Customer center

We are a boutique essay service, not a mass production custom writing factory. Let us create a perfect paper for you today!

Example research essay topic: Gaius Julius Caesar East And West - 2,175 words

NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote

... senators and collected taxes, and twenty five quae stores, or financial officers. In 450 BC, the Plebs demanded that the laws of Rome be written down so that the praetors couldn't twist the law in their favor. They were written down on the Twelve Tables. An example of a law from the Twelve Tables was, "If plaintiff summons defendant to court, he shall go. If he does not go, plaintiff shall call witness [to this].

Then only shall he take the defendant [to court] by force. " (Nardo 28 - 29) The Tribunes of the Plebs protected the Plebs from unjustness, and the Plebs protected them by threatening to strike. As time went on, Patrician control over Plebeians gradually decreased, until in 366 BC, the Plebs were allowed to become consul. Soon it became a custom to elect one Pleb and one Patrician (Nardo 28). In 287 BC, the Popular Assembly gained the right to make laws. Rome was ever expanding. In 496 BC, Rome conquered Latium.

In 449 BC, the Sabines fell, and in 396 BC, the Etruscans. Instead of trying to oppress conquered tribes and peoples, Rome absorbed them, integrating them into their culture. This made them much easier to control, because they felt like they belonged to Rome. This is what Cicero had to say about it: "Every citizen of a corporate town [one annexed by Rome] has, I take it, two fatherlands, that of which he is a native, and that of which he is a citizen.

I will never deny my allegiance to my native town, only I will never forget that Rome is my greater fatherland, and that my native town is but a portion of Rome. " (Nardo 31) The Senators of Rome also felt great loyalty towards the city. In 390 BC, raiders from Gaul invaded the city. Some of the Senators stayed in the city. Livy tells what happened: "[The Senators sat]...

without fear or concern... The Gauls, for a great while, stood wondering at the strangeness of the sight, not daring to approach of touch them, taking them for an assembly of superior beings. But then one [Gaul], bolder than the rest, drew near to one elderly senator, and... gently stroked [the Senator's] chin and touched his long beard; the Senator with his staff struck him a severe blow on the head; upon which the barbarian drew his sword and slew him.

This was the introduction to the slaughter. " (Nardo 32) The Romans didn't look kindly upon failures. After the consul Varro lost fifty thousand soldiers in battle with Hannibal's army, he was ejected from office. According to Nardo, the only reason he wasn't executed was that he fought along side the army, and didn't desert (45). In the Punic wars against Carthage, Rome had to develop naval technology. After Carthage was defeated, Roman merchants adopted ships to do their trading, making them more and more wealthy. Eventually, these wealthy merchants formed a new class, called the 'equestrian order'.

This new class competed with the patricians for power in the government. The citizens began splitting into two parties. The Imperialists, led by General Scipio Africanus, wanted to continue expanding eastward. The Conservatives, led by Senator Cato the Elder, wanted to settle down and stop expanding. As time went on, the Imperialists increasingly prevailed. By the second century BC, the government became more and more imperialistic, to the point that they would attack anything with the smallest excuse.

In 192 BC, the Seleucid king Antiochus III took over a few freed Greek cities. Rome invaded, conquered everything, and drove Antiochus III to Asia Minor. The Roman army chased him, and conquered the territories he had in Asia Minor. Gaius Julius Caesar was born on July 13, 100 BC to a prestigious Roman family.

His uncle was Gaius Marius, the consul and leader of the agrarian reform movement. In 82 BC, Lucius Cornelius Sulla attacked the city and made himself dictator. Because Sulla was an enemy of Marius, he ordered Caesar to divorce his wife, Cornelia. Caesar refused, and fled the city until Sulla resigned in 78 BC.

Caesar started his reign in a triumvirate, with himself, Pompey the Great, and Marcus Licinius Crassus. According to Nardo, this was just a dictatorship of three. They ruled the Republic with terror, using the army and their henchmen as muscle. (77 - 78) The only person who continually voiced his opposition to the triumvirate was the famous orator, Cicero. The triumvirate chased him into hiding. In 58 BC, Caesar et al. 's term ended, but they kept power.

Caesar boosted his popularity by conquering Gaul and Britain. In 53 BC, Crassus died in battle in Asia, leaving a triumvirate of two. While Caesar was away in Britain, the senators tried to pit him against Pompey by naming Caesar a public enemy and Pompey protector of the state. The senators were hoping that the two would get rid of each other. Caesar was ordered to disband his army, but he instead marched on Rome. He was just bringing his soldiers home, but it was taken as an invasion (Nardo 83 - 84).

