MonarchY

Monarchy

THE REPUBLIC OF ROME

500 BC

400

300

200

100

1 BC

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S. Sulpicius Galba, a general and governor in Spain, comes to symbolise the venality, incom-

petence and treachery of Roman generalship and administration in the Spanish wars.

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Do

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Me

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Marcus Livius Drusus

1st Celtic Invasion

3rd War of Veii

2nd Celtic Invasion

1st Samnite War

Latin War

2nd Samnite War

2nd Punic War

3rd Samnite War

Pyrrhic War

Gallic & Etruscan Revolt

Conquest of Southern Italy

1st Punic War

3rd Celtic Invasion

1st Illyrian War

2nd Illyrian War

1st Macedonian War

2nd Macedonian War

War of Antiochus

1st Celtiberian War

3rd Macedonian War

3rd Punic War

Numantine Wars

1st Servile (Slave) War

Cimbrian War

Jugurthine War

Social War

Sullan Civil Wars

1st Mithraditic War

Sertorian War

2nd Mithraditic War

3rd Mithraditic War

War of Spartacus

Gallic Wars

Antony's Civil War

War of the Liberators

Perusine War

War of Actium

War of Sextus Pompeius

War of Fidenae/ 2nd War of

Veii

Lusitanian War

Caesar's Civil War

Cantabrian War

Ro

ma

n R

evo

lutio

n

Danube Wars

2nd Servile War

Wa

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f E

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War of the Cilician Pirates

Re

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This work by Garry Stevens is

licensed under Creative Commons

licence CC-BY-NC-ND, and is

available for free from

www.garryscharts.com. See terms

of use there. Version 1.8.

Main source: Brian Taylor's series

of books (Spellmount, 2008),

which correct the traditional

Varronian dating in many cases

prior to 300 BC. Other sources

include H. Fowler, Roman

Republics (Princeton, 2010); G.

Forsythe, A Critical History of Early

Rome (University of California

Press, 2005) and The History of

Rome podcasts

(thehistoryofrome .typepad.com).

The timelines for individuals are

not lifespans, but career lengths;

usually starting from their first

position in the cursus honorum.

Maps show the largest cities at

each time.

Marcus Porcius Cato

Sextus Pompeius

Marcus Claudius Marcellus

Quintus Fabius

Maximus Verrucosus

Gaius

Lutatius Catulus

Gaius Fla-minius Nepos

Lucius Aemilius Paullus

Macedonicus

Servius Sulpicius

Galba

Fa

ll

Lucius Cornelius

Sulla

Lucius Licinius Lucullus

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus

Marcus Tullius Cicero

Marcus Aemilius Lepidus

Tiberius Claudius

Nero

Nero Claudius Drusus 23: 2nd constitutional settlement. Maintaining the veneer of the Republican constitution, Augustus de-

clines the perpetual consulship but acquires imperium over all proconsuls and the consuls in Rome, and

therefore becomes head of all the legions. Granted the tribunician and censorial powers for life. He also

manoeuvres to make this unique position hereditary in his family (initially to his nephew M. Claudius Mar-

cellus), a concept alien to Rome since the kings, but familiar from the Hellenistic monarchies.

27: 1st constitutional settlement of Octavian. Perpetual consul, proconsular imperium over many provinces,

and hence command of most legions (20, compared to the Senate's 5). Awarded titles of Augustus

(Illustrious) and Princeps (First Citizen). Transition from ruthless Octavian to benign Augustus.

Lucius Cornelius

Cinna

b Pergamene Bequest

Cyrenaican Bequest

60: Pompey, Crassus and Caesar reach an informal arrangement, the 1st triumvi-

rate, to manipulate the state for their ends. Effective end of Republican politics. 58-52: Mob violence of Clodius.

Pompey appointed sole consul.

46-44: Caesar is consul, dictator, censor and tribune simultaneously, destroying the constitu-

tion. He institutes a Populares program, but is assassinated by the Liberatores in 44.

