- Back to previous page
- Last Period: Kingdom Period
- Next Period: Second Republic(N/A)
- Chinese
Largest territory of Senatus Populusque Romanus in First Republic Period
The period of the First Republic was from 9491 CC/244 AUC to 9977 CC/730 AUC.
As the last Roman king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was exiled by the rebels, Lucius Junius Brutus, who led the uprising, refused the crown according to the oracle, and swore with the Roman people in front of the Temple of Jupiter that they would never allow anyone to become the king of Rome again, which is known as the Oath of Brutus. The Republic that continues to this day officially began.
The First Republic era witnessed the rapid development of Rome. During this period, Rome gradually developed from a small country in the central part of the Apennine Peninsula to a great power that dominated the Mediterranean and extended its territory to the New World across the ocean. The research on magic theory and technology also laid the foundation for the future "Magic Revolution".
The early days of First Republic[]
Although the kingdom officially ended with the exile of Tarquinius the Proud, the new republic was still in an extremely unstable state. On the one hand, the exiled Tarquinius did not give up his ambition to regain the throne, and continued to gather supporters in the Latin League to counterattack Rome; on the other hand, in Rome, a large number of Royalists were still plotting to overthrow the republic and bring back Tarquinius. The chaos caused by the Royalists lasted for 10 years until the Battle of Lake Regillus in 9501 CC/254 AUC, which ended with the Republican army's complete victory over the Royalist coalition. After this battle, the Royalist forces were completely destroyed, and Tarquinius gave up his claim to the throne and spent the rest of his life in Cumae. The Latin League countries that originally supported Tarquinius also readmitted Rome through the Treaty of Cassius in 9507 CC/260 AUC, and recognized Rome's dominant position in the alliance.
But the end of the Royalist did not mean that the Republic would become stable. On the contrary, because the kingdom ended and the Republic was founded, the earliest class conflict between the Patrician and the Plebeians soon broke out over rights issues, which eventually led to the First Secessio Plebis in 9506 CC/259 AUC (the Plebeians who were treated unfairly by the Patrician, collectively left Rome, forcing the Patrician to finally agree to reconciliation and establish the post of Tribunus Plebis to safeguard the interests of the Plebeians), and the formulation of the Twelve Tables in 9549 CC/302 AUC.
Beginning of the struggle with Gaul, expansion of the Republic into Italy and integration with the Latin League, and rise of the Plebeian class[]
The Battle of Allia, which broke out in 9610 CC/363 AUC, is considered one of the greatest disasters in Roman history. The Gallic tribal coalition led by the Senones defeated the Roman army and occupied all other Roman cities except the Capitoline Hill. Under the protection of gods such as Jupiter and Mars, the defenders of the Capitoline Hill successfully held out until the reinforcements of the previously exiled war hero Marcus Fulius Camillus (who was revered as the Second Founder of Rome after the war) arrived, and finally repelled the Gallic invasion. This battle marked the beginning of a three-century struggle between the Republic and the Gallic tribes, which ended with the victory of the Republic at the end of the First Republic.
After recovering from the looting of Gaul, Rome as the leader of the Latin League, used the power of the league to start a war of expansion on the Italian peninsula. From the First Samnite War in 9657 CC/410 AUC, to the surrender of Taranto in 9728 CC/481 AUC, Rome gradually transformed from a city into an emerging country spanning the entire Italian peninsula. At the same time, the Republic also began a policy of integration with the Latin League. By granting autonomy to each alliance city and absorbing elites from different cities to become new citizens and even Senators of Rome, the Latin League was successfully integrated into the system of the Roman Republic. To this day, the bloodlines of many ancient families can still be traced back to this period.
However, it was not just the elites of the Latin League who became new citizens and even new senators. With the victory and benefits of the war, many Roman Plebeians who gained military merit and wealth through military service began to use their influence to improve their social status. The barriers of the original class system that was clearly divided between the upper and lower classes were broken, and class mobility began to appear. Many Plebeians were promoted to the newly born Equites class and even the higher Patrician class, and it was not uncommon forPatrician to fall to the Equites class or even the Plebeians class. This situation profoundly affected the subsequent Roman history.
