The Roman Republic
Classical Antiquity
Cesare Maccari, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
After the expulsion of Lucius Tarqunius Superbus in 509 BC (conveniently one year before democracy was invented in Athens), the Romans founded a Republic.
The most powerful political body in the Republic was the Senate, an exclusive assembly of Rome's most influential families. Two consuls with a wide range of legal powers were elected for one-year terms. (The first two consuls, naturally enough, were the husband of Lucretia, Lucius Tarqunius Collatinus and Lucius Junius Brutus, the two men who had overthrown the king.) Day-to-day running of the Republic was in the hands of popular assemblies such as the Comita Tributa, Comita Centuriata, Comita Plebis, as well as various magistrates (censors, aediles, praetors, tribunes, etc.) Together, these institutions formed a unique blend of monarchy (rule by one person), aristocracy (rule by an elite class), and democracy (rule by the masses), with some form of checks and balances at each level. In times of crisis, the Senate could appoint a dictator, investing him with all legal authority for a six-month period.
The Republic soon ran into conflicts with its neighbors, but always won due to superior tactics, discipline, and sheer tenacity. After the Social Wars against several other Italian city-states, Rome found itself in control of the entire Italian peninsula. This led it into competition with the other dominant power in the eastern Mediterranean, Carthage (in modern-day Tunisia.) The first Punic War (Punic was the language of the Carthaginians) left Rome in control of Sicily. The second Punic War began with the Carthaginian Hannibal ravaging Italy (with an army of elephants), but ended with the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus defeating him and conquering Carthage's Mediterranean empire. Although defeated, Carthage began to build up its military again (famously leading the Roman senator Cato the Elder began to end all his speeches, no matter the subject, by adding "ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.") In the third and final Punic War, Carthage was indeed completely destroyed.
While this was happening, Rome was simultaneously fighting, and winning, a war against a union of Greek city-states. The Greek city of Corinth was destroyed at the same time, leaving Rome in control of Italy, Spain, northern Africa, and Greece. By the mid-second century BC, the Roman Republic controlled most of the Mediterranean.
Despite their defeat of the Greek alliance, the Romans deeply admired the culture of Greece. Off the battlefield, Roman music was similar to Greek music, and it was considered quite prestigious to study music with a Greek tutor. Instrumental music in particular would be used at festivals, weddings, and funerals. In addition to brass, the Romans had woodwind instruments like the tibia and stringed instruments including the cithara and lyra. A form of the bagpipe was also known to them, as well as numerous types of bells and percussion instruments. The hydraulis, a water-powered organ, could sometimes be found in the homes of the very wealthy. Well educated Romans espoused Greek philosophical views on music as a tool for character development and the formation of civic responsibility, and a dangerous force if not properly channeled.
I think with Plato that nothing more readily influences sentimental and susceptible minds, than the varied melodies of music; whose power of raising both good and evil passions is almost incalculable; for music can excite the depressed, and depress the excited, and augment our energies, or contract them. It would have been well for many of the Greek cities, if they had maintained the spirited and invigorating character of their ancient music; for since their music has been changed, their morals and manners have lapsed into voluptuousness and effeminacy. Whether their dispositions have been depraved by this seducing and enervating music, or whether their heroism has yielded to the temptation of other vices, certainly both their sense of honour and their sense of hearing must have been corrupt enough ere they could find pleasure in their newfangled concertos."
With few enemies left outside, in the second century BC, the Romans began to turn on each other. Socially, Roman citizens were divided into two main classes: patricians (wealthy landowners) and plebians (everyone else.) Although the plebians and patricians were legally equal by the fourth century BC, some individuals began to exploit their social inequality for political gain. Two factions emerged: the Optimates, who generally supported the status quo, and the Populares, who generally supported reform. Roman politics soon degraded into violence. The reformers Gaius and Tiberius Gracchus were both assassinated by their opponents in the late 2nd century BC. Ambitious individuals began to flaunt traditions and precedents. Ignoring the accepted ten-year hiatus between terms, the general Gaius Marius had himself elected consul seven times. In attempt to save the Republic, another general named Lucius Cornelius Sulla led his army into Rome and seized power, having himself named dictator. He did temporarily restore the Republic, but showed the next generation that marching an army into the capital was a possible route to power.
In the early first century BC, the Republic became almost completely dominated by three men known as the First Triumvirate: Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great), Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Gaius Julius Caesar. Crassus was one of the wealthiest men in Rome and was famous for ending a massive rebellion of slaves under the gladiator Spartacus. Pompey was a great general who had won many battles in the east, and Caesar, the nephew of Gaius Marius, had conquered Gaul and Britannia (modern France and England.)
When Crassus was killed on a campaign in Parthia, Pompey and Caesar turned against each other. Pompey sided with the Optimates and Caesar with the Populares. Eventually, Pompey convinced the Senate to order Caesar to return to Rome, where he would surely be arrested. Caesar crossed the Rubicon River but brought his legions with him, dragging the Republic into a civil war. Caesar defeated Pompey and was named dictator for life before the Senate assassinated him in 44 BC, leading to a new civil war between one of Caesar's generals, Marcus Antonius, and his adopted son, Gaius Octavius. Marcus Antonius allied himself with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, but they were both defeated by Octavius.
Faced with his now unrivaled power, the Senate granted Octavius the honorary title Augustus. Although the institutions of the Republic remained, Augustus Caesar had become the first Emperor of Rome.