What happened that caused the roman republic to become an empire?

Answer 1

Republic and Empire are two different types of word. Republic describes a form of government. Empire describes a country's rulership of other territories which are tributary to it. Rome ruled an empire long before the Republican form of government ceased to exist. From the late 3rd Century BCE it began to expand outside the Italian peninsula, and progressively through the 2nd and 1st Centuries BCE absorbed all the territories around the Mediterranean. The Republican form of government changed from 27 BCE. After putting an end to the civil wars, Octavian Augustus declared the Republic restored, but reserved important powers to himself to prevent the re-emergence of warring generals. He took for life the powers of Tribune of the Plebs (veto, introducing laws to the Senate and immunity), pro-magistracy outside Rome, and allocated to himself the provinces which had legions. He did not call himself emperor because there was no such word then. He called himself Princeps (First Citizen), and the form of government he instituted is called the Principate, in which many of the Republican forms continued, but under the strong guidance of the Princeps. This lasted for over 200 years, after which it is called the Dominate, as the government was openly autocratic.

Answer 2

The Roman Republic was brought down by the weight of imperial expansion. The central government had become dysfunctional, and lost control over the provinces (conquered territories). The governors of the provinces became unruly and treated their provinces as if they were their personal fiefs. Tax collection in the provinces was carried out by private collectors who 'farmed' the taxes to line their pockets. Corruption was rampant. There was mass poverty. The army was professionalised. This made the soldiers loyal to the commanders of their legions who could use them to obtain what they wanted through the threat of or the use of military violence. In 71 BC Crassus and Pompey encamped their troops outside Rome to have themselves elected as consuls (the two annually elected heads of the Republic). Pompey was not even eligible on the grounds of being below the required age and of not having served some public offices which were required before the consulship. In 88 BC Sulla entered the city of Rome with his troops during his first civil war against forces of Marius, even though Roman religion forbade the bearing of arms within the city walls. The senators were seen as being concerned with the interests of the aristocracy, rather than those of the poor and were unpopular among the middle and lower classes. They were also seen as being corrupt.

Another problem in the Late Republic was the increase in the number of dispossessed peasants who lost their land to the expanding landed estates which used slave, who were war captives. These people flocked to Rome to try to eke out a living, swelling the masses of the poor in the city. The problem of poverty became a political hot potato which led to the conflict between the populares and the optimates. The former was a political faction which championed the cause of the poor and tried to introduce reforms to help them. The latter was a conservative political faction which favoured the aristocracy and opposed reforms. The clash between these two factions was a major factor which led to civil wars.

In the last 64 years of the Republic there were 12 civil wars. Most of them were related to clashes between strong military leaders and the conflict between populares and optimates spilling into violence. These civil wars eventually led to the fall of the Republic. It was replaced by absolute rule by one man: the emperor.