Download The Rom~n Empire: A Dictatorship (27 BC~476AD)

The Rom~n Empire: A Dictatorship (27 BC~476AD)
The Roman Empire, existing about s00 years, was a militarY dictatorship.
Of the many Roman emperors,
orne dominated the army~ others were its puppets. Some devoted themselves to the Empire's welfare; others
sought personal advantages. However, only a few were qualified to meet imperial problems.
1.
Augustus (27 Be - 14 AD) From the Senate OCtavian accepted the title Augustus, meaning "Sacred Majesty."
Just and capable; Augustus maintained peace, provided stable govemment.-refonned
provindal administration,
established fair taxation, developed trade and industry, enrouraged science, .~rtand literature and constructed
many roads and buildings. Augustus boasted, aa::ording to legend, thathetrprisformed
Rome from a dty of
brid<. into a city of~.
During Augustus' reign Yesuswas born in the ROfna[) province of Judea. The
Augustan Age began a 2ao-year period of peace and progress in the Medterranean wortd called the Pax
Romana.
Oaudius (41-54 AD) Established roman authority ih'the southern part of Britain. In Italy he promoted public
works.
3. Vespasian (69-79) dispatched an army, led by his son TttustD Palestine. Titus suppressed a Hebrew revolt
. (Masada), destroyed Jerusalem and expelled most Jews from Palestine (Diaspora).
4. Trajan (98-117) through conquest expanded the Empire to its greatest territorial extent. His most important
acquisition was Dacia (modern Romania).
5. Hadrian (117-138) realized the emnomic limitations that prevented further expansion. He set the borders of
the empire and built defensive walls in northern Britain and central Europe to repel barbarian tribes seeking to
enter the Empire.
6. Marcus Aurelius (161-138) was a conscientious and high-minded ruler roncemed with the peo~'s welfare.
He was also a Stoic philosopher who wrote the famous book, Meditations. His death markectthe end of the
Pax Romana and he was the last of the Good Emperors (see textl:xx.>l<).
.
7. Diodetian
(284-305) became emperor after a period of incompetent rule and intemal strife. To simPlify
government, he divided the Empire into East and west - each portion administered separately. To prevent dvil
war, he esta~ished a system of succession to the throne. Nevertheless, his death led to renewed dvil wars. HE
was the last emperor to actively persecute the Olristians.
8. Constantine
(312-337) reunited the Empire by rrilitary force and moved his capital from Rome to
Constanti~
(foonerty Byzantium). By the Edict of Milan (313 M), he ended the persecution of Qlristians
and made O1ristianity a legal religion in the empire. ~h,mse/f
was ronverted to O1ristianity.
9. Theodosius (378-395) made Qlristianity the state reflQion of the Empire. At his death he willed that the eastem
and western halves of the empire would become separate empires.
10. Romulus Augustutus
(476) was the last emperor of the Western Empire. Historians refer to this date (476) as
the fa" of the Roman Empire in the West
2.
Germanic Tribes Exert Pressure (1st - 4th centuries AD) Germanic tribes ~ primitive, warlike people - lived in
central and eastern Europe. Its fertile land, great wealth and advanced civilization attracted them to the Roman
Empire. Earty Germanic,effortS to enter the Empire were thwarted by Roman troops. Later, Rome permitted
some Germanic peoples to settle within its borders and enlisted Germanic soldiers in its armies.
2. The Huns Invade Europe (4th and 5th centuries AD) The Huns, savage invaders from central Asia, terrorized
EUrope, causing many Germanic tribes to flee into the roman Empire. Atti/4 the "Scourge of GOO" later led the
Huns in ravaging the Empire until turned t>ack by a o:>mtined Roman-Germanic force at the Battle of Chalons
(451). The Huns, nevert:heIess, had weakened Rome militaliJy and hastened its cbwnfall.
3. The Germanic Tribes End the roman Empire (4th and stt' <::eJJturK:s AD) The full-scale Germanic migrations into
Roman territory cx>uld not be stemmed by the enfeebJed Roman government.
Gradually the Germanic tribes
established kingdoms within the Empire: the Visigoths in Spain, the Ostrogoths in Italy, the Val'JOOIsin North
Africa, the Franks in Gaul, and the Angles and Saxons in Britain. In 476 Germanic mercenaries overthrew the
last emperor in Rome. TIle event, aanrding to rrost historians, ended the Western Roman Empire. TIle eastern
or Byzantine Empire continued for another 1000 years.
1.
~ie
Why could the Germanic tribes crush R~,
so long the master of the lV!€diterrallean world? The ans\>vers
not in Gennanic strength but in Roman weakness. By the 4tr, and stn centuries AD, the Roman Empire had.
dedined because of the follov"~ng internal CDfrltions.
