A. The Origins of Rome. To the west of Greece and the Near East, a city state would arise that would dominate much of the Near East and the mediterranean. That city was Rome, located in central Italy.
1. Geography: Italy occupies an area of approximately 90,000 square miles running 720 miles from the Alps in the north to the tip of the peninsula. Italy is 320 miles wide between the Alps and the Apennines Mountains (where the peninsula begins). From the Apennines southward the peninsula is never more than 125 miles wide. Except for several remarkable deposits of Carrera marble, the peninsula possesses few natural resources. The mild Mediterranean climate and the quality of the land made Italy ideal for the development of agriculture in prehistoric times.
2. Early Italians: The Neolithic Revolution in Italy occurred around 2500 B.C. There is evidence of prehistoric cultures that inhabited Italy It entered the Bronze Age around 1500 B.C. and by 1000 B.C., the early Italians were making tools and weapons out of iron. The Italians probably descended into Italy at around the same time as the various barbarian peoples entered Greece, sometime around 2000 B.C.
3. Etruscans and the Greeks: Early Rome was influenced by the Greeks and the Etruscans. Between 800 and 500 B.C., the Greeks established colonies in southern Italy and Sicily, called Magna Graecia, extending from Naples southward in southern Italy. The Romans adopted the alphabet from the Greeks and incorporated much of the Greek conception of the gods into their pantheon. The Etruscans had an even more important influence on the Romans. The origin of the Etruscans is unknown. Some scholars beleve that they may have been part of the Sea Peoples, and came to Italy from the East, possibly from Asia Minor. At any rate, around 800 B.C., the Etruscans settled between the Arno and Tiber Rivers in what is now Tuscany, north of Rome. In the seventh and sixth centuries the Etruscans expanded southward, conquering Rome and the Italic peoples. The Etruscans ruled the Latins for several centuries before they were themselves overthrown in 509 B.C. From the Etruscans, the Romans learned how to use stone for building; how to use the arch; how to drain marshes and build sewers; how to divine the future using bird flight patterns and entrail reading; and, how to fight using the phalanx formation.
4. The Founding of Rome: The traditional date for the founding of Rome is 753 B.C. Roman legends (in Virgil's Aeneid ) tell the story of Aeneas, a Trojan hero, who, after the fall of Troy, escaped first to Carthage and then to Italy, where he was said to have founded Rome. Aeneas may have been Etruscan. Another tradition has it that the city was founded by Romulus and Remus, two royal brothers who had been set adrift in the Tiber River to die. They were suckled by a she-wolf until they were found. When they grew up, Romulus and Remus decided to found a city on the same location where the she-wolf had found them. But, in arguing over the name of the new city, Romulus killed Remus, and thus the city was named Rome in Romulus' honor. Rome is located on seven hills (Palatine, Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Caelian, Aventine, and Esquiline) 15 miles from the point the Tiber River flows into the sea. Rome's location made it a natural center for trade and communications. .
B. The Creation of the Roman Republic: In 509 B.C. the Romans revolted against the Etruscans, overthowing their monarchy and establishing an aristocratically-based Republic (a "thing of the people") instead. Like the Americans' use of the acronym U.S.A. to stand for the country, the Romans used the acronym SPQR, (Senatus Populus Que Romanus: The Senate and People of Rome). The acronym still exists, used by the city of Rome, but modern Italians outside of Rome have made a joke of it by saying it stands for Sono Porci Questi Romani "These Romans are Pigs."
1. Early Roman Government: In the period of the early Republic, power was concentrated in the Patricians (land-owning aristocrats) and governed by a Senate which was comprised of one hundred (later 300) patricians. The Plebians (some newly wealthy families and the masses, or any adult male who could afford weapons) were represented by the Assembly. The Senate selected two of its members to serve as Consuls, or chief magistrates, for a one year term. The Republic placed vast power in its executives (the imperium). Two Quaestors (financial and judicial officials) helped the consuls manage the Republic's economic and legal affairs. Theoretically, the consuls' actions had to be approved by the Senate and ultimately by the Assembly. In practice, however, the early consuls possessed near-despotic power. In times of crisis one of the consuls received six months of authority to govern as a dictator.
