4.

Underlying Principles:
It would be foreign to the purpose of the present article to trace the vicissitu
des of the civil strife of the last century of the republic. A few words will su
ffice to suggest the general principles which lay beneath the surface of politic
al and social phenomena. Attention has been called to the ominous development of
the influence of military commanders and the increasing emphasis of popular fav
or. These were the most important tendencies throughout this period, and the coa
lition of the two was fatal to the supremacy of the senatorial government. Mariu
s after winning unparalleled military glory formed a political alliance with Gla
ucia and Saturninus, the leaders of the popular faction in the city in 100 B.C.
This was a turning-point in the course of the revolution. But the importance of
the sword soon outweighed that of the populace in the combination which was thus
constituted. In the civil wars of Marius and Sulla constitutional questions wer
e decided for the first time by superiority of military strength exclusively. Re
peated appeals to brute force dulled the perception for constitutional restraint
s and the rights of minorities. The senate had already displayed signs of partia
l paralysis at the time of the Gracchi. How rapidly its debility must have incre
ased as the sword cut off its most stalwart members! Its power expired in the pr
oscriptions, or organized murder of political opponents. The popular party was n
ominally triumphant, but in theory the Roman state was still an urban commonweal
th with a single po1itical center. The franchise could be exercised only at Rome
. It followed from this that the actual political assemblies were made up largel
y of the worthless element which was so numerous in the city, whose irrational i
nstincts were guided and controlled by shrewd political leaders, particularly th
ose who united in themselves military ability and the wiles of the demagogue. Su
lla, Crassus, Julius Caesar, Antony, and lastly Octavian were in effect the anci
ent counterpart of the modern political "boss." When such men realized their ult
imate power and inevitable rivalry, the ensuing struggle for supremacy and for t
he survival of the fittest formed the necessary process of elimination leading n
aturally to the establishment of the monarchy, which was in this case the rule o
f the last survivor. When Octavian received the title Augustus and the proconsul
ar power (27 B.C.), the transformation was accomplished.