Rome and Her Empire PDF
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ROME AND HER EMPIRE This page intentionally left blank ROME AND HER EMPIRE David Shotter RO Routledge U TLEDG Taylor & Francis Group E LONDON AND NEW YORK First published2 003 by PearsonE ducation Limited Published2 014 by Routledge 2 Park Square,M ilton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX 14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA ROlltledge IS an Inlpnnt oft he Taylor & FranCIs Group, an mjbrma hllsllJess Copyright © 2003, Taylor & Francis The rights of David Shottert o be identified as Author of this Work has beena ssertedb y him in accordance with the Copyright, Designsa nd PatentsA ct 1988. All rights reserved No pali of this book may be reprinted or reproducedo r utilised in any form or by any electronic,m echanical,o r other means,n ow known or hereafter invented,i ncluding photocopyinga nd recording,o r in any information storageo r retrieval system,w ithout permissioni n writing from the publishers Notices Knowledgea nd best practicei n this field are constantlyc hanging As new research and experienceb roadeno ur understandingc, hangesin researchm ethods,p rofessional practices,o r medical treatmentm ay becomen ecessary Practitionersa nd researchersm ust always rely on their own experiencea nd knowledgei n evaluatinga nd using any information, methods,c ompounds,o r experimentsd escribedh erein, In using such information or methodst hey should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others,i ncluding partiesf or whom they havea professionalr esponsibility To the fullest extent of the law, neithert he Publishern or the authors,c ontributors,o r editors, assumea ny liability for any injury and/ord amaget o personso r property as a mattero f productsl iability, negligenceo r otherwise,o r from any use or operationo f any methods,p roducts,i nstructions,o r ideasc ontainedi n the material herein ISBN 13 978-0-582-32816-7(p bk) British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A elP cataloguer ecord for this book can be obtainedf rom the British Library Library of CongressC ataloguing in Publication Data A elP catalogr ecord for this book can be obtainedf rom the Library of Congress Typesetb y FakenhamP hotosettingL imited, FakenhamN, orfolk Contents Preface Vll Acknowledgements x 1. Myth, monarchya nd the Republic 1 2. The growth of the resp ublica 37 3. The birth of an empire 69 4. The disintegrationo f the Republic 95 5. The Augustanp eace 145 6. The Pax Romana: a new deal for the empire 211 7. The secreto f empire 251 8. Emperors,d ynasties,a doptionsa nd a golden age 281 9. The military monarchy:d ictatorshipb y the army 359 10. The third-centuryc rises- and recovery 387 11. The fourth century: changea nd decline 415 Index I: Rome, subjectsa nd locations 437 Index II: The Empire, placesa nd locations 439 Index III: Personala nd collective names 443 This page intentionally left blank Preface Interesti n the Romanw orld has grown greatly in recentd ecades: now accessi s not restrictedt o the traditional route of a classical educationb ut is available through a host of popularisingb ooks (both fact and fiction), through films and through programmes on radio and television, such as Chronicle, Time Team, as well as many on the satellite channels. In turn, such interest may be translatedi nto more formal contact- membershipo f historical and archaeologicals ocieties,t ourism and, of course, into extra- mural classesa nda ccesst o universityc ourses.A t a time, therefore, when 'officialdom' appearst o view the classicalw orld increasingly as a minority interest,t he rangeo f new routesh as createda mong a far wider public than before a great stimulus to learn. This 'new public' has broader interests, also: no longer is it reasonableto regard' proper' Romanh istory as coming to a close in the secondc enturyA D, becauseth at is where the 'good' literary sourcesf ail us. The fall, as well as the rise, of greate mpirese xcites interesta nd promptsq uestionsa mongs tudentso f Romew ho are all too well awareo f the tensionsi n moderns ocieties.A fter all, in their own way, the Romansd id, in their empire, make 'multi- culturalism' work; therew as a degreeo f religious tolerance;t here VIII PREFACE was some communalityo f laws and law-making- and there was a 'single currency'. The presentb ook is, therefore,i ntendeda s an introductoryt aste of the history of Rome and her empire for readers who are approachingt he subject along a variety of routes and from a variety of standpoints. The history of Rome spanneda very long period - more than twelve centuries - which saw changes which were many in numbera ndg reati n their consequencesT.h e site itself progressed from a collection of villages to a great imperial city; the govern- ment changedf rom monarchyt o oligarchy and, at the end of the first century Be, back to a monarchyw hich becamei ncreasingly autocratic.A t the samet ime, Rome moved from the small city- state which had to fight for its continued existencei n Italy to being the 'mistress of Italy' and then to being the hub of an empire which spreadt hroughout the Mediterranean,a s well as much of Europea nd Asia Minor. This book proceeds,w ithin a broadly chronologicalf ramework, to examinet he story of thesep rogressionsW. hat were the early village settlementsli ke? Underw hat influencesd id Romeb ecome a unified city? Why did she give up her kings in favour of a more broadly basedg overnment( the 'Republic'),a nd why, after nearly half a millennium, did that governmentr evert to monarchy?W hy did Rome's territorial interestsg row, especiallyw hen it is clear that many in Rome did not want this to happen?W hat were the effects - social, political, cultural and economic- of this expan- sion, both on Rome herselfa nd on the territories which became 'the Roman Empire'? In days when communicationw as much slower than it is today, how was the empire's coherencem ain- tained and developed?F inally, what factors brought about the ultimate 'decline', and could they have beena voided? It is a daunting, as well as an exciting, task to try to provide sucha history: exciting both becauseo f the magnitudeo f Rome's achievement,w hich was in many ways as stimulating in its PREFACE IX decline as in its growth, and becauseo f the vitality which, thanks to classicalw riters, attachest o so manyo f the leadingf igures of all periods; dauntingn ot only for its size and scopeb ut also because it is constantlyd ifficult to do justice to the giant figures of Rome's pastw ho seems o much a part of the ruins which survive in Rome itself, in Italy and in so many other countriesw hich were once provinceso f the RomanE mpire. Each chapterw ill confine itself to a major episodeo r topic; in the hope that it will prove to be more 'userf riendly', lists containing suggestionsfo r further reading,a nd which are not intendedt o be exhaustive,w ill be provideda t the end of eachc hapter.T hesew ill consistl argely of books rather than periodical literature, accesst o which is availablet hrough the bibliographieso f the more special- ised studiesw hich are cited in the readingl ists. I have enjoyeda ndb enefitedf rom the help of many peoplei n the preparationo f this history: not least, HeatherM cCallum and her colleaguesa t PearsonE ducationf or their advice and encourage- ment at vital times - and for their forbearance.l owe a great debt of gratitude,t oo, to my wife, Anne, for the sheerh ard work that she has put in, 'without any complaint', to produces o lengthy a manuscripta nd for taking most of the photographs. Thanksg o, too, to those who have facilitated the production of the illustrative material used in the book: authors, publishers and Museum-institutionsa re acknowledgeds pecifically where appropriate. David Shotter September2 002
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