The Weaknesses Of Julius Caesar

As Julius Caesar stood with his legions on the edge of the Rubicon River, the traditional divide between Italy and the uncivilized rest of the world, he had a monumental choice to make. Should he obey the will of the Senate and return to Rome without his legions where he would face the certain wrath of his political enemies who wished to destroy him, or should he cross into Italy with his legions and deal with his enemies by strength of arms? “The die is cast” was Caesar’s answer as he marched onto Rome to put an end to decades of political infighting. It was also the signal that the Roman Republic was dead. It would take the assassination of Caesar and decades of unrest and civil war before Caesar’s adopted son, Octavian, …show more content…
The western territories would bear the brunt of the barbarian invasions that would plague the land and lead to the weakening of the Imperial government of the West to the point that it became totally irrelevant. In fact, its irrelevancy was so complete that instead of killing and seizing the throne of the Western Emperor Romulus Augustulus in 476, Theodoric, the leader of the barbarian Ostrogothic tribe simply pensioned him off and the position of emperor was allowed to lapse into history (Kishlansky, …show more content…
This included having a more Hellenized population that were centered on cities, a robust economic base that was fueled by a strong commerce and industrial base, as well as having a steady source of tough soldiers found in the peasantry (Kishlansky, 188). Another advantage was the strength of the emperors who found it necessary to rule with an iron hand to restore the order of the empire that the political fighting had threatened (Kishlansky, 189). With the reestablishment of a powerful imperial system, the emperors were able to hold together the last remnants of Roman Empire together and forge it into the powerful and new Byzantine Empire. With the disintegration of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, the institutions, laws, and customs of the former Roman masters continued in the barbarian kingdoms that formed in the ashes of the once mighty Roman Empire. The barbarians would go on to form their own nation-states building upon the firm foundation left by the Romans. New kingdoms and royal dynasties would evolve that would form the later European