2nd

Triumvirate

1st

Triumvirate

82-79: Returning to Italy from the Mithraditic War, Sulla again marches on Rome and defeats the Marians.

Following Marius' example, he conducts bloody proscriptions of the Populares. Sulla becomes Dictator, an

office unused since the Punic Wars, to revise the constitution in favour of the Optimates.

43-42: Octavian (Caesar's heir), Antony (Caesar's chief lieutenant) and Lepidus (a grandee

taken on board to placate the conservatives) take formal control of the state in the 2nd

Triumvirate. They defeat the Liberatores at the B. of Philippi. Mass proscriptions of the

Republicans, most notably Cicero. Senatorial class further debilitated.

1 BC

75 BC

4th Macedonian & Achaean Wars

175 BC

31: Octavian and Agrippa defeat Antony and establish a military dictatorship.

70: Pompey and Crassus overturn Sulla's reforms. Senate enfeebled by years of proscriptions.

66-63: Pompey completes conquest of the east, brilliantly reorganising the provinces and clients.

19: L. Cornelius Balbus is the last general outside the imperial family to be awarded a triumph.

12: Upon the death of Lepidus, Augustus becomes Pontifex Maximus. All the offices and functions of

state – civil, judicial, military, and religious – are now unified in one person for the first time since the

kings, in an office that will later be known as the emperor of Rome.

88: Incited by Marius and intimidated by the militia of Sulpicius, the Comitia Tributa strips the elected consul,

L. Cornelius Sulla, of his command for the Mithraditic War. In an unprecedented move, Sulla marches his army

into Rome and spends a year consolidating the Optimates' position. Marius flees.

87-82: Marian Terror: Marius returns to Italy while Sulla is in the east, effectively

overthrowing the Senate. Mass proscriptions as a deranged or senile Marius (in

pursuit of a prophesised 7th consulship) and his co-consul Cinna annihilate the

Optimates. Cinna eventually stops the violence by murdering Marius' slave followers.

Tiberius Gracchus

Gaius Sempronius Gracchus

Gaius Marius

Publius Clodius Pulcher

Marcus Antonius

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

Marcus Licinius Crassus

107-104: Marius reforms the military, recruiting from the landless poor for the first time. This creates a profession-

al army owing loyalty to its general, not the state. In his first consulship, he persuades the Comitia Tributa to over-

rule the Senate and assign him the command assigned to Numidicus; a tactic to be used by later generals.

104-100: Marius is elected consul for an unprecedented five consecutive terms, violating the Lex Vatinia, winning

military glory by defeating the Germans in what was to be the last invasion of Italy for over 200 years.

123-122: Tribune G. Gracchus promotes land, judicial and military reforms. He introduces tax-

farming, subsidies for grain, and payments for military clothing. Assasinated by the Optimates.

Lucius Appuleius Saturninus

102-100: Mob violence of Saturninus, eventually controlled by his former ally Marius,

who falls from grace. Electoral process hereafter corrupted by bribery and violence.

91: In an attempt to forestall further Populares action, and to preserve the

Optimates' dominance, tribune M. Livius Drusus introduces numerous

reforms, including extension of citizenship to the Italians. Misunderstood by all

classes, he is assassinated. In reaction, the Italians revolt in the Social War.

Gaius Julius Caesar

Augustus

22: Last elec-

tions for the

ancient office

of censor.

43: Last independent consuls, Pansa

and Hirtius, die in the Civil War of Antony.

3rd Illyrian War

Wars in Italy

Wars in the West

Wars in the East

Civil Wars

Mob violence

Proscriptions, state violence

Dictator

Consul

Tribune, tribunician power

Censor

49-46: Caesar marches on Rome. The Republicans, under Pompey and Cato, flee.

Caesar progressively defeats all the Republican armies arrayed against him.

Publius Cornelius

Scipio Africanus

Marcus Porcius Cato

Titus Quinctius Flamininus

Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus

Scipio Aemilianus

Quintus Caecilius Metellus

Macedonicus

Quintus Caecilius Metellus

Numidicus

Publius Sulpicius

Rufus

Marcus Aemilius Scaurus

Gaius Julius Caesar

Publius Cornelius

Scipio

Eminent

Optimate.

