ROMAN REPUBLIC 87BC QUINARIUS Neptune Victory Asclepius Altar Silver Coin i53420

Item: i53420

Authentic Ancient 

Coin of:

Roman Republic L. Rubrius Dossenus moneyer
Silver Quinarius 16mm (1.78 grams) Rome mint, circa 87 B.C.
Reference: 

Rubria 4; B.M.C. 2459; Syd. 708; Craw. 348/4
Head of Neptune right, DOSSEN and trident behind.
Victory walking right, serpent entwined around altar before, L . RVBRI behind.

The obverse of the type represents one of the three divinities 
of the Capitol. The altar on this coin is that of Asclepius which was placed on 
the island in the Tiber.

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Neptune 
(Latin:
Neptūnus) was the 
god of water and the sea
in
Roman mythology
and
religion
. He is analogous with, but not 
identical to, the Greek god
Poseidon
. In the
Greek-influenced tradition
, Neptune was the 
brother of
Jupiter
and
Pluto
, each of them presiding over one of the 
three realms of the universe, Heaven, Earth and the Netherworld. Depictions of 
Neptune in Roman mosaics
, especially those of
North Africa
, are influenced by
Hellenistic

Unlike the Greek
Oceanus
,
titan
of the world-ocean, Neptune was 
associated as well with fresh water.
Georges Dumézil
suggested that for
Latins
, who were not a seafaring people, the
primary identification of Neptune was with freshwater springs. Like 
Poseidon, Neptune was worshipped by the Romans also as a god of horses, under 
the name Neptunus Equester, a
patron
of horse-racing.

In 
ancient Roman religion
, Victoria or Victory 
was the
personified
goddess of victory. She is the
Roman equivalent
of the
Greek goddess

Nike
, and was associated with
Bellona
. She was adapted from the
Sabine

Vacuna and had a
temple
on the
Palatine Hill
. The goddess
Vica Pota
was also sometimes identified with 
Victoria.

Unlike the Greek
Nike
, the goddess Victoria (Latin 
for “victory”) was a major part of Roman society. Multiple temples were erected 
in her honor. When her statue was removed in 382 CE by Emperor
Gratianus
there was much anger in Rome. She was 
normally worshiped by
triumphant
generals returning from war.

Also unlike the Greek Nike, who was known for success in athletic games such 
as
chariot races
, Victoria was a symbol of victory 
over death and determined who would be successful during war.

Victoria appears widely on Roman coins, jewelry, architecture, and other 
arts. She is often seen with or in a
chariot
, as in the late 18th-century sculpture 
representing Victory in a
quadriga
on the
Brandenburg Gate
in
Berlin
, Germany; “Il Vittoriano” 
in Rome has two..

Winged figures, very often in pairs, representing victory and referred to as 
“victories”, were common in Roman official iconography, typically hovering high 
in a composition, and often filling spaces in
spandrels
or other gaps in architecture. These 
represent the spirit of victory rather than the goddess herself. They continued 
to appear after Christianization of the Empire, and slowly mutated into 
Christian
angels

Asclepius 
is the god of medicine
and healing in ancient
Greek religion
. Asclepius represents the 
healing aspect of the medical arts; his daughters are
Hygieia
(“Health”),

Iaso (“Medicine”),
Aceso
(“Healing”),
Aglæa/Ægle
(“Healthy Glow”), and
Panacea
(“Universal Remedy”). The
rod of Asclepius
, a snake-entwined staff, 
remains a symbol of medicine today, although sometimes the
caduceus
, or staff with two snakes, is 
mistakenly used instead. He was associated with the Roman/Etruscan god
Vediovis
. He was one of
Apollo
‘s servants.

The
rod of Asclepius, also known as the asklepian, is an ancient 
symbol associated with
astrology
, the
Greek

god
Asclepius
and with
medicine
and
healing
. It consists of a
serpent
entwined around a
staff
. The name of the symbol derives from its 
early and widespread association with
Asclepius
, the son of
Apollo
, who was a practitioner of medicine in 
ancient
Greek mythology
. His attributes, the snake and 
the staff, sometimes depicted separately in antiquity, are combined in this 
symbol. The Rod of Asclepius also represents the constellation
Ophiuchus
(or Ophiuchus Serpentarius), the 
thirteenth sign of the
sidereal zodiacc
.
Hippocrates

The  Roman Republiccc (Latin:

Res Publica Romana) 
was the period of the
ancient Roman civilization
when the government 
operated as a republic
.

It began with the overthrow of the
Roman monarchy
, traditionally dated around 509 
BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two
consuls
, elected annually by the citizens and 
advised by a
senate
. A
complex constitution
gradually developed, 
centered on the principles of a
separation of powers
and
checks and balances
. Except in times of dire 
national emergency, public offices were limited to one year, so that, in theory 
at least, no single individual could dominate his fellow citizens.

Roman society was
hierarchical
. The evolution of the
Constitution of the Roman Republic
was heavily 
influenced by the struggle between the
patricians
, Rome’s land-holding aristocracy, 
who traced their ancestry back to the early history of the Roman kingdom, and 
the
plebeians
, the far more numerous 
citizen-commoners. Over time, the laws that gave patricians exclusive rights to 
Rome’s highest offices were repealed or weakened, and a new aristocracy emerged 
from among the plebeian class. The leaders of the Republic developed a strong
tradition and morality
requiring public service 
and
patronage
in peace and war, making military and 
political success inextricably linked.

During the first two centuries of its existence the Republic expanded through 
a combination of conquest and alliance, from central Italy to the entire Italian 
peninsula. By the following century it included North Africa, the
Iberian Peninsula
, Greece, and what is now 
southern France. Two centuries after that, towards the end of the 1st century 
BC, it included the rest of modern France, and much of the eastern 
Mediterranean. By this time, despite the Republic’s traditional and lawful 
constraints against any individual’s acquisition of permanent political powers, 
Roman politics was dominated by a small number of Roman leaders, their uneasy 
alliances punctuated by a series of
civil wars
.

The victor in one of these civil wars,
Octavian
, reformed the Republic as a
Principate
, with himself as Rome’s “first 
citizen” (princeps). 
The Senate continued to sit and debate. Annual magistrates were elected as 
before, but final decisions on matters of policy, warfare, diplomacy and 
appointments were privileged to the princeps as “first among equals” later to be 
known as imperator
due to the holding of
imperium
, from which the term
emperor
is derived. His powers were monarchic 
in all but name, and he held them for his lifetime, on behalf of the

Senate and people of Rome.

The Roman Republic was never restored, but neither was it abolished, so the 
exact date of the transition to the
Roman Empire
is a matter of interpretation. 
Historians have variously proposed the appointment of
Julius Caesar
as perpetual
dictator
in 44 BC, the defeat of
Mark Antony
at the
Battle of Actium
in 31 BC, and the
Roman Senate
‘s grant of extraordinary powers to 
Octavian under the
first settlement
and his adopting the title
Augustus
in 27 BC, as the defining
event
ending the Republic.

Many of Rome’s legal and legislative structures can still be observed 
throughout Europe and much of the world in modern
nation states
and
international organizations
.
Latin
, the language of the Romans, has 
influenced language across parts of Europe and the world.

Constitution

The Constitution of the Roman Republic was an unwritten set of guidelines and 
principles passed down mainly through precedent. The Roman constitution was not 
formal or even official. It was largely unwritten, uncodified, and constantly 
evolving.

