Social struggles of early Rome: 753-121 B.C.E.

Abstract

This thesis is a short history of the social struggles of the Roman nation from the beginning of the Monarchy until the times of Julius Caesar in the late Republic. Some of the topics enclosed concern with the establishment of the Republic after the Monarchy, the creation and explanation of the offices of the Republic, the process of the Conflict of the Orders, the class conflict between the patricians and the plebeians, and the creation of the Roman constitution. Other topics look at the expansion of Rome across the Mediterranean world through conquest during the Italian, Punic, Macedonian, and Seleucid Wars and how these events shaped the Roman government and social relations between the patricians and plebeians, as well as how the two classes came together during these times of crisis. The latter part of the paper deals with the rise of the Gracchi and the Roman Revolution, and how these events shaped the late Republic and allowed the rise of political figures such as Sulla, Marius, and Caesar. The conclusion finishes with the wrap up of the paper, as well as giving the reader a few small glimpses into the events after the Gracchan revolution.