Poor Plebs

Poor Plebs (literally)

- The poet Juvenal said Rome "anxiously hopes for two things: bread and circuses"
- Bread (free grain from the state) and entertainment (circus Maximus, Colosseum), partly to keep them alive,  and partly to keep them quiet, distracted, and docile

A Change in Rule

- Tiberius Gracchus recognized the advantages of courting the plebeians (even though he was ultimately unsuccessful)
- Military generals worked that angle - lead an army that conquers a land, then give them a share in the spoils
- Soldiers' loyalty was to their military leader, not necessarily to Rome or the Republic

No one did that better than Caesar

- Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE) (test question)
- A highly successful general
- He conquered the huge territory of Gaul

He could play the game (of politics)

- Made common folks happy
- Made friends in high places
- Pompey (a general who conquered Syria and Palestine)
- Crassus (the richest man in Rome, one of the richest men in all history)
- These three men formed the first Triumvirate (rule of three men)

"Crossing the Rubicon"
- Cross the point of no return

Caesar seizing power

- serves as consul (one year)
- Appoints himseld governor of Gaul
- Pompey is jealous, becomes his rival (Caesar's army clash with Pompey's in Greece, Asia, Spain, and Egypt)
- In 44 BC he is named dictator - first for six months, then for life