Rome's

greatest

orator, who

attempted to

preserve the

republic, but

was outfoxed

by Caesar,

then by Octa-

vian.

180:Lex Villia Annalis codifies the cursus honorum, establishing set periods between the holding of offices.

Etruria's largest city razed to the

ground.

Gauls sack Rome. Last violation

of Rome for 850 years.

Campania made a dependency.

Etruria made a dependency.

Samnites admitted as allies.

Rome controls all northern and central Italy.

Rome controls all of Italy.

Although suffering crippling losses in men, material, and money in the 1st Punic war, the Romans refuse to accept

anything other than total victory. Where other nations would surrender after a massive defeat, the Romans would raise

another army and return for the next campaign season. However, the war produces no great generals or statesmen.

227: First steps towards an imperial administration, as Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica

are established as the first non-Italian provinces, governed by praetors.

133: Tribune T. Gracchus introduces legislation redistributing public lands to the plebs, including the

lands of King Attalus III of Pergamum, who had bequeathed his kingdom to Rome. In a radical move, he takes his proposal direct to the Comitia Tributa, bypassing the traditional (but informal) prerogatives

of the Senate. Enraged by this threat to their customary powers, the nobiles, led by the Pontifex

Maximus Scipio Nasica, lead a mob to assassinate him. Nonetheless, his legislation is passed, and his

brother G. Gracchus works on the Land Commission to implement his reforms.

The 2nd Punic War ravages the independent citizen-farmers who had manned the Roman armies for years on end. As they

fall into debt, their lands are confiscated by their creditors, and they swell the numbers of the urban poor in Rome.

Growing civil disorder, exacerbated by impoverished veterans of the Spanish wars returning to Rome.

Growth of the latifundia, large estates run by slaves, created by buying up the lands of the citizen farmers

P. Scipio Africanus is the first general to acquire a personal following and be hailed as Imperator (‘victorious gen-

eral’, which became our 'Emperor'), an epithet that would haunt the late Republic and provide a template for the

entire history of the Empire as the loyalty of the soldiers transfers from the state to individual leaders.

Africanus and Flamininus extend the traditional Italian patron-client system to the peoples of conquered

Greek cities. They are philhellenes, championing new philosophies, creeds, and practices.

Hellenistic kingdoms effectively neutralised.

Unlike the 1st Punic war, Rome fields many excellent generals for the 2nd Punic War, such as Q. Fabius Maximus Verrucosus,

G. Flaminius Nepos, M. Claudius Marcellus, and P. Cornelius Scipio. Although shorter than the first struggle against Carthage,

the 2nd war is mainly fought in Rome's own backyard, and against one of the great captains of history, Hannibal.

M. Porcius Cato the Censor is the archetype of Roman integrity and incorruptibility, a symbol to later generations of

everything that was good and great about Rome: a farmer, soldier, statesman, and zealous defender of ancient Ro-

man values against decadent innovations. But he is also merciless to his enemies, inhuman to his slaves, and spite-

ful to his political opponents. Author of the first history of Rome to be written in Latin rather than Greek.

Optimates

Populares

Others

Terms used in the late republic to denote those senatorial advocates either defending the age-old

privileges of the nobiles (the Optimates) or those championing the vast populace (the Populares).

The distinction lies deeply rooted in the ancient Struggle of the Orders, and can be traced back to

the supposed sedition of the consul Spurius Cassius Vicellinus (483 BC). Over 400 years, ending

with Gaius Julius Caesar, the nobiles assassinated politicians advocating land reform, debt relief,

and Italian rights; each time claiming that the Populares intended to restore the despised rule of

kings (which was quite likely true only in Caesar's case).

S. Aemilianus — general, statesman, orator, intellectual, philhellene— is a moderate in radical times, and the last

great Roman not involved in the fall of the Republic. His death is one of the minor mysteries of Roman history.

