Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire

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Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire
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RISE OF ROMAN EMPIRE
Rise of Military Commanders Marius, Sulla and
Client armies
Civil Wars (44 BCE Julius Caesars
assassination to the Battle of Actium in 31
BCE)Golden Age or Augustan Age under Octavian,
named Emperor Augustus, who ruled 27 BCE-14 CE.
Writers Virgil and Horace, historian Livy. Pax
Romana (27 BCE-180 CE) Maximum extent of Empire
and best Latin literature Tacituss Critique of
Rome. Roman Hegemony on the Mediterranean coasts
12 emperors discussed by Suetonius and then
Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Monarchial form of
government Augustus could veto or initiate
legislation in Senate. Augustus declared Julius
Caesar a god, emperors worshipped. Assemblies
ceased after 98 CE. Senate usurped functions. By
end of Pax Romana, Senate weak before Emperor and
simply approved Emperors decrees. Height of
Roman Culture Pantheon, Colosseum, city of
Pompeii, Trajans Column, Arch of Titus,
Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, Juvenal,
Pliny the Elder, Quintilian, Tacitus, Seneca
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WHAT ARE THE KEY DATES IN THE DECLINE OF THE
ROMAN EMPIRE?
Cato the Elder (234-146 BCE) criticized
Republican Rome for abandonment of Republican
values. Juvenal and Tacitus during the Pax
Romana were very critical of Roman corruption.
Greatest Extent of Empire under Trajan,
117Diocletian Split empire, assigning West to
Maximian 284-6Emperor Constantine established
capital in Constantinople, and in 313 decreed
toleration of religion. First emperor to become
a ChristianEmperor Theodosius made Christianity
the state religion, forbidding paganism,
383Visigoths sacked Rome 410, and then Augustine
wrote City of GodAtilla the Hun invaded western
empire, 451Vandals sacked Rome 455Visigothic
leader Odoacer seized power in Rome, 476end of
Roman Emperorship in the WestEastern
Emperorship continued as under Justinian (ruled
527-565) and long into Byzantine civilization
(until 1453 when Constantinople conquered by the
Turks.
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Historical Interpretations
Gibbons Religious and Moral Explanation brought
on a debateGibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire, 1776As the Happiness of a future life
is the great object of religion, we may hear,
without surprise or scandal, that the
introduction, or at least the abuse, of
Christianity had some influence on the decline
and fall of the Roman EmpireBut the decline of
Rome was the natural and inevitible effect of
immoderate greatness. (Greek hubris as in
Thucydides explanation of defeat of Athens by
Sparta)Twentieth Century Debate onDid Rome
Decline or was it transformed?What caused the
changes? Socio-Economic CausesLoss of
self-sufficiencyWallbank Slavery and
underdeveloped technology, restricted internal
market on account of split between patricians and
plebs and slavesWestermann Lack of free
economy, landed estates imitating Persian
serfdomRostovtzeff Antagonism of city and
country, soldier peasant against
bourgeoisieBaynes Peasants fear armyKing
Economic decline of the cities, state became a
machine to support the army
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Political-Military Causes
Unsuccessful attempt of Diocletian (2 emperors
2 caesars, 293) and other emperors to
reconstitute the empire. (Hunt et. al. emphasize
ineffectiveness of political rearrangement,
despite increasing autocracy in term "Dominate"
replacing "Principate" established by
Augustus) Many military takeovers of the
emperorshipJones Internal weaknesses common to
East and West, but only the West fell. West was
more exposed to attack from German tribesGreer
No principle of political successionBaynes
States over taxation hurt agricultureGibbon
Imperial conquests had already corrupted Roman
Republic, weakening self-disciplineBury Rome
needed to recruit German tribesmen to Fight
Romes wars. Transformation of army into camps
along borders.Heitland Rome never developed
representative institutions that could give
continuous reform
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Intellectual-Religious Causes
Augustines Christian Otherworldliness, seeing
the city of Rome as unimportant compared to the
city of God and advising spiritual withdrawal
when Rome was sacked.Clergy undermined civic
virtue, preaching pacifism. Others did preach
just war theoryMachiavelli and Nietzsche would
later call for restoration of pagan manly
virture Margaret King Then, in the third
century, the tide turned. A deep and persistent
crisis took hold. Prosperity faded poetry and
philosophy languished. The borders could be held
only by enormous efforts that required the
reorganization of the army, the economy, and the
machinery of the state. Thenceforth, until the
final collapse of authority in the Western Empire
in the late 400s, although Rome survived, it
bled (Margaret King, Western Civilization A
Social and Cultural History, Brief edition, 2001,
p. 119).