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Why did many Romans people feel the need for a strong leader 59BCE?
Wiki User
∙ 7y ago
59 B.C. cannot be seen as a year when the Romans wanted a strong leader. If anything, many Romans were not pleased to see Roman politics being dominated by the First Triumvirate, a three-man alliance between Caesar, Crassus ad Pompey. This was an informal alliance which had been created the year before and had been kept secret. It became publicly known when Crassus and Pompey openly supported Caesar's land reform bill which aimed at redistributing land to farm to the poor. Caesar had been elected as consul for the year 59 B.C., together with Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus. These two men belonged to two opposed political factions. Caesar was a popularis, a progressive political faction which championed the cause of the poor and wanted reforms which helped the poor. Bibulus was an optimate, a conservative faction which favoured the aristocracy and opposed the reforms the populares wanted. Bibulus unsuccessfully tried to veto Caesar's bill. That he then was attacked by a crowd of supporters of Caesar and that the latter gained the political upper hand in that year was more the result of factional strife than a desire for a strong leader.
A desire for a strong leader emerged later, when Julius Caesar started a civil war against the forces of the senate. Caesar was very popular among the lower and middle social strata in Rome because he was a popularis and it was expected that he would help the poor and because he was seen as a man who was standing up to an aristocracy which was seen as corrupt.
The Roman Republic had become dysfunctional under the weight of imperial expansion. The central government had control over the provinces (conquered territories). The governors of the provinces became unruly and treated their provinces as if they were their personal fiefs. Tax collection in the provinces was carried out by private collectors who 'farmed' the taxes to line their pockets through extortion. Corruption was rampant. A reform of military recruitment made the soldiers loyal to the commanders of their legions who could use them to obtain what they wanted through the threat of or the use of military violence. In 71 BC Crassus and Pompey camped their troops outside Rome to have themselves elected as consuls (the two annually elected heads of the Republic). Pompey was not even eligible on the grounds of being below the required age and of not having served some public offices which were required before the consulship. In the last 64 years of the Republic there were 12 civil wars. In 88 BC Sulla entered the city of Rome with his troops during his first civil war against forces of Marius, even though Roman religion forbade the bearing of arms within the city walls. In addition, Rome was at times torn by the conflict between populares and optimates.
Ryan Lindgren
Wiki User
∙ 10y agoThe Romans did not feel the need for a strong emperor in 59 AD. In that year they were under the reign of Nero. Nero finalised his attainment of a tight grip on power in that year, with his commissioning the murder of his controlling and interfering mother, Agrippina the Younger. This was due to Nero's desire for stop her form trying to pull his stings, rather than a desire for a strong leader by the Romans. The rebellion against Nero only started in 64 AD.
Wiki User
∙ 10y agoThe Romans did not feel the need for a strong emperor in 59 AD. In that year they were under the reign of Nero. Nero finalised his attainment of a tight grip on power in that year, with his commissioning the murder of his controlling and interfering mother, Agrippina the Younger. This was due to Nero's desire for stop her form trying to pull his stings, rather than a desire for a strong leader by the Romans. The rebellion against Nero only started in 64 AD.
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Why did many roman people feel the need for a strong leader in 59bce?
