Editing Roman Republic (section)

===Social troubles and first civil war===
Views on the structural causes of the Republic's collapse differ. One enduring thesis is that Rome's expansion destabilised its social organisation between conflicting interests; the Senate's policymaking, blinded by its own short-term self-interest, alienated large portions of society, who then joined powerful generals who sought to overthrow the system.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|Rosenstein|2006|p=627|ps=, citing {{harvnb|Brunt|1971}} }} Two other theses have challenged this view. The first blames the Romans' inability to conceive of plausible alternatives to the traditional republican system in a "crisis without alternative".{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|Rosenstein|2006|pp=627–628|ps=, citing {{harvnb|Meier|1997}}. See also, on the crisis without alternative, {{harvnb|Meier|1995|pp=491–496}}}} The second instead stresses the continuity of the republic: until its disruption by [[Caesar's civil war]] and the following two decades of civil war created conditions for autocratic rule and made return to republican politics impossible: and, per [[Erich S. Gruen]], "civil war caused the fall of the republic, not vice versa".{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|Rosenstein|2006|p=628|ps=, citing {{harvnb|Gruen|1995|p=504}}. }}

A core cause of the Republic's eventual demise was the loss of elite's cohesion from {{circa|133&nbsp;BC}}: the ancient sources called this moral decay from wealth and the hubris of Rome's domination of the Mediterranean.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|Rosenstein|2006|p=634}} Modern sources have proposed multiple reasons why the elite lost cohesion, including wealth inequality and a growing willingness by aristocrats to transgress political norms, especially in the aftermath of the Social War.{{sfnm|1a1=Morstein-Marx|1a2=Rosenstein|1y=2006|1pp=634–635|2a1=Mouritsen|2y=2017|2pp=171–172}}

====Gracchan period====
{{Campaignbox Servile Wars}}
{{Main|Gracchi brothers}}

In the winter of 138–137&nbsp;BC, a first slave uprising, known as the [[First Servile War]], broke out in Sicily. After initial successes, the slaves led by [[Eunus]] and [[Cleon (Roman rebel)|Cleon]] were defeated by [[Marcus Perperna (consul 130 BC)|Marcus Perperna]] and [[Publius Rupilius]] in 132&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Lintott|1992a|pp=25–26}}

In this context, [[Tiberius Gracchus]] was elected plebeian tribune in 133&nbsp;BC. He attempted to enact a law to limit the amount of land anyone could own and establish a commission to distribute public lands to poor rural plebs.{{sfn|Lintott|1992b|p=62}} The aristocrats, who stood to lose an enormous amount of money, bitterly opposed this proposal. Tiberius submitted this law to the [[Plebeian Council]], but it was vetoed by fellow tribune [[Marcus Octavius]].{{sfn|Lintott|1992b|p=66}} Tiberius induced the plebs to depose Octavius from his office on the grounds that Octavius acted contrary to the manifest will of the people, a position that was unprecedented and constitutionally dubious.{{sfn|Lintott|1992b|p=67}}{{sfn|Abbott|2001|p=96}} His law was enacted and took effect,{{efn|The activities of the Gracchan land commission are archaeologically documented on recovered boundary stones listing the members of the commission.{{sfn|Lintott|1992b|p=68}} With the find locations, scholars estimate distribution of more than 3,200 square kilometres of public lands, mostly concentrated in southern Italy.{{sfn|Roselaar|2010|pp=252–254}} }} but, when Tiberius ostentatiously stood for reelection to the tribunate, he was murdered by his enemies.{{sfn|Lintott|1992b|pp=72–73}}