Intermittent Wars

and Raids against

Neighbours

Almost 200 years of intermittent warfare with their central

Italian neighbours—the Aequi, Hernici and Volsci—and their

northern neighbours, the Etruscans. 493: B. Lake Regillus.

The last king, Tarquinius, supported by the Latins and Etrus-

cans, is finally def. in his attempts to retake the throne. 455:

B. Mons Algidus. Cincinnatus defeat Aequi. 443: B. Corbio.

T. Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus defeats Aequi and Volsci.

War of Fidenae/

2nd War of Veii

Etruscans ejected from the Roman side of the Tiber. 20 year

truce.

3rd War of Veii 393: M. Furius Camillus defeats, sacks, and enslaves

Rome's greatest enemy to date, Veii, wealthiest city in

Etruria, after a long siege. Start of the Roman slave-based

economy.

1st Celtic Invasion 387: B. the Allia. Gauls sack Rome. Many records lost.

Gauls paid off by Camillus.

2nd Celtic Invasion Camillus defeats Gauls.

1st Samnite War 339: B. Mount Gaurus. M. Valerius Maximus Corvus defeats

Samnites. Stalemated when Latins revolt.

Latin War 336: B. Vesuvius. P. Decius Mus I sacrifices himself. 335: B.

Trifanum. T. Manlius Torquatus defeats Latins.

2nd Samnite War 319: B. Caudine Forks. Samnites defeat Romans. 308: 1st

B. Lake Vadimo: Q. Fabius Rullianus defeats Etruscans. 304:

B. Bovianum. L. Papirius Cursor defeat Samnites. First use

of Roman naval forces (in Adriatic).

3rd Samnite War Grand coalition of Etruscans, Umbrians, Samnites and

Italian Gauls. 295: B. Sentinum. Rullianus & P. Decius Mus II

defeat coalition. 293: B. Aquilonia. M. Curius Dentatus

defeats Samnites. Samnites admitted as allies.

Gallic and Etruscan

Revolt

283: 2nd B. Lake Vadimo. P. Cornelius Dolabella defeat the

Italian Gauls and Etruscans in their last stand

Pyrrhic War 275: B. Beneventum. Dentatus defeats Pyrrhus of Epirus.

The Roman legion demonstrates it can hold its own against

the Greek phalanx. Italy secure from Hellenistic threats.

Conquest of

Southern Italy

Rapid conquest of southern Italy after Pyrrhus leaves. At the

end, Rome controls all of Italy.

1st Punic War 242-241: B. Aegates Islands. G. Lutatius Catullus defeats

Carthage. First overseas military engagements.

1st Illyrian War Punitive expedition against pirates.

3rd Celtic Invasion 222: B. Clastidium. M. Claudius Marcellus defeats Gauls.

2nd Illyrian War Punitive expedition.

2nd Punic War 202: B. Zama. P. Scipio Africanus def. Hannibal. Rome's only

rival in the West vanquished after an epic life-or-death

struggle. Syracuse, the last great Greek city-state, captured.

1st Macedonian

War

Philip V of Macedon defeats Greek alliance. Rome plays little

part.

2nd Macedonian

War

197: B. Cynoscephalae. T. Quinctius Flaminius defeats Philip

V. 196: Liberation of Greece from Macedonian threat. Greek

phalanx decisively defeated by Roman legions. Philip loses

all non-Macedonian territory. Greek cities in Asia Minor

placed under Roman protection.

War of Antiochus/

Syrian War

190: B. Magnesia. Cnaeus Domitius & P. Scipio Africanus

defeat Antiochus III of the Seleucid kingdom.

1st Celtiberian War T. Sempronius Gracchus defeat Celtiberians in Spain. First of

a long series of revolts in Spain.

3rd Macedonian

War

168: B. Pydna. L. Aemilius Paulus def. Perseus of Macedon.

Macedon subdivided. Greece and Anatolia made

protectorates. Antiochus IV of the Seleucid kingdom

acknowledges Roman suzerainty over eastern

Mediterranean. Huge numbers of slaves taken from Epirus.

