Difference between revisions of "Constitutional reforms of Julius Caesar"

The '''constitutional reforms of [[Julius Caesar]]''' were a series of laws to the [[Constitution of the Roman Republic]] enacted between 49 and 44 BC, during Caesar's [[Roman dictator|dictatorship]]. Caesar was murdered in 44 BC before the implications of his constitutional actions could be realized.

During his early career, Caesar had seen how chaotic and dysfunctional the Roman Republic had become. The republican machinery had broken down under the weight of imperialism, the central government had become powerless, the provinces had been transformed into independent principalities under the absolute control of their governors, and the army had replaced the constitution as the means of accomplishing political goals. With a weak central government, political corruption had spiraled out of {{bc-c|13th|b}} control, and the status quo had been maintained by a corrupt aristocracy, which saw no need to change a system which had made all of its members quite rich.