Changes

===Leading up to an Empire===

===Leading up to an Empire===

In the eastern Mediterranean, Rome fought wars in Anatolia (present-day Turkey) and Macedonia between 215 and 148 B.C. to gain control over those territories.  By 148 B.C., Rome controlled everything from Spain to Anatolia.

In the eastern Mediterranean, Rome fought wars in Anatolia (present-day Turkey) and Macedonia between 215 and 148 B.C. to gain control over those territories.  By 148 B.C., Rome controlled everything around the Medditerranean from Spain to Anatolia.

Afterwards a period of struggle ensued between the Roman military, fresh from its conquests, and the Senate that ruled in a republican form of government.  Some corruption followed, and historians blame wealthy senators for blocking some economic proposals.   

Afterwards a period of struggle ensued between the Roman military, fresh from its conquests, and the Senate that ruled to adopt a republican form of government.  Some corruption followed, and historians blame wealthy senators for blocking some economic proposals.   

The Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius, served as tribunes in 133 and 123, respectively.  They passed laws to help the poor by redistributing land from the wealthy estates known as “latifundia” to the poor.  Gaius tried to end the practice of wheat speculation, by which wealthy citizens bought all the grain and then, during times of shortage, resold it to the poor at greatly inflated prices.  However, the angry Senate instigated a riot that clubbed Tiberius to death in 133 B.C. and Gaius committed suicide before he could be assassinated for trying to resell grain to the poor at low prices in 121 B.C.   

The Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius, served as tribunes in 133 and 123 B.C., respectively.  They passed laws to help the poor by redistributing land from the wealthy estates known as “latifundia” to the poor.  Gaius tried to end the practice of wheat speculation, by which wealthy citizens bought all the grain available and then, during times of shortage, resold it to the poor at greatly inflated prices.  However, the angry Senate instigated a riot that clubbed Tiberius to death in 133 B.C. and Gaius committed suicide before he could be assassinated for trying to resell grain to the poor at low prices in 121 B.C.   

Finally, near the beginning of the first century B.C., a general named Gaius Marius was elected consul.  He came up with the idea of Rome’s first professional army, and substituted it for the prior system by which only landholding citizens could serve in the military.  Marius hired landless citizens for long terms and quickly gained support from his well-paid army.  Soon, a civil war broke out between the Senate (which supported Marius) and the General Assembly (which supported a general named Cornelius Sulla.)  Finally, Sulla, took power, executed Marius’s followers and pretended to reestablish the power of the Senate in 83 B.C.  But in effect Sulla ruled as another dictator until Spartacus, a Greek slave, led a bloody slave revolt.

Finally, near the beginning of the first century B.C., a general named Gaius Marius was elected consul.  He came up with the idea of Rome’s first professional army, and substituted it for the prior system by which only landholding citizens could serve in the military.  Marius hired landless citizens for long terms and quickly gained support from his well-paid army.  Soon, a civil war broke out between the Senate (which supported Marius) and the General Assembly (which supported a general named Cornelius Sulla.)  Finally, Sulla took power, executed Marius’s followers, and pretended to reestablish the power of the Senate in 83 B.C.  But in effect Sulla ruled as another dictator until Spartacus, a Greek slave, led a bloody slave revolt.

===Julius Caesar===

===Julius Caesar===