Instructions: 3 page Double space Essay has to be base on the book Use only the sources attached, no outside sources 2 quotes and explanation added in essay/n CHAPTER 6 The Roman Empire IMAGE 6.1 A Second-Century Roman Marble Bust of Hadrian CHAPTER OUTLINE AND FOCUS QUESTIONS 6-1 The Age of Augustus (31 B.C.E.-14 C.E.) In his efforts to solve the problems Rome had faced during the late Republic, what changes did Augustus make in Rome's political, military, and social institutions? What was his primary goal in making these changes? 6-2 The Early Empire (14-180 C.E.) What problems did the Roman Empire face in the first century C.E.? What were the chief features of the Roman Empire at its height during the second century? 6-3 Roman Culture and Society in the Early Empire What were the chief intellectual, artistic, and social developments in the early Empire? How did these differ from the intellectual, artistic, and social developments of the Republic? 6-4 Transformation of the Roman World: Crises in the Third Century What political, military, economic, and social problems did the Roman Empire face during the third century? 6-5 Transformation of the Roman World: The Rise of Christianity What characteristics of Christianity enabled it to grow and ultimately to succeed? How did it transform the Roman world? CONNECTIONS TO TODAY What lessons can be learned from the history of the Roman Empire that apply to nation-states in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries? WITH THE VICTORIES OF OCTAVIAN, peace finally settled on the Roman world. Although civil conflict still erupted occasionally, the new imperial state constructed by Octavian experienced a period of remarkable stability for the next two hundred years. The Romans imposed their peace on the largest empire established in antiquity. Indeed, Rome's writers proclaimed that "by heaven's will my Rome shall be capital of the world." Rome's writers were not quite accurate, but few Romans were aware of the Han Empire, which flourished at the same time (202 B.C.E.-221 C.E.) and extended from Central Asia to the Pacific. Although there was little contact between them, the Han and Roman Empires had remarkable similarities: both lasted for centuries, both had considerable success in establishing centralized control, and both maintained their law and political institutions, their technical skills, and their languages throughout the empire. To the Romans, their divine mission was clearly to rule nations and peoples. Hadrian (HAY-dree-un), one of the emperors of the second century C.E., was but one of many Roman rulers who believed in Rome's mission. He was a strong and intelligent ruler who took his responsibilities quite seriously. Between 121 and 132, he visited all of the provinces in the empire. According to his Roman biographer, Aelius Spartianus, hardly any emperor ever traveled so fast over so much territory. When he arrived in a province, Hadrian dealt firsthand with any problems Sorence, ItalyBridgeman and bestowed many favors on the local population. He also worked to establish the boundaries of the provinces and provide for their defense. New fortifications, such as the 80-mile-long Hadrian's Wall across northern Britain, were built to defend the borders. Hadrian insisted on rigid discipline for frontier armies and demanded that the soldiers be kept in training "just as if war were imminent." He also tried to lead by personal example; according to his biographer, he spent time with the troops and "cheerfully ate out of doors such camp food as bacon, cheese, and vinegar." Moreover, he "would walk as much as twenty miles fully armed." By the third century C.E., however, Rome's ability to rule nations and peoples began to weaken as the Roman Empire began to experience renewed civil war, economic chaos, and invasions. In the meantime, the growth of Christianity, one of the remarkable success stories of Western civilization, led to the emergence of a new and vibrant institution. 6-1 The Age of Augustus (31 B.C.E.-14 C.E.) FOCUS QUESTION: In his efforts to solve the problems Rome had faced during the late Republic, what changes did Augustus make in Rome's political, military, and social institutions? What was his primary goal in making these changes? In 27 B.C.E., Octavian proclaimed that the republic had been restored. He understood that only traditional republican forms would satisfy the senatorial aristocracy. At the same time, Octa- vian was aware that the republic could not be fully restored and managed to arrive at a compromise that worked, at least dur- ing his lifetime. In 27 B.C.E., the senate awarded him the title of Augustus-"the revered one" (see Image 6.2). He preferred the title princeps (PRIN-keps or PRIN-seps), meaning chief citizen or first among equals. The system of rule that Augustus estab- lished is sometimes called the principate, conveying the idea of a constitutional monarch as co-ruler with the senate. But while Augustus worked to maintain this appearance, in reality, power was heavily weighted in favor of the princeps. 