Tiberius's brother [[Gaius Gracchus|Gaius]] was elected tribune ten years later in 123 and reelected for 122. He induced the plebs to reinforce rights of appeal to the people against capital extrajudicial punishments and institute reforms to improve the people's welfare. While ancient sources tend to "conceive Gracchus' legislation as an elaborate plot against the authority of the Senate... he showed no sign of wanting to replace the Senate in its normal functions".{{sfn|Lintott|1992b|p=78}} Amid wide-ranging and popular reforms to create grain subsidies, change jury pools, establish and require the Senate to assign provinces before elections, Gaius proposed a law that would grant citizenship rights to Rome's Italian allies.{{sfn|Lintott|1992b|pp=82–83}} He stood for election to a third term in 121 but was defeated. During violent protests over repeal of an ally's colonisation bill, the Senate moved the first {{lang|la|[[senatus consultum ultimum]]}} against him, resulting in his death, with many others, on the Aventine.{{sfn|Lintott|1992b|p=84}} His legislation (like that of his brother) survived; the Roman aristocracy disliked the Gracchan agitation but accepted their policies.{{sfn|Lintott|1992b|p=65}}

In 121, the province of Gallia Narbonensis was established after the victory of [[Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus|Quintus Fabius Maximus]] over a coalition of Arverni and Allobroges in southern Gaul in 123. [[Lucius Licinius Crassus]] founded the city of [[Narbo]] there in 118.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/lucio-licinio-crasso_%28Enciclopedia-Italiana%29/ |title=CRASSO, Lucio Licinio |access-date=14 August 2023 |language=it}}</ref>

====Rise of Marius====
{{Campaignbox Jugurthine War}}
[[File:Marius Glyptothek Munich 319.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Bust, traditionally identified as [[Gaius Marius]], elected consul seven times]]
[[File:Sulla Coin2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Denarius]] of [[Faustus Cornelius Sulla (quaestor 54 BC)|Faustus Cornelius Sulla]], 56&nbsp;BC. It shows [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] on the obverse, while the reverse depicts Sulla being offered an olive branch by his ally [[Bocchus I]]. [[Jugurtha]] is shown captive on the right.{{Sfn|Crawford|1974|pp=449–451}}]]
Rome fought the [[Jugurthine War]] from 111 to 104&nbsp;BC against the North African kingdom of [[Numidia]] (in what is now Algeria and Tunisia). In 118, its king, [[Micipsa]], died, and an illegitimate son, [[Jugurtha]], usurped the throne.{{sfn|Lintott|1992a|pp=28–29}} Numidia had been a loyal ally of Rome since the Punic Wars.{{sfn|Matyszak|2004|p=64}} Initially, Rome mediated a division of the country. But Jugurtha renewed his offensive, leading to a long and inconclusive war with Rome.{{sfn|Lintott|1992b|p=88}} [[Gaius Marius]] was a legate under the consul directing the war and was elected consul in 107&nbsp;BC over the objections of the aristocratic senators, relying on support from the businessmen and poor. Marius had the Numidian command reassigned to himself through the popular assembly and, with the capture of Jugurtha at the end of a long campaign, ended the war; in the aftermath, the Romans largely withdrew from the province after installing a client king.{{sfnm|Lintott|1992a|1p=30|Lintott|1992b|2p=92}} Marius's victory played on existing themes of senatorial corruption and incompetence, contrasted especially against the military failure of senatorial leadership in the Cimbrian War.{{sfn|Lintott|1992b|p=94}}

{{Campaignbox Cimbrian War}}

The [[Cimbrian War]] (113–101) was a far more serious affair than the earlier Gallic clashes in 121. The [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] tribes of the [[Cimbri]] and the [[Teutons]]{{sfn|App. ''BCiv.''|loc=6}} migrated from northern Europe into Rome's northern territories,{{sfn|Matyszak|2004|p=75}} and clashed with Rome and its allies. The defeat of various aristocrats in the conflict, along with Marius's reputation for military victory, led to his holding five successive consulships with little to enable him to lead armies against the threat.{{sfn|Lintott|1992b|p={{pn|date=July 2023}}}} At the [[Battle of Aquae Sextiae]] and the [[Battle of Vercellae]], Marius led the Roman armies, which virtually annihilated both tribes, ending the threat.{{sfn|Lintott|1992b|p=96}}

During the Cimbrian War, further conflicts embroiled the Republic: A Second Servile War waged in Sicily from 104 to 101;{{sfn|Lintott|1992a|pp=25–26}} a campaign was waged against pirates in Cilicia; Rome campaigned in Thrace, adding lands to the province of Macedonia; and [[Lycaonia]] was annexed to Rome.{{sfn|Lintott|1992b|pp=96–97}}