3rd Illyrian War 168: L. Anicius Gallus defeats Genthius. Illyria subdivided.

Lusitanian War Q. Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus supp. revolt in Spain.

4th Macedonian

War & Achaean

War

Q. Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus supp. revolt of Andriscus.

L. Mummius sacks Corinth. Macedon made a province.

Corinth destroyed, Greece subjugated: end of Greek political

history. Vast numbers of slaves taken from Greece.

3rd Punic War 146: S. Aemilianus sacks Carthage, razing it to the ground.

Numantine/

Celtiberian Wars

S. Aemilianus finally defeats Celtiberians in Spain. Marked

decline in Roman military competence.

1st Servile War P. Rupilius suppresses Sicilian slave revolt.

Cimbrian War 105. B. Arausio. Teutones and Cimbri def. Romans. Possibly

the greatest battle casualties in Roman history (80,000).

102-101: B. Aquae Sextae, B. Vercellae. They are destroyed

by Marius. Italy made safe from invasion for over 200 years.

Jugurthine War Q. Caecilius Metellus Numidicus replaced by Marius and his

subordinate L. Cornelius Sulla, who defeat the Numidians.

Publius Horatius Cocles

Marcus Furius

Camillus

Tarquinius Superbus, last King of Rome

Gaius Marcius

Coriolanus

Marcus Valerius Maximus Corvus

Marcus Atilius Regulus

330: Rome's most intractable central Italian foes, the Volsci, ex-

pelled from the Liris valley. They disappear from history.

303: The Aequi, last of Rome's age-old central Italian enemies,

are finally destroyed.

Romans adopt the maniple military system from the Samnites.

312: Appius Claudius Caecus builds the road Via Appia to Capua

in Campania for military purposes, and the aqueduct Aqua Appia.

Rome is now much more socially and technologically sophisticat-

ed than its neighbours.

Spurius Cassius

Vicellinus

Lucius Papirius Cursor

Quintus Fabius

Maximus Rullianus

Gaius Marcius Rutilus

Titus Manlius

Torquatus

Publius Valerius Poplicola

Lucius Junius Brutus

507: Brutus and L. Tarquinius Collatinus (who is rapid-

ly displaced) lead a popular revolt – or more likely a

palace coup – to overthrow king Tarquinius Superbus,

establishing the Republic.

506: Brutus and Poplicola elected first consuls.

Armies maintained in the field for more than one season, and paid.

Sack of Veii marks start of the decline of the Etruscans.

Defends the

Sublician

bridge

against the

Etruscan

king Lars

Porsenna.

255: After his defeat and capture by the Carthaginians at the B. of Panormus, M.

Atilius Regulus is paroled to Rome, where he argues against peace. He honours his

parole, returning to Carthage, where he meets his death. Hailed as the model of

Roman integrity.

Thwarted in his

ambitions, Coriolanus

leads the Volsci

against Rome, but is

defeated by the

virtue of Roman

women.

491: Latin League formed.

491: Start of the conflict of the orders. First secession of the

plebs, who withdraw to the Mons Sacer. They create two offices to

defend their rights against the patricians: two tribunes of the

plebs and two pleb aediles to assist them.

468: Lex Publilia. Until this time the tribunes had been elected by the Comitia Curi-

ata, an assembly completely dominated by patricians. Plebs succeed in creating a

second and more democratic body, the Comitia Tributa, to elect the tribunes and

pass plebiscites (non-binding resolutions). Number of tribunes increased to five.

448-7: The Decemviri, a board of ten commissioners with absolute power,

led by the arrogant Appius Claudius Crassus, are appointed to codify and

publish the laws. They attempt to cling on to power, ruling through oppres-

sion, but are eventually expelled. The result of their work is the Twelve Ta-

bles, which would remain the foundation of Roman law for centuries.

446: Leges Valeriae Horatiae. Tribunes declared sacrosanct, plebiscites give

the force of law. 442: Lex Canuleia legalises patrician-plebeian intermarriage,

formerly prohibited by the Twelve Tables. 440: Office of censor created.