2. Early Roman Society: Roman society was based on the family. The father's prerogatives were similar to the state's imperium. A father could sell his children into slavery and wives had limited rights. Outside the family the system of patronage knitted the society together. The client was an inferior who was under the protection of someone more powerful, and generally appealed to him when he needed help. In return, a client was expected above all to be loyal and provide various services (run errands, deliver messages, and spy). A good client was said to be in his patron's fides (trust). The patron/client relationship passed through generations, and most resembles today's Sicilian "godfather" relationship.
3. The Struggle of the Orders: There was a great deal of friction and antagonism between the patricians and plebians in the history of the early Republic. The plebians deeply resented the patricians' political power and advantages. Between 509 and 287 B.C. the plebians gradually succeeded in winning a share of the power. The plebeians won their fast victory in 494 B.C., when the Senate granted the Tribes (areas of the city) the right to elect Tribunes to represent the plebians in disputes with patricians' magistrates. The second victory came in 450 B.C., with the publication of the Law of the Twelve Tables (called this because the laws were written on wooden tablets), and which codified the people's traditional rights. In 367 B.C. the Senate broke with tradition and elected a plebian Consul. And finally, in 287 B.C.. the Plebians won their most important victory: henceforth, the plebian (Tribal) assembly's acts were to be considered binding and not subject to the Senate's veto.
C. The Roman Republic's Expansion (509-44 B.C.): In their first three centuries the Romans divided their efforts between farming and conquering their neighbors. Rome grew from an insignificant city-state into a world-class empire in three distinctive stages: first, the Romans subjugated the other Italic peoples and brought Italy under their control; second, they defeated Carthage in the Punic wars; and finally, the Romans conquered the Hellenistic successor states in the east while sending Roman armies into the barbarian west.
1. The Roman Conquest of Italy (509-264 B.C.): Rome conquered Italy through a mixture of diplomatic skill and armed force. Shortly after the expulsion of the Etruscans, the Romans began to draw their nearest Latin neighbors into coalitions. When offers failed, the Romans used their army. Rome's policy toward the other Italic peoples varied. Some were granted full citizenship. Others further from Rome were given municipal status. At any rate, by 264 B.C., Rome had come to control all of the territories south of the Po River; had resolved the power struggle between the patricians and the plebians; and, had begun its period of expansion abroad by defeating its main overseas rival.
2. The Punic Wars (264-146 B.C.): Rome fought three wars against the north African kingdom of Carthage. As you recall, the Phoenicians had founded Carthage around 800 B.C., as a trading colony. During the intervening centuries, Carthage had grown in importance. In 264 there were five major powers in the ancient world: the Seleucid Persians in the Near East; the Ptolemies in Egypt and Palestine; the Kingdom of Macedonia; Carthage; and Rome. Two of the powers, Rome and Carthage, were locked in a struggle for control of the Mediterranean. Leaders in the Senate advocated war because they believed that a victory over Carthage would open up the entire Mediterranean to Roman control.
a. The First Punic War (264-241 B.C.): The First Punic War ("Punic" because the Romans called Carthaginians Phoeni ) began when Carthage tried to dominate the eastern Sicilian cities of Messina and Syracuse. Rome allied itself with the Greek Sicilians and war broke out. Rome had superior land forces, however, Carthage possessed a greater fleet. Thus it was the battle of "the elephant against the whale." In order to win the war, Rome was forced to fight at sea as well as on land. But it learned fast. The Romans developed better ships and invented the grappling hook. In 257 B.C. Rome won an important naval victory and landed an army near Carthage. The Carthaginians succeeded in repulsing the Romans but the First Punic War was to continue for another sixteen years. Naturally, Rome's objectives grew as the war progressed. In 241 B.C., Carthage agreed to Rome's terms. In the peace treaty Carthage relinquished its interest in Sicily and the other islands between Italy and Sicily. Additionally Carthage agreed to pay war reparations.
