The ramifications of Rome’s expansions and rise to power were the inevitable fall of the republic and rise of the empire. Although other factors contributed to the fall of the republic, such as the reign of Julius Caesar, most of the reasons for this monumental switch are rooted in the Punic Wars. As the boundaries of Rome’s jurisdiction spread over the Mediterranean in the second and third century BCE, the senate proved to be inept at adjusting its method of governing. Richard Edwin Smith explains in The Failure of the Roman Republic that Rome, by means of the Punic Wars, became a powerful state in the Mediterranean world without fully realizing it. While Rome may have grown during this period, he says, “there was no change in her mental outlook to correspond to her changed position” (Smith, 50).
In the thousands of years men have formed nations and established dominance over one another, no other event has made as much an impact on military history as the Punic Wars during the fourth and third century BC. The Punic Wars served to demonstrate to all of the known civilized nations at that time the type of world power the Romans were willing to prove themselves to be.. With strategy, deception, and ultimate persistence, they shifted the balance of power in the European-Mediterranean region. But the larger change was a shift of power within the Rome itself that was brought by the larger, stronger military organization. It would serve to de-crease the supremacy of the Senate and Consul and give rise to a form of government. The first Punic War began almost
The Roman Republic was facing internal problems that would cause it to ultimately collapse into the Roman Empire. Including social unrest between the classes and military entering into politics, among other reasons, the Roman Republic crumbled under itself and gave way to the beginning of new government. A second triumvirate ended with civil war and the Republic was over; however, Octavian created the Roman Empire in its place. Because of the stabilizing government, strong legal system and increasing trade, the Pax Romana was able to remain tied together for about 210 years. The Roman Republic was struggling to remain in power but the social unrest was a not a helping factor in helping the Republic to last for a while longer.
The military reforms of Gaius Marius resulted in soldiers often having more loyalty to their commander than to the city, and a powerful general could hold the city and Senate ransom. This led to civil war between Marius and his protegé Sulla, and culminated in Sulla's dictatorship of 81–79 BC. In the mid-1st century BC, three men, Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus, formed a secret pact—the First Triumvirate—to control the Republic. After Caesar's conquest of Gaul, a stand-off between Caesar and the Senate led to civil war, with Pompey leading the Senate's forces. Caesar emerged victorious, and was made dictator for life.
Italy hasn’t always been one unified country, and before 1861 the country was several states: Modena, Parma, Papal States, Venetia, Tuscany, Naples and Piedmont. However, when Napoleon invaded in 1804, he united the states and this was an idea that many people liked- which eventually lead to revolts to bring all of Italy together as one collective state. There was many issues with these revolts that made them achieve so little but what where they? For most states once Napoleon was exiled, the old rulers that were reinstated decided to go back in time and forget the French invasion even happened; only Tuscany and Parma were progressive and adapted Napoleon’s changes to their own styles. In Piedmont, King Victor Emmanuel I returned and took on a reactionary policy; he even went as far as destroying roads and gaslights that Napoleon had put in place- he was very much regressive.
They would lead until Caesar had enough military experience out of France to come in and defeat both their armies to become dictator. This would eventually lead to his death along with civil wars after bringing the Roman Empire down. It seemed to be a step backward for civilization due to the fact when the Roman Empire was at its peak there was free elections, new finding in science, art, literature and other fields of education. Along, with a stable government where people could pick their senators. However during the middle ages this all seemed to come crashing down, due to civil wars and peoples push for power over the entire Empire.
While Diocletian was co-emperor, there was a general order and a quick response to military threats. However, these reforms encouraged ambition in the co-rulers and their generals. Therefore, when Diocletian retired from power in 305 C.E., those ambitions led to internal struggles and civil war. The man who emerged out of this Civil war as the victor was Constantine, son of one of the tetrarchs, who claimed the throne of the entire Roman Empire for himself in 306 C.E., reuniting the two districts of the empire after approximately 22 years of division into two districts. Defeating most of his enemies and opposition by 313 C.E., he overcame his last rival in 324 C.E.
In about 100 years Spain went from being a “world powerhouse” to a lowly country accepting money from second-rate lenders. So how did the destruction and rebuilding of the Spanish Armada effect Spain’s economy and was Phillip II at fault? During the 14th Century Spain became a world powerhouse. Charles V was given a large amount of land from his father as inheritance, and as soon as Charles became king he began conquering even more land. Charles conquered Italy, and the territories in New Spain were tremendously extended due to the destruction of the Aztec and Incan empires by Spanish conquistadors.
During these campaigns Caesar revealed his thirst for military glory and prominence among the people of Rome. In Gaul Rome was faced with a legitimate problem. An armed force of Belgian Gauls was preparing an attempt to expel the Romans from Gaul. Caesar took the offensive and protected the tribes who had earlier subdued to Rome. During the period of 58-56 Caesar benefited from his Gallic campaigns.
One of the innovations of the Roman Republic was the notion of equality under the law. In 449 B.C.E., government leaders carved some of Rome's most important laws into 12 great tablets. The Twelve Tables were the first Roman laws put in writing. During the last three centuries of the republic Rome experienced a long series of civil wars, economic as well as political issues, and civil issues with the dictator ship of Julius Caesar. After Caesar’s death, another civil war broke out destroying what was left of the Roman republic.