ROMAN HISTORY

Roman History

Roman History

Factors that brought Julius Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus and Pompey together

In 60BC, Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus formed a three-man alliance against the conservative Senators. The alliance was called “Triumvirate” that means three men and refers to a coalition government (Galinsky, 2000). Triumvirate was formed of three men (Julius Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus and Pompey) who needed each other to get what they wanted. Two of these men were hostile to each other ever since the revolt of Spartacus; another pair allied themselves only tenuously through marriage. Pompey and Crassus were not on agreeable terms, but it was not difficult for Caesar to bring them together on the basis of their collective needs (Mellor, 2004).

Factor that set them apart

The conflict broke out between the two opponents in the year 50 BC. Pompey wanted to achieve primacy in Rome with the consent and sanction of the Senate, Caesar without constitutional scruples aimed at a power based on the support of the army (Mellor, 2004). Moreover, the intimate bond, which held Pompey and Caesar (together), had been severed in 54 by the death of Pompey's wife Julia, who was the daughter of Caesar. The death of Crassus in the following year destroyed the balance of power in the triumvirate, and brought Caesar and Pompey face to face as rivals. Pompey, at least, seemed to be waiting only for the right time to strike. The propitious moment seemed to come in 52, when he was elected sole consul (Ward, Fritz and Cedric, 2009).

Aims and Attainments of Caesar

Caesar was master of Rome: he was giving the dictatorship and even its censors, for ten years and began a broad program of reform of the State. He completed the enlargement of the extending citizenship to the Gauls of Italy Trans, and he also gave up the courts in the Senate (Print, 2007). He limited the luxury, narrowed the list of workers who were entitled to free distribution of wheat, carried out a broad plan of colonization in Italy and outside Italy (Narbonne in Gaul, in Africa, where Carthage was rebuilt in Greece with the reconstruction of Corinth). Caesar also reformed the calendar, bringing January, August and December and 30 to 31 days of April, June, September and November, thus forming the 365-day year (Ward, Fritz and Cedric, 2009).

Opponents and its reason

After two years of absolute power, Sulla resigned from his position as dictator, restoring the normal consular government. Caesar returned to Rome when he learned of the death of Sulla (78 BC), and his return coincided with the attempted rebellion led by anti-Sullan Marcus Lepidus and blocked by Pompey (Mellor, 2004). Caesar (not trusting the ability to Lepidus) did not participate in the rebellion, and began alternately to devote himself to the legal career as a prosecutor and as the political leader of the popular and outspoken enemy of the nobles. At this stage, although still young, he already showed a great political intelligence, avoiding to get involved in an insurgency badly organized ...