Ancient Rome

The second secession is clearly fictitious. Many scholars regard the first one as a later annalistic invention as well, accepting only the last one as historical. Although the first secession is explained in terms resembling the conditions of the later Gracchan agrarian crisis see below The reform movement of the Gracchi [— bc ] , given the harshness of early Roman debt laws and food shortages recorded by the sources for and bc information likely to be preserved in contemporary religious records , social and economic unrest could have contributed to the creation of the office.

However, the urban-civilian character of the plebeian tribunate complements the extra-urban military nature of the consulship so nicely that the two offices may have originally been designed to function cooperatively to satisfy the needs of the state rather than to be antagonistic to one another. The next major episode after the creation of the plebeian tribunate in the annalistic version of the struggle of the orders involved the first systematic codification of Roman law.

The plebeians were supposed to have desired a written law code in which consular imperium would be circumscribed to guard against abuses. After years of tribunician agitation the Senate finally agreed. A special board of 10 men decemviri was appointed for bc to draw up a law code. Since their task was not done after one year, a second board of 10 was appointed to finish the job, but they became tyrannical and stayed in office beyond their time.

The law code was inscribed upon 12 bronze tablets and publicly displayed in the Forum. Its provisions concerned legal procedure , debt foreclosure, paternal authority over children, property rights , inheritance, funerary regulations, and various major and minor offenses. Although many of its provisions became outmoded and were modified or replaced in later times, the Law of the Twelve Tables formed the basis of all subsequent Roman private law. Because the law code seems not to have had any specific provisions concerning consular imperium, the annalistic explanation for the codification appears suspect.

The story of the second tyrannical board of 10 is an annalistic invention patterned after the 30 tyrants of Athenian history. Thus the second secession, which is an integral part of the story, cannot be regarded as historical.

Introduction to ancient Rome

On the basis of existing evidence, one cannot say whether the law code resulted from any social or economic causes. Rome was a growing city and may simply have been in need of a systematic body of law. The creation of the office of military tribunes with consular power in bc was believed to have involved the struggle of the orders. The annalistic tradition portrayed the innovation as resulting from a political compromise between plebeian tribunes, demanding access to the consulship, and the Senate, trying to maintain the patrician monopoly of the office.

Henceforth, each year the people were to decide whether to elect two patrician consuls or military tribunes with consular power who could be patricians or plebeians. The list of magistrates for to bc shows that the chief magistracy alternated between consuls and military tribunes. Consuls were more frequently elected down to but rarely thereafter. At first there were three military tribunes, but the number increased to four in and to six in The consular tribunate was abolished in bc and replaced by the consulship. Livy indicates that according to some sources the consular tribunate was created because Rome was faced with three wars simultaneously.

Because there is evidence that there was no prohibition against plebeians becoming consuls, scholars have suggested that the reason for the innovation was the growing military and administrative needs of the Roman state; this view is corroborated by other data. Beginning in bc , two quaestors were elected as financial officials of the consuls, and the number increased to four in bc.

Beginning in bc , two censors were elected about every five years and held office for 18 months. They drew up official lists of Roman citizens, assessed the value of their property, and assigned them to their proper tribe and century within the tribal and centuriate assemblies. In bc six undifferentiated military tribunes were replaced with five magistrates that had specific functions: In bc the Romans began to elect annually six military tribunes as subordinate officers of the consuls.

The law reinstating the consulship was one of three tribunician bills, the so-called Licinio-Sextian Rogations of bc. Another forbade citizens to rent more than iugera acres of public land, and the third provided for the alleviation of indebtedness. The law concerning indebtedness is probably historical as well, since other data suggest that debt was a problem in mid-4th-century Rome.

In bc a five-man commission was appointed to extend public credit in order to reduce private indebtedness. A Genucian law of bc named after Genucius, tribune of that year temporarily suspended the charging of interest on loans. In or bc a Poetelian law ameliorated the harsh conditions of the Twelve Tables regarding debt servitude by outlawing the use of chains to confine debt bondsmen. The date of this innovation is disputed.

Rome was no longer a small town of central Italy but rather was quickly becoming the master of the Italian peninsula and was taking its place in the larger Mediterranean world. The process of expansion is well illustrated by innovations in Roman private law about bc. Since legal business could be conducted only on certain days dies fasti , knowledge of the calendar was important for litigation. In early times the rex sacrorum at the beginning of each month orally proclaimed in Rome before the assembled people the official calendar for that month.

Though suited for a small agricultural community, this parochial procedure became increasingly unsuitable as Roman territory grew and more citizens lived farther from Rome. In bc a curule aedile named Gnaeus Flavius upset conservative opinion but performed a great public service by erecting an inscription of the calendar in the Roman Forum for permanent display. From early times, Roman private law and legal procedure had largely been controlled and developed by the priesthood of pontiffs.

