Sean Munroe

10/8/14
Period 1

Roman Change Over Time Essay

A few reasons for the transition of Rome from a Republic to an Empire
are the economic and geographic reasons, in that the Republic of Rome
failed due to the loss of a middle class, and that the vast terrain allowed
Rome to expand both physically and politically. Economically speaking, the
middle class was lost during the periods of war. This is because the soldierfarmers were fighting in the civil wars of 88-31 B.C.E and investors took over.
In this the new owners decided to not grow crops essential to the middle
class living of Rome, including wheat. Having to import expensive grain,
poverty overcame many citizens of ancient Rome. Supporting this, Bulliet
writes in the textbook, The owners of these large estates found it more
lucrative to graze herds of cattle or to grow cropsthat brought in a big
profit than to grow wheat. This is one of the reasons for the Republic failing.
Another reason that Rome expanded from a Republic to an Empire is due to
the geographical advantages they had. Rome is surrounded by the Apennine
mountain range to the north and east, and the Mediterranean Sea
approximately 24 kilometers to the west giving Rome a natural protection
against others. The vast terrain of Ancient Rome gave Rome abundant
resources. These geographical resources gave Rome the upper hand when in
war, and in result of war, expanding. These are only a few of the reasons why
Rome made the transition from Republic, to Empire.