The Republic Fails

Some of the problems facing the Roman Republic Rome needed tax money to run the Republic. Elected officials were using their positions to get rich. Rome did not have a police force. Rome needed tax money. The government needed to pay the legions, and build roads, sewers, aqueducts, and arenas. They needed to pay for the welfare program put in place to help feed the growing number of poor in Rome. To get this tax money, Rome used tax farmers. Tax farmers were Romans who paid a flat fee to the Roman Republic for the privilege of collecting taxes from a territory. To recoup their investment, tax farmers levied a tax against every citizen in their territory. Tax collectors expected to make a profit. Their business was the business of tax collection. That was understood. Under this system, there were many abuses, as the government could not control how each tax farmer runs their individual business. There were no rules. A tax collector could charge one person almost nothing, and charge another person a great deal of tax, knowing that person could not pay. If you did not pay the taxes you owed, you could be sold into slavery. Tax collectors were powerful people under the Republic.    Under the Republic, elected officials used their positions to get rich. To get elected, some people were buying votes. The poor were quite happy to sell their votes to the highest bidder. Under this system, many people were elected to office who were poor governors. Graft and corruption were rampant. Rome suffered from this. Rome had bad government.    Under the Republic, Rome did not have a police force. Rome's streets were not safe for citizens after dark. Crime was everywhere. Wealthy Romans hired guards to protect themselves and their families. Some build private armies. During elections especially, these private armies often clashed and fought in the streets. The government recognized this problem, but they could not put a police force in place because they did not have enough money to pay them.    What happened? Julius Caesar told the people, "I can solve Rome's problems." Click here to see what happened next.     The Republic Fails Fall of the Roman Republic (BBC)  Fall of the Republic (HS)