====First civil wars====
{{Campaignbox Ancient Unification of Italy}}
{{Campaignbox First Mithridatic War}}
{{Campaignbox Sulla's Second Civil War}}

In 91, the [[Social War (91–87 BC)|Social War]] broke out between Rome and its former allies in Italy: the main causes of the war were Roman encroachment on allied lands due to the Republic's land redistribution programmes, harsh Roman treatment of the non-citizen allies, and Roman unwillingness to share in the spoils of the empire.{{sfn|Gabba|1992|pp=104–111}} After the assassination, in Rome, of a conservative tribune who sought to grant the Italians citizenship, the allies took up arms:{{sfn|Gabba|1992|pp=113–114}} most ancient writers explain the conflict in terms of demands for full citizenship, but contemporary rebel propaganda coins indicate it may have been a primarily anti-Roman secessionist movement.{{sfn|Beard|2015|p=238}} The Romans were able to stave off military defeat by conceding the main point almost immediately, tripling the number of citizens.{{sfn|Beard|2015|pp=238–239}} More recent scholarship also has stressed the importance of the war on the allies in destabilising Roman military affairs by blurring the distinction between Romans and foreign enemies.{{sfn|Beard|2015|p=244}}

Further civil conflict emerged, starting in 88. One of the consuls that year, [[L. Cornelius Sulla]], was assigned to take an army against the [[Pontus (kingdom)|Pontic]] king [[Mithradates VI Eupator|Mithridates]]. The local governor there was defeated, but [[C. Marius]] induced a tribune to promulgate legislation reassigning Sulla's command to Marius. Sulla responded by suborning his army, marching on Rome (the city was undefended but politically outraged), and declaring Marius and 11 of his allies outlaws before departing east to [[First Mithridatic War|war with Mithridates]].{{sfn|Seager|1992a|p=171}} Marius, who had escaped into exile, returned, and with [[Lucius Cornelius Cinna|L. Cornelius Cinna]], took control of the city.{{sfn|Beard|2015|pp=241–242}}

After the Marians took control of the city, they started to purge their political enemies.{{sfn|Seager|1992a|p=178}} They elected, in irregular fashion, Marius and Cinna to the consulship of 86&nbsp;BC. Marius died a fortnight after assuming office. Cinna took control of the state: his policies are unclear and the record is muddled by Sulla's eventual victory.{{sfn|Seager|1992a|p=180}} The Cinnan regime declared Sulla a public enemy and ostensibly replaced him in command in the east. Instead of cooperating with his replacement, which Sulla viewed as illegitimate, he made peace with Mithridates and prepared to return to Italy.{{sfn|Seager|1992a|p=182}} By 85&nbsp;BC, the Cinnans in Rome started preparations to defend the peninsula from invasion.{{sfn|Seager|1992a|p=182}}

In 83, he returned from the east with a small but experienced army.{{sfn|Seager|1992a|p=187}} Initial reactions were negative across the peninsula, but after winning a number of victories he was able to overcome resistance and capture the city. In the [[Battle of the Colline Gate]], just outside Rome,{{sfn|Seager|1992a|pp=194–195}} Sulla's army defeated the Marian defenders and then proceeded to "run riot... killing for profit, pleasure, or personal vengeance anyone they pleased".{{sfn|Seager|1992a|p=197}} He then instituted procedures to centralise the killing, creating [[Proscription|lists of proscribed persons]] who could be killed for their property without punishment.{{sfn|Seager|1992a|pp=197–199|ps=, also citing ancient accounts that some 80 senators and 1,600 equites were targeted in the first round before being joined by two additional rounds of 220 names.}} After establishing political control, Sulla had himself made [[Roman dictator|dictator]] and passed a series of [[Constitutional reforms of Sulla|constitutional reforms]] intended to strengthen the position of the magistrates and the senate in the state and replace custom with new rigid statute laws enforced by new permanent courts.{{sfn|Beard|2015|p=246}}{{sfn|Steel|2014}} Sulla resigned the dictatorship in 81 after election as consul for 80. He then retired, and died in 78&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Seager|1992a|pp=205–207}}

