Page 151 - Western Civilization A Brief History, Volume I To 1715 9th - Jackson J. Spielvogel

brothers to bring reforms had opened the door to more instability and further violence.
A New Role for the Roman Army:
Marius and Sulla
In the closing years of the second century B.C.E., a series of military disasters gave rise to a fresh outburst of popu- lar anger against the old leaders of the senate. Military defeats in northern Africa under a senate-appointed gen- eral encouraged Marius (MAR-ee-uss)—a “new man” from the equestrian order—to run for the consulship on a “win the war” campaign slogan. Marius won and became a consul for 107 B.C.E., after which he took com- mand of the army in Africa and brought the war to a suc- cessful conclusion. He was then called on to defeat the Celts, who threatened an invasion of Italy. Marius was made consul for five years, from 104 to 100 B.C.E.; raised a new army; and decisively defeated the Celts, leaving him in a position of personal ascendancy in Rome.
In raising a new army, Marius initiated military reforms that proved to have drastic consequences. The Roman army had traditionally been a conscript army of small landholders, but Marius recruited volunteers from both the urban and rural proletariat who possessed no property. These volunteers swore an oath of loyalty to the general, not the senate, and thus inaugurated a pro- fessional-type army that might no longer be subject to the state. Moreover, because generals promised these men land to recruit them, the generals had to play poli- tics to get legislation passed that would provide land for their veterans. Marius left a powerful legacy. He had cre- ated a new system of military recruitment that placed much power in the hands of individual generals.
Lucius Cornelius Sulla (SULL-uh) was the next gen- eral to take advantage of the new military system. The senate had placed him in charge of a war in Asia Minor, but when the council of the plebs tried to transfer com- mand of this war to Marius, a civil war ensued. Sulla won, seized Rome itself in 82 B.C.E., and forced the sen- ate to grant him the title of dictator to “reconstitute the republic.” After conducting a reign of terror to wipe out all opposition, Sulla revised the constitution to restore power to the senate and eliminated most of the powers of the popular assemblies and the tribunes of the plebs. In 79 B.C.E., believing that he had restored the traditional republic governed by a powerful senate, he retired. But his real legacy was quite different from what he had intended. His example of using an army to seize power would prove most attractive to ambi- tious men.
The Death of the Republic
For the next fifty years, Roman history would be char- acterized by two important features: the jostling for power by a number of strong individuals and the civil wars generated by their conflicts. Three men came to hold enormous military and political power—Crassus (KRASS-uss), Pompey (PAHM-pee), and Julius Caesar. Crassus, who was known as the richest man in Rome, had successfully put down the major slave rebellion led by Spartacus. Pompey had returned from a successful military command in Spain in 71 B.C.E. and been hailed as a military hero. Julius Caesar had been a spokesman for the populares from the beginning of his political ca- reer and had a military command in Spain. In 60 B.C.E., Caesar joined with Crassus and Pompey to form a coali- tion that historians call the First Triumvirate.
Though others had made political deals before, the combined wealth and power of these three men was
Caesar. Conqueror of Gaul and member of the First Triumvirate, Julius Caesar is perhaps the best-known figure of the late republic. Caesar became dictator of Rome in 47 B.C.E. and after his victories in the civil war was made dictator for life. Some members of the senate who resented his power assassinated him in 44 B.C.E. Pictured is a marble copy of a bust of Caesar. (Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples//Scala/Art Resource, NY)
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Republic (133–31 B.C.E.) 113
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