Problems and Upheavals 2.0 - Diana Pineda

 Problems and Upheavals

When you think about Ancient Rome's republican government, you might think of it as a shining example that the United States based its government upon. However, the Roman Republic was not quite as shiny as we might think. Politics were ugly and violent. The traditionalists in the Senate known as optimates tried to defend the status quo against progressives in the Senate known as populars. Tribunes, those men who were elected to represent the common people, also tried to push through reforms to fix problems, but instead of solutions, assassinations became common.  

Problems in the Republic 

Around 133 B.C. things really started to go downhill for the Roman Republic. The Romans had conquered a lot of land and people by now, and they weren't doing such a good job of dealing with these developments. 

Land

When Rome was at war, the armies tended to destroy a lot of farmlands that people were living on. Many of those people lost their livelihoods, so they had to move to the city and try to find work there. That led to massive overcrowding and starvation in Rome. 

The newly conquered lands were supposed to be held by the Roman government, but wealthy nobiles, the members of the aristocratic patrician class who had family members in important government positions, started buying up and occupying the land illegally. It was tacky for a patrician to be engaged in business, so the dignified way to make money was to own and farm land. But that meant that common people were unable to buy land. 

Slaves 

The nobiles farmed their lands by using slave labor. Yep, a lot of those conquered people ended up working as slaves on these lands. Obviously, slaves weren't happy being slaves, and slave uprisings became more common, and they were costly to put down. You may have heard of Spartacus, and that guy was a slave who led an uprising of thousands against Rome that required the army to step in and end things. 

Citizenship 

Another problem was that Rome had the help of many Italian allies to fight its wars, and those people became part of the Roman Republic, but they were not considered citizens. Many optimates did not want to grant citizenship to these Italian allies because that would mean more aristocrats competing for political positions. Meanwhile, the populars and some tribunes thought it was a good idea to grant them citizenship, especially because many were military veterans.

Taxation 

Taxation in Rome made the people poorer but enriched the pockets of corrupt and violent men. Rome needed more tax money than ever because of its larger borders and increased population. Tax collection was contracted out by the Roman government to the publicani. Publicani were usually from the wealthy equite class who had the money to bid for the tax collection contracts. The publicani decided who to tax and how much to tax. They wanted to get as much money as possible to line their own pockets. Publicani often used armed thugs to extort as much money as possible. As a result, the common people were angry at this over taxation, and the publicans were more corrupt, wealthier, and more powerful. 

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