The final tumultuous century of the Roman Republic began with a war against the tribes of the Spanish interior and the struggle in Rome between the newly emerging Optimate and Populares factions, embodied by the rivalry between the Gracchi and the Senate. Bloodshed between these factions increased the pace of decline and led to civil war which erupted between Sulla and Marius. This cycle of civil war, which was continued years later by Pompeius and Caesar, would ensure the eventual rise to power of the ruthless political genius Octavian, the originator of the Principate and Imperial Rome in its truest form, and the death of the Republic.
In 147 BC Macedonia was annexed as a Roman province. By 133 BC Greece and most of Spain had been conquered. At the end of the period Roman armies had marched into the Middle East and had conquered the German tribes and the Gauls. In 55 BC Julius Caesar tried to invade Britain but was frustrated by British warriors and the weather. When Octavian became the first emperor of Rome in 27 BC, the Empire stretched across most of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
In The Later Roman Republic Brian Taylor documents in a clear chronological style, the development of the Empire, its external and internal struggles and characters. By dealing with each year in turn, the reader can see how events unfolded during this turbulent and fascinating period of history. When there are a number of conflicts, each is shown as a separate entry, be it the Gallic or Mithridatic Wars, Africa or Illyria. Thus, the reader is able to study a chosen area of operations in isolation while assessing its wider impact on the Romans or their enemies.
What's inside The Later Roman Republic:
I Numantia and the Gracchi
II Jugurtha, Germans and Marius
III Sulla, Marius and Civil War
IV The Conquest of the East
V Caesar's Conquest of Gaul
VI The Great Civil War
VII The Death of the Republic
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