The Two Great Pyrrhic Wars and the Sicilian Wedding[]
Due to Rome's victorious expansion in the southern part of the Italian peninsula, the Magna Graecia states, led by Taranto, began to face the Roman army directly. In addition, the Republic of Carthage in North Africa also successfully landed on Sicily and continued to win victories over the Magna Graecia states. In order to fight against the expansion of Rome and Carthage, the Magna Graecia states asked for help from the commander of the Epirus League, the famous military genius Pyrrhus the Great, and the First Great Pyrrhic War broke out.
From 9720 CC/473 AUC to 9725 CC/478 AUC, Pyrrhus' army fought in the southern part of the Italian peninsula and Sicily, defeating Rome and Carthage many times. However, it was ultimately defeated by the combined national strength of the Roman and Carthaginian forces and due to internal discord within the alliance, after its defeat in the Battle of Beneventum in 9725 CC/478 AUC, Pyrrhus the Great chose to withdraw from Italy at once.
But just 11 years later, in 9736 CC/489 AUC, Pyrrhus the Great, who had successfully integrated most of his cousin Alexander the Great's legacy into his own hands through conquest and alliance, launched a new round of war against Rome and Carthage in order to seek revenge and divert the contradictions caused by the empire's own fragility, known as the Second Great Pyrrhic War. Faced with a far more fierce offensive than the last time, the alliance between Rome and Carthage became closer, and the oracles received in the cities of Rome and Carthage respectively made the two countries finally choose a further relationship: unification. In the early days of the war, in 9740 CC/493 AUC, 920 years after Aeneas married Queen Dido, Gaius Dulius, then Roman consul, and Hanno, then Carthage consul, held a wedding ceremony between Rome and Carthage in Syracuse, at the forefront of the war. Thus, the wish of Aeneas and Queen Dido came true, and Rome and Carthage were inseparable from then on. For Pyrrhus the Great, this war was just like the last one. Although he won many victories over the Roman and Carthaginian coalition forces, he was unable to conquer the will of the two countries to resist. His aging body was unable to continue to support his ambitions. He left Italy forever due to a serious illness in 9745 CC/498 AUC, returned to his homeland, and died in bed two years later. This war ended with his death, and at the same time, the legacy of Alexander the Great, which he had painstakingly integrated, also ended. Once again, the successors tore apart the empire and re-entered endless infighting. A gale that should have destroyed Rome and Carthage changed its direction.
The establishment of hegemony in the Mediterranean world and the development of the New World[]
Starting with Hamilcar Barca's conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 9763 CC/516 AUC, the Republic launched an active and aggressive expansion policy in the Mediterranean region. In order to avoid the emergence of another Pyrrhus the Great, the successors in the eastern Mediterranean became the primary target of the Republic's expansion. Starting from the First Macedonian War in 9783 CC/536 AUC, the successors and fragments of the once powerful Alexander Empire either chose to become allies of the Republic (such as the Hellenistic League, the states of Asia Minor, the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Kemet, the Kingdom of Odrysia, the State of Judea, etc.), or were conquered by the Republic one by one and became new provinces (such as Macedonia, the Seleucid Dynasty of Syria, the Epirus League, etc.). So far, from the Pillars of Hercules to the Bosphorus, the Mediterranean has become an undisputed Roman lake.
At the same time, Rome, which inherited Carthage's discovery of the New World, also organized an exploration of the New World and successfully arrived in the New World in 9782 CC/537 AUC, establishing Rome's first city in the New World, New Troy.
Reforms of the Gracchi Brothers and the Military Reforms of Marius[]
Although the expansion of the Republic brought Rome unimaginable wealth, it was accompanied by an increasingly severe problem of the gap between the rich and the poor. The Patricians and the Plebeians took shape during this period. In 9867 CC/620 AUC, Tiberius Gracchus served as a Tribunus Plebis for the first time. From then on until 15 years later in 9882 CC/635 AUC, he and his brother Gaius Gracchus served as Tribunus Plebis for many times, promoting large-scale social reforms including land reform, citizenship reform, and judicial reform, known as the Gracchus Brothers Reform. Although the brothers were once threatened with their lives and were eventually exiled to overseas colonies in the New World after leaving office, most of the results of the reform were retained, easing the social contradictions of the Republic. The Gracchus brothers also became a role model for future Roman reformers.
