The Republic in Danger: Drusus Libo and the Succession of Tiberius (original) (raw)
The fall of the Roman Republic
The Cambridge Ancient History
How did key individuals contribute to such events? How might we judge the historical significance of these crises and the individuals who took part in them? 1 Why did the Roman Republic fall? This question was of great interest to the Romans themselves, both at the time and later. The best starting point is Andrew Lintott's chapter 1, 'The crisis of the Republic: sources and source-problems' in CAH 9 (that is, volume 9 of the second edition of the Cambridge Ancient History, published in 1992). 2 Roman explanations were primarily moral rather than structural, which at first glance might seem to lack explanatory power. Yet these explanations are worth thinking through, and not simply dismissing: often today we might posit psychological conditions as one factor in creating history, or at least in creating the parameters within which historical actors make their choices, and that is a similar explanation. One of the Roman explanations took as its theme the growth of empire. One version of this blamed the moral corruption arising from greed and luxury: Romans increasingly tended to their private desires rather than public duty. Another version was that the destruction of Carthage in 146, and Rome's position as undisputed hegemon of 1 This article addresses one of the key questions in Area Study 2 of the new VCE Ancient History course (Units 3 & 4), specifically Rome in the 'People in Power, Societies in Crisis' section. 2 Lintott (1992).
The History Teacher, 1979
Overview This course will examine the history of Rome from its foundation in 753 BC, to its transformation into an Empire by AD 14. We will look at the idealism of the Republican political structurean idealism borrowed in 1776 to create the American Constitutionand we will trace Rome's transition from an insular polity concerned with local affairs to its undisputed mastery of the Mediterranean. The course will focus on key events in Republican history which came to define Rome's militaristic, aggressive identity, such as the Second Punic War. We will also look to more recent events as we discuss the role of corporate greed, failures in political morality, debt, and economic issues in triggering the collapse of the Republic and the emergence of a dictatorial monarchythe Empire. The continuation of this course is CLCV HIST 2905A, The Roman Empire, which will be offered in the Winter of 2016. Main problems, questions and themes These are some of the questions and problems we will consider throughout this course. Keep them in mind for your tests and essays. Rome. What did it mean to be Roman at various points in history? How did the Rome of 500AD differ from the Rome of 100BC? In what ways was the late Republic different to the early Republic? How did this affect peoples' perceptions of themselves as "Romans"? What is the legacycultural, political, legal, etc.of Rome to the world today? Historians and historiography. This course places a certain amount of emphasis on the writing of history. How do we evaluate the testimonies, histories and accounts of the Roman Republic? What are some of the main problems? How have pictures of Rome been skewed by other concerns, in both modern and ancient historiography?
The Oxford History of the Roman World, 2024
This is chapter 2.5 of the forthcoming Oxford History of the Roman World. It is at the copy-editing stage, not yet in press. This means there is a little time to solicit feedback: comments, criticisms, suggestions for improvement. I invite you to comment.
Liberty and the Founding of the Roman Republic: Livy I-II
Livy's History of Rome was a celebrated classic in his own lifetime. In the tumultuous era of the Roman civil wars, which spanned more than a half century, Livy's readers turned to his account of ancient Roman history for consolation and repose. His treatment of the generations of Rome's paternal and maternal ancestors seems like the stuff of fables or legend: from the grafting of the exiled Aeneas' Trojan branch by marriage on to indigenous and sturdy Latin stock, firmly rooted in Italian soul; through the new roots first planted at Alba Longa by Aeneas' son, Ascanius, and strengthened by 13 generations of Silvian kings; to the series of events that conspire-partly by necessity, and partly by chance-to bring forth the twins, Romulus and Remus, who eventually would restore the Silvian kingdom to their grandfather, its rightful heir, and then immediately depart-following their own "desire to establish" for themselves a new city of their own making in the forests and hills near the Tiber river where they were raised. Once the new city, Rome, is established through divine sanction and Romulus' spirited defense of the principle of numerical superiority over priority in time, the founder of the city fortified the walls upon his Palatine hill and began to shape the character of the people who would reside there, and become Romans.
The Fall of Cassius Dio’s Roman Republic
Klio: Beiträge zur Alten Geschichte Vol. 101/2: 473–504, 2019
This article reinterprets Dio’s view of the fall of the Republic by arguing that Dio viewed institutional political competition, rather than ambitious individuals, as the central destructive driving force in the Late Republic. Dio’s interpretation is hereby unique among ancient historiography. This interpretation has been skilfully interwoven in the general narrative and only by reading Book 39 as a whole, does the interpretation emerge. According to Dio, institutional competition became inherently destructive in the Late Republic and Book 39 is absolutely fundamental in understanding this transformation and the consequent failure of the Roman δημοκρατία.