b. The Second Punic War (215-201 B.C.): The peace treaty at the end of the First Punic War was not unduly harsh. The Second Punic War would never have occurred if both parties conscientiously tried to abide by its terms. This was not to be the case. Initially, the Romans were preoccupied in continuing their campaign against the Gauls in northern Italy. In 238, Rome used a rebellion of Carthage's mercenaries in Sardinia as a pretext to seize the island and demand an additional war payment from Carthage. During this period Carthage sought to recoup its losses by expanding its influence in Spain. In 218 B.C., the Romans sent an ultimatum to Hannibal, the general of the Punic forces in Spain. They demanded that Hannibal acknowledge Rome's interest in Spain. Hannibal refused and the Second Punic War began. By the Second Punic War, Rome had come to control the seas. This forced Hannibal to attack Rome overland. He led an army of 50,000 troops and 60 war elephants in a grueling winter trek across the Alps and into Po Valley in northern Italy. Once there he rallied 15,000 more Gallic soldiers to his side and marched on Rome. The Romans, under the generalship of Quintus Fabius, barely escaped defeat over the next ten years (Fabius' stalling technique of avoiding pitched battles which he could lose have since come to be known as Fabian Tactics). Hannibal's greatest victory over Rome was at Cannae. In 212 B.C., the Roman General Publicus Scipio Africanus (ca. 237-183 B.C.) was given proconsular status in Spain. Two years later he defeated the main Punic army, and by 202 B.C. he had carried the war to Africa. The victory of Scipio's army in the strategic Battle of Zama (202 B.C.) forced Carthage's surrender in 201 B.C. The Second Punic War had tremendous consequences for Rome. It gave Rome control of Spain and the western Mediterranean. In addition, the Peace Treaty eliminated Carthage as Rome's rival: Carthage was reduced to the status of a minor state, but Rome wasn't satisfied.
c. The Third Punic War (149-146 B.C.): The Second Punic War left Rome in control of the western Mediterranean. But, during the War, Philip V of Macedonia had allied himself with Carthage. This provoked three wars between the Macedonians and the Romans: (First Macedonian War, 215-205 B.C.; Second Macedonian War, 200-196 B.C.; and Third Macedonian War 171-167 B.C.) These wars had the net effect of extending Rome's influence to the east while bringing Hellenistic culture to Rome. Shiploads of Greek artifacts, and slaves who served as teachers and the interpreters of Greek culture, were brought to Rome during this period. Rome's final campaign against Carthage came in 149 B.C. Despite the fact that Carthage lived up to the peace treaty, Rome's hatred of Carthage remained unshaken. Cato the Elder, a Roman Senator, exemplified this by ending every speech he delivered in the Senate--no matter what the topic--with the sentence:"Carthago delenda est" ("Carthage must be destroyed"). In 146 B.C., the Romans burned the city to the ground, salted the earth, and killed or enslaved the entire population.
D. The Decline of the Republic (146-30 B.C.): Rome's expansion into a world power brought about a profound and permanent change in Roman life. Wealth flowed into Rome after the Punic Wars. Simultaneously, Rome profited from the Greek influence that poured into Italy from the East. The traditional agrarian basis of Roman life was disrupted. Slavery increased and many small farmers lost their land to the growing Latifundia (large, fortified, slave-run plantations owned by the aristocracy). The small farmer, always the backbone of the state, was forced to flock to the cities and mill around, often as the client of some wealthy urban patron. There was also a moral decline: the jobless in the city formed a dissipated mob which had to be bribed with Panum et Circensis, "Bread and Circuses." Even the character of the army changed: it was no longer composed of citizen soldiers loyally fighting for their country. The army became professionalized, fighting for pay, and loyal to their commanders. Toward the end of the 2nd century, B.C., there was a renewed struggle between the aristocracy and the common people, who wanted some relief from their rotten economic conditions.
1. The Gracchi Reforms and Party Strife: First Tiberius Gracchus (163-133 B.C., ruled 133), and then his brother Gaius (153-121 B.C., ruled 123-121) were elected tribune and led a party Populates or People's Party in the Assembly that proposed radical reforms of the Roman Constitution. A powerfu1 group of Senators, the Optimates (best men), opposed reform because they feared change would jeopardize their positions. The Gracchi brothers believed that the Republic's health was tied to the condition of the small farmers. Tiberius wanted to limit the amount of land that a Roman could own to 312 acres. Excess land would be distributed to the landless. Tiberius was assassinated in 133 B.C. before his reforms could be tested and thus Gaius was to continue his brother's work. He called for reform and cheaper grain prices. Gaius enlisted the support of the Equites ("Equestrians"--former members of the Roman cavalry; they had become a rising business class). Many of the Equites, as businessmen, wanted to reform the Republic's finances in their favor. But they weren't above using graft, bribery and profiteering to get their way. Battles between Gaius's supporters and opponents ensued, and in a riot started by a few Senators, Gaius was also killed.