In bc the Ogulnian law after the tribunes Gnaeus and Quintus Ogulnius ended the patrician monopoly of two priestly colleges by increasing the number of pontiffs from four to eight and the number of augurs from four to nine and by specifying that the new priests were to be plebeian. In bc the third and perhaps the only historical secession of the plebs occurred. One source suggests that debt caused the secession.

Many sources state that the crisis was ended by the passage of the Hortensian law after Quintus Hortensius , dictator for , which was thought to have given enactments of the tribal assembly the same force as resolutions of the centuriate assembly. However, since similar measures were supposed to have been enacted in and bc , doubt persists about the meaning of these laws.

It is possible that no difference ever existed in the degree of legal authority of the two assemblies. The three laws could be annalistic misinterpretations of a provision of the Twelve Tables specifying that what the people decided last should be binding. One source indicates that the Hortensian law made all assembly days eligible for legal business. Although the Latins dwelled in politically independent towns, their common language and culture produced cooperation in religion, law, and warfare.

All Latins could participate in the cults of commonly worshiped divinities, such as the cult of the Penates of Lavinium, Juno of Lanuvium, and Diana celebrated at both Aricia and Rome. Latins freely intermarried without legal complications. When visiting another Latin town, they could buy, sell, litigate, and even vote with equal freedom.

If a Latin took up permanent residence in another Latin community, he became a full citizen of his new home. Although the Latin states occasionally waged war among themselves, in times of common danger they banded together for mutual defense. Each state contributed military forces according to its strength. The command of all forces was entrusted by common assent to a single person from one of the Latin towns. Sometimes the Latins even founded colonies upon hostile territory as military outposts, which became new, independent Latin states, enjoying the same rights as all the other ones.

There is probably exaggeration in this claim. Roman historians were eager to portray early Rome as destined for future greatness and as more powerful than it actually was. Rome certainly became one of the more important states in Latium during the 6th century, but Tibur, Praeneste , and Tusculum were equally important and long remained so.

By the terms of the first treaty between Rome and Carthage bc , recorded by the Greek historian Polybius c. Yet the armies, military ranks, castrametation i. Toward the end of the 5th century, while Rome and the Latins were still defending themselves against the Volsci and the Aequi, the Romans began to expand at the expense of Etruscan states. Ancient Roman historians, who were often patriotic senators, believed that Rome always waged just wars in self-defense, and they wrote their accounts accordingly, distorting or suppressing facts that did not fit this view.

The modern thesis of Roman defensive imperialism, which followed this ancient bias, is now largely discredited. Only the fighting in the 5th century bc and the later wars against the Gauls can clearly be so characterized. Roman consuls, who led the legions into battle, often advocated war because victory gained them personal glory. Members of the centuriate assembly, which, as noted above, decided war and peace, may sometimes have voted for war in expectation that it would lead to personal enrichment through seizure and distribution of booty.

The evidence concerning Roman expansion during the early republic is poor, but the fact that Rome created 14 new rustic tribes during the years — bc suggests that population growth could have been a driving force. Furthermore, Romans living on the frontier may have strongly favoured war against restless neighbours, such as the Gauls and the Samnites. The animal husbandry of the latter involved seasonal migrations between summer uplands and winter lowlands, which caused friction between them and settled Roman farmers.

Though the Romans did not wage wars for religious ends, they often used religious means to assist their war effort. The fetial priests were used for the solemn official declaration of war. According to fetial law, Rome could enjoy divine favour only if it waged just wars—that is, wars of self-defense. In later practice, this often simply meant that Rome maneuvered other states into declaring war upon it.

Then Rome followed with its declaration, acting technically in self-defense. This strategy had the effect of boosting Roman morale and sometimes swaying international public opinion. After it had been conquered, its land was annexed to Roman territory. Rome next fought a long and difficult war against Veii, an important Etruscan city not far from Fidenae.

Later Roman historians portrayed the war as having lasted 10 years — bc , patterning it after the mythical Trojan War of the Greeks. During the wars against Fidenae and Veii, Rome increased the number of military tribunes with consular power from three to four and then from four to six. In bc Rome instituted military pay, and in bc it increased the size of its cavalry. The conquest of Veii opened southern Etruria to further Roman expansion. During the next few years, Rome proceeded to found colonies at Nepet and Sutrium and forced the towns of Falerii and Capena to become its allies.

Yet, before Roman strength increased further, a marauding Gallic tribe swept down from the Po River valley, raided Etruria, and descended upon Rome. The Romans were defeated in the battle of the Allia River in bc , and the Gauls captured and sacked the city; they departed only after they had received ransom in gold. Henceforth the Romans greatly feared and respected the potential strength of the Gauls.

Later Roman historians, however, told patriotic tales about the commanders Marcus Manlius and Marcus Furius Camillus in order to mitigate the humiliation of the defeat. Roman power had suffered a great reversal, and 40 years of hard fighting in Latium and Etruria were required to restore it fully. During the 40 years after the second treaty with Carthage, Rome rapidly rose to a position of hegemony in Italy south of the Po valley.

