Student Essay on The Importance of the 1st Triumvirate in the Fall of the Roman Republic

ONE of the most significant events in 1st Century BC Roman Politics was the formation of the first triumvirate (made up of Pompey, Crassus and Caesar) in 60B, and when added to the continuing decline of mos maiorum (order) in the senate, the rapid expansion of the Roman Empire, and a succession of extraordinary commands given to various magistrates, it formed the grounds for the roman oligarchy to collapse in 30 BC.

Besides these, a multitude of other factors from the time of the Gracchi brothers in 133BC to the rise of Octavian (later to be the first emperor, Augustus Caesar) in 28 BC eroded the fragile order of the Republic.

Some of these include; urban-peasant migration, violence and corruption throughout the senate and people's assembly, the shift of army loyalty (from the state to the individual commander) the continual disregard of the cursus honorum (political processes) and most...
(read more)