Editing Roman Empire (section)

=== The Height of the Roman Republic===
While Rome's citizen-armies were quite successful militarily, there was a minor crisis brewing; many of these citizens found themselves homeless upon returning from campaign, their land having been sold off in their absence. To deal with this growing problem came the Marian reforms, in which the Roman state (through its generals) would instead raise armies of dedicated professional soldiers ala Sparta: the [[Space Marines|Legions]]. While this solved the immediate problem of soldiers having nowhere to go back to, this created a new one; generals, particularly the emergency military position of Dictator (who had complete control over the armies *and* power to rewrite the constitution), became quite powerful as a result; especially the change of upkeep. The old field-tending citizen soldiers' upkeep was land and they bought their own weapons; now the new, state-funded army needed cold cash, and more taxes during their service AND needed arable farmland for retirement. In short, the end of the Republic had become an inevitability, and Rome needed to constantly fight, enslave and plunder to keep the [[Warmachine]] going. Almost immediately, civil wars centered on factional power struggles started erupting, and the office of Dictator was revived when it had been unused since Hannibal's invasion.

By the end of the Republic, the real power was held by the so-called "Triumvirate" of Rome's three most powerful men: [[This Guy|Gaius Julius Caesar]], [[That Guy|Pompeius Magnus]], and [[That Guy|Marcus Licinius Crassus]] (Ever wonder where the words pompous and crass come from?). After Crassus died in Persia ([[Lulz|Hilariously, his captor poured molten gold down his throat after seeing his insane greed]]), tensions between Caesar and Pompey grew. With Carthage destroyed, there was nothing left that could stop Rome from taking over the Mediterranean world. When Rome wanted to conquer an area they gave the local rulers two choices: [[Tau Diplomacy|Surrender and pay taxes to Rome]], or resist and [[Blam|be purged]]. Either way, Rome got more territory, more wealth, and more slaves, and expanded more or less uncontested until they got to Gaul. These uncivilized brutes continued to resist until the Romans got sick of their bullshit and sent in Caesar with a few legions to deal with it. [[/tg/ gets shit done|He did just that]], and became very popular as a result. 

Too popular for the liking of Pompey and the Senate, not to mention now ''hideously'' rich, possessing an enormous army complemented with Germanic (Ubian) cavalry and allied tribes. The Senate also hated how Caesar used the Triumvirate's political machinations to push reform bills instead of the "proper" channels of gaining approval from the Rome's patriarchs; even though they were too gridlocked to do anything about Rome's myriad problems, doing nothing was better than letting an upstart undermine their authority. They ordered him to disband his armies or be labeled an enemy of the state. Caesar's response was "you first"; thus [[Age of Apostasy|embroiling Rome in a civil war]], which he won by Zerg Rushing the city and scaring the fuck out of his rivals. He uses this popularity to become Dictator for life, essentially restoring Rome back into an absolute monarchy. As a result his close friend [[Horus|Brutus]] and his former allies in the Roman Senate stabbed him to death. [[Horus Heresy|This caused another Civil War]], now between Octavian, Caesar's nephew out for revenge, and the [[Traitor Legions|Senators]], led by Mark Antony and allied with Cleopatra. Antony and Cleopatra lost and committed suicide, while Octavian was proclaimed Augustus, the revered one, and establishing the [[Imperial Cult|Imperial cult]]; due to Caesar's supposed descent from the Gods (the gens Julii from were Caesar was born were directly descended from both Venus and Mars, respectively through Aeneas and Romulus), he was therefore venerated as the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|God-Emperor of Romankind,]] and marking the transition from the Roman Republic to the '''Imperium of Rome'''.

Just go and watch the 2-season TV Series Rome, which is ''quite historically accurate'' except Octavian's mom Atia, who was a religious prude IRL. (Fulvia, another character IRL would do the things she did)

For next two hundred years the Imperium ruled the Mediterranean and Europe as one of the ancient world's most influential superpowers, with many states either conquered or offered Protectorate Status under the Pax Romana (they'll allow you independence, as long as you pay taxes and venerate the God-Emperor in some way). It sees a [[Goge Vandire|few bad emperors like Nero]], [[Reasonable Marines|some good philosopher-kings like]] [[Roboute Guilliman|Marcus Aurelius]], and a lot of stability, wars of succession notwithstanding. Rome even manages to make it to the Indian Ocean and make contact with Han China, though this relationship is short-lived; everything goes to the shithouse from there, because...