Lead with Pride - Lead to Fight - Lead to Fell: The Fall of Roman Republic

Woratana Ngarmtrakulchol [Perth]

Date: 25/03/2008

Roman Republic was the strong and wealthy phase of the Ancient Roman civilization. Its characteristic can tell by its name, �Republic’, which means the government that didn’t rule by king. They elected two consuls from the wealthy to hold the largest power each year, and the old consuls cannot be elected again for ten years. The Roman Republic also elected tribunes to protect the plebeians against unfair treatment. The Government system they had, looks like they can have good leaders and great city, but why did they fell? It’s because of themselves or other city?

From 133 to 121 BC, there were Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, the brothers who became tribunes. They exploited the power of the plebeian tribuneship to seize power in Rome. They “tried to restore order to the military by reclaiming public land and putting landless poor citizens back on land” (Purdue University), and used their power to force the senate and the magistrates to focus on their own political agendas. But finally, they died because of their bad actions, and the senate turned against them.

Around 49 BC, there was the civil war happened between the famous dictator Caesar against Pompey who was in the first triumvirate like Caesar. The war started just because “Caesar decided that Pompey must be removed from his position of power; and Pompey, for that matter, had come to just the same decision about Caesar” (Livius). Caesar finally won the war after Pompey escaped to Egypt and got killed by Egyptian.

Then Caesar became the dictator who holds the power of consul many years, and didn’t follow the Roman Republic rule that consul cannot be elected again for ten years. He went to other cities a lot and defeated them, as he continues to be praised by Romans. Unfortunately, he got murdered