How Did The Fall Of The Roman Republic

The term “all great things must come to an end” is commonly associated with the decline of empires, dynasties, and rulers. As mighty as they may have been, the Roman Republic was no exception to this concept. Beginning around 133 BCE the Roman Empire began experiencing a drastic decline internally. A series of servile wars plagued the empire roughly between 140 BCE and 70 BCE, which caused massive internal turmoil the empire had never experienced before. Three wars were fought in a seventy year time span, each being deadlier that the last. On top of their own internal conflicts, the Republic fought a series of wars known as the Mithridatic Wars, between 83 BCE and 73 BCE. Despite gaining new allies once the wars were over, a massive power
Catiline came from an aristocratic family that had held power for many years, but by the time Catiline entered the political scene, mid-60s BCE, his elite family had succumbed to crippling debt (Stocking). This allowed Catiline to form a connection with the commoners, unlike many other government leaders from the senate. Unfortunately for Catiline, he had a bad reputation and was not liked by many members of the senate. Luckily, due to these circumstances, he was liked by the dissolute, the youth (Sallust, 184). Due to the nature of Catiline’s political agenda, he was opposed by Cicero. Despite the threats that Cicero imposed on Catiline, he decided to run for Consul in 66 BCE, but was denied by the senate from running. Around the same time, rumors began to surface that Catiline supposedly had a plot to murder whoever won the election of 65 BCE. This event would lead to the demise of Catiline, but not without a fight. In the following election of 64 BCE, Catiline was allowed to run for Consul, but was beat by Cicero due to the fact that the Senate basically had control over who became Consul. By this time, Catiline began to lose support from other Populares such as Caesar and Crassus. Despite this setback, he attempted to run for a third time in a final attempt to become Consul in 62 BCE (Sallust, 194). This time, he was able to gain support from the commoners because he wanted to start a reform program that would lead to the “cancellation of debts and the proscription of the rich” (Sallust, 190). By Catiline gaining the support of the people, especially the youth, he gave these individuals a voice in the Senate, which they had not had in many years. Catiline’s presence in the political scene was the event that not only led to Cicero’s demise, but also kick started a back lash from the public towards the