-
There was already a class struggle at this point already. The class struggle lasted from 500 BCE to 360 BCE. In 494 the plebeians had threatened to leave Rome. If this happened the Republic would be defenseless. This led to the creation of two officials, known as Tribunes -
There was a concern that rose from the plebeians, that the government would always side with the patricians. They insisted laws to be written. So laws were written and were made public so people could see. This was similar to Athens who did this 100 years earlier. -
The Celts were a growing civilization. They dramatically increased their territory across Europe. In 387 BCE they reached Rome and pushed further to the lands of Macedonia, Greece, and Anatolia. Years later, Rome expanded and took the lands back. Making the Republic. -
Rome was expanding as it slowly started to take the lands of the Latin League. However, this expansion was taken back by the Celts in 387 BCE. That's when Rome realized that they should not let a city fall into attack again. In 338 BCE Rome finally defeated the Latin League. However, it did not punish the cities. They offered citizenship to the people instead. -
After the Plebeians threatened Rome that they would leave, Rome made Tribunes. Soon enough there were more advancements in the power of the Plebeians. The government soon created a Plebeian council. By 287 BCE the Plebeian Assembly could pass legislation. -
In 230 BCE Romans started to take a larger interest in Greek literature. They even had slaves tutor their children in Greek. This was a status symbol in Rome at the time. In 220 BCE a Roman senator, Quintus Fabius Pictor, wrote a history of Rome in Greek. This was the first major Greek literature written by a Roman. -
The First Triumvirate was founded in 60 BCE. This group composed of three people, hence, "triumvirate." It was composed of Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey. Each person wanted something different -
Before Caesar's death, he appointed himself as the dictator for life. He replaced the Senate with his supporters. He also made changes in the calendar and the currency. However, he was soon assassinated by senators who wanted to try and save the Republic. This in fact, did not save the Republic as Caesar also had an heir, Octavian. -
In 235 CE the major crisis of the Empire began. This crisis was due to the invasions that the Empire had along with political instability. In the same year the crisis started the Emperor, Severus Alexander died. Many came after him, but none seemed to live for a long time. All of them either died from war or were murdered. In fact there were 26 emperors in the next 50 years. -
The Roman empire fell in 476. There are several reasons behind this fall. First of all, Rome was starting to become weak. This was due to the corruption in politics. To make situations even worse, Rome was starting to get infiltrated by "barbarian" cultures. Its borders were also extremely weakened. Making it a target for many of the other civilizations near by.