Henry Ford1 Essay - 2333 Words

Henry Ford1 Octavian Augustus (63 B.C.E-14 AD) is known as the first, and one of the greatest, Roman Emperors ever. Octavian enabled the long, peaceful time of the Pax Romana by changing Rome from a fragile, crumbling republican government to a mighty empire. Octavian ¹s government was strong enough to withstand weak emperors who mismanaged the Empire. His changes proved to be the cornerstone of the greatest empire the world has ever seen. During the Conflict of Orders, the lower class Romans, or plebeians, forced the upper class Romans, known as patricians, to give them more rights and liberties (Hadas 1969). The Republican government in Rome was established to satisfy the plebeians, while still leaving a majority of the control†¦show more content†¦He started to accept anyone into the army regardless of whether they owned any land. This created a vast change in the makeup of the armies. Many poor people decided to join in hopes that they would benefit financially from any victories. Soldiers became attached to Roman generals rather than the state because of the possible economic gains (Hanes 1997). The government ¹s separation of the army would prove to be a major problem. Laws could only be enforced if The Republic controlled the armies. When the army followed a general rather than the government, the government lost all power. In 90 B.C.E, Roman allies in Italy finally rebelled against the city. The allies were angry that they were not considered citizens of Rome. They had benefited little from Roman expansion even though their citizens had served in the military. After a very bloody campaign, the Social War, as it was called, eventually ended when the allies were defeated. The Senate, however, decided to grant citizenship to the allies (Hanes 1997). This move expanded the Roman State to all of Italy. As the number of citizens grew, The Republic became harder and harder to manage. During the Social Wars, one general, Lucius Cornelius Sulla proved to be very successful in battles. Based on this military success, Sulla was elected consul in 88 BCE After completing his term, Marius tried to stop Sulla from taking any military command. Sulla countered by marching his troops on Rome