6. The Roman Empire, 27 B.C.E.

Introduction for Chapter 6

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The Roman Empire

27 B.C.E.–284 C.E.

In 27 B.C.E. the civil wars were largely over, at least for a time. With peace came prosperity, stability, and a new vision of Rome’s destiny. In his epic poem the Aeneid celebrating the founding of Rome, the Roman poet Virgil expressed this vision:

You, Roman, remember — these are your arts:

To rule nations, and to impose the ways of peace,

To spare the humble and to conquer the proud.1

This was an ideal, of course, but Augustus, now the ruler of Rome, recognized that ideals and traditions were important to Romans. Instead of creating a new form of government, he left the republic officially intact, but held all real power himself. The rulers that followed him continued to transform Rome into an empire. The boundaries of the Roman Empire expanded in all directions, and the army became an important means of Romanization through its forts, camps, and cities. Gaul, Germany, Britain, and eastern Europe were introduced to Greco-Roman culture. A new religion, Christianity, developed in the eastern Roman province of Judaea, and spread on the roads and sea-lanes used by Roman traders and troops. By the third century C.E. civil wars had returned, however, and it seemed as if Augustus’s creation would collapse.

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Life in Imperial Rome In this terra-cotta relief from the third century C.E., a woman sells fruit in a shop while customers line up in front of her. Shops like this one, where goods were sold and neighbors met each other for conversation, were common in imperial Rome.

(De Agostini Picture Library/A. Dagli Orti/Bridgeman Images)

CHAPTER PREVIEW

Augustus’s Reign

How did Augustus create a foundation for the Roman Empire?

Augustus’s Successors

How did the Roman state develop after Augustus?

Rome and the Provinces

What was life like in the city of Rome, and what was it like in the provinces?

The Coming of Christianity

How did Christianity grow into a major religious movement?

The Empire in Disarray

What explains the chaos of the third century C.E.?

Chronology

27 B.C.E.–68 C.E.	Julio-Claudian emperors; expansion into northern and western Europe
ca. 50 B.C.E.–20 C.E.	“Golden age” of Latin literature
ca. 3 B.C.E.–ca. 29 C.E.	Life of Jesus
69–96 C.E.	Flavian emperors; restoration of order
70 C.E.	Rebellion crushed in Judaea
96–180 C.E.	Era of the “five good emperors,” with relative peace and prosperity
193–211 C.E.	Emperor Septimius Severus expands Rome’s borders in Africa and western Asia
212 C.E.	Edict of Caracalla makes all free males living in Roman Empire citizens
235–284 C.E.	Barracks emperors; civil war; breakdown of the empire; economic decline