TITLE:
The Afterglow of the Roman Republic: Becoming an Empire without an Emperor
AUTHORS:
Bincheng Mao
KEYWORDS:
Roman Empire, Transformation of Governing Systems, Greek and Roman Political Philosophy, Transformation of Political Cultures
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.7 No.9,
September
27,
2019
ABSTRACT: This
paper demonstrates the process of transformation between the Roman Republic and
the Roman Empire. It examines whether Augustus, the traditionally considered
first emperor of Rome, indeed marked the beginning of the Roman Empire. This
paper analyzed the specific political performances of Roman leaders before
Augustus, including the Gracchus brothers, Sulla, and Caesar, and compared them
to Plato’s and Cicero’s definitions of an ideal republican governing system. In
the end, it is proved that Rome had become an empire even before it had an
emperor. During the course of research, the author employed the method of
source criticism, in which he collected primary and secondary sources and
evaluated their relevance to either a republican government or an empire.