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Writer's pictureJustyna Kogut

A bit of history

by Bartek

Civil wars in Antique and the present days


To begin with, it is important to explain the term of civil war; people often confuse it with other terms such as uprisings or revolution. So a civil war is an armed conflict in which the citizens of a country are parties.


Civil wars in ancient times


The most important civil wars were those that took place at the end of the Roman republic. At that time, the majority of armies were in the hands of chieftains, "why?" you will ask? Because with the reforms of the army of Gaius Marius, soldiers began to receive their pay and not, as before, to fight for the state. The chiefs also began to claim lands for their legionaries after their service, this resulted in a closer bond with the veterans, who were able to fight for their chief against anyone, even Rome.

The civil wars that decided the fate of the world were those between Julius Caesar and Pompey and the senate - Caesar won and became dictator, while the senate still wanted to suck up to him and appointed him dictator for life, and he was finally assassinated by them. Between the Republicans and the Second Triumvirate (Octavius, Antony and Lepidus) - the Second Triumvirate won. It should be noted that they supported their actions by the fact that they wanted to take revenge on the assassins of Caesar, who was loved by the legionaries and the plebs. Between Octavian and Antony ( and Cleopatra) - Octavian won. By winning he had the support of the army, the plebs and the senate, and thus was able to become the first emperor of the Roman Empire.


Civil wars today and in ancient times

Today, civil wars usually result in unrest in a given country, for example, a weakened economy, religious conflicts, and they (civil wars) were caused by citizens. And in antiquity, civil wars broke out through the greed of army leaders, but also through the moral truths they professed; for example, Octavian and Antony fought each other because Antony had passed on the entire Roman empire to his children, which he had with Cleopatra. This caused an outcry from the Senate, which still had a lot of power, ultimately they were the actions that caused Octavian to have an excuse to strike at Antony.

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