Chapter 15 The Roman Empire

In 27 BC, Octavian announced to the Senate that he had restored the republic. When he offered to resign, the Senate gave him various offices. They named him princeps, “first citizen” and Pater Patriae, “Father of the Country.” He took for himself the title of Augustus, or “revered one.” That is what historians usually call him. Octavian thus became the first emperor, or absolute ruler, of the Roman Empire.

The Rule of Augustus

Augustus was a clever politician. He held the offices of consul, tribune, high priest and senator all at the same time. But he refused to be crowned emperor. Augustus knew most Romans would not accept one-person rule unless it was within the framework of a republic. So, he restored the republic in form but not in practice.

Augustus kept the assemblies and officials of the republic and was careful to make senators feel respected. He talked of tradition and the need to bring back “ old Roman virtues.” He made the official religion important once again.

At the same time, Augustus strengthened his authority in two ways. First, he had every soldier swear allegiance to him personally. This gave him control of the armies. Secondly, he built up his imperial household to take charge of the daily business of government. He choose people because of their talent rather than their birth. This gave slaves and freedmen, or former slaves, a chance to be part of the government.

Augustus wanted boundaries that would be easy to defend. So, he rounded out the empire to natural frontiers – the Rhine and Danube Rivers in the north, the Atlantic Ocean in the west, and the Sahara Desert in the south. To keep these boundaries safe from invaders, he stationed legions there.

Augustus was not interested in conquering new territory for Rome. Instead, he concentrated on governing the existing empire. He gave provincial governors long terms of office so they could gain experience in their jobs. He paid them large salaries so they would not feel the need to overtax the people or keep public money for themselves. To make sure that people did not pay too little or to much tax, Augustus ordered that a census, or population count, be taken from time to time.

The Expansion of the Roman Empire (map)

Augustus also made Rome more beautiful. He built marble buildings, many of which were temples and shrines. He wrote strict laws to govern people’s behavior in public. He protected the city and the people by creating a fire brigade and a police force. He encouraged learning by building Rome’s first library.

Augustus ruled for 41 years. During that time, he brought peace and a new sense of patriotism and pride to the people. He made Roman citizenship available to people in the provinces. Most important, however, Augustus reorganized the government of Rome so that it ran well for over 200 years.

1. How did Augustus make the people think Rome was still a republic? Why did he want them to think this?

2. How did Augustus strengthen his authority?

The Pax Romana

The peace which Augustus brought to Rome was called the Pax Romana. It lasted for 200 years. Revolts and other internal problems were not unknown during this period. Yet overall the empire and

its people prospered. Cities did not need walls for protection. Legionaries served for 20 years without having to fight a single battle. Civilization spread and cultures mixed.

With peace came increased trade. The same coins were used throughout the empire. There were no tariffs, or taxes placed on goods brought into the country. Goods and money moved freely along the trade routes. The Mediterranean was cleared of pirates, making it safe for trade and travel. Shipping became a big business. Every summer hundreds of ships carried grain from North Africa to Italy. Other ships were loaded with cargoes of brick, marble, granite and wood used for building. Luxury items, such as amber from the north and silk from China, passed overland across Roman roads. The roads also carried imperial mail to and from the provinces.

Increased trade meant increased business for Romans. The city hummed. Shopkeepers grew richer. Wine and oil were the main items bought by other countries. Italy became a manufacturing center for making pottery, bronze, glassware, jewelry and woolen cloth.

3. Why was the Pax Romana important?

4. What happened to trade during the Pax Romana?

Census

“ For tax purposes, the Roman government kept detailed records on both its people and its land. At regular periods, a census was taken to bring the records up to date. Here a group of Romans wait in line to give information to a census taker. “

Law

During the Pax Romana, Roman law went through major changes. Because conditions were different, the laws originally set down on the 12 bronze tablets were changed. For example, when Rome conquered a new territory, Roman merchants found themselves doing business with non-Romans. In order that both sides be treated fairly, Roman judges had to develop new laws which would be as fair to non-Romans as to Romans. The Roman judges were helped by special lawyers and legal writers called juris prudentes.

After a while the judges and their assistants developed certain legal principles that were fair to everyone. A law was considered just because it was reasonable, not because the government had the power to enforce it. Everyone was considered equal before the law. A person was innocent until

proven guilty. The accuser rather than the person accused, had to prove his or her case. People could not be punished for what they thought.