59 B.C. cannot be seen as a year when the Romans wanted a strong leader. If anything, many Romans were not pleased to see Roman politics being dominated by the First Triumvirate, a three-man alliance between Caesar, Crassus ad Pompey. This was an informal alliance which had been created the year before and had been kept secret. It became publicly known when Crassus and Pompey openly supported Caesar's land reform bill which aimed at redistributing land to farm to the poor. Caesar had been elected as consul for the year 59 B.C., together with Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus. These two men belonged to two opposed political factions. Caesar was a popularis, a progressive political faction which championed the cause of the poor and wanted reforms which helped the poor. Bibulus was an optimate, a conservative faction which favoured the aristocracy and opposed the reforms the populares wanted. Bibulus unsuccessfully tried to veto Caesar's bill. That he then was attacked by a crowd of supporters of Caesar and that the latter gained the political upper hand in that year was more the result of factional strife than a desire for a strong leader. A desire for a strong leader emerged later, when Julius Caesar started a civil war against the forces of the senate. Caesar was very popular among the lower and middle social strata in Rome because he was a popularis and it was expected that he would help the poor and because he was seen as a man who was standing up to an aristocracy which was seen as corrupt. The Roman Republic had become dysfunctional under the weight of imperial expansion. The central government had control over the provinces (conquered territories). The governors of the provinces became unruly and treated their provinces as if they were their personal fiefs. Tax collection in the provinces was carried out by private collectors who 'farmed' the taxes to line their pockets through extortion. Corruption was rampant. A reform of military recruitment made the soldiers loyal to the commanders of their legions who could use them to obtain what they wanted through the threat of or the use of military violence. In 71 BC Crassus and Pompey camped their troops outside Rome to have themselves elected as consuls (the two annually elected heads of the Republic). Pompey was not even eligible on the grounds of being below the required age and of not having served some public offices which were required before the consulship. In the last 64 years of the Republic there were 12 civil wars. In 88 BC Sulla entered the city of Rome with his troops during his first civil war against forces of Marius, even though Roman religion forbade the bearing of arms within the city walls. In addition, Rome was at times torn by the conflict between populares and optimates.
What are the social cultural and educational importance of newspaper?
A newspaper has been called the first draft of history, because it tells the important events in a culture, at the time those events took place. Years later, scholars and historians can look back and have a greater understanding of what went on at that time, and how the big stories were reported (as well as what was considered a big story). And newspapers can provide much more than just the news-- they offer various perspectives on the events. For example, you may find there are several political viewpoints of an event: newspapers with a more conservative or Republican slant reported quite differently on the Cold War, McCarthyism, or the New Deal, as opposed to publications that were aimed at a more liberal or Democratic readership. Also, some news events mean different things to different audiences, depending on where they live. A good example is reporting on slavery. This story was covered very differently in the newspapers of the north and in the abolitionist newspapers, which focused on how terrible and harmful this practice was and how it needed to stop; the newspapers of the south reported about the plantation system quite differently, often stressing that it was a benign and necessary system and should be continued. Reading these diverse perspectives can help us to see the bigger picture and place events in a historical context; thus, newspapers can help us to understand why things happened the way they did. Many historians believe the first newspaper was the Acta Diurna (Daily Acts), first issued around 59BCE; this publication covered the activities of Julius Caesar in ancient Rome, and of course, it was not neutral-- it mainly touted the achievements of the Roman leader. But its historical value remains great. And the first North American newspaper, Publick Occurrences, published in 1690, was of equal historical value. Newspapers (and news magazines) are one way a culture or a city or a country preserves its past and transmits the information to future generations. Reading newspapers can be very educational. It can increase your vocabulary and it can give you something to think about, since some stories are very complicated. Some of the columnists are excellent writers and their work is so memorable it might move you to take action (some columnists focus on particular causes) or it make you want to become a writer too. Through reading newspapers, you can learn more about what the lives of typical people were like: what stories shocked them, what stories upset them, what stories were considered important to read (the most important stories were on page 1). The pages of the newspaper also give clues about what people of a particular era enjoyed, how they passed their leisure time, who were the celebrities, who were the villains, etc. You can follow what happened to a story or a trend-- did people change their attitude? Reading about Prohibition, we find that at first, many people were in favor of it, but a few years later, public opinion had shifted dramatically. Newspapers let us follow these changes and compare how things were in one era with how things turned out later on. Even today, reading newspapers can show you which political figures are admired, who is controversial, who in the culture is considered heroic, and who are the "bad guys." And whether they are read on line or in hard copy, newspapers continue to be important cultural and historical artifacts.