6-1a The New Order In the new constitutional order that Augustus created, the basic governmental structure consisted of the princeps (Augustus) and an aristocratic senate. Augustus retained the senate as the chief deliberative body of the Roman state. Its decrees, screened in advance by the princeps, now had the effect of law. The title of princeps first citizen of the state-carried no power in itself, but each year until 23 B.C.E., Augustus held the office of consul, which gave him imperium, or the right to command (see Chapter 5). When Augustus gave up the consulship in 23 B.C.E., he was granted maius imperium (MY-yoos im-PEE-ree-um)- greater imperium than all others. The consulship was now TEEL www. IMAGE 6.2 Augustus. Octavian, Caesar's adopted son, emerged victorious from the civil conflict that racked the republic after Caesar's assassination. The senate awarded him the title Augustus. This marble statue from Prima Porta is an idealized portrait that is based on Greek rather than Roman models. It was meant to be a propaganda piece, depicting a youthful general addressing his troops. At the bottom stands Cupid, the son of Venus, goddess of love, as a reminder that the Julians, Caesar's family, claimed descent from Venus and thus that the ruler had a divine background. Augustus also claimed to be a direct descendant of Aeneas. Why would Augustus claim to be a descendant of Aeneas (see Chapter 5 and "Virgil," in Section 6-1e)? Scala/Art Resource, NY unnecessary. Moreover, very probably in 23 B.C.E., Augustus was given the power of a tribune without actually holding the office itself; this power enabled him to propose laws and veto any item of public business. Although officials continued to be elected, Augustus's authority ensured that his candidates usually won. This situation caused participation in elections to decline. Con- sequently, the popular assemblies, shorn of any real role in elec- tions and increasingly overshadowed by the senate's decrees, gradually declined in importance. Why had Augustus succeeded in establishing a new order while Julius Caesar, his adoptive father, had failed? Caesar had defined himself as a dictator for life, thus raising suspicion 6-1 The Age of Augustus (31 B.C.E.-14 C.E.) 149 vagut partion. sixth year. Source: N. Lewis and M. Renhold, Roman Civilization, vol. I (New York: Columbia University Press, 1955). seventy among the Romans that he planned to become a king, a posi- tion that they strongly disliked. Cicero was clear that Caesar had been justly killed as a tyrant. Augustus was careful to present himself as an ordinary citizen and to exercise power by holding the traditional offices of the Roman republic. sildig to Augustus proved highly popular. As the Roman historian Tacitus commented, "Indeed, he attracted everybody's good- will by the enjoyable gift of peace.... Opposition did not exist."2 The ending of the civil wars had greatly bolstered Augustus's popularity (see Historical Voices, "The Achievements of Augus- tus," above). At the same time, his continuing control of the army, while making possible the Roman peace, was a crucial source of his power. 150 CHAPTER 6 The Roman Empire 6-1b The Army As a result of the civil wars of the first century B.C.E., the Roman professional empire army had increased in size and had become more with legionaries who served a longer term. Under the the shift to a professional army was completed when early emperors created a bureaucracy that could train and administer such an army. The peace of the Roman Empire depended the On army, and so did the security of the princeps. Though pri marily responsible for guarding the frontiers of the empire, the army was also used to maintain domestic order within the prov inces. Moreover, the army played an important social role. It was an agent of upward mobility for both officers and recruits The colonies of veterans established by Augustus throughout he sed Of the empire proved especially valuable in bringing Roman ways to the provinces. Augustus maintained a standing army of twenty-eight legions. Since each legion at full strength numbered 5,400 sol- diers, the Roman Empire had an army of about 150,000 men, certainly not large either by modern standards or in terms of the size of the empire itself (the population of the empire was probably close to 50 million). Roman legionaries served twenty years and were recruited only from the citizenry and, under Augustus, largely from Italy. Augustus also maintained a large contingent of auxiliary forces enlisted from the subject peoples. They served as both light-armed troops and cavalry and were commanded by Roman officers as well as tribal leaders. During the principate of Augustus, the auxiliaries numbered around 130,000. They were recruited only from noncitizens, served for twenty-four years, and along with their families received citi- zenship after their terms of service. Augustus was also responsible for establishing the praetorian guard (see Image 6.3). These