Imperial Rome

Date: 31 b.c.e.-500 c.e.

Locale: Europe, west of the Rhine and south of the Danube; Northern Africa; Asia Minor; Palestine; Mesopotamia

Imperial Rome

The impressive achievements of Imperial Rome were possible because of the foundations laid during the earlier age of the Republic. When the imperial monarchy was established under Augustus, the Romans had already gained control over colonies as far apart as Spain and Palestine. During the next two centuries, the Romans made additional conquests and effectively maintained hegemony over a large part of the civilized world. Beginning about 180 c.e., however, Rome began to experience destructive civil wars, economic crises, population decline, and barbarian invasions. During the fourth century, the weakened empire was divided between the East and the West, and the western portion of the empire was entirely taken over by Germanic tribes by the end of the 400’s c.e.

History

In 31 b.c.e., Octavian, the adopted son of Julius Caesar, defeated the naval and land forces of Marc Antony and Cleopatra VII at the Battle of Actium, putting an end to the civil wars that had ravaged Rome for more than half a century. At first Octavian ruled as consul, but the senate in 27 b.c.e. gave him the honorific title of “Augustus,” which became his formal name. Rather than declaring himself dictator, Augustus established a type of constitutional monarchy. In practice, nevertheless, he had the final word in deciding all governmental policies, and he was careful to maintain control over the army.

Augustus was often called imperator, or commander, and he is usually classified as the first of the Roman emperors. Claiming to restore republican institutions, Augustus preferred to be designated as princeps, or “first citizen,” so that the period from Augustus until 180 c.e. is usually called the Principate. However, Augustus promoted the cult of emperor worship, which required people to pay homage to the emperor’s genius, or guardian spirit. He expanded the empire as far as the Danube, and he reorganized provincial governments, with an emphasis on a more efficient means of collecting taxes. In addition, he rebuilt Rome and patronized the arts and letters. His rule initiated a period of peace that lasted about two hundred years, often called the Pax Romana, or “Roman peace.”

For fifty years after Augustus’s death in 14 c.e., the emperors came from the dynasty that Augustus founded, which was composed of the Julio-Claudian clans. Two emperors, Tiberius and Claudius, were considered to be wise and able administrators, but Caligula and Nero had reputations for being cruel and frivolous leaders. During these years, the emperor’s special standing army, the Praetorian Guard, often intervened in politics; in 41 c.e., the Praetorians murdered Caligula and selected Claudius as emperor. Nero’s inept rule led to rebellion and civil war, with four men claiming to be emperor after his death.

In 70 c.e., Vespasian restored order and founded the Flavian Dynasty, designating his sons Titus and Domitian as his successors. In effect, Vespasian transformed the Principate into a full-blown hereditary monarchy. The Flavians expanded the bureaucracy and expanded the boundaries of the empire. Although generally considered cruel, they did manage to maintain peace and to pave the way for the period of “five good emperors,” a golden age lasting from 96 to 180 c.e.

These five rulers—Marcus Cocceius Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius—were effective commanders and competent administrators. Although not power-hungry despots, they were absolute monarchs determined to rule and preserve order on their own terms. Nerva reformed land law in favor of the poor, tolerated Christianity, and reformed taxation. His designated successor, Trajan, conquered much of the Parthian Empire, restored the Appian Way, and built a forum and a large aqueduct for Rome. Hadrian patronized artists, rebuilt the Pantheon, and constructed a protective wall in Britain. Marcus Aurelius was a Stoic philosopher who tried to help the poor and to decrease the violence of the gladiatorial shows. He also persecuted Christians as enemies of the empire.

In contrast to the other four good emperors, Marcus Aurelius designated his natural son, Lucius Aurelius Commodus, as his successor. The choice was unfortunate. Following Commodus’s assassination, Lucius Septimius Severus founded a military dynasty that lasted from 193 to 235 c.e. The Severan Dynasty was followed by a period of constant civil wars and general anarchy, until the emperor Diocletian in 284 c.e. restored order and reorganized the empire into a tetrarchy (rule of four). The empire was divided into two parts, the East and the West, with each part having a military commander called an Augustus and an assistant called a Caesar. With the retirement of Diocletian in 305 c.e., civil wars recurred until Constantine the Great, the first emperor to endorse Christianity, again united the empire in 324 c.e.

Because of the weakened condition of Rome, Constantine moved his major capital to Byzantium, which was eventually renamed Constantinople. Later emperors were not able to reverse the decline of the West. In 410 c.e., Visigoth invaders sacked Rome. The last emperor of the West, Romulus Augustulus, was finally deposed in 476 c.e. The Western Empire was divided among a large number of seminomadic warrior societies, and the Eastern Empire, centered at Constantinople, would continue to survive for almost a thousand years.

Government and law

The emperor was the commander of the military, and he had almost unlimited power to issue legislative edicts and to execute their enforcement. The powers of the Roman senate, the courts, and army constantly changed, depending on circumstances and the force of individual personalities. The Romans never established good institutional means for the selection of the emperor, which meant that succession was often decided by warfare. The concepts of democracy and elected representation were generally missing from the political institutions of the empire.

