History of Europe

Republic of Rome crisis! Let's summarize the first century of civil war!

I think the Three Kingdoms in China, the Warring States period in Japan, and the first century of civil war in Rome are the top three eras that Japanese people like.

What all the times have in common is that they did not fight against foreign enemies, but from the same ethnic group.

"No power can remain safe for a long time, because even if it has no enemies abroad, it will have enemies within the country."

This word was left by Hannibal Barca, who suffered a great deal from Rome during the Second Punic War.

And, as the word says, after defeating Carthage, Rome began to fight each other.

The first century of civil war is also the history of the struggle between Romans who have no enemies outside.

For about 100 years, from the reform of the Gracchi brothers to the Battle of Actium, the Romans began a war with each other.

This is the record.

  • The background of the first century of civil war
  • Gracchi Brothers Reform
  • The Age of Marius and Sulla
  • The Age of Pompey
  • First Triumvirate and Julius Caesar
  • Second Triumvirate and the Battle of Actium

Background of the First Century of Civil War

Rome, which is said to have occurred in the 8th century BC, took 500 years to achieve the unification of Italy.

At the beginning of Rome, it was as powerful as Eltoria in the north and Greek colonial cities in the south, but it gradually increased and finally conquered Italy. At that time, there was a conflict with the Greek colonial city in Sicily, which turned into a war with the Phoenician city of Carthage, which occupied the western half of Sicily.

Rome, which suffered and won against the great power of Carthage, has become a world nation including the lands of Sicily, Sardinia, Spain and North Africa, and its expansion could not be stopped.

New territories bring new wealth.

Lower costs and higher quality wheat were produced in Sicily and North Africa, causing price destruction in Rome.

It was the small and medium-sized farmers in Rome who were hit by this.

This is also a problem in modern Japan, but self-produced farmers who cannot compete with foreign crops are forced to fall. As a result, the amount of debt increases and it becomes impossible for a farmer to grow.

Large land ownership by some wealthy people has progressed in conjunction with it.

Historically famous Latifundium Is.

Called a "village" in Japan or China, it led to the downfall of some privileged classes such as Equitas and Nobiles and many Roman citizens.

Where was the source of Roman strength?

Roman hoplites consist of Roman citizens.

Rome's direct tax was military service and had to be armed on its own. Still, no one complained. They were warriors who protected the country and their families, and they were proud of it.

But the advent of Latifundim made it impossible for many Roman citizens.

There is no cost, so equipment cannot be prepared.

Rome has some sort of property politics, and without some property, military service is exempt.

After the Punic Wars, the number of military service was clearly reduced. This is because the number of Roman citizens with property has decreased.

Still, the Senate didn't make that a problem.

This is because many of the owners of Latifundiua were senators.

It was the Gracchi brothers who stood up in that situation.

In 132 BC, the reform of the Gracchi brothers marks the beginning of a century of civil war.

Gracchi Brothers Reform

It is the reform of the Gracchi brothers that always appears in world history textbooks and is disliked by high school students.

The reason for being disliked is probably because I don't understand the meaning. The scope of world history is wide, and there is no time to explain each one. Therefore, I have no choice but to trace the surface from beginning to end.

The reform of the Gracchi brothers was simply through the "Agricultural Land Act" that restricted large land ownership.

In conclusion, the reform of the Gracchi brothers ends in failure.

The reason for the failure is probably that the repulsion of the Senate class was too great.

The Senate was no longer a bastion of democracy, but a group of vested interests. It is the same as the Diet of modern Japan.

The Senate crushed the reforms of the Gracchi brothers by openly assassinating them rather than democratically.

The Agricultural Land Law was not passed, the rich became more and more rich, and the gap between rich and poor widened.

The Roman army was definitely weakening.

The Senate clung to vested interests, despite the fact that it was often defeated by the natives of Spain and the Germanic people, and even though the people were dissatisfied with it, as represented by the Slave Rebellion in Sicily.

Only eliminate those who disturb you.

All for the maintenance of the republic!

Forgiveness for the cause, the inconvenient forces were eliminated. There is no longer anything that can stop the runaway of the Senate.