 

The
Roman Forum
, the commercial, 
cultural, and political center of the city and the Republic which 
housed the various offices and meeting places of the government

Senate of the 
Roman Republic

The
Senate’s
ultimate authority derived from the 
esteem and prestige of the Senate.This esteem and prestige was based on both 
precedent and custom, as well as the high calibre and prestige of the 
Senators.The Senate passed decrees, which were called senatus consulta. 
This was officially “advice” from the Senate to a magistrate. In practice, 
however, these were usually obeyed by the magistrates.The focus of the Roman 
Senate was directed towards foreign policy.Though it technically had no official 
role in the management of military conflict, the Senate ultimately was the force 
that oversaw such affairs.

Legislative Assemblies

The legal status of Roman citizenship was strictly limited and was a vital 
prerequisite to possessing many important legal rights such as the right to 
trial and appeal, to marry, to vote, to hold office, to enter binding contracts, 
and to special tax exemptions. Not all those rights were available to every 
citizen – women could be citizens, but were denied the rights to vote or hold 
elected office.

An adult male citizen with the full complement of legal and political rights 
was called “optimo jure.” The optimo jure elected their assemblies, whereupon 
the assemblies elected magistrates, enacted legislation, presided over trials in 
capital cases, declared war and peace, and forged or dissolved treaties.There 
were
two types of legislative assemblies
. The first 
was the comitia (“committees”),which were assemblies of all optimo jure. 
The second was the concilia (“councils”), which were assemblies of 
specific groups of optimo jure.

Assembly of the 
Centuries

Citizens were organized on the basis of centuries and
tribes
. The centuries and the tribes would each 
gather into their own assemblies. The
Comitia Centuriata
(“Century Assembly”) was the 
assembly of the centuries. The president of the Comitia Centuriata was usually a 
consul.The centuries would vote, one at a time, until a measure received support 
from a majority of the centuries. The Comitia Centuriata would elect magistrates 
who had imperium powers (consuls and praetors). It also elected censors. 
Only the Comitia Centuriata could declare war, and ratify the results of a 
census. It also served as the highest court of appeal in certain judicial cases.Assembly 
of the Tribes

The assembly of the tribes, the Comitia Tributa, was presided over by a 
consul, and was composed of 35 tribes. The tribes were not ethnic or kinship 
groups, but rather geographical subdivisions.The
order that the thirty-five tribes would vote in
 
was selected randomly by lot. Once a measure received support from a majority of 
the tribes, the voting would end. While it did not pass many laws, the Comitia 
Tributa did elect quaestors,
curule

aediles
, and military tribunes.

Plebeian Council

The Plebeian Council was an assembly of plebeians, the non-patrician citizens 
of Rome, who would gather into their respective tribes. They elected their own 
officers, plebeian tribunes and plebeian aediles. Usually a plebeian tribune 
would preside over the assembly. This assembly passed most laws, and could also 
act as a court of appeal. Since it was organised on the basis of the tribes, its 
rules and procedures were nearly identical to those of the Comitia Tributa.

Executive Magistrates

Each magistrate was vested with a degree of maior potestas (“major 
power”). Each magistrate could veto any action that was taken by a magistrate of 
an equal or lower rank.
Plebeian tribunes
and
plebeian aediles
, on the other hand, were 
independent of the other magistrates.

Magisterial powers, and checks on those powers

Each republican magistrate held certain
constitutional powers
. Only the People of Rome 
(both plebeians and patricians) had the right to confer these powers on 
any individual magistrate. The most powerful constitutional power was
imperium.
Imperium
was held by both consuls and 
praetors. Imperium gave a magistrate the authority to command a military 
force. All magistrates also had the power of
coercion
. This was used by magistrates to 
maintain public order.While in Rome, all citizens had a judgement against 
coercion. This protection was called provocatio (see below). Magistrates 
also had both the power and the duty to look for omens. This power would often 
be used to obstruct political opponents.

One check on a magistrate’s power was his
collegiality
. Each magisterial office would be 
held concurrently by at least two people. Another such check was
provocatio
. Provocatio was a 
primordial form of
due process
. It was a precursor to
habeas corpus
. If any magistrate tried to 
use the powers of the state against a citizen, that citizen could appeal the 
decision of the magistrate to a tribune.In addition, once a magistrate’s one 
year term of office expired, he would have to
wait ten years
before serving in that office 
again. This created problems for some consuls and praetors, and these 
magistrates would occasionally have their imperium extended. In effect, 
they would retain the powers of the office (as a
promagistrate
), without officially holding that 
office.

Consuls, Praetors, Censors, Aediles, Quaestors, Tribunes, and Dictators

 of Marius, had been put on full display. The
populares
party took full advantage of this 
opportunity by allying itself with Marius.

Several years later, in 88 BC, a Roman army was sent to put down an emerging 
Asian power, king
Mithridates
of
Pontus
. The army, however, was defeated. One of 
Marius’ old quaestors,
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
, had been elected consul 
for the year, and was ordered by the senate to assume command of the war against 
Mithridates. Marius, a member of the “populares” 
party, had a tribune revoke Sulla’s command of the war against Mithridates. 
Sulla, a member of the aristocratic (“optimates“) 
party, brought his army back to Italy and
marched on Rome
. Sulla was so angry at Marius’ 
tribune that he passed a law intended to permanently weaken the tribunate.He 
then returned to his war against Mithridates. With Sulla gone, the populares 
under Marius and
Lucius Cornelius Cinna
soon took control of the 
city.

During the period in which the populares party controlled the city, 
they flouted convention by re-electing Marius consul several times without 
observing the customary ten-year interval between offices. They also 
transgressed the established oligarchy by advancing unelected individuals to 
magisterial office, and by substituting magisterial edicts for popular 
legislation.

Sulla soon made peace with Mithridates. In 83 BC, he returned to Rome, 
overcame all resistance, and recaptured the city. Sulla and his supporters then 
slaughtered most of Marius’ supporters. Sulla, having observed the violent 
results of radical popular reforms, was naturally conservative. As such, 
he sought to strengthen the aristocracy, and by extension the senate.Sulla made 
himself dictator, passed a
series of constitutional reforms
, resigned the 
dictatorship, and served one last term as consul. He died in 78 BC.

Pompey, Crassus and the Catilinarian Conspiracy

A Roman marble head of
Pompey
(now found in the
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
)

In 77 BC, the senate sent one of Sulla’s former lieutenants,
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus
(“Pompey the Great”), to 
put down an uprising in Spain. By 71 BC, Pompey returned to Rome after having 
completed his mission. Around the same time, another of Sulla’s former 
lieutenants,
Marcus Licinius Crassus
, had just put down the
Spartacus
led gladiator/slave revolt in Italy. 
Upon their return, Pompey and Crassus found the populares party fiercely 
attacking Sulla’s constitution. They attempted to forge an agreement with the
populares party. If both Pompey and Crassus were elected consul in 70 BC, 
they would dismantle the more obnoxious components of Sulla’s constitution. The 
two were soon elected, and quickly dismantled most of Sulla’s constitution.

Around 66 BC, a movement to use constitutional, or at least peaceful, means 
to address the plight of various classes began. After several failures, the 
movement’s leaders decided to use any means that were necessary to accomplish 
their goals. The movement coalesced under an aristocrat named
Lucius Sergius Catilina
. The movement was based 
in the town of Faesulae, which was a natural hotbed of agrarian agitation. The 
rural malcontents were to advance on Rome, and be aided by an uprising within 
the city. After assassinating the consuls and most of the senators, Catiline 
would be free to enact his reforms. The conspiracy was set in motion in 63 BC. 
The consul for the year,
Marcus Tullius Cicero
, intercepted messages 
that Catiline had sent in an attempt to recruit more members. As a result, the 
top conspirators in Rome (including at least one former consul) were executed by 
authorisation (of dubious constitutionality) of the senate, and the planned 
uprising was disrupted. Cicero then sent an army, which cut Catiline’s forces to 
pieces.