By about the year 125 AD, Roman law was standardized. This meant that all legal procedures were the same throughout the empire. This helped Rome govern a large area successfully. In later years, Roman legal principles formed the basis for the laws of most western nations and of the Christian Church.

5. What happened to law during the Pax Romana?

6. What were some legal principles that developed during the Pax Romana?

Daily Life

In the early years of the empire, about 1 million people lived in Rome. Rome suffered from many of the same problems’ cities do today. There was too little housing and too much traffic. The air was polluted. There was crime in the streets. The cost of living was high. Many Romans could not find jobs. Romans had to pay taxes on almost everything: slaves, estates, roads and crops. There was even a local sales tax.

The rich of Rome lived in a domus, or house with marble walls, colored mosaic floors and windows made of small panes of glass. A furnace heated the rooms, and pipes brought water even to the upper floors.

Most Romans, however, were not rich. They lived in small, smelly rooms in apartment houses six or more stories high called islands. Each island covered an entire block. At one time there were 26 blocks of islands for every private house in Rome. The ground floor of most islands was given over to shops which opened onto the street from large arched doorways.

Rents were high in Rome. They varied according to the apartment floor, the higher up the apartment, the lower the rent. July 1 was eviction day, or the day anyone who had not paid the rent was forced to move out.

7. What was living in Rome like during the early years of the empire?

8. Who lived in a domus?

9. What were the homes of most Romans like?

The Family

In Rome the family was all-important. The father was the head of the household. His word was law. He arranged the children’s marriages to improve the family’s social position or to increase its wealth. Cousins were expected to help one another politically.

Until they were age 12, most Roman boys and girls went to school together. Then the sons of poor families went to work, while the sons of the rich families began their formal education. The government usually paid the salaries of the school staff. Each school taught a different subject.

The sons of the wealthy studied reading, grammar, writing, music, geometry, commercial arithmetic and shorthand. When they were age 15, they entered a school of rhetoric, or speech and writing, to prepare for a political career. Some went to schools in Athens or Alexandria for philosophy or medicine.

Girls received a different kind of education . when they reached age 12, their formal education stopped. Instead of going to school, the daughters of the wealthy were given private lessons at home. As a result, many Roman women were as well or better informed than Roman men. Some women worked in or owned small shops. Wealthy women had slaves to do their domestic chores for them. This left them free to study the arts, literature, fashion or to ride chariots in the countryside for a day’s pig-sticking, a type of hunt.

10. How did Romans feel about the family?

11. What kind of schooling did Roman children have?

Leisure

At home, the Romans amused themselves by gambling with dice. They socialized at public bathhouses. The bathhouses provided more than baths. Some included gymnasiums, sport stadiums and libraries. At a bathhouse Romans could take warm, cold or steam baths. They could watch or play games. They also could listen to lectures, see musical performances, exercise or just sit and gossip.

The Romans had no team sports to watch. Instead, they flocked to see free public games which often ran from dawn to dusk. Under the empire, the games were staged by the government. Under the republic, they had usually been staged by politicians who were looking for votes. The games included circuses, chariot races and gladiatorial games. The most exciting chariot races were held at the Circus Maximus, an oval arena that could seat more than 25 000 people. Every year in September a festival called Ludi Romani took place in the Circus.

Roman Gladiator

“ On festival days, 50 000 Romans jammed the Colosseum to watch the gladiatorial games. These contests were very violent. Excited spectators often signaled a victorious gladiator to kill his opponent. “

The people who fought animals and one another in arenas were called gladiators. Most were slaves, prisoners of war, criminals or poor people. They were trained by contractors who hired them out. A few gladiators were upper-class Romans who wanted excitement and public attention.

A Roman Banquet Menu

The night before they were to fight, gladiators would appear at a banquet. There they could b looked over by fans and gamblers who wanted to bet on the outcome of contests. When gladiators entered the arena on the day of the games, they would walk past the emperor’s box saying, “Hail Emperor, those who are about to die salute you.”

Many gladiators did die. Those whose fighting pleased the crowed became popular idols. A few won their freedom. Those who did not give a good performance had their throats cut.

