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Roman History: Julius Caesar
By the end of the Third Punic War (~146 BCE), Rome had already undergone many significant changes to its political and social structure due to her sudden expansion. There was also unrest in the lower classes, who were struggling because of the constant war, the proliferation of slavery, heavy taxes and the rise of the middle class. As a result, poverty increased drastically in Rome; there was a need for reform, and it was only a matter of time when one man would prove to be so popular as to be voted ‘dictator for life’, thus making Rome a virtual monarchy. That man was Caesar.
In the post-Punic War period, the Roman peasantry was finding it difficult to prosper. The endless war since 264 BCE had been disastrous. The land itself had deteriorated dramatically, especially during Hannibal’s fifteen years of occupation in the Second Punic War, where leaders of both the Roman and Carthaginian armies had deliberately set alight the crops. In addition, peasant Plebeians who were absent from their farms on military service were often away for too long, which led to financial ruin.
It was not long before wealthy Romans especially of the middle ‘Equestrian’ class began to capitalise on the peasants’ misfortune. Using money gained from the wars, the wealthy amassed huge estates by both purchasing many small land holdings from the diminishing peasants, and leasing large areas of ager publicus, or public land from the government.
With the mass acquisition of land by the wealthy came the rise in slavery. As part of the ‘spoils of war’, the influx of slaves began to render the peasant class obsolete, with slaves replacing the peasants in domestic service, manufacture, mining and agriculture. The wealthy landowners preferred slaves to peasants, as slaves were much cheaper, and many slaves were also previously highly skilled craftsmen.
The capitalist Equestrian class was also charged with the task of collecting tax from those Roman provinces which were exempt from military service. These tax-collectors generated substantial profits from tax-collection, as the company were given the sole right to tax in a particular province could tax as they wished, leaving most peasants destitute.
Faced with such obstacles, the Plebeians of Rome had little choice but to flock to the cities in search for employment; but even there, slaves had become prevalent in society. The poor, who made up the majority of the population, were ready to follow a shining advocate of their cause or to sell their votes to the highest bidder. The gap between the lower and upper classes was extensive, and the people of Rome were clearly crying out for reform.
Attempts at reform began with the brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, who, in 133 and 123 BCE, endorsed a bill in a bid to redistribute land from the rich to the poor. Despite gaining the support of the lower classes, both brothers were eventually assassinated by a Senate jealously guarding its power. The Gracchi had challenged the power of the Senate, and their successors were to do the same, [next page]