The most important result of the Catilinarian conspiracy was that the
populares party became discredited. The prior 70 years had witnessed a 
gradual erosion in senatorial powers. The violent nature of the conspiracy, in 
conjunction with the senate’s skill in disrupting it, did a great deal to repair 
the senate’s image.

First Triumvirate

In 62 BC, Pompey returned victorious from Asia. The Senate, elated by its 
successes against Catiline, refused to ratify the arrangements that Pompey had 
made. Pompey, in effect, became powerless. Thus, when
Julius Caesar
returned from a governorship in 
Spain in 61 BC, he found it easy to make an arrangement with Pompey. Caesar and 
Pompey, along with Crassus, established a private agreement, now known as the
First Triumvirate
. Under the agreement, 
Pompey’s arrangements would be ratified. Caesar would be elected consul in 59 
BC, and would then serve as governor of Gaul for five years. Crassus was 
promised a future consulship.

Caesar became consul in 59 BC. His colleague,
Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus
, was an extreme 
aristocrat. Caesar submitted the laws that he had promised Pompey to the 
assemblies. Bibulus attempted to obstruct the enactment of these laws, and so 
Caesar used violent means to ensure their passage. Caesar was then made governor 
of three provinces. He facilitated the election of the former patrician
Publius Clodius Pulcher
to the tribunate for 58 
BC. Clodius set about depriving Caesar’s senatorial enemies of two of their more 
obstinate leaders in
Cato
and Cicero. Clodius was a bitter opponent 
of Cicero because Cicero had testified against him in a sacrilege case. Clodius 
attempted to try Cicero for executing citizens without a trial during the 
Catiline conspiracy, resulting in Cicero going into self-imposed exile and his 
house in Rome being burnt down. Clodius also passed a bill that forced Cato to 
lead the invasion of Cyprus which would keep him away from Rome for some years. 
Clodius also passed a bill that gave the populace a free grain dole, which had 
previously just been subsidised.

The end of 
the First Triumvirate

Clodius formed armed gangs that terrorised the city and eventually began to 
attack Pompey’s followers, who in response funded counter-gangs formed by
Titus Annius Milo
. The political alliance of 
the triumvirate was crumbling. Domitius
Ahenobarbus
ran for the consulship in 55 BC 
promising to take Caesar’s command from him. Eventually, the triumvirate was 
renewed at Lucca. Pompey and Crassus were promised the consulship in 55 BC, and 
Caesar’s term as governor was extended for five years. Crassus led an ill-fated 
expedition with legions led by his son, Caesar’s lieutenant, against the Kingdom 
of Parthia. This resulted in his defeat and death at the
Battle of Carrhae
. Finally, Pompey’s wife, 
Julia, who was Caesar’s daughter, died in childbirth. This event severed the 
last remaining bond between Pompey and Caesar.

Beginning in the summer of 54 BC, a wave of political corruption and violence 
swept Rome. 
This chaos reached a climax in January of 52 BC, when Clodius was murdered in a 
gang war by Milo. On 1 January 49 BC, an agent of Caesar presented an ultimatum 
to the senate. The ultimatum was rejected, and the senate then passed a 
resolution which declared that if Caesar did not lay down his arms by July of 
that year, he would be considered an enemy of the Republic. On 7 January of 49 
BC, the senate passed a senatus consultum ultimum, which vested Pompey 
with dictatorial powers. Pompey’s army, however, was composed largely of 
untested conscripts. On 10 January, Caesar crossed the
Rubicon
with his veteran army (in violation of 
Roman laws) and marched towards Rome. Caesar’s rapid advance forced Pompey, the 
consuls and the Senate to abandon Rome for Greece. Caesar entered the city 
unopposed.

The period of transition (49–29 BC)

The era that began when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49 BC and ended 
when Octavian returned to Rome after Actium in 29 BC, saw the constitutional 
evolution of the prior century accelerate at a rapid pace. By 29 BC, Rome had 
completed its transition from being a city-state with a network of dependencies, 
to being the capital of a world empire.

With Pompey defeated and order restored, Caesar wanted to ensure that his 
control over the government was undisputed. The powers which he would give 
himself would ultimately be used by his imperial successors.He would assume 
these powers by increasing his own authority, and by decreasing the authority of 
Rome’s other political institutions.

Caesar would hold both the dictatorship and the tribunate, but alternated 
between the consulship and the proconsulship. In 48 BC, Caesar was given 
permanent tribunician powers. This made his person sacrosanct, gave him the 
power to veto the senate, and allowed him to dominate the Plebeian Council. In 
46 BC, Caesar was given censorial powers, which he used to fill the senate with 
his own partisans. Caesar then raised the membership of the Senate to 900. This 
robbed the senatorial aristocracy of its prestige, and made it increasingly 
subservient to him. While the assemblies continued to meet, he submitted all 
candidates to the assemblies for election, and all bills to the assemblies for 
enactment. Thus, the assemblies became powerless and were unable to oppose him.

Near the end of his life, Caesar began to prepare for a war against the
Parthian Empire
. Since his absence from Rome 
would limit his ability to install his own consuls, he passed a law which 
allowed him to appoint all magistrates in 43 BC, and all consuls and tribunes in 
42 BC. This, in effect, transformed the magistrates from being representatives 
of the people to being representatives of the dictator.

Caesar’s assassination and the Second Triumvirate

Caesar was assassinated on March 15, 44 BC. The assassination was led by
Gaius Cassius
and
Marcus Brutus
. Most of the conspirators were 
senators, who had a variety of economic, political, or personal motivations for 
carrying out the assassination. Many were afraid that Caesar would soon 
resurrect the monarchy and declare himself king. Others feared loss of property 
or prestige as Caesar carried out his land reforms in favor of the landless 
classes. Virtually all the conspirators fled the city after Caesar’s death in 
fear of retaliation. The civil war that followed destroyed what was left of the 
Republic.

After the assassination,
Mark Antony
formed an alliance with Caesar’s 
adopted son and great-nephew,
Gaius Octavian
. Along with
Marcus Lepidus
, they formed an alliance known 
as the
Second Triumvirate
. They held powers that were 
nearly identical to the powers that Caesar had held under his constitution. As 
such, the Senate and assemblies remained powerless, even after Caesar had been 
assassinated. The conspirators were then defeated at the
Battle of Philippi
in 42 BC. Eventually, 
however, Antony and Octavian fought against each other in one last battle. 
Antony was defeated in the naval
Battle of Actium
in 31 BC, and he committed 
suicide with his love,
Cleopatra
. In 29 BC, Octavian returned to Rome 
as the unchallenged master of the Empire and later accepted the title of
Augustus
– “Exalted One” .

Culture

 

Julius Caesar
, from the bust in the
British Museum
, in Cassell’s 
History of England (1902).

Life in the Roman Republic revolved around the

city of Rome, and its famed
seven hills
. The city also had several
theatres
,gymnasiums, 
and many taverns, baths
and brothels. Throughout the territory 
under Rome’s control, residential architecture ranged from very modest houses to
country villas
, and in the capital city of 
Rome, to the residences
on the elegant
Palatine Hill
, from which the word “palace” 
is derived. The vast majority of the population lived in the city center, packed 
into apartment blocks.

Most Roman towns and cities had a
forum
and temples, as did the city of Rome 
itself.
Aqueducts
brought water to urban centers and
wine
and cooking oil were imported from abroad. 
Landlords generally resided in cities and left their estates in the care of farm 
managers. To stimulate a higher labour productivity, many landlords freed large 
numbers of slaves.

