Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic – Civil War Era – The Main Individuals

This series of articles will try to explain the reasons for the fall of the Roman Republic and the establishment of the Roman Empire. It will use respectable sources and literature and will be published weekly. Part 4 – The Second Phase

The Civil War Phase After Sulla

Immediately after Sulla’s death, many individuals tried to rise up and seize power in the Republic, the first among them being the consul Aemilius Lepidus, who raised an uprising that was suppressed by the second consul Quintus Catullus in the Battle of the Campus Martius, and his army partially dispersed, and partially joined the rebel Marius Sertorius. In Rome, in the period after Sulla’s death, powerful individuals ruled. In addition to the future triumvirs, there were also supporters of the dying democracy, Cicero, one of the last defenders of the Roman Republic, Cato the Younger, and Clodius, who did not choose any means to advance in the political ladder of Rome.

At that time, Caesar was not yet among the leading politicians in Rome. The most powerful after Sulla’s death were those who had been on his side in the civil war, and the most prominent among them were Lucullus, Pompey, Crassus, and Cato. Lucullus was one of the most prominent politicians and military leaders of the late Republic. He was one of the few who did not use his victories to rise to power in Rome. He rose through the usual magistracy hierarchy before becoming consul. After his consular post, he was given command in the third war against Mithridates.

Lucullus led the war against Mithridates successfully, but then he also fought with Mithridates’ father-in-law Tigranes the Great, which prolonged the war, which Lucullus’ opponents in Rome took advantage of, claiming that he was prolonging the war in order to enrich himself. In the war against Tigranes, Lucullus emerged victorious and conquered Tigranocerta and Nisibis, but was unable to successfully end the war after his army rebelled and refused to move on, while news arrived from Rome that his command had been taken away from him, and his rival Pompey had been chosen as his successor in command of the army.

Gnaeus Pompey was the son of Gnaeus Pompey Strabo, who was consul and inherited his father’s fortune after his father’s death, but he changed sides in the civil war and joined Sulla at the age of twenty. In 83 BC, Pompey sided with Sulla, when he returned to Italy and marched on Rome. Pompey gained great popularity in the civil war battles in Sicily and Africa and against Sertorius in Hispania. In the battles against Sertorius, where he was the commander of the troops, he was wounded. Pompey successfully completed all these battles.

In 71 BC, at the invitation of the Senate and Crassus, he participated in the final battles of the Spartacus uprising. Although Crassus was the winner of that war, Pompey took credit for the victory over the slaves and, after the successful suppression of the uprising, became consul for the first time, together with Crassus in 70 BC. He became consul despite the fact that he was only 35 years old and did not go through the usual promotion through the magistracies.

After the consulate, Pompey did not take control of any province, but devoted himself to military duties and fighting pirates. In 67 BC, when he received the imperium for three years to fight pirates in the Mediterranean, he defeated them in only three months. After that, Pompey went to the east, where he replaced Lucullus in the war against Mithridates. Although most of the work was done by Lucullus, Pompey did not mind taking credit for his victories. Pontus, Bithynia, and Syria became Roman provinces after the war with Mithridates, and Judea became a client state of Rome.

Returning from the East in 62 BC, Pompey said that he had changed the face of the world, and he was right. Despite being celebrated as a conqueror and his popularity among the plebs was growing, Pompey became increasingly isolated, as many feared that he would seek the position of dictator. Pompey needed allies, and his former rival and fellow consul Crassus was an ideal opportunity.

Marcus Licinius Crassus was the richest Roman of his time. He was the second son of the consul Publius Licinius Crassus. In the civil war, Crassus sided with Sulla and was forced to flee to Spain during the proscriptions of Cinna. He distinguished himself in the civil war battles on the Apennine Peninsula, especially in the Battle of Spoleto. After Sulla’s victory and during the proscriptions, he came to the greatest part of his wealth. He gained military fame by suppressing the slave uprising led by Spartacus. As praetor in 73, Crassus was appointed commander of the army that was to fight the rebels after offering to finance the gathering and equipping of the army himself.

He subjected the legionaries to harsh discipline, even executing some of them as punishment for previous defeats by the slave army. Against Spartacus, Crassus tried to force a decisive battle in order to seize the glory of the victory for himself. Before the battle itself, Spartacus’ forces were already divided and scattered, so Crassus’ reinforced forces easily emerged victorious, and the fate of Spartacus himself is unknown, but it is believed that he died in the battle. Pompey’s forces captured the defectors from Spartacus’ army and brutally killed them, which Pompey presented as his victory over the rebels, which is where we see the beginning of the conflict between Crassus and Pompey, who were elected consuls in 70 BC.

Although Pompey supported Crassus’ candidacy, this did not lead to their reconciliation, which did not prevent them from jointly revoking Sulla’s laws on the tribunes of the people. Crassus’ goals were to increase his personal power as well as wealth, and he also craved military glory, which is why he tried to obtain an imperium for a campaign in the East. Opposite to them were the defenders of the dying republic, Cato and Cicero. Marcus Porcius Cato was a just man and a firm believer in the principles of the republic. After his military career, he joined the Optimates and was elected tribune of the people for the year 63 BC.

Cato used his position to fight corruption and preserve the order of the republic. His ally in the fight to preserve the republic was Marcus Tullius Cicero, who was considered the greatest orator of the time. Cicero was also part of the Optimate party and during the time of Sulla he advanced from one position to another as regulated by Roman law. He considered himself the defender of the Roman republic, but this did not prevent him from using political violence himself. In 63 BC as consul, after he executed without trial Roman citizens who had taken part in the Catilinarian conspiracy.

The Catilinarian conspiracy was an attempt to usurp power by a group of conspirators led by Lucius Sergius Catiline. Cataline was a soldier of Sulla who had distinguished himself in military exploits, and after Sulla’s death he entered politics and unsuccessfully ran for consul. Having spent all his wealth on attempts to legally seize power, Cataline turned to conspiracy and gathered a group of former Sulla soldiers led by Lentulus and Cethegus who, due to the lack of campaigns, had no income. The plan was to kill Cicero, set fire to the city, and take advantage of the ensuing commotion to declare Cataline dictator.

Cicero learned of the conspiracy and immediately called an emergency session of the Senate to discuss the protection of the state, during which Catiline and his three hundred soldiers left the city limits of Rome. Catiline then died in battle against the second consul Antony, and Cicero himself crossed the line of Roman law when he demanded the execution of Catiline’s supporters caught during street riots in the city without trial. With the support of Cato in the Senate, Cicero executed the five most influential supporters of Catiline, led by Cethegus and Lentulus, which is a violation of Roman law, but at the time Cicero is celebrated as a savior and even called the father of the nation by Cato.

Since Pompey is in the East and Lucullus left political life, the only opposition to Cicero remained Caesar, who loudly opposed the executions in the Senate, but instead proposed that the accused be exiled until the trial is over, and their property confiscated. This time, Caesar’s appeals were ignored but his time was yet to come, and with it, another civil war.

Sources and Literature:

Appianus, of Alexandria. (1902). Appianou Romaikon Emphylion A = Appian, Civil Wars, book I. Oxford: Clarendon Press,

Morey, W. C. (1900). Outlines of Roman history: For the Use of High Schools and Academies.

The Cambridge Ancient History IX (2008),

Beard, M. (2015). SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome.

Plutarch. (1859). Plutarch’s Lives: translated from the original Greek, with notes, critical and historical, and life of Plutarch. New York: Derby & Jackson,