2. The Rise of the Generals: During the next eighty years power passed into the hands of military leaders. The problem was that the Republic had outgrown its constitution. In addition to these political problems, war broke out in Africa (Jugurthine War) and Italy was invaded by the Germanic tribes. The popular party leader, General Marius (157-86 B.C.), was the first to take advantage of Rome's predicament. He defeated Rome's external enemies and was able to win a tremendous amount of gratitude and power. He parlayed these into a terrible tradition: he began the practice of forcing the government to pay for the recruitment of landless men into the army. Naturally, these semi-professional troops were more loyal to Marius than the republic. As a result, from then on, generals and their armies would dominate Roman politics. Marius' chief opponent was another general, from the aristocratic (Senatorial) party, named Sulla (138-78 B.C..), who gained more support from the masses and consolidated his power by granting citizenship to those who could not meet the property qualifications. Sulla had his own loyal army, and the two men pitted their forces against each other in the streets of Rome, each vying for control. During the pitched battles in which thousands were murdered, Marius was killed. Sulla ruled as a virtual dictator, restored the power of the Senate, and all but squashed republicanism in Rome. During the 70s and 60s B.C., two more generals, Pompey and Caesar, followed suit, emerging as the most powerful men in the Republic. Manpower shortages had forced the Republic to depend on slave labor, which was dangerous at best. For example, in 73 B.C. Spartacus led a slave rebellion which General Crassus suppressed. In 60 B.C. the scene repeated itself. This time, Julius Caesar (106-44 B.C.), who was popular with the masses, convinced Pompey (106-48 B.C..), the Senate's favorite general, and Crassus (d. 53 B.C.), a wealthy nobleman, to form the First Triumvirate (a military junta) to control the Roman state. Crassus' death while on campaign in Mesopotamia seven years later led to an open contest between Caesar and Pompey for power: While Caesar was away conquering Gaul (58-51 B.C.), Pompey became a supporter of the Senate, and in return, the Senate proclaimed him sole consul in 50 B.C., a blatantly illegal act. Caesar returned the following year and engaged in a civil war with Pompey. Pompey tried to escape to Egypt, but he was hunted down by Caesar's men and murdered. In 47 B.C., with no choice, the Senate proclaimed Caesar "dictator." Caesar gave himself the title of "imperator" (commander or general). Two years later the Senate named him Consul for life. This development alarmed Brutus and Cassius, two disgruntled senators and supposed friends of Caesar's, to believe that Caesar was planning to destroy the Republic by plotting to have himself crowned king. To prevent this, they organized a conspiracy to assassinate him at the Roman Forum. In 44 B.C., on the Ides (15th) of March, Caesar was stabbed to death at the base of Pompey's statue. He died leaving his eighteen-year-old nephew and adopted son, Octavian, as heir.
3. The Reforms of Caesar: Under Caesar the Assembly possessed
little power. He reformed the tax code and won popularity by easing the
burdens of debtors. He ordered a commission to reform the calendar. The
Julian calendar divided the year into 365 days with fourth year having 366
days. This system was not revised until 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII introduced
the current Gregorian calendar. Catholic countries adopted the new calendar
immediately, while protestant countries took until the 18th-19th centuries.
However, the eastern, Greek Orthodox church refused to adopt the "papist"
innovation until the 20th century.
A. The End of the Republic: Caesar's assassination produced a political vacuum. Many Senators had hoped that the Senate would regain the powers it had lost under the First Triumvirate (Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar), but this didn't happen. Caesar's Lieutenant, Marc Antony, led a powerful faction of Caesar's followers in Rome. However, Caesar's will confused the situation by naming Octavian (63 B.C. - 14 A.D.) his heir. Neither Antony nor Octavian had enough power to seize control of the government. Therefore they both invited Lepidus (governor of the western provinces) to form a Second Triumvirate which would "put the Republic in order" and punish Caesar's assassins. In 42 B.C., they defeated Brutus's and Cassius's armies at Philippi. Following their victory, the Triumvirate divided the empire: Lepidus got Africa; Antony got Egypt and the Near East; and Octavian got Rome and the westem provinces.
1. Struggle for the Control of Rome (42-31 B.C.): Unfortunately Brutus and Cassius's defeat removed the only reason for cooperation between the members of the Triumverate. First, Lepidus lost his position. Next, in 32 B.C., Octavian broke with Antony over his dalliance and marriage with the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra (especially since Antony was already married to Octavian's sister Octavia) and war broke out between the two. Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra at Actium (in westem Greece) in 31 B.C., forcing the pair to escape to Egypt where they committed suicide. At the age of thirty-two, then, Octavian had succeeded in becoming the absolute ruler of the Roman Empire, and, the Republic was dead.