Beginning in the middle of the 2nd century BC, Greek culture was increasingly 
ascendant,in spite of tirades against the “softening” effects of Hellenised 
culture. By the time of Augustus, cultured Greek household slaves taught the 
Roman young (sometimes even the girls). Greek sculptures adorned Hellenistic 
landscape gardening on the Palatine or in the villas, and much of
Roman cuisine
was essentially Greek. Roman 
writers disdained Latin for a cultured Greek style.

Social history 
and structure

Many aspects of Roman culture were borrowed from the
Greeks
. In architecture and
sculpture
, the difference between Greek models 
and Roman paintings are apparent. The chief Roman contributions to architecture 
were the arch
and the

dome. Rome has also had a tremendous impact on European cultures 
following it. Its significance is perhaps best reflected in its endurance and 
influence, as is seen in the longevity and lasting importance of works of
Virgil
and

Ovid. Latin, the Republic’s primary language, remains used for 
liturgical purposes by the Roman Catholic Church, and up to the 19th century was 
used extensively in scholarly writings in, for example, science and mathematics. 
Roman law laid the foundations for the laws of many European countries and their 
colonies.

The center of the early social structure was the family, which was not only 
marked by blood relations but also by the legally constructed relation of
patria potestas
.The
Pater familias
was the absolute head of the 
family; he was the master over his wife, his children, the wives of his sons, 
the nephews, the slaves and the freedmen, disposing of them and of their goods 
at will, even putting them to death. Roman law recognised only patrician 
families as legal entities.

Slavery and slaves were part of the social order; there were
slave markets
where they could be bought and 
sold. Many slaves were freed by the masters for services rendered; some slaves 
could save money to buy their freedom. Generally, mutilation and murder of 
slaves was prohibited by legislation. It is estimated that over 25% of the Roman 
population was enslaved.

Clothing and dining

 

Roman clad in a
toga
.

Men typically wore a toga
, and women a
stola
. The woman’s stola differed in 
looks from a toga, and was usually brightly coloured. The cloth and the dress 
distinguished one class of people from the other class. The tunic worn by
plebeians
, or common people, like shepherds and 
slaves, was made from coarse and dark material, whereas the
tunic
worn by
patricians
was of linen or white wool. 
A knight or magistrate would wear an augusticlavus, a tunic bearing small 
purple studs. Senators wore tunics with broad red stripes, called tunica 
laticlavia. Military tunics were shorter than the ones worn by civilians. 
Boys, up until the festival of
Liberalia
, wore the toga praetexta, 
which was a toga with a crimson or purple border. The toga virilis, (or
toga pura) was worn by men over the age of 16 to signify their 
citizenship in Rome. The toga picta was worn by triumphant generals and 
had embroidery of their skill on the battlefield. The toga pulla was worn 
when in mourning.

Even footwear indicated a person’s social status. Patricians wore red and 
orange sandals, senators had brown footwear, consuls had white shoes, and 
soldiers wore heavy boots. The Romans also invented socks for those soldiers 
required to fight on the northern frontiers, sometimes worn in sandals.

Romans had simple food habits. Staple food was generally consumed at around 
11 o’clock, and consisted of bread, salad, cheese, fruits, nuts, and cold meat 
left over from the dinner the night before. The Roman poet,
Horace
mentions another Roman favorite, the 
olive, in reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: “As for 
me, olives, endives
, and smooth
mallows
provide sustenance.” The family ate 
together, sitting on stools around a table. Fingers were used to eat solid foods 
and spoons were used for soups.

Wine was considered a staple drink, consumed at all meals and occasions by 
all classes and was quite cheap.
Cato the Elder
once advised cutting his rations 
in half to conserve wine for the workforce. 
Many types of drinks involving grapes and honey were consumed as well. Drinking 
on an empty stomach was regarded as boorish and a sure sign for alcoholism, the 
debilitating physical and psychological effects of which were known to the 
Romans. An accurate accusation of being an alcoholic was an effective way to 
discredit political rivals. Prominent Roman alcoholics included
Mark Antony
, and Cicero’s own son Marcus (Cicero 
Minor). Even
Cato the Younger
was known to be a heavy 
drinker.

Education and language

Following various military conquests in the
Greek East
, Romans adapted a number of Greek 
educational precepts to their own fledgling system. Physical training to prepare 
the boys to grow as Roman citizens and for eventual recruitment into the army. 
Conforming to discipline was a point of great emphasis. Girls generally received 
instruction from their mothers in the art of spinning, weaving, and sewing. 
Schooling in a more formal sense was begun around 200 BC. Education began at the 
age of around six, and in the next six to seven years, boys and girls were 
expected to learn the basics of reading, writing and counting. By the age of 
twelve, they would be learning Latin, Greek, grammar and literature, followed by 
training for public speaking.
Oratory
was an art to be practiced and learnt, 
and good orators commanded respect.

The native language of the Romans was Latin. Although surviving
Latin literature
consists almost entirely of
Classical Latin
, an artificial and highly 
stylised and polished
literary language
from the 1st century BC, the 
actual spoken language was
Vulgar Latin
, which significantly differed from 
Classical Latin in grammar, vocabulary, and eventually pronunciation. Rome’s 
expansion spread Latin throughout Europe, and over time Vulgar Latin evolved and 
dialectised in different locations, gradually shifting into a number of distinct
Romance languages
. Many of these languages, 
including French, Italian, Portuguese,
Romanian
and Spanish, flourished, the 
differences between them growing greater over time. Although English is
Germanic
rather than Roman in origin, English 
borrows heavily from Latin and Latin-derived words.

The arts

Roman literature was from its very inception influenced heavily by Greek 
authors. Some of the earliest works we possess are of historical epics telling 
the early military history of Rome. As the republic expanded, authors began to 
produce poetry, comedy, history, and tragedy.
Virgil
represents the pinnacle of Roman epic 
poetry. His Aeneid
tells the story of flight of Aeneas 
from Troy
and his settlement of the city that would 
become Rome. Lucretius
, in his
On the Nature of Things
, attempted to 
explicate science in an epic poem. The genre of satire was common in Rome, and 
satires were written by, among others,
Juvenal
and
Persius
. The
rhetorical
works of
Cicero
are considered to be some of the best 
bodies of correspondence recorded in antiquity.

In the 3rd century BC, Greek art taken as booty from wars became popular, and 
many Roman homes were decorated with landscapes by Greek artists. Portrait 
sculpture during the period utilised youthful and classical proportions, 
evolving later into a mixture of realism and idealism. Advancements were also 
made in relief sculptures, often depicting Roman victories.

Music was a major part of everyday life. The word itself derives from Greek
μουσική (mousike), “(art) of the
Muses
“.^[96] 
Many private and public events were accompanied by music, ranging from nightly 
dining to military parades and manoeuvres. In a discussion of any ancient music, 
however, non-specialists and even many musicians have to be reminded that much 
of what makes our modern music familiar to us is the result of developments only 
within the last 1,000 years; thus, our ideas of melody, scales, harmony, and 
even the instruments we use would not be familiar to Romans who made and 
listened to music many centuries earlier.

Over time, Roman architecture was modified as their urban requirements 
changed, and the civil engineering and building construction technology became 
developed and refined. The
Roman concrete
has remained a riddle, and even 
after more than 2,000 years some Roman structures still stand magnificently.^[97] 
The architectural style of the capital city was emulated by other urban centers 
under Roman control and influence. Roman cities were well planned, efficiently 
managed and neatly maintained.

