Roman History

The End of the Republic 60 BCE to 14 CE

Caesar’s arrival in Rome was met with great fanfare and celebration. In 46 BCE Caesar celebrated four triumphs for his victories over non Roman forces. Caesar had won his civil war against Pompey, but now he had to contend with the problems that faced him in Rome. Armed with an annually renewed dictatorship, Caesar sought to fix the problems of the Roman Republic. Caesar hoped that after his reforms, he would be able to continue to pursue conquests in the name of the Roman Republic. However, Caesar’s many victories had begun to drive many senators to desperation. Led by Gaius Cassius and Marcus Brutus, several senators hatched a plan to kill Caesar on March 15, 44 BCE. Legends say that on his way to the senate, Caesar was met by a soothsayer in the streets that told him to beware the ides of March. Whether there is any truth to this story will forever remain a mystery. When Caesar arrived in the senate and took his seat, several senators crowed around him as if to make petitions. As the senators surrounded him they began to stab him with knifes. Bleeding from countless wounds Caesar fell and died at the foot of a statue of Pompey.

Throughout the ancient and the modern period the question of whether Caesar was looking to create a monarchy has dogged historians. There is a great abundance of evidence from the last two years of Caesar’s life that suggests that he may have been trying to create some sort of Monarchy. Caesar’s assumption of a lifetime dictatorship, heavily advertised on coin bearing his image, made him a king in all but name. One cannot say however, that Caesar had been planning from an early point to overthrow the Republic. Like every other Roman noble Caesar’s quest for power and glory drove him to the end that he created. Caesar had achieved ultimate power, but he needed a way to hold on to it, and the only avenue to hold on to such power lay in the creation of a more centralized state. Caesar was unusually talented, but the downfall of the Republic cannot entirely be blamed on his deeds. The downfall of the Republic was an accumulation of the events of the past 200 years. Caesar was simply another noble in a long list of nobles who sought power at any cost.

The assassination of Caesar failed to solve any of the problems that the conspirators thought it would. The conspirators that can be charged with Caesar’s death seemed to have had the idea that the Republic, upon the death of Caesar, would be instantly restored. Sensing a chance to act, Caesar’s longtime ally Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony) sought out Caesar’s wife Calpurnia and convinced her to hand over Caesar’s papers. This move gave Mark Antony control of Caesar’s estate and finances. As Mark Antony infuriated the opinion of the populace, Rome became a highly unfriendly place for the conspirators. Though Mark Antony had not been made Caesar’s official heir, his grandnephew Octavius had received that honour, Mark Antony still possessed Caesar’s papers and the wealth associated with them. Mark Antony tried to placate all of those around him, including those who feared that he might become another Caesar. He had the office of dictator forever abolished as to prevent another Caesar, he permitted the demolition of a pillar set up in the Forum for Caesar’s worship and most surprising of all, he was fairly lenient towards the conspirators. Mark Antony was rather successful in controlling the atmosphere in the wake of Caesar’s death. What should have been an immensely chaotic period was not, largely thanks to the efforts of Mark Antony. The only major source of challenge to Antonius’s succession came from a rather unexpected source, Caesar’s grandnephew, Octavian.

When Octavian had first heard that he had been made Caesar’s heir, he quickly followed traditional Roman practice and had his name changed to Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. To capitalize on his lineage, he always referred to himself as Caesar. Most modern writers refer to him as Ocatvian for the period before 27 BCE, rather then Caesar in order to minimize confusion. Octavian, in a move of daring demanded that Antonius surrender to him the inheritance that was rightfully his. Antonius rebuffed him, underestimating the resourcefulness of the youth. Octavian, decided to instead, play upon his famous name with Caesar’s veterans and exploit their resentment of Antonius’ leniency with Caesar’s assassins. Antonius’ problems began to steadily worsen. Brutus and Cassius, to which Antonius had gotten rid by giving them provinces of Crete and Cyrene, were soon demanding more significant provinces. Antonius refused their demands and forced them out of Italy. Cassius and Brutus both went east, to the old recruiting grounds of Pompey, another civil war was about to begin. Perhaps even more troublesome for Antonius was Pompey’s son Sextus who had used his fleet to gain control of western waters and was in the process of raising a revlolt in Spain.

On November 27, 43 BCE, Octavian, Antonius and Lepidus met near Bologna and agreed upon joint policy and together formed what is often referred to as the second triumvirate. Though, technically it is the first, as the first triumvirate was not recognized by Roman law, this one was. The purpose of the triumvirate was to use its absolute powers for five years to restore the Roman State. Similar to the position of Caesar in the first triumvirate, Octavian was not the dominant member; the dominant members were Lepidus and Antonius. In 43 BCE, the triumvirs, in their first act sent a cold chill through the Roman society by initiating proscriptions as bloody and as ruthless as those initiated by Sulla. The triumvirs alleged that they were avenging the murder of Caesar, but the true purpose of the proscriptions was to accumulate wealth so that the funds could be raised to fight Brutus and Cassius in the East. The triumvirs also sought to eliminate their political enemies. The most distinguished victim of these murders was the great orator, Cicero. Cicero, since Caesar’s death, had been observing with horror what was as he saw it, the end of the Republic. Seeing the futility in a final flight, Cicero calmly awaited his pursuers and was struck down on December 7, 43 BCE, a martyr to the cause of the dying Republic.