2. Octavian's Governmental Reform: Octavian wanted to avoid Caesar's fate. The secret of his success lay in his ability to maintain the outward forms of the republican government while quietly, and without alarming anyone, concentrating real power in himself. Instead of calling himself imperator (emperor), Octavian chose the more innocuous title of princeps (first among equals). The reality was that all effective political and military power rested in him: he was, in everything but name, a dictator. In 27 B.C., Octavian consolidated his position in a cleverly staged maneuver--he offered to give up his power! The Senate, swollen with Octavian's supporters, clamored for him to reconsider. The Senate handed him an overwhelming vote of confidence and a new title, Augustus ("most revered one"). In this way, Octavian secured a legal precedent for his autocratic ends. Augustus also introduced the Praetorian Guard, a military unit designed to protect Italy, had police functions, and worked as a bodyguard for the emperor. Since Augustus was strong, he could keep the Praetorians in line, but his later successors were unable to control them and they eventually became politicized and turned into kingmakers. They enthroned and deposed weak emperors at will. They were a major factor in the decline of the later Roman state.
3. The Principate of Augustus: Augustus ruled for forty-four years (31 B.C.14 A.D.). The length of his reign was in itself a remarkable accomplishment after the decades of civil strife. Augustus introduced a number of important government reforms which won him popular support. These included a new system of coinage; new public services within Rome (police and fire protection); a new system of tax collection; a policy which encouraged excess population to resettle in the provinces where they could receive farm land, and new building projects which included public baths and theaters.
B. The Principate (14-180 A.D.): Augustus' successors continued the policy of disguising their monarchy in the form of a Republic. Hence we call the government of Rome until the 3rd century A.D., the Principate (after Princeps, the First Citizen). The first two centuries of the Roman Empire during the Principate were a period of peace and prosperity and are thus called the Pax Romana (The Roman Peace).
1. The Julian and Flavian Emperors: The four emperors that followed Augustus were called the Julian emperors (14-60 A.D.). The first of this line was Augustus' handpicked successor Tiberius, who was emperor when Jesus was crucified in Israel. The line ended when the mad and sensual Nero, during whose reign Rome was destroyed by a six day-long fire, committed suicide in 68 A.D. A short, bloody civil war ensued with Vespasian emerging triumphant in 69 A.D. Vespasian's rule marked the beginning of the Flavian Dynasty which lasted until Nerva murdered Domitian in 96 A.D.
2. The Five Good Emperors: Despite the means that Nerva used to become Emperor, he is considered the first of the "Five Good Emperors" who governed the Empire between 96 and 180 A.D. Nerva introduced the tradition of the reigning emperor's naming his successor as his adopted son and heir. This insured a peaceful transition of power. The Five Good Emperors also included Trajan (98-117 A.D.); Hadrian (117-138 A.D.); Antoninus Pius (138-161 A.D.); and Marcus Aurelius (161-180 A.D.). Under Trajan the Empire grew to its largest size, including Mesopotamia and parts of Germany. Hadrian returned the Empire to more defensible Augustan boundaries, but also annexed Dacia (present day Romania) beyond the Danube. While under Marcus Aurelius' rule, Rome was at its apex and experiencing its "Golden Age." He ruled in a high-minded and conscientious way, the perfect Platonic "philosopher king." Unfortunately, he chose as his successor his own debauched and incapable son Commodus.
3. Government and Society Under the Principate: Economically, Rome flourished in the years between 14 and 180 A.D. The genius of the Augustan settlement lay in its success in enlisting the wealthy upper classes' support while simultaneously winning the approval of the masses. The several reasons that account for this. First, the government possessed skillful and efficient administrators. One problem that appeared under the Five Good Emperors and that was to grow in the third century was the beginning of a chronic labor shortage. Hadrian's retreat from the policy of expansion that had guided both the Republic and the early Empire had the unexpected effect of ending the flow of slaves from the newly conquered territories. Henceforth, the tenant farmer (colonus, coloni) became basis of Roman agriculture. Trade expanded during this era as the Empire's fleet removed the threat of pirates from the Mediterranean. Roads were constructed that linked the most distant outposts with the capital. New cities were founded and the status and rights of women and slaves improved. Hadrian forbade the execution of slaves without a magistrate's approval. Women, on the other hand, received educations, ran businesses, and made their own wills.