Sports and 
entertainment

The city of Rome had a place called the
Campus Martius
(“Field of Mars”), which was a 
sort of drill ground for Roman soldiers. Later, the Campus became Rome’s track 
and field playground. In the campus, the youth assembled to play and exercise, 
which included jumping, wrestling, boxing and racing. Equestrian sports, 
throwing, and swimming were also preferred physical activities. In the 
countryside, pastime included fishing and hunting. Board games played in Rome 
included dice
(Tesserae or
Tali
), Roman Chess (Latrunculi), 
Roman Checkers
(Calculi),
Tic-tac-toe
(Terni Lapilli), and
Ludus duodecim scriptorum
and Tabula, 
predecessors of backgammon.There were several other activities to keep people 
engaged like chariot races, musical and theatrical performances.

Religion

Roman religious beliefs date back to the founding of Rome, around 800 BC. 
However, the Roman religion commonly associated with the republic and early 
empire did not begin until around 500 BC, when Romans came in contact with
Greek
culture, and adopted many of the Greek 
religious beliefs. Private and personal worship was an important aspect of 
religious practices. In a sense, each household was a temple to the
gods
. Each household had an altar (lararium), 
at which the family members would offer prayers, perform rites, and interact 
with the household gods. Many of the gods that Romans worshiped came from the
Proto-Indo-European pantheon
, others were based 
on
Greek gods
. The two most famous deities were
Jupiter
(the king God) and
Mars
(the god of war). With its cultural 
influence spreading over most of the Mediterranean, Romans began accepting 
foreign gods into their own culture, as well as other philosophical traditions 
such as
Cynicism
and
Stoicism
.

Military

Structural history

The structural history of the Roman military describes the major 
chronological transformations in the organisation and constitution of the Roman 
armed forces. The Roman military was split into the
Roman army
and the
Roman navy
, although these two branches were 
less distinct than they tend to be in modern defence forces. Within the 
top-level branches of army and navy, structural changes occurred both as a 
result of positive military reform and through organic structural evolution.

Hoplite armies (509–c. 315 BC)

During this period, Roman soldiers seem to have been modelled after those of 
the
Etruscans
to the north, who themselves seem to 
have copied
their style of warfare
from the Greeks. 
Traditionally, the introduction of the
phalanx formation
into the Roman army is 
ascribed to the city’s penultimate king,
Servius Tullius
(ruled 578 to 534 BC).^[101] 
According to Livy
and
Dionysius of Halicarnassus
,the front rank was 
composed of the wealthiest citizens, who were able to purchase the best 
equipment. Each subsequent rank consisted of those with less wealth and poorer 
equipment than the one before it.

One disadvantage of the phalanx was that it was only effective when fighting 
in large, open spaces, which left the Romans at a disadvantage when fighting in 
the hilly terrain of central
Italian peninsula
. In the 4th century BC, the 
Romans abandoned the phalanx in favour of the more flexible manipular formation. 
This change is sometimes attributed to
Marcus Furius Camillus
and placed shortly after 
the
Gallic invasion
of 390 BC; it is more likely, 
however, that they were copied from Rome’s
Samnite
enemies to the south, possibly as a 
result of Samnite victories during the
Second Samnite War
(326 to 304 BC).

Manipular legion (c. 315–107 BC)

During this period, an army formation of around 5,000 men (of both heavy and 
light infantry) was known as a legion. The manipular army was based upon social 
class, age and military experience. Maniples were units of 120 men each 
drawn from a single infantry class. The maniples were typically deployed into 
three discrete lines based on the three
heavy infantry
types.

Each first line maniple were leather-armoured infantry soldiers who wore a 
bronze breastplate and a bronze helmet adorned with 3 feathers approximately 
30 cm (12 in) in height and carried an iron-clad wooden shield. They were armed 
with a sword and two throwing spears. The second infantry line was armed and 
armoured in the same manner as was the first infantry line. The second infantry 
line, however, wore a lighter coat of mail rather than a solid brass 
breastplate. The third infantry line was the last remnant of the hoplite-style 
(the Greek-style formation used occasionally during the early Republic) troops 
in the Roman army. They were armed and armoured in the same manner as were the 
soldiers in the second line, with the exception that they carried a lighter 
spear.

The three infantry classes may have retained some slight parallel to social 
divisions within Roman society, but at least officially the three lines were 
based upon age and experience rather than social class. Young, unproven men 
would serve in the first line, older men with some military experience would 
serve in the second line, and veteran troops of advanced age and experience 
would serve in the third line.

The heavy infantry of the maniples were supported by a number of light 
infantry and cavalry troops, typically 300 horsemen per manipular legion.The 
cavalry was drawn primarily from the richest class of equestrians. There was an 
additional class of troops who followed the army without specific martial roles 
and were deployed to the rear of the third line. Their role in accompanying the 
army was primarily to supply any vacancies that might occur in the maniples. The 
light infantry consisted of 1,200 unarmoured skirmishing troops drawn from the 
youngest and lower social classes. They were armed with a sword and a small 
shield, as well as several light javelins.

Rome’s military confederation with the other peoples of the Italian peninsula 
meant that half of Rome’s army was provided by the
Socii
, such as the Etruscans, Umbrians, 
Apulians, Campanians, Samnites, Lucani, Bruttii, and the various southern Greek 
cities. Polybius states that Rome could draw on 770,000 men at the beginning of 
the Second Punic War, of which 700,000 were infantry and 70,000 met the 
requirements for cavalry. Rome’s Italian allies would be organized in alae, 
or wings, roughly equal in manpower to the Roman legions, though with 900 
cavalry instead of 300.

A small navy had operated at a fairly low level after about 300 BC, but it 
was massively upgraded about forty years later, during the
First Punic War
. After a period of frenetic 
construction, the navy mushroomed to a size of more than 400 ships on the
Carthaginian
(“Punic”) pattern. Once completed, 
it could accommodate up to 100,000 sailors and embarked troops for battle. The 
navy thereafter declined in size.

The extraordinary demands of the
Punic Wars
, in addition to a shortage of 
manpower, exposed the tactical weaknesses of the manipular legion, at least in 
the short term. In 217 BC, near the beginning of the
Second Punic War
, Rome was forced to 
effectively ignore its long-standing principle that its soldiers must be both 
citizens and property owners. During the 2nd century BC, Roman territory saw an 
overall decline in population, partially due to the huge losses incurred during 
various wars. This was accompanied by severe social stresses and the greater 
collapse of the middle classes. As a result, the Roman state was forced to arm 
its soldiers at the expense of the state, which it had not had to do in the 
past.

The distinction between the heavy infantry types began to blur, perhaps 
because the state was now assuming the responsibility of providing 
standard-issue equipment. In addition, the shortage of available manpower led to 
a greater burden being placed upon Rome’s allies for the provision of allied 
troops. Eventually, the Romans were forced to begin hiring mercenaries to fight 
alongside the legions.

The legion after the reforms of Gaius Marius (107–27 BC)

 

Bust of
Gaius Marius
, instigator of the
Marian reforms
.

In a process known as the
Marian reforms
, Roman consul
Gaius Marius
carried out a programme of reform 
of the Roman military. In 107 BC, all citizens, regardless of their wealth or 
social class, were made eligible for entry into the Roman army. This move 
formalised and concluded a gradual process that had been growing for centuries, 
of removing property requirements for military service.The distinction between 
the three heavy infantry classes, which had already become blurred, had 
collapsed into a single class of heavy legionary infantry. The heavy infantry 
legionaries were drawn from citizen stock, while non-citizens came to dominate 
the ranks of the light infantry. The army’s higher-level officers and commanders 
were still drawn exclusively from the Roman aristocracy.