Much of the fighting during this time consisted of three wars against the Samnites, who initially were not politically unified but coexisted as separate Oscan-speaking tribes of the central and southern Apennines. Both the rugged terrain and the tough Samnite soldiers proved to be formidable challenges, which forced Rome to adopt military innovations that were later important for conquering the Mediterranean.

Despite its brevity — bc , the First Samnite War resulted in the major acquisition to the Roman state of the rich land of Campania with its capital of Capua. Nevertheless, they were probably correct in stating that the Campanians, when fighting over the town of Capua with the Samnites, allied themselves with Rome in order to utilize its might to settle the quarrel. If so, this may have been the first of many instances in which Rome went to war after being invited into an alliance by a weaker state already at war.

Once invited in, Rome usually absorbed the allied state after defeating its adversary. In any event, Campania now somehow became firmly attached to Rome, and it may have been granted Roman citizenship without the right to vote in Rome civitas sine suffragio. The absorption of Campania provoked the Latins to take up arms against Rome to maintain their independence. Since the Gallic sack of Rome in bc , the city had become increasingly dominant within the Latin League.

In bc Tusculum was absorbed by being given Roman citizenship. In bc Rome created two more rustic tribes from territory captured along the Volscian coast. Virtually all of Latium was given Roman citizenship and became Roman territory, but the towns retained their local governments. Thus the Latin League was abolished, but the legal rights that the Latins had enjoyed among themselves were retained by Rome as a legal status, the Latin right ius Latii , and used for centuries as an intermediate step between non-Roman status and full Roman citizenship.

Rome was now the master of central Italy and spent the next decade organizing and pushing forward its frontier through conquest and colonization. In bc a Roman army was trapped in a narrow canyon near the Caudine Forks and compelled to surrender, and Rome was forced to sign a five-year treaty. In bc , after the resumption of hostilities, Rome suffered a crushing defeat at Lautulae. Ancient sources state that Rome initially borrowed hoplite tactics from the Etruscans used during the 6th or 5th centuries bc but later adopted the manipular system of the Samnites, probably as a result of Samnite success at this time.

The manipular formation resembled a checkerboard pattern, in which solid squares of soldiers were separated by empty square spaces. It was far more flexible than the solidly massed hoplite formation, allowing the army to maneuver better on rugged terrain. The system was retained throughout the republic and into the empire. When he died, the Senate elevated Augustus to the status of a god, beginning a long-running tradition of deification for popular emperors. The line ended with Nero , whose excesses drained the Roman treasury and led to his downfall and eventual suicide. The reign of Nerva , who was selected by the Senate to succeed Domitian, began another golden age in Roman history, during which four emperors—Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius—took the throne peacefully, succeeding one another by adoption, as opposed to hereditary succession.

Under Antoninus Pius , Rome continued in peace and prosperity, but the reign of Marcus Aurelius — was dominated by conflict, including war against Parthia and Armenia and the invasion of Germanic tribes from the north. When Marcus fell ill and died near the battlefield at Vindobona Vienna , he broke with the tradition of non-hereditary succession and named his year-old son Commodus as his successor. The decadence and incompetence of Commodus brought the golden age of the Roman emperors to a disappointing end. His death at the hands of his own ministers sparked another period of civil war , from which Lucius Septimius Severus emerged victorious.

During the third century Rome suffered from a cycle of near-constant conflict. A total of 22 emperors took the throne, many of them meeting violent ends at the hands of the same soldiers who had propelled them to power. Meanwhile, threats from outside plagued the empire and depleted its riches, including continuing aggression from Germans and Parthians and raids by the Goths over the Aegean Sea.

The reign of Diocletian temporarily restored peace and prosperity in Rome, but at a high cost to the unity of the empire. Diocletian divided power into the so-called tetrarchy rule of four , sharing his title of Augustus emperor with Maximian. A pair of generals, Galerius and Constantius, were appointed as the assistants and chosen successors of Diocletian and Maximian; Diocletian and Galerius ruled the eastern Roman Empire, while Maximian and Constantius took power in the west. The stability of this system suffered greatly after Diocletian and Maximian retired from office.

Constantine the son of Constantius emerged from the ensuing power struggles as sole emperor of a reunified Rome in He moved the Roman capital to the Greek city of Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople. Roman unity under Constantine proved illusory, and 30 years after his death the eastern and western empires were again divided.

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Despite its continuing battle against Persian forces, the eastern Roman Empire—later known as the Byzantine Empire—would remain largely intact for centuries to come. Rome eventually collapsed under the weight of its own bloated empire, losing its provinces one by one: Britain around ; Spain and northern Africa by Attila and his brutal Huns invaded Gaul and Italy around , further shaking the foundations of the empire.

Start your free trial today. We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. All these wars resulted in Rome's first overseas conquests Sicily , Hispania and Africa and the rise of Rome as a significant imperial power and began the end of democracy.

