Roman Republic
(509 BC to 27 BC)
What happened?
The Roman Republic as a phase in Roman history between the Roman Kingdom and the Roman Empire (Principate of the Roman Empire). A few important events took place at the end of the Roman Kingdom. In 509 BC, King Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was overthrown by the noble men of Rome. It was an era of classical Roman civilization, led by the Roman people. The republic began with the first election of the consuls in 509 BC. The era ended in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire, when Octavian established the First Imperial Dynasty. During this period, Rome grew from a city that fought local wars neighboring cities, into a world empire.
Roman society under the Republic was at first a cultural mix of Latin and Etruscan societies, with Sabine, Oscan, and Greek cultural elements. The transition of Rome from a monarchy to a republic led to severe internal social tensions. This lack of control over the city led to neighboring cities to siege the city. Therefore, Rome had to ratify its identity during the first seventy years of the Republic. There was political turmoil, the population was divided. The nobles who had overthrown the king and his family, had not come to an agreement regarding the type of government that would replace the monarchy. Its political organization developed around the same time direct democracy in Ancient Greece. The top magistrates were the two consuls, who had an extensive range of executive, legislative, juridical, military, and religious powers. The consuls would later replace the leadership of the Roman kings but was not put in place immediately. That happened many years later. Some historians believe that in the first stages of the Roman Republic, a praetor maximus was appointed for one year only. This form of government went on until 449 BC. Then his duties were split in two by choosing two consuls at the time to govern Rome. The position of chief magistrate was not exclusively for the “patres”. There is evidence that shows plebeians, common civilians, becoming consuls up to 485 BC. Political instability led the strongest factions to form alliances between themselves. After 485 BC, patricians no longer allowed commoners to take part in the government.
The Roman Republic was in a state of quasi-perpetual war throughout its existence. Latin and Etruscan neighbors and Gauls were the first enemies. The romans were resilient and always managed to overcome its losses. Rome conquered the whole Italian peninsula in a century and became a major power in the Mediterranean. Carthage was the Republic’s greatest enemy. The Punic general Hannibal famously invaded Italy by crossing the Alps. The Republic once again recovered and won the war in 202 BC. With Carthage defeated, Rome became the dominant power of the ancient Mediterranean world. It embarked on a long series of difficult conquests and defeated foreign leaders such as Perseus of Macedon, the Gaul Vercingetorix, and the Egyptian queen Cleopatra.
At home, the Republic experienced a long streak of social and political crises, which ended in several violent civil wars. Mass slavery caused three Seville Wars, the last was led by Spartacus, a skillful gladiator who ravaged Italy and left Rome powerless until his defeat in 71 BC. The last decades of the Republic were marked by the rise of great generals, who exploited their military conquest and the factional situation in Rome to gain control of the political system. Sulla greatly influenced politics between 82 BC and 78 BC, while dominating the Senate. To sustain the Empire the Senate was forced to choose a natural born leader, a General, who also understood politics to rule the people. Plebeians wanted to seize the power, which led the dictator to be given more political power to ensure that they would not seize the control of Rome. This resulted in the triumvirate political regime and dictatorship of Julius Caesar. Despite his victory and appointment as dictator for life, he was murdered in 44 BC. Caesar’s assassins Brutus and Cassius were defeated in 42 BC by the Caesar’s heir Octavian and Mark Antony. The two turned against each other and Anthony was defeated alongside his ally and lover Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. The Senate’s grant of extraordinary powers to Octavian as “Augustus” in 27 BC. This made him effectively the first Roman emperor Augustus and ended the Republic.
With Colored Crest Replica. Found: Antwerp, Belgium (JN0150)
Roman Lorica Segmentata with Centurion Helmet
± 61 BC to ± 44 BC
In the Roman legion, a centurion of one hundred men was the highest officer rank attainable by a man of ordinary descent. It is comparable to a current captain in the military. In the 1st century BC, a cohort (= 1/10 of the legion) consisted of 6 centuria of 80 soldiers, each led by a centurion. During the state of Emperor Augustus, they were legionaries with 13 to 20 years of service. But also, Praetorians (= imperial bodyguard) and knights could put themselves forward as candidates. He was responsible for the daily chores, training, and discipline of the men. Those who could write and calculate had the highest rank of pilus prior. The post was for one year, in response they could be taken up to knighthood. An equestrian (= knight) could then retire, become camp prefect, or become a kind of judge in the imperial guard. Due to their high pay and high status, they were often loyal to the Roman emperor.
The centurion can be recognized by its vine (vitis), its decorations on the chest and its transverse crest (crista) with plume decoration on its helmet (galea). The color is debatable, finds show that the hair was colored yellow for the cavalry. For republican hastati (= lance bearer) they were sometimes purple or black.
This chest harness, ± 9 kg, dates from our era. It consisted of strips of steel fastened together with bronze clasps. It only protected up to the hips. The construction gave little freedom of movement and was less difficult to make than the chain mail, which was previously used in the legions. From the 3rd century on, this type of armor was used less.
Replica. Found: Wervik, Belgium (JN0142)
Gallic Javelin
± 57 BC
Gauls is a collective name for peoples who lived west of the Rhine before the Romans conquered the region. Most of the tribes were Celts and excelled in their agricultural, weapon and art techniques. They often competed against each other because they did not form a political unity. Their religion was practiced by Druids, who also held political and legal power. Well-known Gaul tribes from Belgium are the Eburones, Menapii and Nervians.
Julius Caesar saw the Belgae as Gauls and were close neighbors of the Germans. For the Romans they were difficult and courageous opponents. Not all Belgae lived in present-day Belgium. Their territory spread over France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Germany. After the conquest by Caesar in 57 BC, the region was romanticized, and we speak of a Gallo-Roman culture.
The English name is javelin. In prehistoric times, humans used stones as spearheads. Later these were replaced by bronze and iron. The spear was a weapon long before the use of fire. There are already spears in Germany that are from about 380.000 BC to 400.000 years BC. Not from a branch, but with heartwood from a tree and fully balanced. The Greeks turned it into a sport during their Games.
Early models were made to throw. Other models were intended as a stabbing weapon. The Romans used their throwing spear, the pilum, with a short shaft and a longer thin iron bar with a point on top.
The Gallic cavalry threw several spears to weaken the enemy for a frontal attack. The spearmen used the spears in a tactic very similar to that of the Parthian equestrian archers. They managed to attack on horseback and throw spears while they retreated backwards.
Such javelins were used as a combat weapon until the 17th century.