Skip to main content
- how do you keep the plebs happy (or at least keep them from revolting)?
- the poet Juvenal said Rome "anxiously hopes for two things bread and circuses"
- bread (free grain from state) and entertainment ( Circus Maximus, Colosseum) partly to keep them alive, and partly to keep them quiet, distracted, and docile
- Tiberius Gracchus recognized the advantages of courting the plebeians (even though he was ultimately unsuccessful)
- military generals worked that angle- lead an army that conquers a land, then give them a share in the spoils.
- Soldier's loyalty was to their military leader not necessarily to Rome or the Republic.
- Julius Caesar (100- 44 BCE)
- Highly successful general
- he conquered the huge territory of Gaul
- made common folks happy
- made friends in high places
- Pompey ( a general who conquered Syria and Palestine)
- Crassus (richest man in Rome, one of the richest men in all history)
- these three men formed the first Triumvirate "rule of 3 men"
- "Crossing the Rubicon" - crossing the point of no return
- serves as consul (one year)
- appoints himself governor of Gaul
- Pompey is jealous, becomes his rival
- Caesar's armies clash with Pompey's in Greece, Asia, Spain, and Egypt
- in 44 BC he is named dictator - first for six months, then for life
Comments
Post a Comment