How did the Romans go from republic to empire?

Answer 1

It started with Julius Ceasar and his ambition to become dictator. Rome had dictators before, elected by the Senate during times of war and national emergency; they had absolute authority but their terms were limited to one year. Once out of office, they could be held accountable for their actions. Ceasar was looking to make it a lifetime office and was assassinated by a group of republican senators, seeking to remove a tyrant. This touched off a civil war between republicans and Ceasar's political machine. Ceasar's adopted son and grand-nephew, Octavian, was a junior partner initially, with Marc Anthony running the show. The republican legions were defeated and Rome was ruled by a triumvirate, including Octavian, who clashed with Anthony. Eventually, the two divided the Empire: Octavian got Rome and Anthony got Egypt and Cleopatra. Eventually, war broke out between Rome and Egypt. Anthony and Cleopatra committed suicide, leaving Octavian as the sole ruler. The Roman Senate granted him the title "Augustus," which is the name by which he is known as empeor. Augustus was the first Roman emperor and arguably its greatest but he was careful to govern with the trappings of a constitutional monarchy. His title was "Princeps," meaning "first among equals." "Imperator," from which "emperor is derived, was a secondary military title, the same as commander-in-chief. He founded the Julio-Claudian Dynastry which produced five emperors, two of whom were considered "good emperors" (Augustus and Claudius), one enigmatic emperor whose death was cheered by the mob (Tiberius), and two mad emperors (Caligula and Nero). The Julio-Claudian Dynastry ended with Nero who committed suicide after he was deposed. Caligula was assassinated.

Answer 2

It changed into the empire.. first it became a republic because the Romans wants freedom from the kings. so they created the roman republic(which gave them a voice). Then Julius Caesar stopped the Roman Republic. he became a sole ruler. When the politics killed him, his son Octavian( which he named himself Augustus), became in charge. Under Augustus rules, Rome became an empire

Octavian was actually his nephew not his son, While Caesar did have a son with Cleopatra he died at a young age though I am not sure when. Caesar Implemented what he called "Bread and Circuses" Which basically meant "As long as you can keep people fed and entertained you can take away all of their freedoms." So while Caesar kept the people fed and held constant games in the Colusseum he slowly began turning what was once a Republic into an Empire.

Answer 3

The Romans never had a period when they were not fighting with some other tribe / nation. They began as a mixed lot of ruffians who stole the Sabine women and they were constantly sending their armies further and further afield. They claimed it was to protect Rome, but once they'd gone beyond the Alps that was blatantly untrue.

Answer 4

Rome was an empire in the days of the Republic. The Republic fell because of civil wars and was replaced by the Principate. The Principate, or rule by one man, the emperor, is what many people consider to be the start of the empire, but it is erroneous.

Answer 5

Rome did not switch from a republic to an empire. It switched from a republic to rule by emperors. Historians make a confusing use of the word empire. They use it in two senses. One is the common one, which refers to territorial conquests. The other one refers to the period of rule by emperors which followed the fall of the republic. In territorial terms, Rome already had an empire during the republic. In fact, much of Rome's expansion occurred in the republican period.

The republic fell under the weight of a series of civil wars. Octavian emerged as the final victor of these wars. He gained control of the army and a vast fortune through the spoils of war. He used this to concentrate power in his hands and become an absolute ruler while pretending to be restoring a republic shattered by the civil wars. He established rule by emperors and was the first Roman emperor. He got the senate to bestow the title of Augustus (the venerable one) on him. Historians use Augustus as his name in reference to the period when he was emperor.

Augustus reached a settlement with the senate whereby the senate retained control of the older Roman provinces, which he got control of the border ones. Since most of the legions were stationed in the border provinces, this concession still left him in control of the bulk of the army.

Augustus turned the senate into an instrument of his power and emasculated the popular assemblies (which used to elect the officers of state and vote on bills) to the senate. The officers of state were no longer elected and became appointees of the emperor. Augustus controlled governance through the creation of an imperial bureaucracy which carried out his command. He legislated by decree.

Augustus learned from the lesson of Julius Caesar's murder. He was assassinated because he gave the impression of trying to become a king, which made him look an enemy of the republic. Augustus therefore chose the title of Princeps, which was derived from the Princeps Senatus, who was the first member of the senate and acted as a chair. The world roughly means first man and had a "first among equals" connotation and gave a republican veneer to his rule. In reality, he was turning himself into an absolute ruler. He also acted as a restorer of Roman ancestral religion practices which had decayed and presented himself as an upholder of Roman tradition.

Emperor is a term coined by historians. The Romans did not use it. They used the titles of Princeps, Caesar and Augustus.

Answer 6

The replacement of the Roman Republic by rule by emperors was more one of disintegration of the former than one of transition.

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 (see below) 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.

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.

Answer 7

because it felt like it because it felt like it

Answer 8

Rome had an empire both during its republican political stage and its imperial political stages. It is wordplay.