Unlike earlier in the Republic, legionaries were no longer fighting on a 
seasonal basis to protect their land. Instead, they received standard pay, and 
were employed by the state on a fixed-term basis. As a consequence, military 
duty began to appeal most to the poorest sections of society, to whom a salaried 
pay was attractive. A destabilising consequence of this development was that the 
proletariat “acquired a stronger and more elevated position within the state.

The legions of the late Republic were, structurally, almost entirely heavy 
infantry. The legion’s main sub-unit was called a
cohort
and consisted of approximately 480 
infantrymen. The cohort was therefore a much larger unit than the earlier
maniple sub-unit, and was divided into six
centuries
of 80 men each.Each century was 
separated further into 10 “tent groups” of 8 men each. Legions additionally 
consisted of a small body, typically 120 men, of Roman legionary cavalry. The 
cavalry troops were used as scouts and dispatch riders rather than battlefield 
cavalry. Legions also contained a dedicated group of artillery crew of perhaps 
60 men. Each legion was normally partnered with an approximately equal number of 
allied (non-Roman) troops.

However, the most obvious deficiency of the Roman army remained its shortage 
of cavalry, especially heavy cavalry. As Rome’s borders expanded and its 
adversaries changed from largely infantry-based to largely cavalry-based troops, 
the infantry-based Roman army began to find itself at a tactical disadvantage, 
particularly in the East.

After having declined in size following the subjugation of the Mediterranean, 
the Roman navy underwent short-term upgrading and revitalisation in the late 
Republic to meet several new demands. Under
Caesar
, an invasion fleet was assembled in the
English Channel
to allow the invasion of
Britannia
; under
Pompey
, a large fleet was raised in the 
Mediterranean Sea to clear the sea of
Cilician
pirates. During the civil war that 
followed, as many as a thousand ships were either constructed or pressed into 
service from Greek cities.

Campaign history

The core of the campaign history of the Roman Republican military is the 
account of the
Roman military
‘s land battles. Despite the 
encompassing of lands around the periphery of the Mediterranean sea, naval 
battles were typically less significant than land battles to the military 
history of Rome.

As with most ancient civilisations, Rome’s military served the triple 
purposes of securing its borders, exploiting peripheral areas through measures 
such as imposing tribute on conquered peoples, and maintaining internal order. 
From the outset, Rome’s military typified this pattern and the majority of 
Rome’s campaigns were characterised by one of two types. The first is the 
territorial expansionist campaign, normally begun as a counter-offensive,^[122] 
in which each victory brought subjugation of large areas of territory. The 
second is the civil war, of which examples plagued the Roman Republic in its 
final century.

Roman armies were not invincible, despite their formidable reputation and 
host of victories. Over the centuries the Romans “produced their share of 
incompetents” who led Roman armies into catastrophic defeats. Nevertheless, 
it was generally the fate of even the greatest of Rome’s enemies, such as
Pyrrhus
and
Hannibal
, to win the battle but lose the war. 
The history of Rome’s campaigning is, if nothing else, a history of obstinate 
persistence overcoming appalling losses.

Early 
Republic (458–274 BC)

Early Italian campaigns (458–396 BC)

The first Roman republican wars were wars of both expansion and defence, 
aimed at protecting Rome itself from neighbouring cities and nations and 
establishing its territory in the region. Initially, Rome’s immediate neighbours 
were either Latin
towns and villages, or else tribal 
Sabines from the Apennine hills beyond. One by one Rome defeated both the 
persistent Sabines and the local cities that were either under Etruscan control 
or else Latin towns that had cast off their Etruscan rulers. Rome defeated Latin 
cities in the
Battle of Lake Regillus
in 496 BC, the
Battle of Mons Algidus
in 458 BC, the
Battle of Corbione
in 446 BC,^[129][130] 
the
Battle of Aricia
,^[131] 
and an Etruscan city in the
Battle of the Cremera
in 477 BC

By the end of this period, Rome had effectively
completed the conquest
of their immediate 
Etruscan and Latin neighbours, as well as secured their position against the 
immediate threat posed by the tribespeople of the nearby Apennine hills.

Celtic invasion of Italia (390–387 BC)

By 390 BC, several Gallic tribes had begun invading Italy from the north as 
their culture expanded throughout Europe. The Romans were alerted of this when a 
particularly warlike tribe invaded two Etruscan towns from the north. These two 
towns were not far from Rome’s sphere of influence. These towns, overwhelmed by 
the size of the enemy in numbers and ferocity, called on Rome for help. The 
Romans met them in pitched battle at the
Battle of Allia River
around 390–387 BC. The 
Gauls, under their chieftain
Brennus
, defeated the Roman army of around 
15,000 troops and proceeded to pursue the fleeing Romans back to Rome itself and 
sacked the city^[136] 
before being either driven off or bought off. Now that the Romans and Gauls had 
bloodied one another, intermittent warfare was to continue between the two in 
Italy for more than two centuries. The Celtic problem would not be resolved for 
Rome until the final subjugation of all Gaul by Julius Caesar at the
Battle of Alesia
in 52 BC.

Roman expansion into Italia (343–282 BC)

Map showing Roman expansion in Italy.

After recovering surprisingly swiftly from the sack of Rome,the Romans 
immediately resumed their expansion within Italy. The
First Samnite War
of between 343 BC and 341 BC 
was a relatively short affair: the Romans beat the Samnites in two battles, but 
were forced to withdraw from the war before they could pursue the conflict 
further due to the revolt of several of their Latin allies in the
Latin War
. Rome bested the Latins in the
Battle of Vesuvius
and again in the
Battle of Trifanum
, after which the Latin 
cities were obliged to submit to Roman rule.

The
Second Samnite War
, from 327 BC to 304 BC, was 
a much longer and more serious affair for both the Romans and Samnites. The 
fortunes of the two sides fluctuated throughout its course. The Romans then 
proved victorious at the
Battle of Bovianum
and the tide turned strongly 
against the Samnites from 314 BC onwards, leading them to sue for peace with 
progressively less generous terms. By 304 BC the Romans had effectively annexed 
the greater degree of the Samnite territory, founding several colonies.

Seven years after their defeat, with Roman dominance of the area looking 
assured, the Samnites rose again and defeated a Roman army in 298 BC, to open 
the
Third Samnite War
. With this success in hand 
they managed to bring together a coalition of several previous enemies of Rome. 
In the
Battle of Populonia
in 282 BC Rome finished off 
the last vestiges of Etruscan power in the region.

Pyrrhic 
War (280–275 BC)

Route of Pyrrhus of Epirus

By the beginning of the 3rd century, Rome had established itself as a major 
power on the
Italian Peninsula
, but had not yet come into 
conflict with the dominant military powers in the
Mediterranean Basin
at the time:
Carthage
and the Greek kingdoms.

When a diplomatic dispute between Rome and a Greek colony erupted into open 
warfare in a naval confrontation, the Greek colony appealed for military aid to
Pyrrhus
, ruler of the northwestern Greek 
kingdom of Epirus
. Motivated by a personal desire for 
military accomplishment, Pyrrhus landed a Greek army of some 25,000 men on 
Italian soil in 280 BC.

Despite early victories, Pyrrhus found his position in Italy untenable. Rome 
steadfastly refused to negotiate with Pyrrhus as long as his army remained in 
Italy. Facing unacceptably heavy losses with each encounter with the Roman army, 
Pyrrhus withdrew from the peninsula (thus deriving the term “pyrrhic 
victory“). In 275 BC, Pyrrhus again met the Roman army at the
Battle of Beneventum
. While Beneventum was 
indecisive, Pyrrhus realised his army had been exhausted and reduced, by years 
of foreign campaigns, and seeing little hope for further gains, he withdrew 
completely from Italy.

