Roman Empire

The Roman Empire (Latin: Imperium Romanum) was the post-Republican period of the
ancient Roman civilization, characterised b an autocratic form of !overnment and lar!e
territorial holdin!s around the "editerranean in Europe, #frica, and #sia$%&' The ())-
ear-old Roman Republic, which preceded it, had been destabilized throu!h a series of
civil wars$ *everal events mar+ed the transition from Republic to Empire, includin! ,ulius
-aesar.s appointment as perpetual dictator (// 0-)1 the 0attle of #ctium (2 *eptember
34 0-)1 and the !rantin! of the honorific #u!ustus to 5ctavian b the Roman *enate (4&
,anuar 26 0-)$
The first two centuries of the Empire were a period of unprecedented stabilit and
prosperit +nown as the 7a8 Romana (9Roman 7eace9)$%6' It reached its !reatest
e8panse durin! the rei!n of Tra:an (;<=446 #>)$ In the 3rd centur, the Empire
underwent a crisis that threatened its e8istence, but was reunified and stabilized under
the emperors #urelian and >iocletian$ -hristians rose to power in the /th centur, durin!
which time a sstem of dual rule was developed in the Latin ?est and @ree+ East$ #fter
the collapse of central !overnment in the ?est in the (th centur, the eastern half of the
Roman Empire continued as what would later be +nown as the 0zantine Empire$
0ecause of the Empire.s vast e8tent and lon! endurance, the institutions and culture of
Rome had a profound and lastin! influence on the development of lan!ua!e, reli!ion,
architecture, philosoph, law, and forms of !overnment in the territor it !overned,
particularl Europe, and b means of European e8pansionism throu!hout the modern
world$
Rome had be!un anne8in! provinces in the 3rd centur 0-, four centuries before
reachin! its !reatest territorial e8tent, and in that sense was an 9empire9 while still
!overned as a republic$%<' Republican provinces were administered b former consuls
and praetors, who had been elected to one-ear terms and held imperium, 9ri!ht of
command9$%;' The amassin! of disproportionate wealth and militar power b a few men
throu!h their provincial commands was a ma:or factor in the transition from republic to
imperial autocrac$%4)' Later, the position of power held b the emperor was e8pressed
as imperium$%44' The Latin word is the ori!in of En!lish 9empire,9 a meanin! it be!an to
acAuire onl later in Rome.s histor$%42'
#s the first emperor, #u!ustus too+ the official position that he had saved the Republic,
and carefull framed his powers within republican constitutional principles$ Be re:ected
titles that Romans associated with monarch, and instead referred to himself as the
princeps, 9leadin! citizen9$ -onsuls continued to be elected, tribunes of the people
continued to put forth le!islation, and senators still debated in the curia$ It was #u!ustus,
however, who established the precedent that the emperor controlled the final decisions,
bac+ed up b militar force$
The rei!n of #u!ustus, from 26 0- to 4/ #>, was portraed in #u!ustan literature and
art as a new 9@olden #!e$9 #u!ustus laid out an endurin! ideolo!ical foundation for the
three centuries of the Empire +nown as the 7rincipate (26 0-=2</ #>), the first 2))
ears of which is traditionall re!arded as the 7a8 Romana$ >urin! this period, the
cohesion of the Empire was furthered b participation in civic life, economic ties, and
shared cultural, le!al and reli!ious norms$ Cprisin!s in the provinces were infreAuent,
but put down 9mercilessl and swiftl9 when the occurred,%43' as in 0ritain and @aul$
The si8t ears of ,ewish=Roman wars in the second half of the first centur and the first
half of the 2nd centur were e8ceptional in their duration and violence$%4/'
The success of #u!ustus in establishin! principles of dnastic succession was limited b
his outlivin! a number of talented potential heirs: the ,ulio--laudian dnast lasted for
four more emperorsDTiberius, -ali!ula, -laudius, and EeroDbefore it ielded in &; #>
to the strife-torn Fear of Gour Emperors, from which Hespasian emer!ed as victor$
Hespasian became the founder of the brief Glavian dnast, to be followed b the Eerva=
#ntonine dnast which produced the 9Give @ood Emperors9: Eerva, Tra:an, Badrian,
#ntoninus 7ius and the philosophicall inclined "arcus #urelius$ In the view of the @ree+
historian >io -assius, a contemporar observer, the accession of the emperor
-ommodus in 4<) #> mar+ed the descent 9from a +in!dom of !old to one of rust and
iron9%4('Da famous comment which has led some historians, notabl Edward @ibbon, to
ta+e -ommodus. rei!n as the be!innin! of the decline of the Roman Empire$
In 242, durin! the rei!n of -aracalla, Roman citizenship was !ranted to all freeborn
inhabitants of the Empire$ 0ut despite this !esture of universalit, the *everan dnast
was tumultuousDan emperor.s rei!n was ended routinel b his murder or e8ecutionD
and followin! its collapse, the Roman Empire was en!ulfed b the -risis of the Third
-entur, a period of invasions, civil strife, economic depression, and pla!ue$%4&' In
definin! historical epochs, this crisis is sometimes viewed as mar+in! the transition from
-lassical #ntiAuit to Late #ntiAuit$ The emaciated illusion of the old Republic was
sacrificed for the sa+e of imposin! order: >iocletian (rei!ned 2</=3)() brou!ht the
Empire bac+ from the brin+, but declined the role of princeps and became the first
emperor to be addressed re!ularl as domine, 9master9 or 9lord9$%46' >iocletian.s rei!n
also brou!ht the Empire.s most concerted effort a!ainst the perceived threat of
-hristianit, the 9@reat 7ersecution9$The state of autocratic absolutism that be!an with
>iocletius as the >ominate endured until the fall of the ?estern Roman Empire in /6&$
The unit of the Roman Empire was from this point a fiction, as !raphicall revealed b
>iocletian.s division of authorit amon! four 9co-emperors9, the Tetrarch$%4<' 5rder was
sha+en a!ain soon after, but was restored b -onstantine, who became the first
emperor to convert to -hristianit, and who established -onstantinople as the new
capital of the eastern empire$ >urin! the decades of the -onstantinian and Halentinian
dnasties, the Empire was divided alon! an east-west a8is, with dual power centres in
-onstantinople and Rome$ The rei!n of ,ulian, who attempted to restore -lassical
Roman and Bellenistic reli!ion, onl briefl interrupted the succession of -hristian
emperors$ Theodosius I, the last emperor to rule over both East and ?est, died in 3;(
#> after ma+in! -hristianit the official state reli!ion$%4;'
The Roman Empire be!an to disinte!rate in the late /th and earl (th centur as
invasions overwhelmed the capacit of the Empire to !overn and mount a coordinated
defense$ "ost chronolo!ies place the end of the ?estern Roman empire in /6&, when
Romulus #u!ustulus was forced to abdicate to the @ermanic warlord 5doacer$%2)' The
empire in the EastD+nown toda as the 0zantine Empire, but referred to in its time as
the 9Roman Empire9 or b various other namesDended in 4/(3 with the death of
-onstantine II and the fall of -onstantinople to the 5ttoman Tur+s$%24'