What is the difference between republic and imperial rome

However Otho suffered a military defeat when Vitellius brought some of the best legions of the Roman army onto the field. After the defeat, Otho committed suicide and the Senate recognized Vitellius as emperor. Fortunately for Rome, the chaotic civil wars then ended, and Vespasian established the Flavian dynasty which held stable power for the next twenty-seven years.

Yet the Flavian dynasty also ended in blood, when a number of Senators plotted the murder of Domitian and placed Nerva, a steady, older Senator, on the throne. He was largely a placeholder to avoid the wars of 69 A.

The Praetorian Guard was less enthusiastic, but did not challenge that particular line of emperors. However, as the personal bodyguard of the emperor and the unit allowed to carry weapons in Rome, they maintained a unique threat to the emperor and the Senate, and as such could also decide the fate of Rome.

In fact, in A. A wealthy senator named Didius Julianus purchased the position for 6, drachmas per soldier. However, Didius did not fare well either. The Senate sentenced him to death after only 66 days of rule and a Praetorian executed him in his own palace. When the Imperial system held stable, during the reign of emperors like Augustus, Tiberius, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, and others of their kind, the difference between the Republic and the Empire was a massive political shift.

Yet there remained an undercurrent of the Republican system that made the position of the emperor a precarious one. Rome never entirely rejected her Republican roots. Furthermore, the government was not the only area to see changes in the shift from Republic to Empire. Roman religion added Imperial cults to their worship, as the Senate declared most of the deceased emperors to be gods. Roman culture also saw changes from Republic to Empire.

Centralized power and the rapid expansion of Roman territory and foreign trade led to an increase of wealth in Rome. This one position had great political power, as it was religious omens that determined the political calendar.

The Romans understood though that in a true crisis their republic might be too slow to react so they had an emergency position, the dictator. Dictators could be elected for six months during which the constitution would be suspended and they would have complete autocratic control. This system of government though was fraught with social tension between the two major classes of citizens. The two initial classes were the Plebeians and the Patricians.

The Patrician class was an inherited status dating back to the founding of Rome while the Plebeians were everyone else. However, after successive reforms this system was abolished in favor of a fairer system based on wealth instead of blood. The wealthiest citizens were known as equestrians and were entitled to certain benefits.

This however did not truly change much; there still existed a tension between the small group of superrich and the vast majority of the citizenry. It was from this divide in the class structure of Rome that the two major political schools of thought arose. The Optimates were republican conservatives representing the short-term interests of the equestrians, while the Populares were essentially populist reformers. As problems associated with rapid expansion began appearing the tensions between these groups escalated.

This combined with the decreasing ability of the Senate to control the military since the Marius reforms led to a series of civil war that finally culminated in the young Octavian becoming the first Roman emperor, Augustus. The imperial system of government started by Augustus was notable for its attempts and success in being able to guise an authoritarian dictatorship behind a quasi-constitutional framework.

The Senate was largely composed of wealthy men. Augustus reinvigorated economic prosperity in Rome. Due in part to this prosperity, Augustus and the emperors following were worshipped as gods after their deaths. In the 5th century CE, after a succession of unstable emperors yielded economic instability, the Visigoths invaded Rome and Roman rule finally fell. The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit.

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You cannot download interactives. Others say that Aeneas and some of his followers escaped the fall of Troy and established the town. Regardless of which of the many myths one prefers, no one can doubt the impact of ancient Rome on western civilization. A people known for their military, political, and social institutions, the ancient Romans conquered vast amounts of land in Europe and northern Africa, built roads and aqueducts, and spread Latin, their language, far and wide.

Use these classroom resources to teach middle schoolers about the empire of ancient Rome. A government is a system of order for a nation, state, or another political unit. A government is responsible for creating and enforcing the rules of a society, defense, foreign affairs, the economy, and public services.

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