The conflicts with Pyrrhus would have a great effect on Rome. Rome had shown 
it was capable of pitting its armies successfully against the dominant military 
powers of the Mediterranean, and that the Greek kingdoms were incapable of 
defending their colonies in Italy and abroad. Rome quickly moved into southern 
Italia, subjugating and dividing the Greek colonies. Now, Rome effectively 
dominated the Italian peninsula,and won an international military reputation.

Mid-Republic (274–148 BC)

Punic 
Wars (264–146 BC)

Theatre of the Punic Wars

The
First Punic War
began in 264 BC when 
settlements on Sicily began to appeal to the two powers between which they lay – 
Rome and Carthage – to solve internal conflicts. The war saw land battles in 
Sicily early on, but the theatre shifted to naval battles around Sicily and 
Africa. Before the First Punic War there was no Roman navy to speak of. The new 
war in Sicily
against
Carthage
, a great naval power, forced Rome to 
quickly build a fleet and train sailors.

The first few naval battles were catastrophic disasters for Rome. However, 
after training more sailors and inventing a grappling engine,a Roman naval force 
was able to defeat a Carthaginian fleet, and further naval victories followed. 
The Carthaginians then hired
Xanthippus of Carthage
, a Spartan mercenary 
general, to reorganize and lead their army. He managed to cut off the Roman army 
from its base by re-establishing Carthaginian naval supremacy. With their 
newfound naval abilities, the Romans then beat the Carthaginians in naval battle 
again at the
Battle of the Aegates Islands
and leaving 
Carthage without a fleet or sufficient coin to raise one. For a maritime power 
the loss of their access to the Mediterranean stung financially and 
psychologically, and the Carthaginians sued for peace.

Continuing distrust led to the renewal of hostilities in the
Second Punic War
when
Hannibal Barca
attacked a Spanish town, which 
had diplomatic ties to Rome. Hannibal then crossed the Italian Alps to invade 
Italy. Hannibal’s successes in Italy began immediately, and reached an early 
climax at the
Battle of Cannae
, where 70,000 Romans were 
killed.

In three battles, the Romans managed to hold off Hannibal but then Hannibal 
smashed a succession of Roman consular armies. By this time Hannibal’s brother
Hasdrubal Barca
sought to cross the Alps into 
Italy and join his brother with a second army. Hasdrubal managed to break 
through into Italy only to be defeated decisively on the
Metaurus River
. Unable to defeat Hannibal 
himself on Italian soil, the Romans boldly sent an army to Africa under
Scipio Africanus
with the intention of 
threatening the Carthaginian capital. Hannibal was recalled to Africa, and 
defeated at the
Battle of Zama
.

Carthage never managed to recover after the Second Punic War
and the
Third Punic War
that followed was in reality a 
simple punitive mission to raze the city of Carthage to the ground. Carthage was 
almost defenseless and when besieged offered immediate surrender, conceding to a 
string of outrageous Roman demands. The Romans refused the surrender, and the 
city was stormed after a short siege and completely destroyed. Ultimately, all 
of Carthage’s North African and Spanish territories were acquired by Rome.

Kingdom of Macedonia, the Greek poleis, and Illyria (215–148 BC)

Rome’s preoccupation with its war with Carthage provided an opportunity for
Philip V
of the kingdom of
Macedonia
, located in the north of the
Greek peninsula
, to attempt to extend his power 
westward. Philip sent ambassadors to Hannibal’s camp in Italy, to negotiate an 
alliance as common enemies of Rome. However, Rome discovered the agreement when 
Philip’s emissaries were captured by a Roman fleet. The
First Macedonian War
saw the Romans involved 
directly in only limited land operations, but they ultimately achieved their 
objective of pre-occupying Philip and preventing him from aiding Hannibal.

Macedonia began to encroach on territory claimed by Greek city states in 200 
BC and these states pleaded for help from their newfound ally Rome. Rome gave 
Philip an ultimatum that he must submit several parts of Greater Macedonia to 
Rome and give up his designs on Greece. Philip refused, and Rome declared war 
starting the
Second Macedonian War
. Ultimately, in 197 BC, 
the Romans decisevely defeated Philip at the
Battle of Cynoscephalae
,subsequently Macedonia 
was reduced to a central rump state.

Rome now turned its attentions to one of the Greek kingdoms, the
Seleucid Empire
, in the east. A Roman force 
defeated the Seleucids at the
Battle of Thermopylae
and forced them to 
evacuate Greece. The Romans then pursued the Seleucids beyond Greece, beating 
them in the decisive engagement of the
Battle of Magnesia
.

In 179 BC, Philip died and his talented and ambitious son, Perseus, took his 
throne and showed a renewed interest in Greece. Rome declared war on Macedonia 
again, starting the
Third Macedonian War
. Perseus initially had 
some success against the Romans. However, Rome responded by simply sending 
another stronger army. The second consular army decisively defeated the 
Macedonians at the
Battle of Pydna
in 168 BC and the Macedonians 
duly capitulated, ending the
Third Macedonian War
.The Kingdom of Macedonia 
was then divided by the Romans into four client republics.

The Fourth Macedonian War, fought from 150 BC to 148 BC, was fought against a 
Macedonian pretender to the throne who was attempting to re-establish the old 
Kingdom. The Romans swiftly defeated the Macedonians at the
Second battle of Pydna
. The
Achaean League
chose this moment to rebel 
against Roman domination but was swiftly defeated.
Corinth
was besieged and destroyed in 146 BC, 
the same year as the destruction of
Carthage
, which led to the league’s surrender.

Late 
Republic (147–30 BC)

Jugurthine War (111–104 BC)

The
Jugurthine War
of 111–104 BC was fought between 
Rome and Jugurtha
of the North African kingdom of
Numidia
. It constituted the final Roman 
pacification of Northern Africa, after which Rome largely ceased expansion on 
the continent after reaching natural barriers of desert and mountain. Following 
Jugurtha’s usurpation of the throne of Numidia, a loyal ally of Rome since the 
Punic Wars, 
Rome felt compelled to intervene. Jugurtha impudently bribed the Romans into 
accepting his usurpation. Jugurtha was finally captured not in battle but by 
treachery.

The Celtic threat (121 BC) and the new Germanic threat (113–101 BC)

In 121 BC, Rome came into contact with two Celtic tribes (from a region in 
modern France), both of which they defeated with apparent ease. The
Cimbrian War
(113–101 BC) was a far more 
serious affair than the earlier clashes of 121 BC. The
Germanic
tribes of the
Cimbri
and the
Teutons
migrated from northern Europe into 
Rome’s northern territories, and clashed with Rome and her allies. At the
Battle of Aquae Sextiae
and the
Battle of Vercellae
both tribes were virtually 
annihilated, which ended the threat.

Internal unrest (135–71 BC)

The extensive campaigning abroad by Roman generals, and the rewarding of 
soldiers with plunder on these campaigns, led to a general trend of soldiers 
becoming increasingly loyal to their generals rather than to the state. 
Rome was also plagued by several slave uprisings during this period, in part 
because vast tracts of land had been given over to slave farming in which the 
slaves greatly outnumbered their Roman masters. In the last century BC at least 
twelve
civil wars
and rebellions occurred. This 
pattern did not break until Octavian (later
Caesar Augustus
) ended it by becoming a 
successful challenger to the Senate’s authority, and was made
princeps
(emperor).