At this time Rome was a consolidated empire — in the military view — and had no major enemies. Foreign dominance led to internal strife. Senators became rich at the provinces ' expense; soldiers, who were mostly small-scale farmers, were away from home longer and could not maintain their land; and the increased reliance on foreign slaves and the growth of latifundia reduced the availability of paid work. Income from war booty, mercantilism in the new provinces, and tax farming created new economic opportunities for the wealthy, forming a new class of merchants , called the equestrians.

Violent gangs of the urban unemployed, controlled by rival Senators, intimidated the electorate through violence. The situation came to a head in the late 2nd century BC under the Gracchi brothers, a pair of tribunes who attempted to pass land reform legislation that would redistribute the major patrician landholdings among the plebeians. Both brothers were killed and the Senate passed reforms reversing the Gracchi brother's actions. Marius then started his military reform: At this time, Marius began his quarrel with Lucius Cornelius Sulla: Marius, who wanted to capture Jugurtha, asked Bocchus , son-in-law of Jugurtha, to hand him over.

As Marius failed, Sulla, a general of Marius at that time, in a dangerous enterprise, went himself to Bocchus and convinced Bocchus to hand Jugurtha over to him. This was very provocative to Marius, since many of his enemies were encouraging Sulla to oppose Marius. After Marius's retirement, Rome had a brief peace, during which the Italian socii "allies" in Latin requested Roman citizenship and voting rights.

The reformist Marcus Livius Drusus supported their legal process but was assassinated, and the socii revolted against the Romans in the Social War. At one point both consuls were killed; Marius was appointed to command the army together with Lucius Julius Caesar and Sulla. By the end of the Social War, Marius and Sulla were the premier military men in Rome and their partisans were in conflict, both sides jostling for power.

However, Marius's partisans managed his installation to the military command, defying Sulla and the Senate , and this caused Sulla's wrath. To consolidate his own power, Sulla conducted a surprising and illegal action: He seized power along with the consul Lucius Cornelius Cinna and killed the other consul, Gnaeus Octavius , achieving his seventh consulship. In an attempt to raise Sulla's anger, Marius and Cinna revenged their partisans by conducting a massacre.

Sulla after returning from his Eastern campaigns, had a free path to reestablish his own power. Sulla also held two dictatorships and one more consulship, which began the crisis and decline of Roman Republic. In the mid-1st century BC, Roman politics were restless. Political divisions in Rome became identified with two groupings, populares who hoped for the support of the people and optimates the "best", who wanted to maintain exclusive aristocratic control.

Sulla overthrew all populist leaders and his constitutional reforms removed powers such as those of the tribune of the plebs that had supported populist approaches. Meanwhile, social and economic stresses continued to build; Rome had become a metropolis with a super-rich aristocracy, debt-ridden aspirants, and a large proletariat often of impoverished farmers. The latter groups supported the Catilinarian conspiracy — a resounding failure, since the consul Marcus Tullius Cicero quickly arrested and executed the main leaders of the conspiracy.

Onto this turbulent scene emerged Gaius Julius Caesar , from an aristocratic family of limited wealth. His aunt Julia was Marius' wife, [48] and Caesar identified with the populares. To achieve power, Caesar reconciled the two most powerful men in Rome: Marcus Licinius Crassus , who had financed much of his earlier career, and Crassus' rival, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus anglicized as Pompey , to whom he married his daughter.

He formed them into a new informal alliance including himself, the First Triumvirate "three men". This satisfied the interests of all three: Crassus, the richest man in Rome, became richer and ultimately achieved high military command; Pompey exerted more influence in the Senate; and Caesar obtained the consulship and military command in Gaul. The Triumvirate disintegrated at Crassus' death. Crassus had acted as mediator between Caesar and Pompey, and, without him, the two generals manoeuvred against each other for power.

Caesar conquered Gaul , obtaining immense wealth, respect in Rome and the loyalty of battle-hardened legions. He also became a clear menace to Pompey and was loathed by many optimates. Confident that Caesar could be stopped by legal means, Pompey's party tried to strip Caesar of his legions, a prelude to Caesar's trial, impoverishment, and exile. Pompey and his party fled from Italy, pursued by Caesar. The Battle of Pharsalus was a brilliant victory for Caesar and in this and other campaigns he destroyed all of the optimates' leaders: Caesar was now pre-eminent over Rome, attracting the bitter enmity of many aristocrats.

He was granted many offices and honours. In just five years, he held four consulships, two ordinary dictatorships, and two special dictatorships: Caesar's assassination caused political and social turmoil in Rome; without the dictator's leadership, the city was ruled by his friend and colleague, Mark Antony. Soon afterward, Octavius , whom Caesar adopted through his will, arrived in Rome. Octavian historians regard Octavius as Octavian due to the Roman naming conventions tried to align himself with the Caesarian faction.