In 48 BC, Caesar crossed to Greece, where Pompey had escaped to. Pompey escaped to Egypt, where he sought shelter with King Ptolemy XIII. Ptolemy's advisors warned him against the wrath of Caesar, so he killed Pompey and sent Caesar his head. In 46 BC, Caesar was named the ten year dictator of the state.

He promptly renamed himself dictator for life. On March 15, 44 BC, a group of senators who decided that Caesar was a danger to the Republic. Led by Brutus and Cassius, they attacked Caesar in the senate chambers. Ironically, his body fell at the feet of the statue of Pompey, after suffering twenty three knife wounds. Immediately after Caesar's death, the senate outlawed the dictatorship.

After Caesar's death, his adopted grandson, Octavian, formed the second triumvirate with Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Antony ruled the east, Octavian the west and Italy, and Lepidus ruled Africa. The second triumvirate was constituted by an act of state to reconstitute the state. They were given five years, but this was later extended. The three crushed all of their opponents, including Brutus, Cassius, and Cicero. Battling against Status Pompeius, Octavian summoned Lepidus to Italy to help him.

Upon arriving, Lepidus tried to seize Sicily, and was subsequently kicked out of the triumvirate. Mark Antony fell in love with Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, who was rumored to be a former lover of Caesar. Together they ruled the eastern Empire for many years. With the growing support of the Roman people, Octavian declared war on Antony, to secure power for himself.

The two forces, Octavian's navy commanded by Marcus Agrippa, and Antony and Cleopatra's navy, met at the battle of Actium on September 2, 31 BC. Agrippa, a very capable general and a good friend of Octavian, commanded 260 light ships, while Antony commanded 220 heavy ships (Encarta "Actium"). The battle raged on for a very long time, and was beginning to look like a stalemate, when the Egyptian fleet withdrew. Agrippa's fleet crushed the remnants of Antony's fleet, who survived and escaped back to Egypt with Cleopatra. Antony received a false rumor and killed himself by falling on his sword. Upon hearing of his suicide, Cleopatra killed herself with an asp, which was a symbol of the eye of Ra, the Egyptian sun god (Gibson).

After the war was over, Octavian closed the Roman temple to Janus, the Roman god of beginnings of wars. This showed that the world was at peace. In 28 BC, Octavian and Agrippa became consuls. After one year, they turned the state over to "the free decision of the Senate and People of Rome" (Adcock 74).

The Senate and people of Rome gave Octavian ten years of complete control. Octavian named himself the princeps, which is Latin for emperor. He ran the Empire as a monarchy, although it was disguised as a Republic. They still had a senate, but senators only made it into office with Octavian's approval. Those citizens who weren't fooled kept quiet, because Octavian kept things peaceful and governed fairly. Octavian ended the Roman tradition of conquest, cutting the army from seventy five to twenty eight legions.

In 23 BC, Octavian gave up the consulate, but the senate forced him keep power over the provinces. In effect, he ran the Empire from the background, while others were elected consul. These consuls had power, but always did what Octavian said. On his death bed, Octavian was advised to forgive his enemies. He responded with, "Yes father, but how can I? I have [killed] them all" (Adcock 75).

Octavian was almost eighty when he died in 14 AD. After Octavian came the Emperor Tiberius. His reign was non-eventful, and he retired after plots against him were turned up. After Tiberius came Gaius, who was better known as Caligula.

During his reign, Caligula went crazy. According to Burrell, anyone disagreeing with him was thrown to the lions in the Arena. He also got the Senate to name his horse consul. (49) Everyone was thankful when he was assassinated in 41 AD. Caligula was succeeded by several emperors who did nothing governmentally, including Claudius and Nero. Around the second century AD, the Empire began to crumble. Wave after wave of barbarian invaders, especially the Huns, chipped away at the state.

Eventually some of the provinces had to be abandoned. At the end of the third century, Emperor Diocletian decided the empire was two big, and split it in two. He ruled the east from Turkey, and commissioned Maximian to rule the west from Milan. He called this form of government the Dominate, from Latin dominus, meaning master. There were two August, who ruled the east and west, and under them there were two Caesars, who were like vice-presidents. The two Caesars of the east and west were Constantine and Galerius, respectively.

