Yr. 10 Roman HistoryEssay: Julius Caesar Topic: “‘Caesar was simply the logical conclusion of developments in the late republic from the Punic Wars onwards.’ Why might someone hold this opinion? To what extent do you agree?”

By the end of the Third Punic War (~146 BCE), Rome had already undergone many significant changes to its political and social structure due to her sudden expansion. There was also unrest in the lower classes, who were struggling because of the constant war, the proliferation of slavery, heavy taxes and the rise of the middle class. As a result, poverty increased drastically in Rome; there was a need for reform, and it was only a matter of time when one man would prove to be so popular as to be voted ‘dictator for life’, thus making Rome a virtual monarchy. That man was Caesar.

In the post-Punic War period, the Roman peasantry was finding it difficult to prosper. The endless war since 264 BCE had been disastrous. The land itself had deteriorated dramatically, especially during Hannibal’s fifteen years of occupation in the Second Punic War, where leaders of both the Roman and Carthaginian armies had deliberately set alight the crops. In addition, peasant Plebeians who were absen...