Compare and contrast the roman republic with the roman empire. Which was more succesful? How do you define success?Im doing it for a history essay...

Both the Roman Republic and Roman Empire had periods of
instability which ultimately caused their demise. Interestingly, each lasted for almost
the same amount of time, so it would be difficult to ascertain one as more "successful"
than the other. However, if one considers the extent of the Roman Empire and its
continuation from Byzantium after the collapse of the Western Empire, then the Empire
was ultimately more successful than the Republic.

The Roman
Republic controlled most of the Italian Peninsula and soon spread into the
Mediterranean, where it came into conflict with the Phoenicians, primarily over
colonization and control of Sicily. Although the Romans won all three Punic Wars, the
cost had been expensive and those who fought in the wars had been forced to abandon
their homes and farms which were in disrepair. They sold their farms to a number of
wealthy citizens and thereby lost their right to vote. The end result was a civil war
and later a slave revolt led by Spartacus which ended with a number of generals raising
private armies, among them Gaius Julius Caesar. Although the dying republic was ruled
for a short time by the famous triumvirate; it soon collapsed with the death of Crassus
and Julius Caesar became the first Roman Emperor.

The
Empire itself lasted no longer than the Republic, but its territorial gains were
considerably more extensive. Whereas the Republc had limited itself to the Italian
Peninsula and the Mediterranean (which the Romans called mare nostrom:
"our sea) the Empire extended to Britain in the West, and to the banks of the
Rhine and Danube Rivers in the East. It encompassed vast numbers of people and thereby
spread Roman culture throughout Western Europe. On this basis alone, one might argue
that the Empire was more successful than the Republic. One should also consider that the
vast extent of the Empire resulted in its division into Eastern and Western Empires; and
that after the fall of the Western Empire in 476, the Eastern Empire continued and was
quite successful until the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in
1453.