Diocletian turned his empire into something like a feudal system, where peasants were deprived of personal freedom and tied to the soil. He renamed citizens to subjects. In 305, Diocletian and Maximian stepped down as August, resulting in civil wars between the old Caesars and new August. Eventually, Constantine the Great came out on top in 312. Constantine's troops made him emperor, and he ruled the entire Empire from Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople.

Constantine was the first Christian ruler of the Empire. Alaric of the Visgoths helped the emperor Theodosius crush a rebellion. Unfortunately, Theodosius died before he could reward Alaric. The new emperor, Honorius, cut Alaric off from Rome, which he resented deeply.

Alaric took his army to Constantinople, but found it too well guarded. He then led his army to the city of Rome, where, in the fifth century, sacked it. The Empire continued to fall to barbarians. The east and west sides of the Empire were in a virtual state of war. In 429, Vandals conquered Africa.

In 410, Britain fell. In 451, the Huns took most of Europe. When Atilla the Hun came to Rome, Pope Leo was able to convince him to spare the city. In 455, Vandals came and sacked Rome.

In the year 476 AD, the last emperor died, marking the fall of the Roman Empire, one of the greatest ever. That last emperor's name was, ironically, Romulus. The Roman Kingdom, Republic, Empire, Dictatorship, and others have affected all of us. The United States government in commonly known as a democracy, but it's actually a Republic, almost identical to the Roman one.

The Roman government was one of the most powerful ever, at one point ruling most of the civilized world. It is almost certainly the best known. Ask anyone about Romulus and Remus, Gaius Julius Caesar, Augustus, Caligula, Nero, Constantine; they " ll know who you " re talking about. The term Caesar was used to mean ruler for thousands of years after his death. Both the German word Kaiser as well as the Russian word Czar are from the name Caesar and mean ruler.

Today some three-fourths of the countries are Republic, styled after the Romans. The Romans are probably the most influential people of all-time. Actium, Battle of. Computer Software. Encarta Encyclopedia, 1996 ed. Adcock, F.

E. Roman Political Ideas and Practice. Ann Arbor: Asimov, Isaac. The Roman Republic. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966. Burrell, Roy.

The Romans. Oxford: Oxford University, 1991. Caesar. Computer Software.

Encarta Encyclopedia, 1996 ed. Caesar, Gaius Julius. Computer Software. Encarta Encyclopedia, 1996 Gibson, Elke. Personal Interview. 19 March 1997. Nardo, Don.

The Roman Republic. San Diego: Lucent, 1994. "The Reforms of Diocletian and Constantine. " CIS: Research and Republic. Computer Software. Encarta Encyclopedia, 1996 ed. Rise of Rome (753 - 44 BC). Computer Software.

Encarta Encyclopedia, "Rome, Ancient - the Empire. " CIS: http: //issue / menu / 133. html; Research and Education, Academic American Encyclopedia; Grolier's (16 Rome, History of. Computer Software. Encarta Encyclopedia, 1996 ed. Sabines. Computer Software.

Encarta Encyclopedia, 1996 ed. Bibliography:


Free research essays on topics related to: bc octavian, bc caesar, gaius julius caesar, east and west, people of rome

Research essay sample on Gaius Julius Caesar East And West

Writing service prices per page

  • $18.85 - in 14 days
  • $19.95 - in 3 days
  • $23.95 - within 48 hours
  • $26.95 - within 24 hours
  • $29.95 - within 12 hours
  • $34.95 - within 6 hours
  • $39.95 - within 3 hours
  • Calculate total price

Our guarantee

  • 100% money back guarantee
  • plagiarism-free authentic works
  • completely confidential service
  • timely revisions until completely satisfied
  • 24/7 customer support
  • payments protected by PayPal

Secure payment

With EssayChief you get

  • Strict plagiarism detection regulations
  • 300+ words per page
  • Times New Roman font 12 pts, double-spaced
  • FREE abstract, outline, bibliography
  • Money back guarantee for missed deadline
  • Round-the-clock customer support
  • Complete anonymity of all our clients
  • Custom essays
  • Writing service

EssayChief can handle your

  • essays, term papers
  • book and movie reports
  • Power Point presentations
  • annotated bibliographies
  • theses, dissertations
  • exam preparations
  • editing and proofreading of your texts
  • academic ghostwriting of any kind

Free essay samples

Browse essays by topic:

Stay with EssayChief! We offer 10% discount to all our return customers. Once you place your order you will receive an email with the password. You can use this password for unlimited period and you can share it with your friends!

Academic ghostwriting

About us

© 2002-2024 EssayChief.com