{{Campaignbox Second Mithridatic War}}{{Campaignbox Roman–Parthian Wars}}

====Sullan republic====

[[Pompey|Cn. Pompey Magnus]] served the Sullan regime during a short conflict triggered by the republic's own consul, [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 78 BC)|M. Aemilius Lepidus]], in 77&nbsp;BC{{sfn|Seager|1992b|pp=208–210}} and afterwards led troops successfully against the remaining anti-Sullan forces in the [[Sertorian War]]; he brought the war successfully to a close in 72&nbsp;BC. While Pompey was in Spain, the Republic faced agitation both foreign and domestic. The main domestic political struggle was the restoration of tribunician powers stripped during Sulla's dictatorship.{{sfn|Seager|1992b|pp=210–211}} After rumours of a pact between [[Quintus Sertorius|Q. Sertorius]]'s ostensible republic-in-exile,{{sfn|Seager|1992b|p=220|ps=, describing Sertorius' administration of Spain as a "Rome-in-exile".}} Mithridates, and various Mediterranean pirate groups, the Sullan regime feared encirclement and stepped up efforts against the threats: they reinforced Pompey in Spain and fortified Bithynia. In spring 73&nbsp;BC, Mithridates did so, invading Bithynia.{{sfn|Seager|1992b|p=213}}

In 73, a slave uprising started in southern Italy under Spartacus, a gladiator, who defeated the local Roman garrisons and four legions under the consuls of 72.{{sfn|Seager|1992b|p=222}} At the head of some 70,000 men, Spartacus led them in a [[Third Servile War]]—they sought freedom by escape from Italy—before being defeated by troops raised by [[Marcus Licinius Crassus|M. Licinius Crassus]].{{sfn|Seager|1992b|pp=221–222}} Although Pompey and Crassus were rivals, they were elected to a joint consulship in 70. During their consulship, they brought—with little opposition—legislation to dismantle the tribunician disabilities imposed by Sulla's constitutional reforms.{{sfn|Seager|1992b|pp=224–225}} They also shepherded legislation to settle the contentious matter of jury reform.{{sfn|Seager|1992b|pp=225–226}}

{{Campaignbox Third Mithridatic War}}
{{Campaignbox Rome against the Cilician Pirates}}

[[Lucullus|L. Licinius Lucullus]], one of Sulla's ablest lieutenants, had fought against Mithridates during the first Mithridatic war before Sulla's civil war. Mithridates also had fought Rome in a second Mithridatic war (83–82&nbsp;BC).{{sfn|Sherwin-White|1992|p=229}} Rome for its part seemed equally eager for war and the spoils and prestige that it might bring.{{sfn|Matyszak|2004|p=76}} After his invasion of Bithynia in 73, Lucullus was assigned against Mithridates and his Armenian ally [[Tigranes the Great]] in Asia Minor.{{sfn|Sherwin-White|1992|pp=234–235}} Fighting a war of manoeuvre against Mithridates' supply lines, Lucullus was able force Mithridates from an attempted siege of [[Cyzicus]] and pursue him into Pontus and thence into Armenia.{{sfn|Sherwin-White|1992|pp=236, 239}} After defeat forced the Romans from large parts of Armenia and Pontus in 67, Lucullus was replaced in command by Pompey.{{sfn|Sherwin-White|1992|p=244}} Pompey moved against Mithridates in 66.{{sfn|Sherwin-White|1992|p=252}} Defeating him in battle and securing the submission of Tigranes,{{sfn|Sherwin-White|1992|p=253}} Mithridates fled to Crimea, where he was betrayed and killed by his son Pharnaces in 63.{{sfn|Sherwin-White|1992|p=254}} Pompey remained in the East to [[Pompey's eastern settlement|pacify and settle Roman conquests in the region]], also extending Roman control south to Judaea.{{sfn|Sherwin-White|1992|pp=255–262}}