;
Introduces conservative reforms.
79 BCE – resigns dictatorship, dies soon after.
Sulla’s Proscriptions
“He would take vengeance by strong measures on the praetors, quaestors,
military tribunes, and everybody else who had committed any hostile act
…After saying this, he forthwith proscribed about forty senators and 1,600
equites. He seems to have been the first to make such a formal list of those
whom he condemned to death, to offer prizes to assassins and rewards to
inforers, and to threaten with punishment those who concealed the
proscribed. Shortly afterward he added the names of other senators to the
proscription. Some of these, taken unawares, were killed where they were
caught, intheir homes, in the streets, or in the temples. Others were hurled
through mid-air and thrown at Sulla’s fee. Others were dragged trhough the
city and trampled on, none of the spectators daring to utter a word of
remonstrance against these horros. Banishment was inflicted upone some,
and confiscation upon others. Speis were searching everywhere for those
who had fled from the city, and those whom they caught they killed. There
was much massacre, banishment, and confiscation also among those
Italians who had obeyed Carbo, Norbanus, Marius, or their leituenants. ..
 Appian, Civil Wars 1.11.95-12
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A New Breed of General and Politician:
Sulla Plunders the Temples of Greece (88 BCE)
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“Thus in order to become the masters of those better
than themselves they made themselves the slaves of the
worst. These kinds of activities drove Marius into exile
and again brought him back against Sulla; these made
Cinna the murderer of Octavius and Fimbria of Flaccus.
And not least, Sulla led the way. For to corrupt and win
over those under the command of others, he made
lavish expenditures on his own soldiers. As a result of
making traitors of the soldiers of other generals and
profligates of his own soldiers, he had need of a great
deal of money, especially for this siege.” ( Plutarch, Sulla
12)
Rome after Sulla
Politics had become extremely violent.
 Proscriptions new practice in civil wars to
get rid of enemies and to replenish
depleted coffers of state and politicians
 The “bribing” of the people increasingly
common as part of gaining support:
expensive games put on (Bread and
Circuses); political campaigns had become
very expensive
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The Role of the Army after Marius
and Sulla
Armies had become personal tools of
ambitious politicians by enrolling the
landless, provided them with land at end
of term and tied them to themselves as
clients who owed their patron gratia
 Armies used to intimidate political
opponents
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