Miles-Christian Maureira, The University of Queensland
This paper explores the development of bribery in the Roman republic and its effect on that system’s collapse. It first outlines the scope and limitations of my MPhil thesis. The latter surveys bribery throughout the republic from its development in the early republic to its culmination as a destructive force in the late republic. This paper discusses the disparate definitions of bribery and corruption in Rome and the modern day. It is important to define bribery in order to understand the processes that are the focus of my thesis. Finally, my paper covers the planned argument of the thesis, how it intends to prove the impact of bribery on the republic’s collapse and its value for the ever-evolving discussion on the end of the Roman Republic.