In 9887 CC/640 AUC, the Cimbrian Wars caused by the migration of three Germanic tribes became the biggest crisis Rome had faced since the Second Pyrrhic War. The traditional Classis soldiers of the Republic proved to be outdated and were defeated by the Germanic army. At this critical moment, Gaius Marius was appointed to start the Marian Reforms, forming the first legion in Roman history and successfully defeating the invading Germanic army. Although Marius' military reforms were well received at the time and in later generations, the lack of early legion rule-making led to the strengthening of the military commander's interference in the executive power, which laid the groundwork for the end of the First Republic.
From Sura to First Triumvirate[]
With the military reform of Marius, the Roman Legions, which mainly relied on the recruitment system, replaced the traditional Classis forces (the Classis forces still existed, but they were no longer the main force in war, but only existed as local defense forces) and became the main military force of the Roman Republic. However, due to the early ambiguity about the loyalty of the legions, the legions often became the private soldiers of the military commanders, causing the instability of the political situation in Rome. Although Rome's external military expansion was still going smoothly during this period, and even a powerful Nation like Pontic kingdom under Mithridates VI's rule eventually chose to succumb to Rome and became Rome's loyal ally, the political struggle within Rome became increasingly violent, especially the intensified struggle between Marius and Sulla, which led to the massacre of each other's supporters and almost destroyed the political harmony of Rome. Sulla's first march into Rome set a precedent for the subsequent military coups, and the Spartacus Uprising also shocked the entire republic. The chaotic situation did not end until 9940 CC/693 AUC, when Marcus Licinius Crassus, Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompey formed the First Triumvirate. During the First Triumvirate, Caesar successfully conquered Gaul in the west, ending the struggle between the First Republic and Gaul and laying the foundation for Octavian's conquest of Germania; Pompey resisted Parthia's harassment in the east and defended Rome's eastern border; and Crassus, who was in Rome, used his influence to ensure the normal operation of Roman administrative institutions, including the Senate. The First Triumvirate lasted until 9950 CC/703 AUC, when Crassus died at home for unknown reasons. Crassus the Younger, Crassus' son and Caesar's right-hand man, secretly informed Caesar, allowing Caesar to return to Rome before Pompey and successfully control the situation. In order to ease the relationship with Pompey, Caesar, who was serving as Consul, met with Pompey in Kemet (Ptolemaic Dynasty) in 9953 CC/706 AUC and reached a consensus. During this period, Caesar met Cleopatra VII and fell in love. After defeating Ptolemy XIII, who attempted to assassinate Caesar and Pompey, Caesar restored Cleopatra VII to the throne of the Kemet Pharaoh and had a son (Caesarion) with her. In 9956 CC/709 AUC, Caesar was elected Consul for life. In the same year, an assassination attempt was made against Caesar, but he escaped danger because of the life-saving efforts of Caesar's friend and general Mark Antony. Three years after becoming Consul for life, in 9959 CC/712 AUC, Caesar died of old age and illness. Pompey was recalled and elected as the new Consul to stabilize the situation. In 9971 CC/724 AUC, Pompey died in Rome, and all the First Triumvirate had passed away.
The Last Triumvirate, Octavian becomes Augustus, the end of the First Republic[]
According to Caesar's will, Caesar's political legacy was equally inherited by his legitimate illegitimate son Caesarion and his adopted son Octavian. After Pompey's death, Octavian and Crassus the Younger decided to support Caesarion, the then Pharaoh, as the Principatus and the nominal ruler of the republic for the sake of power balance, while Octavian and Crassus the Younger served as Consul and Tribunus Plebis respectively, forming the prototype of the Triumvirate system of the future Roman Republic. Compared to Caesarion and Crassus the Younger who stayed in Rome, Octavian participated in many foreign wars. Through his victory in Germania and his achievements in repelling the Parthian invasion, he successfully obtained the management rights of the Hittite Province (later upgraded to the Lugal State of Hittite as one of Princeps Domains). Caesarion died of an unknown disease in 9976 CC/729 AUC. Before his death, Caesarion announced that the positions of the Principatus and the Pharaoh would be permanently bound to prevent Kemet from becoming a province, thus starting the Principatus-Pharaoh System. Soon, Crassus the Younger lost the power struggle with Octavian and stepped down. Octavian took this opportunity to use his influence and the instructions of the oracle to make the Senate grant him the title of Augustus in 9977 CC/730 AUC. Thus, the First Republic with the Consul as the political center officially came to an end, and the Second Republic era began.