From the end of Sulla's dictatorship in 80 BC until the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, Rome saw the fall of the Republic in the actions of only a few. of his most powerful men. A strengthened Senate and competition for high office created by Sulla would not save the Republic, but rather condemn it to the struggles of Pompey, Crassus and Caesar. These men, seeking power for themselves, tore the Italian peninsula apart in alliance and then later in civil war with each other thanks in part to the failed reforms of a dictator who had sought to s to ensure that no other man would seize power as he had done. had done it. By the end of the Social War, Sulla had become the dictator of Rome. Despite having almost unlimited power, Sulla quickly began attempting to reform Rome. He nearly doubled the size of the Senate, increased the number of quaestors, reinstated restrictions, abolished the grain distribution system, offered the governorship to consuls and praetors at the end of their terms, and other court reforms and citizenship. Sulla resigned from the dictatorship in 80 BC, but his reforms failed soon after. His reforms ultimately failed because they alienated too many people and gave so much increased power to the Senate, in which it was doubted whether "its members were capable of maintaining sufficient unity and sense of responsibility" (Boatwright 193). . Senators had to be "constantly more restrained", especially with "increased competition for the highest magistracies", otherwise another man might march on Rome as Sulla had done. The formation of the first triumvirate of Pompey, Crassus and Caesar was one of the political necessity advantageous for each man, especially for Pompey and Caesar. When Pompey returned to Rome after a long period on paper, he had forgotten to describe his own actions” (Suetonius 27). We see this through the actions of the triumvirate, and then later the civil administration. The war between Pompey and Caesar was the result of the failure of Sulla's reforms, as well as their own vainglory and lust for power over Rome, which would consequently bring about the end of the Roman Republic. Their early struggles against a Senate that held power over their future and goals certainly pushed them to undertake revolutionary actions that would see Caesar achieve power over Rome unmatched since the days of Rome's first kings, even if he did not. never went so far as to call himself rex. Works Cited Boatwright, Mary T., Daniel J. Gargola, Noel Lenski, and Richard Talbert. The Romans: from village to empire. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2012. Print.Suetonius. The Twelve Caesars. Trans. Robert Graves. London: Penguin, 2007. Print.