Re

pu

blic

of th

e P

atric

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s

Stru

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of th

e O

rde

rs: S

tage

1

Milita

ry Tribu

ne

s a

ltern

ate

with

Co

nsu

ls

Stru

ggle

of th

e O

rde

rs: S

tage

2

483: Sedition of the former consul Spurius Cassius Vicellinus,

who proposes agrarian reforms.

437-6: Sedition of Spurius Maelius, who buys Etruscan grain to

distribute to the populace. Thwarted by elderly Cincinnatus.

Titus Quinctius

Capitolinus Barbatus

Archetype of

Roman

leadership, civic

virtue and

modesty, but a

bitter opponent of

the plebs.

Appius Claudius Crassus

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus

382: Sedition of Marcus Manlius Capitolinus – saviour of the Capitol during the Gallic siege –

who argues for plebeian debt relief. Assasinated.

442-367: Boards of military tribunes with consular powers often elect-

ed instead of two consuls as the chief magistrates. The office is ob-

scure. It lacked the religious authority granted to consuls, and seems

to have been devised to deny the plebs the consulship proper.

371-367: Obscure period of near-anarchy led by pleb agitation.

363: Leges Licinae Sextia (traditionally held to be supported by Camillus).

Permanent restoration of the consulate. One consul to be a pleb, but only

observed intermittently in the next 20 years. Praetorship created to assist

the consuls and curule aediles. 362: Lucius Sextus Lateranus is elected the

first pleb consul, although records indicate pleb consuls decades before.

352: Gaius Marcius Rutilus elected the first pleb

dictator, then in 347 the first pleb censor.

342: Hereafter, at least one consul is always a pleb. 335: Leges

Publiliae. At least one censor must be a pleb. Plebs have now

achieved permanent access to the highest magistracies.

Appius Claudius is the first Roman whose political biography and

agenda we know in detail.

300: Lex Ogulnia. After defending their monopoly on the religious

offices of state for centuries, the patricians open the pontifices

and augurs to the plebs.

287: Lex Hortensia. The plebiscites of the Comitia Tributa, previ-

ously only held to be binding on the plebs, are given the force of

law. The Struggle of the Orders ends, and the Republic of the

Nobiles begins.

Corvus is renowned for holding six consulships, a

record not exceeded until Marius.

Appius Claudius Caecas

2nd Servile War Manius Aquillius suppresses Sicilian slave revolt.

1st Cilician Pirates

Social War Marius and Sulla defeat Italian uprising.

1st Mithridatic

War

85: B. Orchomenus. Sulla defeats Mithridates VI of Pontus.

Mithridates' invasion of Greece stopped.

2nd Mithridatic

War

Local clash.

Sullan Civil Wars 82: B. Colline Gate. Sulla defeats Republicans under L.

Cornelius Cinna.

Sertorian War Pompey defeats the last Marians, led by Quintus Sertorius, in

Spain. Marian resistance destroyed. Sertorius murdered by his

subordinate, prefiguring the later fates of emperors.

3rd Mithridatic

War

72: B. Cabira/Sivas, L. L. Lucullus defeats Mithridates VI. 69: B.

Tigranocerta, Lucullus defeats Tigranes of Armenia. 66: B. the

Lycus, Pompey defeats Mithridates VI. Pompey sweeps through

the East, on the back of Lucullus' victories. Rome's most

tenacious opponent since Hannibal destroyed.

War of

Spartacus/3rd

Servile War

Crassus and Pompey defeat Spartacus. Last of the great slave

revolts.

Gallic Wars Gaius Julius Caesar defeats Gauls. In one of history's great

genocides, Caesar kills perhaps one-third of the population, and

enslaves one million.

Caesar's Civil War 48: B. Pharsalus. Caesar defeats Republicans under Pompey.

46: B. Thapsus. Caesar def. Republicans under Metellus Scipio.