All kinds of animals were used in the public games. Some animals pulled chariots or performed tricks. Most, however, fought one another or gladiators. Sometimes as many as 5000 wild animals were killed in a single day. In some cases, such as that of the Mesopotamian lion and the North African elephant, the whole species were wiped out.

12. What did the Romans do for entertainment?

13. What were public games?

14. What was the role of the gladiator?

Fall of the Empire

The Pax Romana ended after approximately 200 years. From then on, conditions within the Roman Empire grew steadily worse. By 476 AD, there was no empire left. Instead, much of western Europe was a patchwork of Germanic kingdoms. The eastern portion of the empire, however, lasted about 1000 years longer as part of the Byzantine Empire.

There are many reasons why the Roman Empire fell. Three reasons stand out. The first was political. Neither Augustus nor the emperors who followed him had a formal rule about who was to inherit the throne upon an emperor’s death. Sometimes the title was inherited by a son. But usually an emperor’s son was too spoiled to be a good ruler. Sometimes an emperor adopted an heir to the throne, choosing the most able and hardest working individual he knew. Between 96 and 180 AD, all emperors were adopted. The system worked well until after 180 AD.

Emperor Marcus Aurelius was kind, intelligent and devoted to duty. His son was just the opposite. He became the emperor when Marcus Aurelius died in 180 AD. But he was cruel and unpopular that in 192 AD, he was strangled by the Praetorian Guard, the soldiers on duty at the palace. After killing the emperor, the Praetorian Guard sold the throne to the highest bidder. This set a dreadful example. For nearly 100 years legion fought legion to put the emperor of its choice on the throne. By 284 AD, Rome had had 37 different emperors. Most were murdered by the army or the Praetorian Guard.

Emperors During the Pax Romana

Emperor Reign Accomplishments

Augustus 27 BC – 14 AD first emperor of Roman Empire, reorganized government of Rome; brought peace to Rome.

Tiberius 14 AD – 37 AD reformed taxes and improved financial state of government.

Caligula 37 AD – 41 AD repaired roads and began construction of two aqueducts.

Claudius 41 AD – 54 AD conquered most of England, extended citizenship to many people outside of

Rome, set up ministries to handle government administration.

Nero 54 AD – 68 AD rebuilt Rome after the fire of 64 AD and gave it a city plan.

Flavian Emperors 69 AD – 96 AD brought people from the provinces into the Vespasian Senate, secured frontier regions, brought Rome Titus new prosperity, built the Coliseum Domitian

Five Good Emperors 96 AD – 180 AD built aqueducts, bridges and harbors

Nerva, Trajan extended citizenship to more provinces Hadrian, Antonius Pius cut dishonesty in business and government Marcus Aurelius

This political problem helped to create the second and third major reasons for Rome’s downfall. The second reason was economic. To stay in office, an emperor had to keep the soldiers who supported him happy. He did this by giving them high wages. This meant more and more money was needed for the army payroll. So, the people had to pay higher taxes.

In addition to higher taxes, Romans began to suffer from inflation, or a period of ever-increasing prices. Since there were no new conquests, gold was no longer coming into Rome. Yet much gold was going out to pay for luxury items. This meant there was less to use in coins. As the amount of gold used in coins decreased, money began to lose its value. Prices went up. Many people stopped using money. Instead, they began to barter to get what they needed.

The third major reason why Rome fell centered on foreign enemies. While Romans argued and fought with each other over politics and money, they left Rome’s frontiers open to attack. Gradually Germanic hunters and herders from northern and central Europe began to raid Greece and Gaul. Trade and farming in those areas declined. Cities once again began to surround themselves with walls for protection.

15. What were three major reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire?

The City of Rome

“ The city of Rome was located on seven small hills on the Tiber River. Roman emperors sponsored building projects and made Rome a city of monuments, temples, palaces and stadiums. This map shows the city in 350 AD. “

Diocletian and Constantine 1

Two emperors, Diocletian and Constantine 1, made strong attempts to save the Roman Empire from collapse.

Diocletian, who was the son of a freedman, ruled from 284 to 305 AD. He made many changes as emperor. He fortified the frontiers to prevent invasion. He reorganized the state and provincial governments to make them function better. He set maximum prices for wages and good throughout the empire to stop prices from rising. He ordered workers to stay in the same jobs until they died to make sure good were produced. He made city officials personally responsible for the taxes their communities had to pay.

