Title: Why did Rome become an empire? - Quora
Headings: Why did Rome become an empire?
Why did Rome become an empire?
Content: the Roman army was pretty good, but not good enough to secure imperial expansion on its own. Rome becomes an Imperial Regime: The Roman Republic collapsed and became an imperial regime due in large part to its stunning success. The constant wars overseas and the need to campaign in faraway territories (such as Asia Minor and Hispania) as the Roman Republic entered the Hellenistic Word and annexed provinces led to devastation for the farmers who constituted most of the troops: their farms were not cultivated while large landowners using slave labor got them out of business. This led to social unrest (such as the attempt of the Gracchi for reform and the violence that ensued). Gaius Marius, a Roman general, partially solved Rome’s problem with his reforms. He created a standing professional army which included landless Romans. While this new army performed very well on the field of battle, the soldiers gave their allegiance not to the state but rather to the general who led them to victory and provided them with the spoils of war. Also those reforms did not manage to alleviate social unrest.