Breakdown of the Roman Republic Essay Example

Breakdown of the Roman Republic Essay As Senator Cato the Censor (234-149 BCE) righteously perceived, the Roman Republic was â€Å"not made by any one man, but by many; not in a single lifetime, but over many lifetimes. † (Rodgers 2006, pge. 89) Cato aimed at preserving the mos majorum (â€Å"ancestral custom†), which rejected any new forms of influence that would jeopardies his position as Censor, and the Senates power of ruling authority. ‘He passed measures taxing luxury and strictly revised the lists of persons eligible for the Senate† (www. britannica. om, 2013) The Senate was full of men like Cato, determined not to defy traditional laws and practices. And that’s why it was inevitable for the political system to fail, because their rulers acted only in desire and self-pleasure. Undoubtedly this caused major disturbance to the peasants and farmers of ancient Rome, and resulted in a string of actions instigated by multiple individuals, supported by these communities that weakened the power of the Senate and initiated the breakdown of the Roman Republic. 500BCE is said to be the start of economic, political and cultural breakdown. †¦partly due to the reduction on trade at the end of the monarchy†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Roberts, 2006) The Senate was originally there only as an advisory body, but through wars and international trading, they won absolute power over the republic. The consuls and magistrates still remained, but they had little effect over political change if the Senate refused to pass their laws. The governing system needed to change, the revenues won at war were only divided up against the high-class aristocratic. Leaving the peasants, farmers and soldiers who earned that land nothing.The rich and stubborn males of the Senate became greedy and power hungry, men were elected, but to gain entry, money surpassed power or experience. Yet, no one was willing to give up his privileges in return for an honest functioning state. Sallust (86-35BCE) affirms, â₠¬Å"Fortune turned against us and brought confusion to all we did. Greed destroyed honour, honesty and every other virtue, and taught men to be arrogant and cruel†¦Rome changed: a government which had once surpassed all others in justice and excellence now became cruel and unbearable. † (Ping, n. d)Farming was the ‘back-bone to Roman society’ (Garnsey, 2004) Traditionally, the lands were filled by strong independent farmers who tended to small individual plots of land. Those able to purchase armour would make up the ranks of Roman legionaries. Those that went off to to war would be gone for the majority of the year, and their land often became neglected and dysfunctional. (Flowers, 2004) After the Punic and Macedonian Wars (264-168 BCE), there was a massive influx of slaves captured by the Roman Republic, which according to Livy (45. 34. 6) was up to 150,000 Epirotes.Large landowners running concentrated holdings, or latifundia bought the slaves, (Butler, 2007 ) who took over the small farms when their owners were away at war. For those who remained, debt laws became increasing more expense, to the point where a lot of farmers were moving off their land and migrating into the city to make a living by selling their vote. Author and political scientist Dr. Larry L. Ping (1989) supports this statement by claiming ‘any farmers moved to Rome and live by selling the only thing they could: their vote. ’ Ping has been lecturing history for over 23 years and presents a neutral perspective on the topic.Peter Garnsey, a Professor of History and Cambridge University, corroborates Ping’s information suggesting, ‘The fundamental fact is that the Roman peasants has been forced to make, and would continue to make, enormous sacrifices for the cause of Roman militarism, and that the aristocracy responded by enforcing harsh debt laws, turning them off land, and blocking their reinstatement onto the land. ’ (Garnsey, 2004) Pr ofessor Garnsey has written multiple publications regarding ancient Rome ad tends to favour the peasants when analyzing the relationship between the lower classes and the government.This entire situation is extremely unfair on the farmers of Rome, as the amount of men eligible for the army began to deteriorate. No army, no money. In 133 BCE a tribune by the name of Tiberius Gracchus (164-133 BCE) launched an agrarian land reform that would distribute currently owned public land to the mass of peasants and farmers, in order to increase the number of men eligible for the army. Motivated either by personal gain, or general interest in reviving the peasantry Tiberius approached the Populas Assembly and presented them with the lex agraria (‘land bill’). Bradley, 1990) This action directly threatened the Senates power as traditionally all new reforms went through them. However Tiberius wasn’t breaking any laws by approaching a different governing body, he just started an unsaid war between the Gracchus, the Senate and the peasants and farmers. His mass slaughter in 133BCE led by the senatorial leader Narsica, (Plutarch, 16-20) set the standard for individuals in the future about what would happen to someone if thee went against the Senate.Tiberius’ reform would have allocated land to farmers and part-time soldiers returning from war, which would have been divided up amongst the aristocratic few. There was even a time, when farmers were being moved out of their land and onto another’s, often of lesser quality to there own. As Appian describes the situation with immense sympathy towards the farmers remarking, ‘†¦land was resurveyed some owners were obliged to give up their fruit –trees and farm buildings in exchange for naked ground.Others were transferred from cultivated to uncultivated lands, or swamps, or pools. ’ (Appian, pge. 18) Appian of Alexandria is the most reliable and relevant historian of the repu blican time period. He does however manipulate his sources to support his views of the importance of Alexandria and the virtues of the Romans. Appian is rather unsympathetic towards the ideologies and practices of the republic and thus, shares a different perspective on the farmers and peasants.Ultimately the farmers and peasants were motivated by the actions instigated by the Senate. Their unfair treatment towards the plebs is what fuelled their hatred and dismay, to move into the city and become unemployed. By abandoning their farms and dismantling the deep-set traditional agricultural ways, they lessened the power of the Senate. There was nothing they could do to stop them, without jeopardising their own wealth and power. Thus the actions of the peasants and farmers instigated by Tiberius Gracchus initiated the breakdown of the Roman Republic.

