OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS
The End of the Republic: Three Views
Although Rome stood supreme over the Mediterranean
world by 133B.C.E., the internal structure of the republic
had begun to disintegrate. During the next hundred
years, the republic was afflicted with mob violence,
assassinations, civil wars, and unscrupulous politicians
who seized every opportunity to advance their own
interests. The Roman historian Sallust (86-35B.C.E.), who
lived through many of these crises, reflected on the
causes of Rome’s problems. In the first selection below,
he discusses the moral decline that set in after the
destruction of Carthage in 146B.C.E. Sallust presented a
broad, philosophical view of the problem, but some
figures directly involved in the struggles of the last
century—namely, Caesar and Cicero—had their own
ideas about the immediate crisis that led to the end of
the republic. In the second selection, taken fromThe
Civil Wars, Caesar presents a defense of his decision to
move into Italy with his troops. In the third selection, a
letter from Cicero to his friend Atticus, Cicero indicates
what he thinks of Caesar’s action.Sallust,The War with Catiline
Good morals were cultivated at home and in the field; [in
the early republic] there was the greatest harmony and
little or no avarice; justice and honesty prevailed among
them, thanks not so much to laws as to nature. Quarrels,
discord, and strife were reserved for their enemies; citi-
zen vied with citizen only for the prize of merit. They
were lavish in their offerings to the gods, frugal in the
home, loyal to their friends. By practicing these two qual-
ities, boldness in warfare and justice when peace came,
they watched over themselves and their country....
But when our country had grown great through toil
and the practice of justice, when great kings had been
vanquished in war, savage tribes and mighty people sub-
dued by force of arms, when Carthage, the rival of
Rome’s sway, had perished root and branch, and all seas
and lands were open, then Fortune began to grow cruel
and to bring confusion into all our affairs. Those who
had found it easy to bear hardships and dangers, anxiety
and adversity, found leisure and wealth,... a burden and
a curse. Hence the lust for power first, then for money,grew upon them; these were, I may say, the root of all
evils. For avarice destroyed honor, integrity, and all other
noble qualities; taught in their place insolence, cruelty, to
neglect the gods, to set a price on everything. Ambition
drove many men to become false; to have one thought
locked in the breast, another ready on the tongue; to
value friendships and enmities not on their merits but
by the standard of self-interest, and to show a good
front rather than a good heart. At first these vices grew
slowly; from time to time they were punished; finally,
when the disease had spread like a deadly plague, the
state was changed and a government second to none in
justice and excellence became cruel and intolerable.Caesar,The Civil Wars
Having called the senate together, he [Caesar, who
refers to himself in the third person] recounts the
wrongs done him by his personal enemies. He explains
that he had sought no extraordinary office, but, waiting
for the legitimate time of his consulship, had been con-
tent with privileges open to all the citizens.... He sets
forth his own patience when under no pressure he had
made the request about the disbandment of the armies,
a point in which he was ready to make a personal sacri-
fice of dignity and position. He tells them of the bitter-
ness of his foes who refused in his case what they
demanded in the other, and preferred utter confusion
to the surrender of military power and armed force. He
tells of their injustice in robbing him of his legions,...
he enumerates the terms that he had offered, the con-
ferences asked for and refused. On these considera-
tions he exhorts and charges them to take up the
burden of state and administer it with his help; but if
they shrink through fear he will not burden them, and
will administer the state himself. Envoys should be
sent to Pompey to effect a settlement, nor was he
afraid of the remark made by Pompey a little before in
the senate, to the effect that undue influence is attrib-
uted to those to whom envoys are sent and fear argued
on the part of those that send them. Such considera-
tions seemed to belong to a poor and weak spirit. His
own wish was to be superior to others in justice and
equity as he had striven to surpass them in action.114 Chapter 5The Roman RepublicCopyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
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