Conclusion

The two most remarkable features of the Roman Republic’s history were its tremendous expansion and its violent disintegration. Rome expanded to control vast territories because it incorporated outsiders, its small farmers produced agricultural surpluses to support a growing population and army, and its leaders respected the traditional values stressing the common good. The Romans’ willingness to endure great loss of life and property—the proof of faithfulness—made their army unstoppable: Rome might lose battles, but never wars. Because wars of conquest brought profits to leaders and the common people alike, peace seemed a wasted opportunity.

But the victories over Carthage and in Macedonia and Greece had unexpected consequences. Long military service ruined many farming families, and poor people flocked to Rome to live on subsidized food, becoming an unstable political force. Members of the upper class increased their competition with one another for the career opportunities presented by constant war. These rivalries became dangerous to the state when successful generals began acting as patrons to client armies of poor troops. Violence and murder became common in political disputes. Communal values were submerged in the blood of civil war. No one could have been optimistic about the chances for an enduring peace following Caesar’s assassination in 44 B.C.E. It would have seemed an impossible dream to imagine that Caesar’s grandnephew and adopted son, Octavian—a teenage student at the time of the murder—would eventually bring peace by creating a new political system disguised as the restoration of the old republic.