C. The Crisis of the Third Century:
1. Political Dimensions of the Crisis: The system of adoptive succession ended with Marcus Aurelius and the appointment of Commodus (180-192 A.D.). Commodus' misrule--by virtue of gifts and bribes to the Praetorian Guard, resort to the murder of opponents, lavish spending on favorites--all led to his overthrow and assassination; however, the candidate chosen by the Senate as emperor was murdered by the Praetorian Guard, who put the imperial title on the auction block to be sold to the highest bidder. This led to a breakdown in imperial authority and the rise of the practice of Roman provincial armies' raising their own generals as candidates for emperor. Septimus Severus (193-211 A.D.), commander of one of these armies, became emperor in battle. To maintain the loyalty of the legions, he paid them lavishly. On his deathbed, he reputedly told his son and successor: "enrich the troops and burn the world." Severus was successful in defending the borders of the empire from Germanic and Persian incursions; but, in enlarging the army and raising its pay, he created a deficit which he tried to solve by debasing the coinage, which created inflation. Following Severus' death, the army, realizing its kingmaking power, raised and deposed emperors at will. In the fifty years between 235 and 285 A.D., 22 emperors occupied the Roman throne. Twenty of those emperors were either killed in the continuous civil war or assassinated by their own troops. The remaining two died of natural causes. An officer could be general one day, emperor the next, and dead on the third. Besides this, there were a number of seccession movements in the Roman Empire. Provinces as far ranging as Britannia, Gaul, and Syria, broke off from imperial control. Thus after 180 A.D., the empire quit growing. While the various general/emperors were fighting civil wars amongst themselves for supremacy, the frontiers of the empire were breached by Germanic tribes in Europe, and by a resuscitated Persian Empire under the Sassanids.
2. Survival Through Drastic Reform: The 50 years of chaos and civil war ended when Diocletian (284-305 A.D.) was recognized as emperor by the army. He recognized the growing weakness of the Roman state and thus attempted to avert the collapse of the empire through drastic reforms. He reorganized the government by stripping the Senate of most of its remaining powers. And, in recognition of his absolute authority, he took the title of Dominus (lord), declared himself the sole ruler of the state, and adopted both a crown and a throne. He also ended all civil liberties and the Roman Empire became, in effect, a totalitarian police state. In spite of this trend, he was able to prevent the military from interfering in civil affairs; but, to keep them from revolting, he enlarged the army with more German barbarian recruits. In economic affairs, Diocletian instituted state control of the economy. He stopped the debasement of coinage which had caused inflation, but he created economic and social stagnation with two measures. First, he initiated wage and price controls and adopted a system of uniform taxation so heavy that it retarded private initiative. Second, he created a a caste system of sorts, which froze all people in their current occupations. To prevent movement between occupations, sons were compelled to go into their fathers' line of work. Farmers were likewise bound to stay on the land, to pay their landlords a large part of their produce, and to provide certain services. These farmers were known, from Diocletian's time onward, as Coloni, or serfs, and the system eventually evolved into feudalism. These actions delayed the fall of the empire, but it destroyed Rome' traditional social and economic flexibility. The resulting economic decline caused money to gradually disappear from circulation (replaced with barter) and started the trend toward economic localism (international trade dried up). And finally, Diocletian believed that the empire was too large to be governed effectively by one man. He also wanted to set up an orderly system of succession. Hence, his most famous act was his division of the Roman Empire into two parts--a western and an eastern half--each to be ruled separately. He became the emperor in the east, while Maximian was recognized as the ruler in the west. Both emperors would have vice-emperors who would succeed them.
D. Constantine and Christianity: In 305 A.D., Diocletian and Maximian abdicated, and were succeeded by Constantius and Galerius. However, Constantius died while on campaign in Britain, so his son Constantine (288-337 A.D.) was proclaimed emperor by his father's army.