The Age of Marius and Sulla

The reforms of the Gracchi brothers ended in failure, and rebellions began to occur in various places. In Sicily there was a slave rebellion of 100,000 people, in North Africa Jugurtha, the king of Numidia, rebelled against Rome, the Germanic people from the north, the Spanish people in the west, the invasion of Mitridates King Pontos from the east, and the ultimate in Italy. The turmoil, such as the Social War, which developed into a battle with the Roman Alliance on the peninsula, was at its peak.

It was Marius and Sulla who resolved this crisis.

Marius suppressed the rebellion in various places and defeated the invasion of about 300,000 Germanic people in the Cimbrian War, Sulla was active as a deputy of Marius, and then the Alliance City War and King Mitridates boasting more than 100,000 troops. Showed an activity to stop the invasion of.

This made Rome peaceful ... soon after people thought, Marius and Sulla started fighting.

Marius, who formed the popular sect, and Sulla, who formed the optimates, fought fiercely and rained blood on Rome.

The endless civil war continued with the disposition of someone's neck lined up in the Roman Forum, the center of Rome.

The Age of Pompey

After Marius and Sulla died, it was the time of Pompey, who was active as Sulla's right arm.

Pompey made a name for himself in the conquest of Greek pirates when he settled Spain and North Africa in his twenties, and led the end of the Mithridates War with momentum, destroying Antigonid Syria, which had continued since Alexander the Great, and incorporating it into Roman territory.

During this period, Rome's largest slave rebellion, the Spartacus Rebellion, took place, but when Crassus, who was also a subordinate of Sulla, was conquered, the rebellion by the slaves and the people seemed to have subsided, and the civil war seemed to have calmed down.

Primary Triumvirate and Julius Caesar

The territory of the Roman Republic was maximized by the success of Pompey. The expansion of Rome, which occupies vast areas such as Spain, North Africa, Greece, and Syria, as well as Italy, which is the home country, does not stop.

Julius Caesar made an expedition to a region called Gaul, incorporating what is now France, the western part of Germany, the three Benelux countries, and England in England under Roman rule.

At that time, in Rome, the triumvirate centered on Caesar, Classus, and Pompey, and the battle for leadership of the Senate sect, such as Cicero and Small Cato, were intensifying.

Initially it was a democratic struggle rather than an armed struggle, but when Crassus died and Julia, Caesar's daughter and Pompey's wife, disappeared, the Triumvirate collapsed and Pompey moved to the Senate. At that point, Caesar was given the final recommendation of the Senate and was made an enemy of the nation.

The sword was thrown.

Julius Caesar decided to fight the Senate, and the decisive battle took place in Farsalas, Greece.

It was Caesar who overturned the absolute disadvantage and received the blessing of the goddess of victory.

The defeated Pompey went into exile in Egypt, but was assassinated by the Egyptians, and the small Kato died himself, and Caesar eventually became a lifelong dictator.

Caesar was assassinated, whether he felt a republican crisis or just thought about self-protection. The perpetrators of the assassination were Caesar and Brutus, the humans who once saved Caesar's life.

Second Triumvirate and the Battle of Actium

Caesar wrote a will during his lifetime.

Who will be the successor?

Is it Antonius or Lepidus who fought with Caesar?

Without either name, there was the name of a young man, Octavian, who was just 18 years old.

Antonius and Lepidus didn't admit it at first, but gradually the three worked together to hunt down the Caesar assassins together.

After defeating Brutus and Cassius in the Battle of Philippi, he took control of Rome and the battle between Antonius and Octavian began.

Antonius marries Egyptian Queen Cleopatra and goes on a rampage to donate the Roman territory of the Orient to Cleopatra.

Octavian quickly proclaimed the front line to Cleopatra and succeeded in overthrowing Antonius in the battle between Rome and Egypt instead of the battle for Caesar's successor.

Both sides fought a decisive battle at Actium off the coast of Greece, and the goddess of victory sided with Octavianus.

Both Antonius and Cleopatra, who fled to Egypt, committed suicide, and Roman hegemony became Octavian's.

In 30 BC, the Roman Republic was thus destroyed, and the times welcomed new heroes. Oktavianus is a new Principate Under the regime, the Roman Empire was founded.

First Roman Emperor Augustus Is the birth of.