The Rise and Fall of Rome Essay - 1409 Words

The rise and fall of one of the greatest empires known to man, the Roman republic, were caused by several key factors. Three of which were the decline of monarchy within the empire, foreign conquests and expansion of the growing empire, and political battles between powerful officials. The decline of monarchy which caused the rise of the republic was caused by the expulsion of the last Etruscan king. An ancient Roman tale tells of how the last Etruscan king, Tarquinius Superbus, was driven from his thrown. The tale tells of how after his son, Sextus, raped a beautiful and virtuous women, Lucretia. After she was raped she told her husband what had happened, after that she took her own life, rather than permit even force to excuse for†¦show more content†¦Censors were elected by the centuries. The censor’s task was to enroll each citizen in their tribe, and place them in a social class century according to their property assessment. In time the censors acquired the powe r to revise the list of senators according to their financial and moral worth. Soon the judicial functions of censors were assigned to a praetor, an official first elected in 367 B.C by the centuries. Praetorships eventually increased in number. The consuls inherited much of the king’s responsibilities, but did not inherit his religious duties. His religious responsibilities passed to the Rex sanctorum. But in time the Pontifex Maximus became the leading and most important religious official. The pontiffs were the caretakers of the unwritten law. They were also in charge of the states religious equilibrium, with the help of the augers. The augers took the auspieces, watching the heavens for signs from the gods that they favored an undertaking. The augers possessed considerable influence of the course of events in Rome, because nothing of public importance was initiated without consulting the auspices. The priestly offices in ancient rome were highly sought after by aristocrat s because of their religious importance and political influence. As early as 501 B.C (according to tradition) the position of dictator was introduced to rome. The dictator was appointed for a maximum of six months. The dictator is appointed in order to meetShow MoreRelatedThe Rise and Fall of Ancient Rome656 Words   |  3 Pages Ancient Rome When was the last time you looked at a calendar? Did you know you were looking at an invention created in Ancient Rome? Ancient Rome was one of the biggest and greatest empires there was. People might not know about the beginning, the wars, the developments, their life, and the end of the Ancient Rome Rome was started in the eighth century B.C. / 753 B.C. It was started by Romulus in a town by the Timber River. In a legend Romulus and his brother were left in the wild and theyRead MoreRise and Fall of Athens and Ancient Rome Essay examples758 Words   |  4 PagesHistory has witnessed the rise and fall of many powerful cities, starting with Ur and Babylon and continuing into present day with cities such as New York City. Two of these cities, ancient Athens and ancient Rome, stand out from other cities of their time due to their culture, politics, and influence, both on the world around them and on future civilizations. These strengths qualify them as world cities, and despite their eventual losses of power, their legacies live on. Athens obtained hegemonyRead MoreThe Rise of the Papacy948 Words   |  4 PagesINTRODUCTION This paper will look into the primary reasons for the rise of the Roman papacy to power, and a few of the many things that aided the papacy in getting there. The fall of the Roman Empire is clearly a key factor in the rise of the papacy, so a look into the factors that caused the fall of the Roman Empire is essential. Secondly, a look into how the church positioned itself, to step into the vacuum of power left behind by the fall of the Roman Empire will prove to be needed. Lastly, there willRead MoreThe Rise And Fall Of Empires1580 Words   |  7 PagesChau’s thesis that the rise and fall of empires was due to tolerance, inclusion, difference, and diversity is shown to be true of the Roman Empire because of the way that tolerance allowed and caused the empire to rise, enter its golden age, and fall. The Roman Empire was a â€Å"hyperpower† that lasted from 44 BCE to 476 CE. The empire contained Western, Southern, and Eastern Europe, along with North Africa; thus, ther e was an abundance of culture from many different conquered groups. Romans wanted toRead MoreThe Fall Of The Roman Empire846 Words   |  4 PagesFinal Fall 2014 A1. For an empire that lasted nearly 500 years, the fall of the Roman Empire was influenced by various different events. Four troubled ingredientes lead to the demise of the the greatest empire of all time; politics, money, social, and war. It is important to note that the fall of the Roman Empire does not mean that the romans lost everything, it is just a reference to the fall of the western roman empire. One of the causes of the fall of the west was that of the rise of theRead MoreComparing the Roman Empire and the United States of America Essay1294 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand; When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall; And when Rome falls - the World.† Lord Byron. This essay will discuss the similarities of military, economics and systems of government between the Roman Empire of the 6th century BCE and the United States of America of the 20th century. History has revealed that all superpowers fall eventual ly, although much time has passed since the glory days of Rome we see in 2015 the largest superpowerRead MoreThe Roman Empire Was At Its Height. Despite Many Historians1202 Words   |  5 Pages The Roman Empire was at its Height. Despite many historians and professors attribute the fall of the Roman empire to excess and corruption, the role of Christianity shifting power, increased technology beyond the borders of the empire, the passing of power and trade created a situation that made the fall of such a large cumbersome empire inevitable. Rome History The founder of Rome goes back to the very first early days of the civilization. It is so old it is known as the eternalRead MoreThe Fall Of The Roman Empire1609 Words   |  7 PagesHistoriographic Paper: The End of Antiquity The Fall of Rome HIST534 A001 Sum 15 American Military University David Provencher (ID# 4358187) July 30, 2015 The fall of the Roman Empire is one of the most discussed and debated events in ancient history. Many historians site the date of 476 A. D. as the day the empire ended, but there are also many that say that the 476 A.D. date is subjective because it took many years of internal problems and neglect for the empire to come to an endRead MoreThe Expansion Of Early Rome1154 Words   |  5 PagesIn the late Roman Republic, the external expansion of early Rome was a surprise to many. The era of the great expansion of Roman power and civilization is the era of the Roman Republic, in which its Senate ruled Rome and its assembly, which were establishments, formed at the beginning of the monarchy. The Republic had a history of many conflicts, aiding the Republic in becoming so powerful, thus making Rome become unstoppable. But as we all know from the conflicts that aroused in the past withRead MoreRoman Empire Essay943 Words   |  4 Pagesmajor cause of the downfall of Rome. The Military was a huge strong point of the Empire for most of its existence, but when generals began training armies of their own for personal use it was the beginning of the end. When that happened soldiers were solely in it for the money. The system worked for a long time, but eventually Rome s enemies began offering the soldiers higher pay thus simply buying most of Rome s army. A major military failure that contributed to Rome s downfall was the defeat and