This alliance would last for five years. Upon its formation, — senators were executed, and their property was confiscated, due to their supposed support for the Liberatores. The Second Triumvirate was marked by the proscriptions of many senators and equites: However, Lucius was pardoned, perhaps because his sister Julia had intervened for him. The Triumvirate divided the Empire among the triumvirs: Lepidus was given charge of Africa , Antony, the eastern provinces, and Octavian remained in Italia and controlled Hispania and Gaul.

Antony's affair with Cleopatra was seen as an act of treason, since she was queen of another country. Additionally, Antony adopted a lifestyle considered too extravagant and Hellenistic for a Roman statesman. Following Antony's Donations of Alexandria , which gave to Cleopatra the title of " Queen of Kings ", and to Antony's and Cleopatra's children the regal titles to the newly conquered Eastern territories, war between Octavian and Antony broke out.

Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide. Now Egypt was conquered by the Roman Empire, and for the Romans, a new era had begun. In that year, he took the name Augustus. Officially, the government was republican, but Augustus assumed absolute powers. The Julio-Claudian dynasty was established by Augustus.

The emperors of this dynasty were: Augustus , Tiberius , Caligula , Claudius and Nero. The dynasty is so-called due to the gens Julia , family of Augustus, and the gens Claudia , family of Tiberius. The Julio-Claudians started the destruction of republican values, but on the other hand, they boosted Rome's status as the central power in the world.

While Caligula and Nero are usually remembered as dysfunctional emperors in popular culture, Augustus and Claudius are remembered as emperors who were successful in politics and the military. This dynasty instituted imperial tradition in Rome [61] and frustrated any attempt to reestablish a Republic. Augustus gathered almost all the republican powers under his official title, princeps: With this title he not only boasted his familial link to deified Julius Caesar, but the use of Imperator signified a permanent link to the Roman tradition of victory.

He also diminished the Senatorial class influence in politics by boosting the equestrian class. The senators lost their right to rule certain provinces, like Egypt; since the governor of that province was directly nominated by the emperor. The creation of the Praetorian Guard and his reforms in the military, creating a standing army with a fixed size of 28 legions, ensured his total control over the army.

Compared with the Second Triumvirate's epoch, Augustus' reign as princeps was very peaceful. This peace and richness that was granted by the agrarian province of Egypt [65] led the people and the nobles of Rome to support Augustus increasing his strength in political affairs.

In military activity, Augustus was absent at battles.

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His generals were responsible for the field command; gaining such commanders as Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa , Nero Claudius Drusus and Germanicus much respect from the populace and the legions. Augustus intended to extend the Roman Empire to the whole known world, and in his reign, Rome conquered Cantabria Aquitania , Raetia , Dalmatia , Illyricum and Pannonia. Poets like Virgil , Horace , Ovid and Rufus developed a rich literature, and were close friends of Augustus. Along with Maecenas , he stimulated patriotic poems, as Virgil's epic Aeneid and also historiographical works, like those of Livy.

The works of this literary age lasted through Roman times, and are classics. Augustus also continued the shifts on the calendar promoted by Caesar , and the month of August is named after him. Influenced by his wife, Livia Drusilla , Augustus appointed her son from another marriage, Tiberius , as his heir. The Senate agreed with the succession, and granted to Tiberius the same titles and honors once granted to Augustus: However, Tiberius was not an enthusiast of political affairs: The male line of the Julio-Claudians was limited to Tiberius' nephew Claudius , his grandson Tiberius Gemellus and his grand-nephew Caligula.

As Gemellus was still a child, Caligula was chosen to rule the Empire. He was a popular leader in the first half of his reign, but became a crude and insane tyrant in his years controlling government. The Praetorian Guard murdered Caligula four years after the death of Tiberius, [76] and, with belated support from the senators, proclaimed his uncle Claudius as the new emperor.

Claudius conquered Lycia and Thrace ; his most important deed was the beginning of the conquest of Britain. Nero is widely known as the first persecutor of Christians and for the Great Fire of Rome , rumoured to have been started by the emperor himself. Although Nero defeated these rebels, he could not overthrow the revolt led by Servius Sulpicius Galba. The Senate soon declared Nero a public enemy, and he committed suicide. The Flavians were the second dynasty to rule Rome. After the turmoil in the Year of the Four Emperors , Titus Flavius Vespasianus anglicized as Vespasian took control of the Empire and established a new dynasty.

Under the Flavians, Rome continued its expansion, and the state remained secure. Vespasian was a general under Claudius and Nero.

Historical sources on early Rome

Galba , Otho , Vitellius , and, lastly, Vespasian, who crushed Vitellius' forces and became emperor. He reconstructed many buildings which were uncompleted, like a statue of Apollo and the temple of Divus Claudius "the deified Claudius" , both initiated by Nero. Buildings once destroyed by the Great Fire of Rome were rebuilt, and he revitalized the Capitol. Vespasian also started the construction of the Flavian Amphitheater, more commonly known as the Colosseum.