Fin 370 Week 2 Chapter Problems Essay Example

Fin 370 Week 2 Chapter Problems Essay Example Fin 370 Week 2 Chapter Problems Essay Fin 370 Week 2 Chapter Problems Essay What are financial markets? What function do they perform? How would an economy be worse off without them? Financial markets report price for each good; they are institutions and procedures that facilitate transactions in all types of financial claims (securities). They exist in order to allocate the supply of savings from those economic units with a surplus to those with a deficit. Each financial market has a different function that they perform. For example, the stock markets primary function is to provide a platform for investors to buy shares of ownership of a public corporation which are sold to investors to allow the companies to raise a lot of cash at once. The investors profit when the companies increase their earnings which keeps the United States economy growing. With mutual funds give you the ability to buy a lot of stocks at once. In a way this makes them an easier tool to invest in than individual stocks. By reducing stock market volatility, they have also had a calming effect on the United States economy. In commodities, such as oil, the price is determined in the commodities futures market. The futures market are a way to pay for something today that is delivered tomorrow, which helps to remove some of the volatility in the United States economy. However, futures also increase the trader’s leverage by allowing him to borrow the money to purchase the commodity. Hedge funds are supposed have higher returns for high-end investors. Since edge funds invest heavily in futures, some argue that they have decreased the volatility of the stock market and the United States economy. Bonds also provide some of the liquidity that helps keep the United States economy lubricated. However, when stock prices go up the bond prices go down. The economy would suffer without a developed financial market system because the wealth of the economy would be less without them. Rate of capital formation would not be as high, followed by the slowed rate of stock contribution to (1) dwellings, (2) productive plant and equipment, (3) inventory, and (4) consumer durables. : Normal business activities would be funded slowly or not at all. Business firms in the aggregate usually spend more during a specific period than they earn. Households in the aggregate spend less on current consumption than they earn. As a result, some mechanism is needed to facilitate the transfer of savings from those economic units with a surplus to those with a deficit. That is precisely the function of financial markets. Financial markets exist in order to allocate the supply of savings in the economy to the demanders of those savings. The central characteristic of a financial market is that it acts as the vehicle through which the forces of demand and supply for a specific type of financial claim are brought together. If, specifically, the United States did not have a financial market then there would not be a way for the economy to move money around to facilitate progress and profit. Question 14-3 Distinguish between the money and capital markets. Money Markets facilitates transactions using short-term financial instruments; whereas, Capital Markets facilitates transactions using long-term financial instruments. A money market is a market for short term debt securities such as banker’s acceptances, commercial paper, repos, negotiable certificates of deposit, and Treasury Bills with a maturity of one year or less and often 30 days or less. Money market securities are generally very safe investment which returns a relatively low interest rate that is most appropriate for temporary cash storage or short-term time horizons. A capital market is where debt or equity securities are traded. Question 14-4 What major benefits do corporations and investors enjoy because of the existence of organized security exchanges? a) continuous market – price volatility reduced b) establishing publicizing fair security prices – objective auction-type determination of price c) helping business raise new capital – new firms have a place to publicize security offerings whose price will be subjected to a competitive determinant rather than having to assign prices Question 15-12 A You are a hard-working analyst in the office of financial operations for a manufacturing firm that produces a single product. You have developed the following cost structure information for this company. All of it pertains to an output level of 10 million units. Using this information, find the break-even point in units of output for the firm. |Return on operating assets |= 25% | |Operating asset turnover |= 5 times | |Operating assets |= $20 million | |Degree of operating leverage |= 4 times | 1) Compute the operating profit margin: Margin) x (Turnover) = Return on operating assets (M) x (5) = 0. 25 M = . 05 2) Compute the sales level associated with the given output level: [pic] [pic] = $100,000,000 3) Compute EBIT: (. 05) ($100,000,000) = $5,000,000 4) Compute revenue before fixed costs. Since the degree of operating leverage is 4 times, revenue before fixed costs (RBF) is 4 times EBIT as follows: RBF = (4) ($5,000,000) = $20,000,000 5) Compute total variable costs: (Sales) (Total variable costs) = $20,000,000 100,000,000 (Total variable costs) = $20,000,000 Total variable costs = $80,000,000 6) Comput e total fixed costs: RBF Fixed costs = $5,000,000 $20,000,000 fixed costs = $5,000,000 Fixed costs = $15,000,000 7) Find the selling price per unit, and the variable cost per unit: [pic] = $10 [pic] = $8 8) Compute the breakeven point: [pic] = 7,500,000 Units[pic] Question 15-13 A Allison Radios manufactures a complete line of radio and communication equipment for law enforcement agencies. The average selling price of its finished product is $180 per unit. The variable cost for these same units is $126. Allison Radios incurs fixed costs of $540,000 per year. a. What is the break-even point in units for the company? [pic] [pic] = 10,000 units b. What is the dollar sales volume the firm must achieve in order to reach the break-even point? = 10,000 ? $180 = $1,800,000 c. What would be the firms profit or loss at the following units of production sold: 12,000 units? 15,000 units? 20,000 units? Allison Radios |Â   | |Unit |Price |Total |Fixed |Unit |Total |Total |Total Profit (Loss) | |Sales | |Sales |Costs |Variable Cost |Variable Costs |Costs | | |12000 |$180 |$2,160,000 |$540,000 |$126 |$1,512,000 |$2,052,000 |$108,000 | |15000 |$180 |$2,700,000 |$540,000 |$126 |$1,890,000 |$2,430,000 |$270,000 | |20000 |$180 |$3,600,000 |$540,000 |$126 |$2,520,000 |$3,060,000 |$540,000 | d. Find the degree of operating leverage for the production and sales levels given in part c. |Unit s |Contribution Margin |EBIT |DOL | |12000 |$648,000 |$108,000 |6 | |15000 |$810,000 |$270,000 |3 | |20000 |$1,080,000 |$540,000 |2 |