Download The Roman Empire

The Roman Empire
World History – Libertyville HS
Octavian, First Emperor (r. 27
BC-14 AD)
• Adopted by Julius Caesar
at age 19
• Fought in civil war vs.
Senate & others for control
of Rome
• Upon victory, focused on
consolidating his power
• Senate declared him
“Augustus” (emperor)
• Kept tabs on rivals through
spies
• Kept control over army
Octavian, First Emperor
• Octavian reorganized
the state / empire
• Frontier provinces were
designated “Imperial”
• No Senators Allowed! –
Why?
• 28 legions stationed
• Interior Provinces
• “Romanized” areas
• Senate controlled
• NO legions stationed
The Roman Empire
• Pax Romana =
“Roman Peace”
• Lasted 200 years, from
27 BC to 180 AD
• Few civil wars & no
invasions
• Legal system helped to
Romanize regions
• Empire covered 2.2
million square miles
with 120 million pop.
Mediterranean called “Mare Nostrum” (Our
Sea)
Government of the Empire
• Emperor had total
control over the
government & army
• Senate still met, but had
little real power (no
legions)
• Maintained bureaucracy,
like the Han
• Government was fairly
corrupt – tax farming
• Bribing elected officials
standard practice
Economy of the Empire
• Trade
• Traded throughout
Europe, SW Asia, North
Africa – even China (226
AD)
• Road network very
important to trade (quick
/ cheap)
• Mediterranean was pirate
free (not again = 19th C.)
Life in the Roman Empire
• Life in Rome
• City of 1 million+,
mostly unemployed
plebeians
• “Bread & circuses”
• Bread = daily dole of
food
• Circuses = games,
theater, etc.
Life in Rome
• Haves and the have
nots
• Haves =Patricians,
equestrians were
decadent
• Have nots = plebeians
• Desperately poor
• Lived in cramped
apartment buildings
prone to fires, collapse
Life in the Roman Empire
• Life in the provinces
• Security of Pax
Romana meant
hundreds of towns,
cities sprang up
• Simpler life than in the
cities- where people
farmed, raised families,
and lived their lives
Life in the Roman Empire
• Life along frontiers
• Use of client states, esp. in
Europe, as buffers to
protect against invasion
(sound familiar?)
• Transformed German border
tribes into semi civilized
states
• In later Roman Empire,
Germans provided most
troops of army
• Roman army was primary
means by which new
citizens were added to
empire (part of retirement)
Reasons for Decline of Imperial
Rome
• #1: Difficulty maintaining
borders
• Army on frontier gradually
became less Roman and more
“barbarian”
• People outside Empire crossed
borders to get to (relative)
safety of Empire and away
from Huns, others
• #2: Cost of bureaucracy
• Taxes paid by citizens, but rich
tended to avoid taxes
• Land, local power went to rich
• Tribute and taxes couldn’t
keep up with costs of Empire
Reasons for Decline
• Reason #3: Size of
Empire
• Emperor Diocletian (284311 AD) divided Empire
into four parts
• East was “Hellenized”
• West was Germanic
• Leaders of North, South
were “Caesar”, or junior
emperors
• Emperor Constantine
(307-337 AD) moved
Fall of the Western Empire
• After 337 AD, while
the Eastern Empire
recovered and
advanced, the West
continued to decline
• Generals stripped the
frontiers of troops to
fight in civil wars or
declare self emperor
• Assassins killed
emperors
• Meanwhile, outsiders
migrated into Roman
Europe, Africa
End of the Empire
• Attila the Hun (434-454 AD)
• Came out of steppes of Western
Asia leading a horde of
horsemen
• Laid siege to Constantinople,
bought off
• Went to Italy, laid siege to
Rome, but suddenly retreated
(Pope claimed miracle)
Last Emperor (L) giving crown
to Odoacer (R)
• In 476 AD, Odoacer, a
German mercenary, deposed
the last Roman Emperor, a
child, and became King of
Italy