The historians Josephus and Pliny the Elder wrote their works during Vespasian's reign. Vespasian sent legions to defend the eastern frontier in Cappadocia , extended the occupation in Britain and reformed the tax system. He finished the Flavian Amphitheater, which was constructed with war spoils from the First Jewish-Roman War , and promoted games celebrating the victory over the Jews that lasted for a hundred days.

These games included gladiatorial combats , chariot races and a sensational mock naval battle on the flooded grounds of the Colosseum. Titus constructed a line of roads and fortifications on the borders of modern-day Germany ; and his general Gnaeus Julius Agricola conquered much of Britain, extending the Roman world to as far as Scotland. On the other hand, his failed war against Dacia was a humiliating defeat. As emperor, Domitian assumed totalitarian characteristics, [91] thought he could be a new Augustus , and tried to make a personal cult of himself.

Domitian ruled for fifteen years, and his reign was marked by his attempts to compare himself to the gods. He constructed at least two temples in honour of Jupiter, the supreme deity in Roman religion. He also liked to be called " Dominus et Deus " "Master and God". During their rule, Rome reached its territorial and economical apogee. The criteria for choosing an emperor were the qualities of the candidate and no longer ties of kinship; additionally, there were no civil wars or military defeats in this period.

Following Domitian's murder, the Senate rapidly appointed Nerva to hold imperial dignity. This was the first time that senators chose the emperor since Octavian was honored with the titles of princeps and Augustus. Nerva had a noble ancestry, and he had served as an advisor to Nero and the Flavians. His rule restored many of the liberties once assumed by Domitian [94] and started the last golden era of Rome. Trajan was born in a non-patrician family from Hispania and his preeminence emerged in the army, under Domitian.

He is the second of the Five Good Emperors , the first being Nerva. Trajan was greeted by the people of Rome with enthusiasm, which he justified by governing well and without the bloodiness that had marked Domitian's reign. He freed many people who had been unjustly imprisoned by Domitian and returned private property that Domitian had confiscated; a process begun by Nerva before his death.

Trajan conquered Dacia , and defeated the king Decebalus , who had defeated Domitian's forces. In the First Dacian War — , the defeated Dacia became a client kingdom; in the Second Dacian War — , Trajan completely devastated the enemy's resistance and annexed Dacia to the Empire. Trajan also annexed the client state of Nabatea to form the province of Arabia Petraea , which included the lands of southern Syria and northwestern Arabia.

His main architect was Apollodorus of Damascus ; Apollodorus made the project of the Forum and of the Column, and also reformed the Pantheon. Trajan's triumphal arches in Ancona and Beneventum are other constructions projected by him. Trajan's final war was against Parthia. When Parthia appointed a king for Armenia who was unacceptable to Rome Parthia and Rome shared dominance over Armenia , he declared war. He probably wanted to be the first Roman leader to conquer Parthia, and repeat the glory of Alexander the Great , conqueror of Asia, whom Trajan next followed in the clash of Greek-Romans and the Persian cultures.

In Trajan turned south into the core of Parthian hegemony, took the Northern Mesopotamian cities of Nisibis and Batnae , organized a province of Mesopotamia , and issued coins announcing that Armenia and Mesopotamia was under the authority of the Roman people. In that same year, he captured Seleucia and the Parthian capital Ctesiphon. After defeating a Parthian revolt and a Jewish revolt , he withdrew due to health issues. In , his illness grew and he died of edema. He nominated Hadrian as his heir. Under Trajan's leadership the Roman Empire reached the peak of its territorial expansion; Rome's dominion now spanned 2,, square miles 6,, square kilometres.

The prosperity brought by Nerva and Trajan continued in the reigns of subsequent emperors, from Hadrian to Marcus Aurelius. Hadrian withdrew all the troops stationed in Parthia and Mesopotamia, abandoning Trajan's conquests. Although facing another revolt in Judea , Hadrian's government was very peaceful, since he avoided wars: A famous philhellenist , Hadrian promoted culture, specially the Greek. He also forbade torture and humanized the laws.

Hadrian built many aqueducts, baths, libraries and theaters; additionally, he traveled nearly every single province in the Empire to check the military and infrastructural conditions. After Hadrian's death in AD, his successor Antoninus Pius built temples, theaters, and mausoleums, promoted the arts and sciences, and bestowed honours and financial rewards upon the teachers of rhetoric and philosophy.

Antoninus made few initial changes when he became emperor, leaving intact as far as possible the arrangements instituted by Hadrian. He was a stoic philosopher and wrote the Meditations. He defeated barbarian tribes in the Marcomannic Wars as well as the Parthian Empire. From Nerva to Marcus Aurelius, the empire achieved an unprecedented happy and glorious status. The powerful influence of laws and manners had gradually cemented the union of the provinces. All the citizens enjoyed and abused the advantages of wealth.

The image of a free constitution was preserved with decent reverence. The Roman senate appeared to possess the sovereign authority, and devolved on the emperors all the executive powers of government. Commodus , son of Marcus Aurelius, became emperor after his father's death. He is not counted as one of the Five Good Emperors. Firstly, this was due to his direct kinship with the latter emperor; in addition, he was passive in comparison with his predecessors, who were frequently leading their armies in person.

