The Roman Republic

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the various influential arguments available to explain the acquisition of a vast empire by the Roman Republic. The paper also argues that the economic interests and greed for material benefits were as important as the lust for power and expansion of the Roman people for building the empire through a series of wars. The paper concludes that only by taking both economic and political factors into consideration can the reasons behind Roman acquisition of its historic empire be adequately comprehended.

From the Paper:

"The case of Macedon also supports the role of economic motivations behind Roman conquests. Much of public finance, by the 2nd century, depended on money plundered through war or collected as tax from conquered provinces. For example, in 167, war booty collected from Macedon was estimated 120 Million sesterces. Moreover, Roman citizens were exempted from direct taxation as Roman treasury was getting taxes from Macedonians. In 146, the conqueror of Macedon built the first marble buildings in Rome, the temples of Juno and Jupiter, with the money gathered from war."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Badian, E. (1970). The Lackof Economic Motivation. In E. S. Gruen (Ed.), Imperialism in the Roman Republic.
• Errington, R. M. (1971). The Dawn of Empire: Rome's Rise to World Power. Africa, 19, 257-269.
• Harris, W. V. (1971). On war and Greed in the Second Century BC. The American Historical Review 76, 1371-1385.
• North, J. (1981). The Development of Roman Imperialism. Journal of Roman Studies 71, 1-7.
• Polybius Bk. 36. section 9 (Week 1 folder)

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