nine cohorts, roughly IMAGE 6.3 The Praetorian Guard. Augustus was responsible for setting up the praetorian guard as an imperial bodyguard of elite troops. Pictured in this second-century relief are members of the praetorian guard. Their body armor resembled that of the legionaries, although the cohort serving in the palace wore togas. What problems did the praetorian guard create for the Roman state? nine thousand men, had the important task of guarding the princeps. They were recruited from Roman citizens in Italy and served for sixteen years. Eventually, the praetorian guard would play an important role in making and deposing emperors. The role of the princeps as military commander gave rise to a title by which this ruler eventually came to be known. When victorious, a military commander was acclaimed by his troops as imperator (im-puh-RAH-tur). Augustus was so acclaimed on a number of occasions. Imperator is our word emperor. Although such a title was applied to Augustus and his successors, Augus- tus still preferred to use the title princeps. 6-1c Roman Provinces and Frontiers Augustus inaugurated a new system for governing the prov- inces. Under the republic, the senate had appointed the pro- vincial governors. Now certain provinces were allotted to the princeps, who assigned deputies known as legates to govern them. These legates were from the senatorial class and held office as long as the emperor chose. The senate con- tinued to designate the governors of the remaining provinces, but the authority of Augustus gave him the power to overrule the senatorial governors and thus to establish a unified imperial policy. Since a governor had relatively few administra- tive officials to assist him, effective government of the provinces necessitated considerable cooperation from local authorities. By supporting the power of local elites the upper classes-in return for their cooperation, Roman policy encouraged a substan- antial degree of self-government and local autonomy in the cities. By fostering municipal life, Rome essentially made cities and city-states the basic units of imperial administration. City councils of leading citizens made for stable local government, and lead- ing city officials were rewarded for their administra- tive services with Roman citizenship. Frontier Policy Augustus added more territory to the Roman Empire than any other single Roman. In the east, instead of creating new provinces, Augustus established client kingdoms, continuing a policy that had begun in the early second century B.C.E. with the conquest of Greece and parts of the Near East; this policy enabled him to minimize the Roman military presence in the east so that he could use his forces elsewhere. Augustus expended his greatest military efforts along the northern frontiers of the Roman Empire. He conquered the central and maritime Alps and then expanded Roman control of the Balkan peninsula up to the www.Danube River. The extension of Roman power to the Danube now opened the door for Augustus's major military project-expansion into Germany. After 15 B.C.B., Roman forces advanced across the Rhine, and by 9 B.C.E. they had reached the Elbe River in eastern Germany. In 6 c.E., the Romans began another advance between the Elbe and the Danube but encountered a series 6-1 The Age of Augustus (31 B.C.E.-14 C.E.) 151 of difficulties, including the great catastrophe of 9 C.E. when three Roman legions under Varus were massacred in the Teu- toburg Forest by a coalition of German tribes led by Arminius, a German tribal leader who had served in the Roman auxiliary forces and had even received Roman citizenship. Roman histo- rians blamed Varus for the disaster: "He [Varus] entertained the notion that the Germans were a people who were men only in voice and limbs.... With this purpose in mind, he entered the heart of Germany as though he were going among a people enjoying the blessings of peace." The defeat severely damp- ened Augustus's enthusiasm for continued expansion in central Europe. Thereafter, the Romans were content to use the Rhine as a frontier between the Roman province of Gaul and the Ger- man tribes to the east. In fact, the difficulties had convinced Augustus that "the empire should not be extended beyond its present frontiers." His defeats in Germany taught Augustus that Rome's power was limited. They also left him devastated; for months afterward he would beat his head against a door and shout, "Varus, give me back my legions!" 