After crushing all resistance in Italy. The triumvirs moved east to deal with Cassius and Brutus, which had accumulated 19 legions. Octavian and Antonius were able to land in the fall of 42 BCE, despite the fact that Brutus and Cassius controlled the seas. Brutus defeated the less capable Ocatvian, but Antonius defeat Cassius, who unaware of Brutus’s victory committed suicide. Three weeks later Brutus launched a counterattack, but was defeat by Antonius. Brutus, like Cassius, took his own life shortly after his defeat. Antonius was the real victor of these campaigns. His victories over both Brutus and Cassius secured his control of the East. In order to pay his legions, Antonius began to extract considerable amounts of money from the wealthiest cities in Asia Minor. In 41 BCE, Antonius met with Cleopatra. Though it is clear that they were lovers, they also had political interests in each other. Antonius needed Cleopatra’s wealth to pay his veterans and Cleopatra needed Antonius’s support against her rivals in Egypt.

Octavian was not as good a soldier as Antonius, but he was a better politician. Unlike, Antonius, Octavian realized that the key to power in Rome lay in Italy, despite the problems that were persistent there. Most pressing were the hostile fleets of Sextus Pompey that menaced the Italian coasts and threatened Rome’s critical grain supply. In 40 BCE, Octavian decided t negotiate with Sextus. He divorced his wife and married the aunt of Sextus Pompey’s wife in order to curry his favour. In 39 BCE, the triumvirs met with Sextus at Misenum. Octavian and Antonius agreed to let Sextus keep Sicily and Sardinia, and they gave him Corsica and the Peloponeus. In return Sextus agreed to end his blockade on Rome and halt his piracy of the seas. After this deal, Antonius’s power reached its height. With Sextus to counter Octavian’s power in the West, Antonius felt secure with his power in the East. Peace between the triumvirs and Sextus was short lived as near the end of 39 BCE, Sextus once again resumed his blockade of Rome, infuriated that Antonius had not surrendered the Peloponnesus to him. In 38 BCE, Octavian scored a small victory again Sextus, when the governor of Sardinia defected. Though Octavian still needed help in ending Sextus’s reign of terror once and for all. In 37 BCE he called on Antonius for aid. Antonius highly annoyed that Octavian had ignored his advice and gone to war with Sextus, still arrived in Italy with 120 ships to assist his fellow triumvir. With the help of his military genius Agrippa (all of Octavian’s military victories can largely be attributed to Agrippa) Octavian launched a three-pronged assault on Sicily. Octavian’s fleet was destroyed, by Antonius and Agrippa were able to carry the day. Sextus was able to escape to Asia Minor. Lepidus, in search for glory brought 22 legions to Sicily and demanded the surrender of the Island. The fighting was already over, so this act was rather ludicrous. When Octavian ordered Lepidus off the Island he refused. Using the magic named of Caesar, Octavian entered Lepidus’s camp and persuaded his legions to desert. Octavian then stripped Lepidus of any remaining powers and had him confined to a seaside town in Latium.

Upon returning to Rome, Octavian was met with a joyous welcome. To the Roman people he was the one who had ended the wars in the West and saved the seas from the vicious piracy of Sextus. The people, so grateful, heaped an amazing amount of honours upon him. Despite being frail in health and lacking in military skill Octavian had triumphed over great odds. He had successfully made great use of Caesar’s name to promote his interests, he had defeated his opponents Lepidus and Sextus, and he had deficitfully abused Antonius. Upon returning to the East in 37 BCE Antonius must have realized how Octavian had tricked him. Antonius had used his resources for the last two years to help Octavian secure the West, while he gained nothing. However, Antonius had a plan to gain glory and land for himself. In 36 BCE Antonius began his long delayed invasion of Parthia. The campaign was a complete disaster for Antonius as his ally the king of Armenia withdrew his forces at a crucial moment causing Antonius to lose 20 000 men. Despite losing in his was against Parthia; Antonius remained strong in the East, though tension was starting to build between himself and Octavian. Antonius’s relations with Cleopatra provided Octavian with a source to use to discredit Antonius’s name in the West. Now, Octavian was refusing to return the ships that he had borrowed to help defeat Sextus. Antonius attempted to repair his tattered dignity by invading Armenia in 34 BCE. Victorious, Antonius celebrated a massive triumph in Alexandria.

In 32 BCE Octavian finally capitalized on Antonius’s relation with Cleopatra by revealing Antonius’s will, that he stole, stated that Cleopatra’s son Caesarion was the true son and heir of Caesar. Instead of declaring war on Antonius, Octavian artfully declared war on Cleopatra. Agrippa, Octavian’s loyal second in command setup a naval blockade that caused an outbreak of plague in Antonius’s camp in the summer of 31 BCE. Severely weakened, Antonius decided to retreat to Egypt. Antonius and Cleopatra managed to escape with 60 ships, the rest were destroyed in a naval engagement with Agrippa. Antonius’s legions still trapped in Greece surrendered several days after Antonius’s flight to Egypt. In the summer of 30 BCE, Octavian finally decided to peruse Cleopatra and Antonius. The legions of Antonius only put up brief resistance. Shortly after the defeat of his legions Antonius committed suicide, Cleopatra shortly followed suit. Octavian was now the undisputed master of the Roman world.

Though after Octavian’s victory the Republic still persisted in the fact that there was a diffusion of power among several bodies of government, power was slowly starting to creep into the hands of one man. Many reasons have been offered to explain the decline of the Republic, but most of them are inadequate. Ultimately there is no one explanation that can explain the fall of the Roman Republic.

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