During the imperial age, nevertheless, there was usually a strong commitment to the principle of rule by established law. Under the Principate, Augustus and his successors allowed eminent jurists such as Gaius and Ulpian to deliver opinions on the legal issues of trials, which produced the “classical age of Roman law.” The Roman law included three major branches: the civil law, which was applicable to Roman citizens; the law of peoples, which was binding on all nationalities of the empire; and natural law, which assumed that humans could discern a rational order of nature. Although Roman jurists often endorsed the theory of equality before the law, slavery and other Roman institutions made it impossible to apply the theory in practice.

Military power

During the early years of the empire, the army was composed of Roman citizens who became professional soldiers by enlisting for twenty years of active duty. This army, famous for its training and discipline, conquered new territory and guarded the frontiers. The army also included engineers who designed bridges and roads. It was divided into legions, with each composed of about 6,000 infantry and 120 cavalry. Each legion was assisted by an auxiliary, a unit of the same size composed of noncitizens drafted for twenty years. At the height of the empire, the army probably included about 500,000 soldiers. Because of its great power, the army—especially the Praetorian Guard—sometimes intervened in political matters.

As the empire weakened, the army was increasingly dominated by Germans and mercenaries. By the fourth century c.e., the soldiers of the army had no real commitment to Roman power and traditions. As taxation became less efficient, the size and quality of the army declined, leaving the frontiers unprotected from barbarian invaders.

Economics

The prosperity of the Principate was based on a combination of manufacturing, agriculture, and the mutual benefits of trade. Manufacturers of the empire produced pottery, textiles, and numerous products of metal and glass. Romans traded with all parts of Eurasia, including India and China. The maintenance of the empire would not have been possible without efficient means of transporting soldiers and commercial goods. Each important region within the empire had a busy port city to receive ships. Most merchant ships were sailing vessels dependent on the wind, and warships were usually galleys using slaves and prisoners to operate oars.

Even in good times, prosperity was unevenly distributed according to geography and social class. Italy usually had an unfavorable balance of trade, for it was never able to produce enough commodities to pay for the luxuries that were imported primarily from the East. By the fourth century c.e., Rome was increasingly drained of its money supply. As a consequence, the government lacked the means to pay for military protection or the maintenance of roads and other infrastructure.

Social structure

Roman society was divided into rigid social classes. The most basic distinction of the empire was between citizens and noncitizens. At first, only people from Rome could be citizens, but the privilege was later extended to other peoples throughout the empire. Citizens were divided into three categories: a small group of ruling aristocrats, a small number of wealthy landowners and merchants, and the plebeians or lower-class majority. Noncitizens were divided into two groups: slaves and non-Roman nationalities who were allies of the Romans, called socii. Slaves had no legal rights. Most slaves were either prisoners of war or condemned criminals, although poor people sometimes were forced to sell their children into slavery.

Rural agricultural workers usually lived in conditions of extreme poverty. Although a small number of yeoman farmers possessed their own land, most rural workers were tenant workers, called coloni, concentrated in large estates, or villas. From the third century c.e., the majority of such workers were bound to the soil, forced into slavelike conditions. Coloni often escaped to the cities, and sometimes they joined bands of marauding robbers. Rural riots were increasingly a problem. During the empire’s decline, many of the villas had already become self-sufficient units that resembled the manors during the Middle Ages.

Architecture and city planning

Roman architects pioneered in the construction of domes, amphitheaters, public baths, and race courses. The public buildings of the empire were massive and built to last. The Romans were the first to discover how to produce poured concrete. Although borrowing many ideas from the Etruscans, the Romans were also the first to make widespread uses of arches, barrel vaults, and domes. The largest domed structure was the Pantheon, which had a dome 142 feet (43 meters) in diameter. The Romans constructed several huge coliseums, including the one in Rome that accommodated 50,000 spectators.

The trade and urban centers of the empire would not have been possible without a vast network of stone roads, bridges, and aqueducts. Highways such as the Appian Way were constructed of layers of stone and gravel. At the time of Trajan, eleven aqueducts brought 300 million gallons (1.1 million liters) of water into Rome daily, providing running water and sewage for the homes of the wealthy. Numerous Roman structures, such as the Pont du Gard in France, remain standing in modern times.

Science

Although the Romans did not make especially great strides in theoretical science, they did put the findings of Hellenistic science to practical use in fields such as engineering and applied medicine. During the first century c.e., Pliny the Elder amassed a large encyclopedic work called Naturalis historia (77 c.e.; Natural History, 1938-1963). During the second century c.e., the Greek-speaking astronomer Ptolemy defended the geocentric view of the universe in his Almagest (also known as Hī matheīmatikī syntaxix, 146 or 147 c.e.; English translation, 1898). The physician Galen experimented with animal hearts and was probably the first to explain the process of respiration. Galen’s medical encyclopedia, although containing many errors, remained the standard authority in the field until the sixteenth century.

