Social and Economic Factors Leading to the End of the Roman Republic

The severe erosion of the small landholding class during the second century B,C. These small farmers were the bulwark of the Roman Republic. This led to a movement, led by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus to redistribute public lands (ager publica) to the many landless who had been kicked off their land by wealthy people buying up […]

Who Were the Brothers Gracchi, Why Were They Popular and How did They Die?

The Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius were the two sons of Cornelia who was the daughter of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, and her husband Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus. Cornelia gave birth to twelve children, but only three of them survived to adulthood, Tiberius, Gaius and a daughter, Sempronia. The elder by about ten years, Tiberius joined […]

What Happened to the Scipio Family and Why did They Fade From History.

Scipio Africanus had four children, two boys and two girls. Neither of his sons had children. The elder, Publius, adopted the second son of Lucius Aemilius Paullus, who took the name Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus. He is known as Scipio Minor, and he conquered and destroyed Carthage in 146 B.C. He was married to Scipio’s […]

Quora Question:Why did Tiberius Gracchus Promote Land Reform in the face of Roman Senatorial Opposition?

Tiberius Gracchus was the son of Cornelia, the Mother of the Gracchi, and the grandson of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, the Roman general who defeated Hannibal and ended the sixteen year long Second Punic War. Cornelia was married to Tiberius Gracchus the Elder. She bore twelve children, but only three of them, Tiberius, Gaius, and […]

Why Did The Roman Republic Transition to a Monarchy?

The Roman Republic was born in 509 B.C. when the Romans, under the leadership of Lucius Junius Brutus drove out the last King, Tarquin Superbus. The Republic was not very democratic, even though the leadership was elected. The aristocracy had far more say in affairs of state than the common people. It was, essentially, a […]

A Tale of Two Republics

A Tale of Two Republics. Rome, during the early and middle Republican periods actually had a better system for choosing their leaders than we do in the modern United States. Anyone who aspired to the highest political position had to go through the Cursus Honorum. An ambitious young Roman, usually of patrician or equestrian background, […]

How Did Slavery in the Amercan Antebellum South Compare to Slavery in the Ancient World?

In comparing the peculiar institution in the American Antebellum South with its ancestor in the ancient world, you find a few differences and many similarities. One of the most obvious differences is that to qualify as a slave in the Antebellum South, you had to have some Black African ancestry. You didn’t need much. By […]

Book Review: Total War. Destroy Carthage by David Gibbons

I knew I was in trouble when I read the dramatis personae of this book and found that Scipio Aemilianus was married to a fictional person named Claudia Pulchra (or Pulchradina, as the author puts it.) It is well known that Scipio Aemilianus was married to Sempronia Graccha, the daughter of Cornelia the Mother of […]

Notable Women of The Roman Republic-Aemilia Paulla

                        Notable Women of the Roman Republic: Aemilia Paulla   Lucius Aemilius Paullus was one of the two Roman Consuls in 216 B.C. when the disastrous battle of Cannae took place. Killed in the battle, he left a widow and at least two young children. His son, Lucius Aemilius Paullus was born around 228 B.C., […]