Breakdown Of Rome Essays - First Triumvirate, Julius Caesar

Breakdown Of Rome Essay on the breakdown of the early Ancient roman republic. For men who had easily endured hardship, danger and difficult uncertainty, leisure and riches, though in some ways desirable, proved burdensome and a source of grief. Sallust The causes for the breakdown of the early Roman Republic cannot be attributed to a single event, trend or individual, rather it was due to a combination of all three in varying degrees. The principal and fundamental cause was the breakdown of the political checks and balances, particularly the Cursus Honorum from 133 BC onwards. This subversion occurred both accidentally and through the subversive behavior of individuals, unconsciously and consciously undermining the fabric of the republic in their quest for power and glory. One substantial outcome of this incapacitation was the emergence of violence as a political means. Once this had occurred the end of the old republic was heralded an autocratic dictatorship was born. The republic was born out of a collapsed monarchy and was specifically geared to prevent a centralization of power. The mechanisms to this end were contained in the Cursus Honorum, a document that outlined the ladder of offices. It demanded, among other things, 10 years of military or legal service before any magistracy could be held, annual election and two years between consecutive offices (Plutarch, 1974. p.140). This system was designed to ensure that no individual could become too powerful by dividing jurisdiction between several groups and allowing for veto. The Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius are often blamed for causing divisions and antagonizing the aristocracy and particularly the senate by introducing laws and legislation that, although promoting egalitarianism for the poor, were catalysts to later breaches of the Cursus Honorum. Both Tiberius and Gaius had laws enacted without consulting the senate. This weakened the senate's power and started a trend of ignoring the senate that remained until the breakdown (Plutarch, 1986. p 176). These Graccian reforms included the implementation of a welfare system whereby Romans citizens would be given free corn and the Lex Agraria or land reforms that broke down the latafundia and increased the number of small-scale farms. The welfare corn system not only aroused violent anger from the nobility but also created an urban mob (Suetonius, 1979. p.42) that relied on handouts and later participated in violence. Tiberius Gracchus ran for election to the tribunate for two years consecutively (12 3 and 122 BC). This was in direct contradiction to the Cursus honorum. The senate, when they heard of Tiberius' plan, killed him. This action was significant, due to it being the first time that violence had been used for a political end, it was not to be the last. Marius and Sulla, great leaders of Rome from 119 to 78 BC, can be attributed part of the blame for the breakdown of the republic. Their constant quarreling led to factional fighting amongst the people and eventually to civil war. Marius came into power before Sulla and, like the Gracchi, showed a tendency towards disturbing the status quo and antagonized the nobility. Marius' reforms centered on military change, the most controversial of which was the extension of military service for the landless class. This seemingly insignificant reform had wide repercussions since it created semi-professional soldiers rather than a citizen militia (Bradley, 1990. p 270). Since no pension scheme was organized, the soldiers were largely dependent on their commanders for payment and pensions of land. This dependence led to the soldiers being tied to their commanders, allowing for the later development of armies that were loyal to individuals rather than to the state. Marius' contempt for the Cursus Honorum is illustrated by his standing in the consular elections while not in Rome, a post that he gained and held for six years. This action was in direct contradiction to the rule of one-year consulships in the Cursus Honorum and allowed Marius to establish a power base that he used for his own political designs. Both Marius and Sulla used violence openly as a political means. The first such incident was during the tribunal election where Marius killed Nonnius, a political opponent to his friend Saturnius. This was not the only example of violence from Marius. When returned from exile,

Creationalism Vs Evolution Essays - Pseudoscience, Denialism

Creationalism Vs Evolution Essays - Pseudoscience, Denialism Creationalism Vs Evolution Creationism vs. Evolution The majority of people in this world believe that a spiritual being created earth. In fact, most religions and cultures believe the universe was created by a 'creative hand,' either a sky god or some other physical object (Encarta 1). Think of it, as a trial to see which will win, creation or evolution. It has been the most argued debate in all of history, but creationism is more logical than evolution. To first understand what creation is about, we have to know what creation is. The Bible defines creation as the action by God that brought the universe and all its contents into being. The Bible also states, God created great whales and every living creature that moveth, and so God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them (Genesis 1:21, 27). To Doug LaPointe, the author of Top Evidences against the Theory of Evolution, there are nine articles of evidence pointing weaknesses in evolution, or strong points in creation. The first evidence is that there are no links between the fossil record and present times; therefore, there is nothing to show that evolution actually happened. Second, that natural selection cannot advance an organism to a higher order. The third being that although evolutionists believe life just came about, matter resulted from nothing, and humans evolved from animals, all of these are against scientific and nat ural understandings. Fourth, even though evolutionists present them as if they were, the hominids' bones and skull records, for example the famous Lucy, the finds are unrevealing and inconsistent. The fifth and sixth articles of evidence are the nine out of 12 hominids that evolutionists use are really extinct apes, and the other three are modern human beings and not part ape. This would conclude that all of the twelve 'hominids' are something other than hominids and are not half-human, half-ape. Evidence seven and eight show that natural selection has practical, social, and logical inconsistencies. The last evidence says that the rock strata finds are better explained by a universal flood than by evolution, which would show yet more proof in the Bible (LaPointe 1-2). Michael Behe, author of the recent bestseller Darwin's Black Box, states, I was amazed that people believe in evolution when there was this clear argument against it (Behe 3). At first Darwinism was taught at schools, but there were so many flaws that these ideas were turned down, and a different form of evolution was taught. The new form was then taught along with a type of scientific creation (Encarta 2). This shows that schools feel that Darwin was wrong, and Darwin is evolution's top scholar. In order to disprove a way of thinking we must first know what we are trying to disprove. The definition of evolution is the complex process by which living organisms originated on earth and have been diversified and modified through sustained changes in form and function (Encarta 2). Thomas Robert Malthus first stated that the human population was growing too fast for the food supply. This, he said, Is regulated by disease, famine, and war (Infopedia 1). Darwin applied this to animals and plants and came up with the theory of evolution by natural selection. His theory stated that the children of a species intensely compete for survival. Those young that survive to produce the next generation tend to be embodying favorable natural variations and these variations are passed on by heredity. Therefore, each generation will improve adaptively over the preceding generations, and this gradual and continuos process is the source of the evolution of the species (Infopedia 1-2). The notion th at populations of organisms can be transformed over generations into descendant population of different kinds has been suggested repeatedly since the early-recorded history of ideas, but if you trace all the species back to their origin, you would get one object. Now the real part of this argument is right here. How did that one object come into being? It couldn't have happened by mere chance. It did not always exist so there had to be nothing before it. If there was nothing before it, how was it created?

Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 85

Journal - Essay Example I had a difficult time getting clothes for her because she was a size 15 and we did not carry that size in our stocks. She also wanted to wear new looking clothes which made my job more difficult. Even with help from another person at the agency, this client still refused the clothes we presented. We were getting fed up with her lack of confidence in wearing clothes as she kept coming up with excuses like she looked funny wearing it, and similar statements. After 3 hours and 3 personal shoppers, my supervisor finally came to my aid. With her help, we found some clothes that the client finally liked and felt confident enough to wear. She finally left with a smile on her face and confidence to wear the clothes. Needless to say, I was unable to work with my other client, which made me feel even more like a failure. I knew that I did my best to help her but without her self-confidence, nothing I did would have made the meeting a success. I had a heavy heart as she left because I knew that I was not able to truly help her as it was my supervisor who finally got through to her. I went home exhausted and feeling low, but still looking forward to my next client, whom I could do a better job of helping if given a