Religion

Beliefs in animism, or spirits and mysterious forces, continued to be important during the empire. Until the advent of Christianity, Romans were tolerant polytheists who accepted a large number of gods and goddesses, with an emphasis on a pantheon of Greco-Roman deities such as Jupiter, Mars, Minerva, and Janus. Although Greek mythology and Greek philosophy were especially influential, syncretism with other traditions, such as those of Egypt and Persia, was also common. An official clergy conducted sacrifices and other rituals that were believed to promote peace and prosperity. Until the advent of Christianity, the civic religion mandated that everyone acknowledge the emperor’s spirit as divine.

By the time of Augustus, many of the common people were attracted to mystery religions and cults from Egypt and Iran, with the worship of Isis, Mithra, and Cybele having especially great appeal. These new faiths centered around personal salvation and belief in a continued afterlife. Such practices helped to prepare the way for Christianity. Before the first Edict of Milan in 313 c.e., the government often persecuted Christians because of their stubborn refusal to participate in the civic religion. About 394 c.e., Theodosius the Great made orthodox Christianity the official religion of the empire, and the government attempted to suppress other religious traditions.

Recreation and entertainment

Under the empire, there were frequent holidays during which the government sponsored events of public entertainment. Chariot races, held in an arena called a circus, were especially popular. The poet Juvenal once wrote that the most important needs of the common people were “bread and circuses.” Gladiator fights at the amphitheaters also attracted huge crowds. From the modern perspective, such fights were extremely cruel and violent. In addition to fighting wild animals, trained gladiators fought each other to the death. Condemned criminals and Christians were sometimes thrown to lions and other hungry beasts.

Romans also enjoyed less violent forms of recreation. They often went to the theater, where farcical comedies were especially appreciated. People frequently spent their leisure time at public baths, libraries, gymnasiums, and art galleries. Other amusements included dancing, magical shows, acrobatics, games similar to checkers, and hunting and fishing.

Literature

During periods of prosperity, Roman aristocrats were generous patrons of writers and artists. The Augustan age is often called the “golden age of Latin literature.” The most famous poet of the age was Vergil, author of the Aeneid (c. 29-19 b.c.e.; English translation, 1553), an epic poem presenting an idealized view of a Trojan hero, considered an ancestor of aristocratic Romans. Another prominent poet, Horace, presented a detached analysis of human weaknesses in his Satires (35 b.c.e., 30 b.c.e.; English translation, 1567). The last great poet of the period, Ovid, preserved fifteen mythological tales in the Metamorphoses (c. 8 c.e.; English translation, 1567). The most prominent prose writer of the golden age was the historian Livy, whose mammoth Ab urbe condita libre (c. 26 b.c.e.-15 c.e.; The History of Rome, 1600) interpreted the past from a patriotic and moralistic perspective.

The century and a half after Augustus is commonly referred to as the Silver Age. Three philosophical writers—Seneca the Younger, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius—were eminent interpreters of Stoicism, teaching serenity and surrender to the benevolent order of the universe. Petronius Arbiter’s Satyricon (c. 60 c.e.; The Satyricon, 1694) is considered one of first satirical novels in Western literature. The greatest historian of the period, Tacitus, wrote a narrative of the Roman past in Ab excessu divi Augusti (c. 116 c.e., also known as Annales; Annals, 1598) and Historiae (c. 109 c.e.; Histories, 1731), and his De origine et situ Germanorum (c. 98 c.e., also known as Germania; The Description of Germanie, 1598) favorably described the Germans as noble savages. Juvenal’s five books of Saturae (100-127 c.e.; Satires, 1693) gave a biting critique of the vices and inequities of Roman society. During the later empire, the most important literary works were produced by Christian writers, including Saint Jerome, Saint Augustine, and the historian Eusebius of Caesarea.

Current views

In general, the Romans were not very interested in abstract thought, and they did not make many original contributions to philosophy or science. They excelled in the development of law, the administration of a large and diverse empire, and the construction of buildings and infrastructure. The Pax Romana produced peace and stimulated trade over a vast area, providing many advantages for the people who were a part of the empire. These benefits, however, were unequally distributed according to social position and location. The Romans did not build their political institutions on democratic principles and were unable to develop peaceful means for the transfer of political power. Roman leaders, therefore, had to rely primarily on fear and coercion to maintain their rule. The Roman Empire faced many challenges, and historians are easily able to identify multiple causes for its demise. The more difficult task is to explain how the empire survived as long as it did.

Bibliography

Barton, Carlin. The Sorrows of the Ancient Romans. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1993.

Boren, Henry. Roman Society: A Social, Economic, and Cultural History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1992.

Bradley, Keith. Slavery and Society in Rome. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

Dupont, Florence. Daily Life in Ancient Rome. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Potter, D. S., and D. J. Mattingly. Life, Death, and Entertainment in the Roman Empire. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997.

Veyne, Paul. The Roman Empire. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997.