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Significance of Caesar, Cato the Elder, Marius, and Fabius Maximus in Making Rome Republic

Essay Instructions:

We studied the book Roman Lives:
Pick any four figures from Plutarch’s The Makers of Rome.. What was so significant about them? What did they achieve? Why did you pick to write about them? Be specific.

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Roman Lives
Plutarch’s book, “The Makers of Rome,” describes Rome’s most remarkable men, whose significant contributions through their personalities, careers, and military work facilitated the establishment and thriving of the Empire. According to Plutarch, Caesar, Cato the Elder, Marius, and Fabius Maximus influenced the lives and destiny of the Roman Empire and its people, attaining significant accomplishments that have influenced the ancient world to date.
Julius Ceasar
Julius Ceasar, according to Plutarch, was a prominent general, legislator, and scholar considered one of the most significant rulers in the history of the Greco-Roman world. Born in 100 BC to a noble family, who were relatively poor and not influential, Ceaser found favor for himself and his family, which saw him elected to several public offices (Plutarch et al. 297). In his twenties, he enlisted in the military and rose to the political ranks in the military tribune of aedile, a Roman magistrate, governor of Spain, and the Governor of Gaul in 58BC. He conquered and stabilized the region through attacking and killing their enemies, thereby earning the title of a strong and ruthless military leader.
Caesar is a significant Roman leader, according to Plutarch et al., for changing the form of the Roman government from the Roman Republic to a dictatorship (298-299). The Roman government was under Roman nobility and a class of Roman businessmen, whose primary role was to enrich themselves through military contracts and collect taxes from farming (Plutarch et al. 298-299). Ceasar rose the military rank to become the governor of Gaul and used the opportunity to make significant alliances with like-minded leaders such as the radical Lucious Cornelius and increase his military power and ill-gotten gains. He used his return to Rome as an opportunity to arm his army and launch an attack on Pompey, the leader at the time, defeating him. His victory saw him consolidate power and make himself a mighty dictator. He brought significant changes of enlarging the senate, creating necessary government reforms, and reducing the country’s debt. Despite his short-lived tenure, he laid the foundation of dictatorship in Rome and the rest of the world (Plutarch et al. 298-299).
I choose to write about Julius Ceasar for his instrumental actions and abilities to introduce a change in government leadership that affected the Roman republic and the entire world up to date. The multitalented individual in philosophy, oratory, and military leadership rose from a poor and unknown family into a formidable leader who defined one of the most utilized forms of leadership today. These achievements, which brought significant changes to the Roman republic, made him an interesting and noteworthy leader for me to discuss.
Cato, the Elder
Marcus Porcius Cato, also referred to as Cato the Elder, was a renowned soldier, senator, and historian in Roman history. He was born in Tusculum, Sabine mountains in 234BC, socialized to a farm life by his parents. Like his father, he enlisted in the army at seventeen, setting himself apart in the various battles. His political service began as a military tribune in Sicily before running for office to become Quaestor in 204 B.C. and Africanus Major during the African war (Doyle 440).
Cato the Elder was a significant leader for upholding and pushing for conservatism in the wake of Greek influence in Rome. Conservatism is the cultural, visual, and political philosophy that seeks to maintain traditional institutions according to their values and practices. According to him, corruption and luxuries were the primary threats to the Roman Constitution and the way of life of Romans. Thus, he successfully pushed for their abandonment by firing senators he deemed unfit for the senate role and introducing rules against feasting and wasting money on luxuries (Doyle 440-442).
Cato achieved the successful pushing out of the Scipio Africanus leader. He was viewed as a power-hungry, corrupt, and extravagant leader, enriching himself and dominating the republic. Cato was also instrumental in preserving the Roman culture through Latin literature. The Latin language and literature were essential tools to counter the growing dominance of Greeks in Rome. Hence, he wrote numerous books in Latin, manuals on military strategies and participated in the documentation of...
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