In acts of magnanimity unusual for a Roman victor, Caesar

consistently forgives his enemies (with some notable exceptions)

War of Sextus

Pompeius

36: B. Naulochus. Agrippa defeats the last Republican, Sextus

Pompeius, son of Pompey, who had threatened Rome's grain

supply from Sicily.

Civil War of Antony 43: B. Forum Gallorum. Octavian sides with the Republicans to

defeat Antony.

War of the

Liberators

42: B. Philippi. Octavian & Antony def. the Liberatores (M. Junius

Brutus and G. Cassius Longinus). Largest battle fought between

Romans (36 legions), save possibly the B. Lugdunum (197 AD).

Perusine War Octavian defeats L. Antonius, brother of Antony.

War of Actium 31: B. Actium. Octavian & Agrippa defeat Antony and Cleopatra.

Octavian now sole master of the Roman world.

Cantabrian War Augustus completes conquest of northern Spain.

German Wars T. Claudius Nero and his brother N. Claudius Drusus, sons of

Augustus' wife Livia, defeat Germans. Borders of empire in

Europe mostly stabilised, although Rome will soon move from

the Elbe to the Rhine as a border.

Republic of the Patricians

Dominated by the patricians, a group of

families traditionally held to be the de-

scendants of the senators chosen by the

first king, Romulus. Eligibility for office is

strictly hereditary with this class.

The plebeians (the vast majority of the

population) wage a slow-burning cam-

paign over centuries, the Struggle of the

Orders, to open up the high offices of

state. So opposed are the patricians at

every turn, that the plebs are forced to

create their own parallel legislative as-

sembly (the Comitia Tributa) and officers

(the tribunes and plebeian aediles). Even-

tually the patricians are forced to con-

cede even their most precious privileges,

the religious offices of state.

Republic of the Nobiles

With offices open to both classes, the

ruling families are reconstructed as the

descendants of dictators and consuls of

both patricians and plebs: the nobiles.

The eminence of families now derives

from repeated election to high office,

rather than mere heredity. Further, per-

sonal achievement comes to be defined

by success in war, the pinnacle of which

is the award of a triumph.

Roman Revolution

Rome's conquests in Greece and Asia

Minor bring a massive influx of wealth

and slaves, transforming the ancient

citizen-farmer economy to one dominated

by ruthless nobile exploitation of the very

soldiers who man Rome's armies.

The nobiles are not only incapable of

understanding the economic changes

transforming Rome, but also of governing

the burgeoning empire created after the

2nd Punic War. The constitution that

evolved to govern the city of Rome is

inadequate to administer provinces many

weeks or months distant from Rome; the

governors sent to these provinces suc-

cumb to venality and corruption; and the

legions that depended on Roman citizen-

farmers are obliged to draw on Italian

manpower instead.

Populares politicians repeatedly attempt

to address the long-running issues of the

status of the non-Roman Italians, the use

of the public land, and the status of the

Roman landless.

Fall of the Republic

An enduring pattern that would last until

the end of the empire in 476 AD is estab-

lished: warlords (Marius, Sulla, Pompey,

Caesar, Augustus) commanding armies

owing loyalty to themselves, and not any

sense of a polity, take control of the state

by militarily destroying their rivals.

Monarchy

The patrician-plebeian distinction is now

only of religious and antiquarian signifi-

cance. The last Republican standing war-

lord, Augustus, creates a monarchy, co-

opting the ancient Republican nobiles.

These families' influence will only end

with the fall of Augustus' dynasty in 68.

Earliest Latin literature: Lucius Livius Andronicus, a Greek freedman,

translates the Odyssey into Latin, and writes the first Latin plays.

First native Roman dramatist: Gnaeus Naevius, comic playwright.

First Roman historian: Q. Fabius Pictor, who wrote in Greek.

Manius Curius

Dentatus

Camillus, after a lifetime of military achievement against the Etruscans and Celts, is hailed as

the second founder of Rome. He straddles the transition from a mythic Rome to historical fact.

Inte

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Latins crushed & Latin League

dissolved. Campania annexed.

Rome controls all its neighbour-

ing states.