Commodus usually took part on gladiatorial combats, which often symbolized brutality and roughness. He killed many citizens, and his reign was the beginning of Roman decadence , as stated Cassius Dio: Pertinax, a member of the senate who had been one of Marcus Aurelius's right hand men, was the choice of Laetus, and he ruled vigorously and judiciously.

Laetus soon became jealous and instigated Pertinax's murder by the Praetorian Guard, who then auctioned the empire to the highest bidder, Didius Julianus, for 25, sesterces per man. The legions of three frontier provinces— Britain , Pannonia Superior , and Syria —resented being excluded from the "donative" and replied by declaring their individual generals to be emperor.

Lucius Septimius Severus Geta, the Pannonian commander, bribed the opposing forces, pardoned the Praetorian Guards and installed himself as emperor. He and his successors governed with the legions' support. The changes on coinage and military expenditures were the root of the financial crisis that marked the Crisis of the Third Century. Severus was enthroned after invading Rome and having Didius Julianus killed. His two other rivals, Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus , were both were hailed by other factions as Imperator. Severus quickly subdued Niger in Byzantium and promised to Albinus the title of Caesar which meant he would be a co-emperor.

Severus marched to Gaul and defeated Albinus. For these acts, Machiavelli said that Severus was "a ferocious lion and a clever fox" [].

Severus attempted to revive totalitarianism and in an address to people and the Senate, he praised the severity and cruelty of Marius and Sulla, which worried the senators. He seized the cities of Nisibis , Babylon and Seleucia. Reaching Ctesiphon , the Parthian capital, he ordered plundering and his army slew and captured many people. Albeit this military success, he failed in invading Hatra , a rich Arabian city. Severus killed his legate, as the latter was gaining respect from the legions; and his soldiers were hit by famine. After this disastrous campaign, he withdrew.

Severus also intended to vanquish the whole of Britain. To achieve this, he waged war against the Caledonians. After many casualties in the army due to the terrain and the barbarians' ambushes, Severus went himself to the field. Upon the death of Severus, his sons Caracalla and Geta were made emperors. During their youth, their squabbles had divided Rome into two factions. In that same year Caracalla had his brother, a youth, assassinated in his mother's arms, and may have murdered 20, of Geta's followers. Like his father, Caracalla was warlike. He continued Severus' policy, and gained respect from the legions.

Caracalla was a cruel man, and was pursued by the guilt of his brother's murder. He ordered the death of people of his own circle, like his tutor, Cilo, and a friend of his father, Papinian. Knowing that the citizens of Alexandria disliked him and were speaking ill of his character, he served a banquet for its notable citizens, after which his soldiers killed all the guests. From the security of the temple of Sarapis, he then directed an in-discriminant slaughter of Alexandria's people.

A report that a soothsayer had predicted that the Praetorian prefect Macrinus and his son were to rule over the empire was dutifully sent to Caracalla. But the report fell into the hands of Macrinus, who felt he must act or die. The incompetent Macrinus, assumed power, but soon removed himself from Rome to the east and Antioch. His brief reign ended in , when the youngster Bassianus, high priest of the temple of the Sun at Emesa, and supposedly illegitimate son of Caracalla, was declared Emperor by the disaffected soldiers of Macrinus.

Bribes gained Bassianus support from the legionaries and they fought against Macrinus and his Praetorian guards. He adopted the name of Antoninus but history has named him after his Sun god Elagabalus , represented on Earth in the form of a large black stone. Elagabalus was an incompetent and lascivious ruler, [37] who was well known for extreme extravagance, that offended all but his favorites.

Cassius Dio , Herodian and the Historia Augusta have many accounts about his extravagance. He adopted his cousin, Alexander Severus , as Caesar, grew jealous, and attempted to assassinate him. The Praetorian guard preferred Alexander, murdered Elagabalus, dragged his mutilated corpse through the streets of Rome, and threw it into the Tiber. Elagabalus was succeeded by his cousin Alexander Severus. Alexander waged war against many foes, like the revitalized Persia and German peoples who invaded Gaul. A disastrous scenario emerged after the death of Alexander Severus: Emperors were no longer men linked with nobility; they usually were born in lower-classes of distant parts of the Empire.

These men rose to prominence through military ranks, and became emperors through civil wars. There were 26 emperors in a year period, a signal of political instability. Maximinus Thrax was the first ruler of that time, governing for just three years. The population and the frontiers were abandoned, since the emperors were mostly concerned with defeating rivals and establishing their power. The economy also suffered during that epoch. The massive military expenditures from the Severi caused a devaluation of Roman coins.

Hyperinflation came at this time as well. The Plague of Cyprian broke out in and killed a huge portion of the population. The crisis began to recede during the reigns of Claudius Gothicus — , who defeated the Gothic invaders, and Aurelian — , who reconquered both the Gallic and Palmyrene Empires. Diocletian healed the empire from the crisis, by political and economic shifts. A new form of government was established: The Empire was divided among four emperors, two in the West and two in the East. To adjust the economy, Diocletian made several tax reforms.

