s period Rome fought three wars with another Mediterranean rival on the African coast Carthage. At the conclusion of the third war with Carthage, Rome emerged triumphant and now turned eastward in its desired conquest of the Hellenistic World. By 133 B.C. Rome had conquered the entire Mediterranean world, but had not mastered all of its subjects nor had fully conformed to the complex nature of its vast empire.
From 133 B.C. to 14 A.D. the Mediterranean world was entrenched in warfare. Conquered peoples desperately attempted to vanquish their Roman exploiters as Roman military leaders tried to amass more and more control of their armies, and in turn, of the Roman Republic itself. One must remember that the decline of Rome was gradual, and that during both the external and internal threats Rome continued to be a vital commercial and economic power within the Mediterranean.
Rome experienced complicated troubles; the Roman Republic collapsed in 43 B.C. with the dictatorship of Gaiu
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