- Unit 3. Rome, the Global Empire
- Getting Started
  - What Are We Learning?
  - Observe and Think
  - Map Your Mind
- Rome, the Global Empire
  - The History of Ancient Rome
    - A Little City Become Empire
    - The Legendary Origins
    - The Monarchy (753-509 BC)
    - The Republic (509-27 BC)
      - The Fight for Political Rights
      - Major Conquests during the Republic
      - The Crisis of the Republic
    - The Roman Empire (27-476 AD)
      - The Crisis of the Third Century
      - The Recovery of the 4th Century
      - The Fall of the Roman Empire
  - The Roman Society
    - Women in Rome
    - Slaves
  - The Roman Economy
  - The Roman Law
  - The Roman Army
- Self-Evaluation Quiz
- Complementary Activities
  - The Greek and Latin Roots of English
  - One Myth, One Song
  - Games, Comics and Stuff
- References

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# The Crisis of the Republic

In the 1st century BC, the Republic was weakened by significant social and political crises.

> Social crisis: the powerful class profited most from the conquests, receiving large plots of land and buying slaves. On the other hand, peasants were ruined because they had to serve in the army and could not compete with large landowners. This caused social conflicts.

> Political crisis: to prevent disorder, the military formed triumvirates, i.e. alliances of the men who shared the power. The first triumvirate was formed by Julius Caesar, Crassus and Pompey. However, they soon disagreed and a civil war broke out. Julius Caesar won and was appointed perpetual dictator. In 44 BC, he was assassinated by a group of senators and supporters of the Republic. The second triumvirate was formed by three of Caesar's supporters: Mark Antony, Lepidus and Octavian. Octavian took control after several wars, and in 27 BC, the Senate gave him maximum powers.

As you can see, this is probably one of the most fascinating periods in History. This is the reason why tv series, books, comics, etc. based on this fascinating period succeed. Let's mention HBO's Rome, for example.

Let's delve into the intrigues of that time by means of three activities. For that, divide the class into three groups and each group will choose one activity.

## Activity 1

Make an interactive poster with Glogster about the first triumvirate and the first civil war. You must combine photos and short texts and videos.

## Activity 2

Make an interactive poster with Glogster about the second triumvirate and the second civil war. You must combine photos and short texts and videos.

## Activity 3:

Prepare a "fakebook" profile of one of the most relevant figures of this period. You have many to choose from: Caesar, Cicero, Mark Antony, Cleopatra...
You should know... Julius Caesar

Have you ever heard of the motto "veni, vidi, vici"? It was said by Julius Caesar as History Teachers remind us in this song.

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