Between 135 BC and 71 BC there were three
“Servile Wars”
involving slave uprisings 
against the Roman state. The
third
and final uprising was the most serious, 
involving ultimately between 120,000 and 150,000
slaves under the command of the gladiator
Spartacus
. Additionally, in 91 BC the
Social War
broke out between Rome and its 
former allies in Italy over dissent among the allies that they shared the risk 
of Rome’s military campaigns, but not its rewards. Although they lost 
militarily, the allies achieved their objectives with legal proclamations which 
granted citizenship to more than 500,000 Italians.

The internal unrest reached its most serious state, however, in the
two civil wars
that were caused by the consul
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
at the beginning of 82 
BC. In the
Battle of the Colline Gate
at the very door of 
the city of Rome, a Roman army under Sulla bested an army of the Roman Senate 
and entered the city. Sulla’s actions marked a watershed in the willingness of 
Roman troops to wage war against one another that was to pave the way for the 
wars which ultimately overthrew the Republic, and caused the founding of the
Roman Empire
.

Conflicts with Mithridates (89–63 BC) and the Cilician pirates (67 BC)

Mithridates the Great
was the ruler of
Pontus
, a large kingdom in
Asia Minor
(modern Turkey), from 120 to 63 BC. 
Mithridates antagonised Rome by seeking to expand his kingdom, and Rome for her 
part seemed equally keen for war and the spoils and prestige that it might 
bring.In 88 BC, Mithridates ordered the killing of a majority of the 80,000 
Romans living in his kingdom. The massacre was the official reason given for the 
commencement of hostilities in the
First Mithridatic War
. The Roman general
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
forced Mithridates out 
of Greece proper, but then had to return to Italy to answer the internal threat 
posed by his rival,
Gaius Marius
. A peace was made between Rome and 
Pontus, but this proved only a temporary lull.

The
Second Mithridatic War
began when Rome tried to 
annex a province that Mithridates claimed as his own. In the
Third Mithridatic War
, first
Lucius Licinius Lucullus
and then
Pompey the Great
were sent against Mithridates.^[186] 
Mithridates was finally defeated by Pompey in the night-time
Battle of the Lycus
.The Mediterranean had at 
this time fallen into the hands of pirates, largely from
Cilicia
. The pirates not only strangled 
shipping lanes but also plundered many cities on the coasts of Greece and Asia.
Pompey
was nominated as commander of a special 
naval task force to campaign against the pirates. It took Pompey just forty days 
to clear the western portion of the sea of pirates and restore communication 
between Iberia (Spain), Africa, and Italy.

Caesar’s early campaigns (59–50 BC)

Map of the Gallic Wars

During a term as praetor in the
Iberian Peninsula
(modern Portugal and Spain), 
Pompey’s contemporary
Julius Caesar
defeated two local tribes in 
battle. 
Following his term as consul in 59 BC, he was then appointed to a five-year term 
as the proconsular Governor of Cisalpine Gaul (current northern Italy), 
Transalpine Gaul (current southern France) and Illyria (the modern Balkans). 
Not content with an idle governorship, Caesar strove to find reason to invade 
Gaul, which would give him the dramatic military success he sought. When two 
local tribes began to migrate on a route that would take them near (not into) 
the Roman province of Transalpine Gaul, Caesar had the barely sufficient excuse 
he needed for his
Gallic Wars
, fought between 58 BC and 49 BC.

Caesar defeated large armies at major battles 58 BC and 57 BC. In 55 and 54 
BC he made
two expeditions into Britain
, becoming the 
first Roman to do so. Caesar then defeated a union of Gauls at the
Battle of Alesia
, 
completing the Roman conquest of Transalpine Gaul. By 50 BC, the entirety of 
Gaul lay in Roman hands. Gaul never regained its Celtic identity, never 
attempted another nationalist rebellion, and, other than the crisis of the 3rd 
century, remained loyal to Rome until the fall of the western empire in 476.

Triumvirates and Caesarian ascension (53–30 BC)

By 59 BC an unofficial political alliance known as the
First Triumvirate
was formed between
Gaius Julius Caesar
,
Marcus Licinius Crassus
, and
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus
(“Pompey the Great”) to 
share power and influence. 
In 53 BC, Crassus launched a Roman invasion of the Parthian Empire (modern Iraq 
and Iran). After initial successes,^[193] 
he marched his army deep into the desert; 
but here his army was cut off deep in enemy territory, surrounded and 
slaughtered at the
Battle of Carrhae
in which Crassus himself 
perished. The death of Crassus removed some of the balance in the Triumvirate 
and, consequently, Caesar and Pompey began to move apart. While Caesar was 
fighting in Gaul, Pompey proceeded with a legislative agenda for Rome that 
revealed that he was at best ambivalent towards Caesar^[195] 
and perhaps now covertly allied with Caesar’s political enemies. In 51 BC, some 
Roman senators demanded that Caesar not be permitted to stand for consul unless 
he turned over control of his armies to the state, which would have left Caesar 
defenceless before his enemies. Caesar chose civil war over laying down his 
command and facing trial.

By the spring of 49 BC, the hardened legions of Caesar crossed the river
Rubicon
and swept down the Italian peninsula 
towards Rome, while Pompey ordered the abandonment of Rome. Afterwards Caesar 
turned his attention to the Pompeian stronghold of Iberia (modern Spain) 
but decided to tackle Pompey himself in Greece. 
Pompey initially defeated Caesar, but failed to follow up on the victory, and 
was decisively defeated at the
Battle of Pharsalus
in 48 BC, 
despite outnumbering Caesar’s forces two to one, albeit with inferior quality 
troops. 
Pompey fled again, this time to Egypt, where he was murdered.

Pompey’s death did not result in an end to the civil war as Caesar’s enemies 
were manifold and continued to fight on. In 46 BC Caesar lost perhaps as much as 
a third of his army, but ultimately came back to defeat the Pompeian army of
Metellus Scipio
in the
Battle of Thapsus
, after which the Pompeians 
retreated yet again to Iberia. Caesar then defeated the combined Pompeian forces 
at the
Battle of Munda
.

Caesar was now the primary figure of the Roman state, enforcing and 
entrenching his powers and his enemies feared that he had ambitions to become an 
autocratic ruler. Arguing that the Roman Republic was in danger a group of 
senators hatched a conspiracy and
murdered Caesar
in the Senate in March 44 BC. 
Mark Antony
, Caesar’s lieutenant, condemned 
Caesar’s assassination, and war broke out between the two factions. Antony was 
denounced as a public enemy, and Caesar’s adopted son and chosen heir,
Gaius Octavian
, was entrusted with the command 
of the war against him. At the
Battle of Mutina
Antony was defeated by the 
consuls
Hirtius
and
Pansa
, who were both killed.

Octavian came to terms with Caesarians Antony and Lepidus in 43 BC when the
Second Triumvirate
was formed.^[74] 
In 42 BC
Triumvirs

Mark Antony
and
Octavian
fought the
Battle of Philippi
with Caesar’s assassins
Brutus
and
Cassius
. Although Brutus defeated Octavian, 
Antony defeated Cassius, who committed suicide. Brutus joined him shortly 
afterwards.

However, civil war flared again when the Second Triumvirate of Octavian, 
Lepidus and
Mark Antony
failed. The ambitious Octavian 
built a power base of patronage and then launched a campaign against Mark Antony. 
At the naval
Battle of Actium
off the coast of Greece,
Octavian
decisively defeated Antony and
Cleopatra
. Octavian was granted a series of 
special powers including sole “imperium” within the city of Rome, permanent 
consular powers and credit for every Roman military victory, since all future 
generals were assumed to be acting under his command. In 27 BC Octavian was 
granted the use of the names “Augustus” and “Princeps” indicating his primary 
status above all other Romans, and he adopted the title “Imperator Caesar” 
making him the first Roman Emperor.