1.
Politk:aI-1he didato.ial govem ••.o'lt was frequently inefficjent and mrrupt and did not cx::mrnanQ the people's
loyalty. The vast Empire, having primitive ~
and mmmunicaOOn, could not tJ;egoverned efficiently
from one central dty. Rivalry over successkm ItJotile throne often resutted in destructive dvil wars.
2. Ea:>nomlc - Small fanners had abandoned their lands and many had become workers on large estates. No
longer independent, they lost the inoeoove to improve fanning mefu.orls rn- to increase produdjon.
The selfsufficiency of the Iaf:ge estates hampered trade ani! rurtailed industry, thus causing an econ6mSc dedioe.
Heavy, often unjust taxation ~
the ~
and destroyed tl1eU" arn!:Jfuoo to WOJ't( and progmess. The
~
use of slaves in industry and agric:ufulre caused great ~
0J!i'10'l1g the ~.
3. ~
- People were interested mainiy in iuxUfY and 5U!TVival. The early Roman ideals of pat!iotism, service, and
morality had almost van4shed. Sharp dass distinctiOns existed. The upper dasses were weafthy and educated;
the lower dasses were poor and ignorant. Oties -previ~y
centers o{f rutture and industry - dedined as
people fled to the rural regions.
4. IVilita'Y - The warlike split of early pagan Rome was weakened by Owistian teachings of peace and universal
!(we. The Roman ~
induded many Gerrnarnc merrenaries of uncertain Ioyatty. the afTTlies, considering
themseh!e.s masters of the state, not its servao1s, often d10se tl1e emperors and determined govemmern policy.
1. PaxRomana(27 Be -HAD) Forover 200yearsRomanmilitary might enforcedin the ~n
3.
4.
world the
Pax Ro:nana, or Roman peare. This was a period of social cohesCon 01"1 aIf1 intemational scale. Trade and
CD01ffiefCe expanded; the arts and sdenoes tlmved; Greco-Roman, or dassK:a1, dvmzation reached evefY'Nhere
in the Empire. TIle achtevements under the Pax Romana prove that peace means progress.
Roman Law - The Romans developed bodies of law on business matters, family relationships, individual rights
and international affaii's. J~noan,
Byzantine emperor (527-565) directedjurists to cocrtty these laws. The
Justinian Code influenced the legal systems of western Europe and less directly, the United states. Roman Jaw
was intended to be impartial and humane. Two of its principles were (a) All persons are equal before the law.
(b) Accused persons are guaranteed legal protection. for~,
furred ronfessOOs are invalfid.
Ardlitecture - The Romans constructed rniit.ary roads, aqueducts, bridges, and marble buildings - some still in
use. Roman ardlit:ects effectivety empfoyed the arch, dome and roumn. During the reign of Emperor
Vespasian, the Romans erected the famous stone amphitheater, the~.
In it arena gOOators and wild
beasts batiierl to entertain spectators.
-latin, the Roman language, is (a) the root of the
Language
Portuguese and RlXllanian
RotniNJOe languages: French, lta!ian, Spanish,
and (b) the source of about Y2 of the words in the English language;
5. literature
a. acero,
b.
an orator and writer, is known as the "father of Latin prose." He wrote extensi~ OIl ethical,
religious, political subjects and delivered famous oration in defense of tile Roman Republic.
Vergil wrote the famous eptc poem, the Aeneid. In relating the adventures of Aeneas, whose descendants
SLlJ)pOSedty. founded, Rome, Vergil extoHed Rbme's greatness.
6. Historical Writing
a.
7.
uvy wrote an eocydopedac history - orny.part of which has survNed - of Rome from its founding to the
Augustan 1v:Je. Uvy deplored the decay of the early Roman virtues and the fall of the Republic.
b. Plutarch mrnpared Roman and Greek heroes in his book of biographies /Parallel .l...hfes.
c. Tacitus, in his work Germania vividy described life among the Germanic barbarians.
Scieoce - The RomarllS were prad:ic.al scientists, specializing in sanitation, public health arid engineering. The
research sdentistS of the Empire were generatty l1QIl-Romans.
a. Galen, a Greek physkian, ""'rote books summariZing the andent world's medical knowledge. He also
perfonned experiments involving the nervous and drculatory Systems.
b. Proleany, a Greek astronomer, taught - erroneously as we row know - that the earth is the CEflter of the
universe and the sun revolves around the eart:h. (This Ptckmaic theOly was rorrected in the 16th century I!"
the Copernican theOry.