The Inevitability of the Civil War: The Popularis and the Optimates

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.220110.188How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Civil War; popularis; optimates; Caesar; Pompey

Abstract

The Civil War in 49 BCE was the most direct catalyst to Rome’s transformation from republic to empire because it perpetually ended the struggle between the popularis and the optimates and established a dictatorship. Through assaying two major precedents in Roman history: the reforms of the Gracchi brothers and Sulla’s march on Rome, then examining the political and military relationships between Pompey, Caesar, and the Senate in the 50s and 60s, this paper details the reasons that made Pompey and Caesar’s Civil War inevitable. I argue the direct cause of this Civil War was long years of build up between the popularis and optimates political factions and the Senate’s unwillingness to compromise. The tragic trajectory of Rome explicates for the modern world how extreme wealth gaps, a divided constitution, and seditious reform leaders can be catastrophic for even the greatest empires.

Copyright

© 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.

Open Access

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Tianzhi Yang
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/01/28
TI  - The Inevitability of the Civil War: The Popularis and the Optimates
BT  - Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Public Art and Human Development ( ICPAHD 2021)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 994
EP  - 999
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.220110.188
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.220110.188
ID  - Yang2022
ER  -