6-1d Augustan Society Society in the early Roman Empire was characterized by a sys- tem of social stratification that had been inherited from the republic, in which Roman citizens were divided into three basic classes: senatorial, equestrian, and lower. The Social Order Augustus had accepted the senatorial order as a ruling class for the empire. Senators filled the chief magistracies of the Roman government, held the most important military posts, and governed the provinces. One needed to possess property worth 1 million sesterces to belong to the senatorial order (an unskilled laborer in Rome received 3 sesterces a day; a Roman legionary, 900 sesterces a year in pay). When Augustus took charge, the senate had more than a thousand members. Augustus revised the senato- rial list and reduced its size to six hundred but also added new men from wealthy families throughout Italy. Overall, Augus- tus was successful in winning the support of the senatorial class for his new order. The equestrian order was expanded under Augustus and given a share of power in the new imperial state. The order was open to all Roman citizens of good standing who possessed property valued at 400,000 sesterces. They could now hold mili- tary and governmental offices, but the positions open to them were less important than those held by the senatorial order. At the end of his career, an equestrian might be rewarded by mem- bership in the senatorial order. Citizens not of the senatorial or equestrian orders belonged to the nonelite and lower classes, who made up the overwhelm- ing majority of the free citizens. They varied considerably from middling types to the very poor. Most of the fifty million were peasant farmers whose survival and well-being depended on climatic conditions. The diminution of the power of the Roman assemblies ended whatever political power the lower classes may have pos- sessed earlier in the republic. Many of these people suffered extreme urban poverty and were provided with free grain and 152 CHAPTER 6 The Roman Empire public spectacles to keep them from creating disturbances. Nev- ertheless, by gaining wealth and serving as lower officers in the Roman legions, it was sometimes possible for some of these people to advance to the equestrian order. Augustus's Reforms Augustus was very concerned about certain aspects of Rome's social health. He believed that the civil strife of the first century B.C.E. had sapped the strength of public religion, which he considered the cornerstone of a strong state. Therefore, he restored traditional priesthoods that had fallen into disuse in the late republic, rebuilt many ruined temples and shrines, and constructed new ones to honor the Roman gods. Augustus also instituted a new religious cult to strengthen the empire. Since the Roman state was intimately tied to Roman religion, an imperial cult served as a unifying instrument for the Roman world. Augustus did not claim to be a god, but he did permit the construction of temples to his deified adoptive father, Julius Caesar. Augustus also permitted the building of temples to Augustus and Roma, the personification of the Roman state. The worship of Augustus and Roma became the foundation of the imperial cult. Its development was furthered when Augustus was acclaimed as a god upon his death. Augustus's belief that Roman morals had been corrupted during the late republic led him to initiate social legislation to arrest the decline. He thought that increased luxury had under- mined traditional Roman frugality and simplicity and caused a decline in morals, evidenced by easy divorce, a falling birthrate among the upper classes, and lax behavior manifested in hedo- nistic parties and the love affairs of prominent Romans with fashionable women and elegant boys. Through his new social legislation, Augustus hoped to restore respectability to the upper classes and reverse the declin- ing birthrate as well. Expenditures for feasts were limited, and other laws made adultery a criminal offense. In fact, Augustus exiled his own daughter Julia for adultery. Augustus also revised the tax laws to penalize bachelors, widowers, and married per- sons who had fewer than three children. 6-1e A Golden Age of Latin Literature The high point of Latin literature was reached in the time of Augustus. The literary accomplishments of the Augustan Age were such that the period has been called the golden age Latin literature. of Virgil The most distinguished poet of the Augustan Age was Virgil (VUR-jul) (70-19 B.C.E.). The son of a small landholder in northern Italy, Virgil welcomed the rule of Augustus and wrote his greatest work in the emperor's honor. Virgil's mas terpiece was The Aeneid, an epic poem clearly meant to rival the work of Homer. The poem makes an explicit connection between Troy and Rome. Aeneas (ih-NEE-uss), the son of Anchises of Troy, survives the destruction of Troy and even- tually settles in Latium; thus, Roman civilization is linked to Greek history. The character of Aeneas is portrayed in terms that remind us of the ideal Roman-his virtues are duty, piety, and faithfulness. Virgil's overall purpose was to show that Aeneas ha and therel Let oth Im For so Other in The p W But, F m Be thi p Gene ag As Virgil Horace (HOR-uss sophistica been to of his ag subjects, weakness living pe greed, an that no laughs at ance: "S couch. friend, o a chicke Epistles, ter in ve dear: a s Ovid O poets of of Rom keeping series of tain and work wa ological change informa ers, scul Anot a t tially didactic such sul of wom P. 154). morals was tryi Ovid ch