The Fall of Rome
...g problem. This was displayed in an incident involving two brothers, Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. These two men tried to help the lower classes. Some greedy senators did not like this. Tiberius and three hundred followers were murdered by a group of senators. Ten years later, three thousand of Gaius’ followers were also murdered by a group of senators. Gaius committed suicide to avoid the fate his followers had met. Violence was now seen as a way to achieve political power in Rome (Roman). Another problem faced during this time was growing military troubles. Germanic tribes continually defeated Roman armies on the northern frontiers. Soldiers began giving their loyalty to their commanders instead of to Rome. One possible reason why they did this was that the commanders were paying them for their service and Rome was not. Many military generals began to fight bloody battles amongst themselves (World 147). The main reason that farmers were forced to move to the cities was the destruction of their farmlands, but there were also other reasons that caused some farmers to move. While the farmers were serving in the army other landowners took their land and created large estates called latifundia. If the small farmers did manage to have land after the war, they were unable to keep it for long because of high taxes and competition with larger farmers (World 146). In 59 B.C., with the help of Crassus, a wealthy man, and Pompey, a general, Julius Caesar became Consul. These men ruled Rome as a triumvirate for the next ten years. In 44 B.C., Julius Caesar was named dictator for life after defeating Pompey’s armies after they became rivals. Caesar was an absolute ruler. He added friends to the senate and won the support of the poor by creating jobs. He made ways for landless men to get property. He also paid soldiers a higher salary. All was going well for Caesar until a group of respected senators, led by Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius, plotted to murder him. On the Ides of March, March 15, 44 B.C., the group stabbed Caesar to death. His dying words were words of disbelief directed to his friend Marcus Brutus, “Et tu, Brute?”which translates to, “You too, Brutus?”(World 147). After the death of Julius Caesar his adopted son, Octavian, came to power. He ruled as Consul for many years until he was finally given the title of Augustus, meaning “honored” or “sacred”. This was the death of the republic. Rome was controlled by emperors for the rest of its existence (Roman). For nearly two hundred more years there was a time of peace known as Pax Romana or Roman Peace. There were some minor squabbles, but nothing of great importance (World 148). The decline of the Roman Empire began around the third century A.D., during which trade was disrupted, the empire’s wealth was drained by frequent wars and careless spending, and food sources began to disappear because the soil was no longer fertile (World 159). Between 235 A.D. and 285 A.D. there were more than twenty emperors. All but one were murdered (Roman). In 284 A.D. a man name Diocletian became emperor. He doubled the size of Rome’s armies, set fixed prices for goods with the intention of stopping inflation, and ordered farmers to stay on their land and produce food. He also split the empire in half, creating the Eastern Empire and the Western Empire. These actions slowed the decline of the empire (World 159). Soon after Diocletian retired in 305 A.D., a civil war broke out. A man named Constantine became emperor. He moved the capital of the empire from Rome to the city of Byzantium, in what is now the country of Turkey. This city later came to be called Constantinople, after Constantine (World 159-160). The last man to rule over a united Roman empire was Theodosius. The western empire fell with one hundred years after his reign (Roman). The western empire collapsed because of internal problems, the separation of two empires (the east was richer), and invasions (World 160). In 408 A.D. a Germanic t...