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146 BCE
The plebeians struggle to get jobs after the Punic Wars.
After the Punic Wars ended, the farmers came home and found that some of their farmland had been damaged and they were living in poverty. Most of the small farms were forced out of business. Many plebeians went to the city to find jobs. However, finding jobs were hard because slaves did most of the work. If they did find a job, they got paid very little. This made many people angry. -
140 BCE
Roman politicians provide cheap food and entertainment.
Politicians were getting worried that people would begin to revolt so to make people happier, they provided entertainment and free food to people in the city. -
108 BCE
Marius comes to power.
Because many people were providing entertainment and cheap food, it allowed dishonest rulers to come to power. One of them was named Marius and he came to power in 108 B.C. Marius began to include the army in the government. -
107 BCE
Marius started to recruit soldiers.
After Marius became a consul, he started to recruit soldiers from the poor areas. He promised them land and paid them wages. The Roman army turned from volunteers to paid professionals. After that they became less loyal to Rome because they were only motivated by the money and land. The army generals became involved with politics and it caused problems. -
82 BCE
Sulla takes over the government from Marius.
In 82 B.C, Sulla took the power from Marius and made himself a dictator. Slowly the republic ideas faded from the government. Sulla ruled for three years and weakened the government. -
79 BCE
Sulla steps down.
After three years of Sulla ruling, the government became weak. Because of this, Sulla stepped down hoping that Rome would become stronger. -
Period: 79 BCE to 29 BCE
The civil wars begin.
After Sulla stepped down, many people wanted to gain power in the same way that he did. This led to many civil wars for the next 50 years.