9.13: Conclusion

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One of the peculiar things about the Roman Republic is that its rise to power was in no way inevitable. No Roman leader had a "master plan" to dominate the Mediterranean world, and the Romans of 500 BCE would have been shocked to find Rome ruling over a gigantic territory a few centuries later. Likewise, the demise of the Republic was not inevitable, either. The class struggles and political rivalries that ultimately led to the rise of Caesar and then to the true transformation brought about by Octavian could have gone very differently. Perhaps the most important thing that Octavian could, and did, do was to recognize that the old system was no longer working the way it should, and he thus set about deliberately creating a new system in its place. For better or for worse, by the time of his death in 14 CE, Octavian had permanently dismantled the Republic and replaced it with the Roman Empire.

Image Citations (Wikimedia Commons):

Romulus and Remus - Stinkzwam

Expansion of the Republic - Javierfv1212

Punic Wars - Javierfv1212

Mithridates VI - Eric Gaba

Map of the Republic - Alvaro qc

Patrician Torlonia - Unknown

First Triumvirate - Andreas Wahra

Cleopatra VII - Jastrow