At the beginning of the Republic, Roman society was divided into 4 classes: Patricians, Clients, Commoners and Slaves.
The political, social and economic decadence caused the commoners to come into conflict with the patricians, this struggle lasted about 200 years. Despite this, the Romans managed to conquer almost the entire Italian Peninsula and soon afterwards left for the Mediterranean.
They fought more than 100 years against Carthage in the so-called Punic Wars and then occupied the Iberian Peninsula (an achievement that took more than 200 years), Gaul and the Eastern Mediterranean.
The occupied territories were transformed into provinces. These provinces paid taxes to the government of Rome (as a sign of submission).
The conquests turned the Roman army into an unbeatable group.
The military community was formed by:
- Citizens of Rome, territories, colonies and Latin tribes who also had Roman citizenship
- Communities whose members did not have full Roman citizenship (could neither vote nor be voted on)
- Autonomous allies (making alliance treaties with Rome)
In addition to the army, the roads built across the Italian peninsula also contributed to explaining Roman conquests.
The Romans developed weapons and also perfected the technique of setting up camps and building fortifications.
Military discipline was severe and the punishment consisted of beatings and beheadings. Winning soldiers received awards and honors and the general was honored, while losers were beheaded in prisons.
Two names stood out during the Roman Empire: Julio César and Augusto.
After several conflicts, Julio César became dictator (with the support of the Senate) and supported by the army and the urban people, he began to accumulate titles granted by the Senate. He became Pontiff Maximus and became: Perpetual Dictator (could reform the Constitution), Lifetime Censor (could choose senators) and Lifetime Consul, in addition to commanding the army in Rome and the provinces.
So many powers gave him several privileges: his statue was placed in the temples and he came to be worshiped as a god (Jupiter Julius).
With so much power in his hands, he began to carry out several reforms and garnered huge popular support.
- Ended civil wars
- Built public works
- Reorganized finances
- forced owners to hire free men
- Promoted the foundation of colonies
- Reformed the calendar giving its name to the seventh month
- Enter the leap year
- extended Roman citizenship to provincial inhabitants
- Appointed and supervised governors to prevent them from despoiling the provinces
In return, the wealthy (who felt hurt) began to conspire.