One of the most important changes Diocletian made concerned the position of emperor. Diocletian established the official policy of rule by divine right. This meant that the emperor’s powers and right to rule came not from the people but from the gods.

Diocletian realized that the Roman Empire covered too much territory for one person to rule well. So, he divided it in two. He allowed someone else to govern the western provinces while he kept control of the larger eastern provinces.

In 312 AD, Constantine 1 became emperor. He ruled until 337 AD. Constantine took even firmer control of the empire than Diocletian. To keep people from leaving their jobs when things got bad, he issued several orders. Sons of workers had to follow their fathers’ trades. Sons of farmers had to stay and work the same land their fathers worked. Sons of ex-soldiers had to serve in the army.

To escape government pressure and control, wealthy landowners moved to their villas, or country estates. Most estates were like small, independent cities or kingdoms. Each produced enough food and goods to supply the needs of everyone who lived on it.

Despite the changes made by Diocletian and Constantine, the Roman Empire continued to decline in the west. In 330 AD, Constantine moved his capital from a dying Rome eastward to the newly built city of Constantinople in present-day Turkey?

16. What did Diocletian do to try to save the Roman Empire?

17. What did Constantine 1 do to save the Roman Empire?

18. How did the wealthy landowners react to Constantine’s edicts?

End of the Empire

Both Diocletian and Constantine 1 worked hard to save the Roman Empire. However, neither emperor succeeded in the end.

German raids increased, especially in western Europe. There the Germans crossed the Danube River in order to escape from the Huns, nomadic herders who had wandered west from Outer Mongolia in Asia. In 378 AD, a Germanic group defeated Roman legions at the battle of Adrianople.

By around 400 AD, Rome had grown quite weak. In the winter of 406 AD, the Rhine River froze. Groups of Germans crossed the frozen river and entered Gaul. The Romans could not force them back across the border.

In 410 AD, the Germanic chief Alaric and his soldiers invaded Rome. They burned records and looted the treasury. The Roman Senate told the people, “ You can no longer rely on Rome for finance or direction. You are on your own. “

19. Why did German raids on the empire increase?

20. How did the Germanic invaders gain control of the empire?

Vocabulary

Augustus Marcus Aurelius Diocletian Adrianople

Pax Romana Praetorian Guard Constantine 1 Alaric

Circus Maximus

Emperor juris prudentes evection day inflation

Freedman standardized rhetoric rule by divine right

Census domus pig-sticking villas

Tariffs islands gladiators AD & BC

****Homework****

On a loose leaf please answer either the odd (1,3,5…) or even (2,4,6…) questions.

Chapter 15 The Roman Empire

Activity 1

Fill in the blank to form a summary of Chapter 14 by choosing the proper term from the words listed below.

Alaric Diocletian politics at home

Praetorian Guard Augustus family increasing prices

Public games bathhouses father 200

Circuses Pater Patriae Pax Romana Germanic invaders

500 work

Octavian took for himself the title of and became the first ________

_______________ of the Roman Empire. He reorganized the government and brought to the

empire a period of peace known as the _____ ____________. It lasted for years.

In the empire, the was important. The was head of

the household. The sons of the poor went to _______________, while the sons of the wealthy

went to schools to prepare for careers in , philosophy or medicine. Daughters

of the wealthy had lessons instead of going to school.

The Roman government staged free to entertain the people

in the cities. These activities included , chariot races and gladiatorial

games. Romans also spend their leisure time socializing at public .

By 200 AD, conditions in the empire had worsened. Many emperors were murdered by

the army or the . People had to pay higher taxes and suffered

from . The emperors and

Constantine 1 tried to save the empire. However, neither succeeded. The empire faced attacks

by ______________ . In 410 AD, the city of Rome itself fell to the

chief and his soldiers.

Activity 2

Read the definition for the word that you’ll need to find.

1. made the same

2. type of hunt

3. population count

4. putting out for not paying rent

5. Social class of many gladiators

6. former slaves

7. Roman word for home

8. ruler of an empire

9. speech and writing

10. taxes on goods brought into a country ___

11. lawyers and legal writers who assisted Roman judges

12. country estates

13. period of ever-increasing prices

14. letters used as abbreviations for Anno Domini

15. Roman apartment houses

16. letters used for time period before Christ was born