Describe the beginning of the Roman Republic and how it came to be an empire ending with Julius Caesar.

The Roman Republic began when the Romans, under Junius
Brutus overthrew a particularly cruel Etruscan ruler, and the Roman Republic was
proclaimed in 508 B.C.E. The Republic lasted for almost 500 years, with an unwritten
constitution. It was probably the most stable form of government that the Roman people
ever knew.

The Republic fought the Punic Wars
with Carthage, and were successful; however it proved costly in the long run. Roman
soldiers who fought in the war had been forced to abandon their farms to fight. As a
result, when they returned from the war, their farms were in ruins and many lost
everything to larger landowners. Since they had no means of supporting themselves, many
Roman soldiers remained loyal to the generals under whom they had fought, including
those who had fought with Julius Caesar.

The uncertainty of
the times led to a bloody civil war, with one  Lucius Cornelius Sulla ultimately taking
control. Sulla published a "proscribed list" of his enemies to be executed. Julius
Caesar was one of those enemies, but Sulla did not consider him a threat; plus he was in
Greece at the time and not a serious problem.

Julius Caesar
spent large sums of his own money on circuses and gladiator fights which made him
popular with the common people. He, along with Pompey and Marcus Crasus formed the first
Triumvirate to rule the remains of the republic. Caesar was given
command of Gaul, with the understanding that he would remain there. The Rubicon, a tiny
river, was the line of demarcation which he was not to cross. Crasus died fighting in
Mesopotamia; and when conservatives attempted to maneuver Caesar out of the government,
he relied on his popularity to march on Rome. He is said to have uttered Jacta
alia est when he crossed the Rubicon. (The phrase, "cross the Rubicon" is now
used when one is said to have reached the point of no return.) When he arrived in Rome,
Pompey fled to Egypt hoping to ally with Ptolemy IV and Cleopatra, but was murdered
there. Caesar then moved into Rome and assumed the title of Dictator, an office provided
for in the Roman Constitution in the event of a national emergency. Because members of
the Senate feared Caesar would convert the Republic into a kingdom with himself as king,
he was assassinated in 44 B.C.E.