Diocletian expelled the Persians who plundered Syria and conquered some barbarian tribes with Maximian. He adopted many behaviors of Eastern monarchs, like wearing pearls and golden sandals and robes. Anyone in the presence of the emperor had now to prostrate himself [] — a common act in the East, but never practiced in Rome before. Diocletian did not use a disguised form of Republic, as the other emperors since Augustus had done. Diocletian was also responsible for a significant Christian persecution.

In he and Galerius started the persecution and ordered the destruction of all the Christian churches and scripts and forbade Christian worship. His reign ended the traditional form of imperial rule, the Principate from princeps and started the Dominate from Dominus, "Master". Constantine assumed the empire as a tetrarch in He conducted many wars against the other tetrarchs. Firstly he defeated Maxentius in In , he issued the Edict of Milan , which granted liberty for Christians to profess their religion.

He was defeated by the Franks and the Alamanni during — In he defeated another tetrarch, Licinius , and controlled all the empire, as it was before Diocletian. To celebrate his victories and Christianity's relevance, he rebuilt Byzantium and renamed it Nova Roma "New Rome" ; but the city soon gained the informal name of Constantinople "City of Constantine". Constantinople served as a new capital for the Empire. In fact, Rome had lost its central importance since the Crisis of the Third Century-— Mediolanum was the western capital from to , until the reign of Honorius , when Ravenna was made capital, in the 5th century.

Constantine's administrative and monetary reforms, that reunited the Empire under one emperor, and rebuilt the city of Byzantium changed the high period of the ancient world. In the late 4th and 5th centuries the Western Empire entered a critical stage which terminated with the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The situation became more critical in , after the death of Stilicho , a general who tried to reunite the Empire and repel barbarian invasion in the early years of the 5th century.

The professional field army collapsed.

Introduction to ancient Rome (article) | Khan Academy

In , the Theodosian dynasty saw the Visigoths sack Rome. The Vandals conquered North Africa , the Visigoths claimed Gaul , Hispania was taken by the Suebi , Britain was abandoned by the central government, and the Empire suffered further from the invasions of Attila , chief of the Huns. General Orestes refused to meet the demands of the barbarian "allies" who now formed the army, and tried to expel them from Italy.

Unhappy with this, their chieftain Odoacer defeated and killed Orestes, invaded Ravenna and dethroned Romulus Augustus , son of Orestes. This event of , usually marks the end of Classical antiquity and beginning of the Middle Ages. The Roman noble and former emperor Julius Nepos continued to rule as emperor from Dalmatia even after the deposition of Romulus Augustus until his death in Some historians consider him to be the last emperor of the Western Empire instead of Romulus Augustus. After some years of independence and nearly years as a great power, the rule of Rome in the West ended.

At the time many pagans argued that Christianity and the decline of traditional Roman religion were responsible; some rationalist thinkers of the modern era attribute the fall to a change from a martial to a more pacifist religion that lessened the number of available soldiers; while Christians such as Augustine of Hippo argued that the sinful nature of Roman society itself was to blame. The Eastern Empire had a different fate. It survived for almost years after the fall of its Western counterpart and became the most stable Christian realm during the Middle Ages.

During the 6th century, Justinian reconquered Northern Africa and Italy. But within a few years of Justinian's death, Byzantine possessions in Italy were greatly reduced by the Lombards who settled in the peninsula. Its followers rapidly brought about the conquest of Syria , the conquest of Armenia and the conquest of Egypt during the Byzantine-Arab Wars , and soon presented a direct threat to Constantinople.

The Byzantines, however, managed to stop further Islamic expansion into their lands during the 8th century and, beginning in the 9th century, reclaimed parts of the conquered lands. Basil II reconquered Bulgaria and Armenia, and culture and trade flourished. The aftermath of this battle sent the empire into a protracted period of decline. Two decades of internal strife and Turkic invasions ultimately led Emperor Alexios I Komnenos to send a call for help to the Western European kingdoms in The West responded with the Crusades , eventually resulting in the Sack of Constantinople by participants of the Fourth Crusade.

The conquest of Constantinople in fragmented what remained of the Empire into successor states; the ultimate victor was the Empire of Nicaea. The imperial city of Rome was the largest urban center in the empire, with a population variously estimated from , to close to one million.

Most of those centers had a forum , temples, and other buildings similar to Rome's. Average life expectancy was about Roman society is largely viewed as hierarchical , with slaves servi at the bottom, freedmen liberti above them, and free-born citizens cives at the top. Free citizens were also divided by class. The broadest, and earliest, division was between the patricians , who could trace their ancestry to one of the Patriarchs at the founding of the city, and the plebeians , who could not. This became less important in the later Republic, as some plebeian families became wealthy and entered politics, and some patrician families fell economically.