1. Constantine's Conversion: The dual emperorship was too unstable to last for long. After a protracted struggle against both his co-emperor and vice-emperor, Constantine emerged triumphant, thus reuniting the empire. In the battle to consolidate his position, Constantine was said to have bargained with the Christian God that he would tolerate the new religion if he were granted victory. He then supposedly saw a fiery cross in the sky with the words in hoc signo vinces ("in this sign you will conquer") underneath. He immediately ordered his solders to mark their shields with the Greek letters Chi and Rho, the first two letters of Christ's name in Greek. Constantine subsequently won and ascribed it to the favor of the Christian God. He kept his bargain and issued the Edict of Milan (313 A.D.), which granted official toleration to Christianity, removed it from the list of persecuted religions, and enabled it to finally grow and spread. On his deathbed, Constantine converted to Christianity by allowed himself to be baptized.
2. Transfer of the Capital: As sole ruler of the empire, Constantine carried through, in 330 A.D., on plans to move the capital from Rome, which was in a state of decline, to a new location on the Straits of the Bosphorus which links the Black Sea with the Aegean: the small Greek maritime town of Byzantium. This new capital of the Roman Empire, which coincidentally also had seven hills, was renamed Constantinople in Constantine's honor. However, the town's original name lent itself to the Eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, that was to continue after the fall of Rome itself. Constantine not only continued, but expanded Diocletian's political absolutism by "chaining" members of municipal guilds to their positions, and by creating a corps of secret police.
E. The Barbarian Invasions: Following Constantine's death, the empire was once again divided by rival emperors. This division grew so that by 400 A.D., there were two separate empires. In spite of its division, however, both halves--but particularly the western half--were compelled to contend with the increasingly disruptive movements of the barbaric German nomadic tribes. The western Germans included the Franks, Alemanni, Angles, Saxons, and Jutes; while the eastern Germans included the Visogoths, Ostrogoths, and Vandals. These people migrated into the empire in search of land, loot and adventure; but, they were also attracted by the comforts of the superior Roman civilization.
1. Germanization of the Roman Army and State: During the first three centuries A.D., the Germans were successfully held in check by the Roman legions on the frontier. As the empire weakened, however, it adopted the policy of settling the Germans on and within the frontier regions, where they were known as Foederati, or allies. They also made good soldiers--they could could be disciplined and could withstand hardship. They were stationed along the frontier to defend it. However, so many were taken into the Roman army that they finally outnumbered the Roman soldiers, and thus German influence in the empire increased. These people took Roman names, adopted Roman ways, and some even held high office.
2. How Disruptive Were They?: In this early period the German incursions weren't very disruptive. However, since the soldiers and officers stationed on the frontier shared an ethnic heritage with the barbarian invaders, they couldn't be expected to keep them out indefinitely. Therefore, at the end of the 4th century, when the trickle of Germans into the empire turned into invasion in full force, their presence ended up devastating the Western Roman Empire. The situation for the Eastern Empire was not nearly so bad.
3. Movements of the Steppe Peoples: The Germans were driven southwestward by the fierce Hunnic hordes, a Turkic people originally from Central Asia. The Huns defeated the Ostrogoths, while the Visigoths applied to Rome for permission to settle within the frontier. When corrupt Roman officials attempted to collect taxes from them, the Visigoths, under Alaric (370-410), went on a rampage and sacked Rome in 410 A.D. In 453, the Huns themselves, under Attila "The Scourge of God", invaded Italy and ravaged the countryside a second time, although they didn't get to Rome itself. The Vandals, another Germanic people, followed the Huns into Italy, where they participated in another sack and looting of Rome itself in 455 A.D. They took what they wanted and destroyed what they either couldn't understand or couldn't carry away. Their name has since come to mean "senseless destruction." The Huns turned east to settle on the westernmost of steppes plains in the Balkans--Hungary. By the end, the Western Roman Empire was but a shadow of its former self. Its emperors were nonentities and puppets, at best. The western empire finally fell to the barbarians once and for all when the German general Odoacer deposed the last Roman emperor, a boy by the name of Romulus Augustulus in 476 A.D. He confiscated the imperial insignia and proclaimed himself king of Italy.
F. The Roman Empire: Fall or Transformation?: A number of
recent historians have argued that the important question is not why Rome
fell but rather why Rome lasted as long as it did. Rome was the greatest
empire in the west during antiquity. It was an empire that was built on
agriculture and conquest. It fell when the government and society were
unable to provide a means of stable succession, develop an alternative to
a slave economy, counter the widespread demoralization, halt the declining
birthrate from the third century onwards, and overcome the growing cynicism
in the governing class. Nevertheless, Rome exerted a tremendous influence
upon subsequent generations: Rome supplied the framework for transmitting
both Greek Culture and Christianity to the modern world.