Episode 31: Rome: The Decline of Democracy (Part 1)

This episode is the first part of a larger series in which I am joined by Roman Empire expert Brett Davidoff, as we discuss some of the parallels of ancient Rome to the United States and other historical instances of democratic decay.In this first part we talk about the functionality of the Roman Republic and what forces lead to it's ultimate demise....***Historical Correction***Although the Marian reforms did in fact result in more power being laid in the hands of the commanding generals of Rome instead of the state, the mechanism through which this occurred is different from what was originally stated. The original statement that the Marian reforms resulted in the soldiers being paid directly from the generals, remains only a partial truth. The real reform was that prior to Marius, soldiers provided their own armor, horses, and lodgings allowing only middle and upper class Romans the opportunity to become soldiers. The reforms made it so the state paid for all equipment and made the job of solider a fulltime obligation. Before the reforms, the Roman army was made up of middle to upper class roman citizens who served until a given conflict ended, and then returned to civilian life. The formation of a professional army comprised mostly of the Roman poor, who served very long campaigns and survived entirely on the paychecks they received for serving (which were paid out by their generals). In addition, after Marius, soldiers received pay in the form of land grants after fulfilling the terms of their service.