Too Big To Fail free essay sample

Jamie Dimon, CEO, of JP Morgan Chase, attended an emergency meeting at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on September 17, 2008. A dozen CEOs from rival firms were present-the meeting’s goal was to devise a plan to save Lehman Brothers, the nation’s fourth largest investment bank, from bankruptcy. Dimon knew Merrill Lynch and AIG were also in trouble. Many present at the meeting thought the government would step in and rescue Lehman Brothers. Dimon held a conference call with his top management team and said to prepare for a filing not just of Lehman Brothers, but also for Merrill Lynch, AIG, Morgan Stanley, and possibly Goldman Sachs. Fear and disorder gripped the market-the financial sector seemed to unravel. Yet, in 2007 the financial services sector accounted for more than 40% of corporate profits. The mortgage industry was an important piece of the sector. Mortgage loans served as components for complicated financial products that Wall Street bought and sold. We will write a custom essay sample on Too Big To Fail or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page People knew that Goldman Sach’s was going to go under. It would be bad and becomes the Great Depression. In 2007, those working in the financial sector received compensation in the aggregate worth 53 billion. The CEO of Goldman Sachs, Loyld Blankfein, took home 68 million. Wall Street used a lot of debt to finance its activities. There was cheap money from savings glut in Asia and ease in Fed Policy in response to the 2001 recession. Cheap money found its way into the subprime mortgage market-Wall Street firms believe they had a way to slice up mortgage loans and sell them, thereby removing a log of the risk off their balance sheets. They also bought a lot of mortgage back securities from each other. Bank gave out loans but know they couldn’t pay back. People claiming they were making lots of money but it wasn’t true. Bernanke believe in April 2007 that problems in the subprime mortgage market could be contained. By August 2007 in the $2 trillion subprime mortgage market collapsed. Two Bear Stearns Hedge funds that bet on subprime  mortgages lost $1.7 billion in investors’ funds. There was difficulty finding a price for these mortgage securities because no one wanted them. The market just wasn’t working. People thought they were toxic. Richard Fuld, CEO of Lehman Brothers is called back from a business trip to India by the Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson. He was told that Bear Stearns, fifth largest investment bank was being sold to JP Morgan Chase for $2.00 a share, and that the fed had agreed to take up to $30 billion of losses on the worst assets of Bear Stearns in order for Jamie Dimon to agree to the deal that averted bankruptcy for Bear Stearns. Run on the Bank An old fashioned run on the bank seen in 1930s – investors/customers lose trust that their money is safe. They all want it back at the same time. Hedge funds played a big role. They had liquidity crisis. Investors React In response to the Bear Stearns merger, Lehman Brothers shares were down 21%. Fuld personally had lost on paper $89.5 million. Treasury Secretary Paulson called to find out if Lehman Brothers was losing trading partners. Lehman is next? Rumors swirled that hedge funds were taking their money out of Lehman, and banks were refusing loans to Lehman. Lehman had to watch for a self-fulfilling crisis based on rumors about its liquidity. Fuld and his staff gave interviews†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Pitching the Book Erin Callan, CFO of Lehman Brothers held a conference call, went through Lehman’snumbers and the consensus changed-Lehman would survive. Short Sellers Strike Hard Not everyone was buying the story, David Einhorn, a well known hedge fund manager, commented that â€Å"Lehman was a house of cards.† Bear Stearns Shareholders Jamie Dimon agreed to raise the price paid for Bear Stearns from $2.00 a share to $10.00 a share, afraid that shareholders would vote down the merger for #2.00 a share. If the shareholders voted down the deal, JP Morgan Chase would still have to guarantee its trades for a year. Leave it Alone The package was criticized by both Democrats and Republicans. Conservatives believed the market would take care of itself and government intervention would make matters worse. Raise Capital Treasury Secretary, Paulson, came from Goldman Sachs and held the view that Lehman just was not as good as Goldman. He wanted Lehman to raise capital, and thought Warren Buffet would be a good catch, would be a good housekeeping seal of approval. Thumbs down from Buffet Buffet offered very expensive terms for an investment, and after looking over Lehman’s books wasn’t interested. Another group of investors were. We had to do it Under Senate questioning, the SEC, Treasury, and Fed officials argued that the rescue of Bear Stearns was a once in a lifetime deal that would not be repeated. How Bad Will It Get? Paulson had a small team put together a â€Å"white paper† on what should be done if the financial system collapses. It was presented to Bernanke. Bernanke was different in many ways from Greenspan. Bernanke’s Pate is Full Greenspan believe in free markets. Bernanke was a scholar of the great Depression. Believed that the Fed had adopted policies that caused a recession to turn into a depression. The  policy that would have worked was cheap money. Statue of limitations which is 5 years. Why want to have a Great Depression? He’s a scholar of Great Depression. The Fed affected the Great Depression. The Fed was needed in the Great Depression. They felt there were enough liquidity and easy money. Fed should apologize for the Great Depression and make sure it won’t happen again. The Fed had screw up and make sure it won’t happen again. No deflation, don’t want it to happen. When deflation gets in, it’s very hard to stop.