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First Edition

Britannica Educational Publishing I. Levy: Executive Editor J.E. Luebering: Senior Manager Marilyn L. Barton: Senior Coordinator, Production Control Steven Bosco: Director, Editorial Technologies Lisa S. Braucher: Senior Producer and Data Editor Yvette Charboneau: Senior Copy Editor Kathy Nakamura: Manager, Acquisition Kathleen Kuiper: Manager, Arts and

Rosen Educational Services Jeanne Nagle: Senior Editor Nelson Sá: Art Director Cindy Reiman: Photography Manager Matthew Cauli: Designer, Cover Design Introduction by Laura Loria

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ancient : from and Remus to the Visigoth / edited by Kathleen Kuiper.—1st ed. p. cm.—(The Britannica guide to ancient ) “In association with Britannica Educational Publishing, Rosen Educational Services.” Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61530-207-9 (eBook) 1. Rome—History. I. Kuiper, Kathleen. DG209.A55 2010 937—dc22 2009045443

On the cover: A phalanx of , currently housed in the Vatican , stand silent witnesses to the grandeur of . Ian Shive//Getty Images

Photo credit pp. 17, 39, 77, 104, and 153 Hulton Archive/Getty Images 19 CONTENTS Introduction 10

Chapter 1: Rome from its Origins to 264 BC 17 Early 18 Historical Sources on Early Rome 19 Rome’s Foundation 20 The Regal Period, 753–509 BC 21 The Foundation of the 23 The Struggle of the Orders 24 The Consulship 26 The 26 The 27 48 The Popular Assemblies 27 The Plebeian Tribunate 28 The 30 with Consular Power 30 Social and Economic Changes 31 The 33 Roman Expansion in Italy 34 The Wars 35 The , 280–275 BC 37

Chapter 2: The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) 39 (264–241 BC) 39 Between the First and Second (241–218 BC) 41 (218–201 BC) 42 Campaigns in and 45 The War in 47 The Establishment of Roman in the 54 Mediterranean World 48 Roman Expansion in the 49 Roman Expansion in the Western Mediterranean 53 Explanations of Roman Expansion 56 Beginnings of Provincial Administration 57 Transformation During the Middle Republic 58 and in the Middle Republic 58 75

Culture and 61 Economy and Society 66 Social Changes 72 Rome and Italy 74

Chapter 3: The Late Republic (133–31 BC) 77 Aftermath of Victories 77 Changes in Provincial Administration 78 Social and Economic Ills 78 The Reform Movement of the (133–121 BC) 78 The Program and Career of Sempronius Gracchus 79 90 The Program and Career of Sempronius Gracchus 81 War Against 82 The Career of 83 Events in 85 Developments in Italy 86 Civil War and the Rule of 87 The Early Career of 90 Pompey and Crassus 92 Political Suspicion and Violence 94 The Final Collapse of the (59–44 BC) 95 Political Maneuvers 96 Civil War 97 The Dictatorship and Assassination of 98 The and Octavian’s Achievement of Sole Power 98 99 Life of the Late Republic 100 and 101 and History 102 and 102

Chapter 4: The Early (31 BC–AD 193) 104 The Consolidation of the Empire Under the Julio-Claudians 104 109

The Establishment of the Under 105 The and the Urban Magistracies 107 The Equestrian Order 109 Administration of Rome and Italy 110 Administration of the 111 Worship 112 The Army 113 Foreign Policy 115 Economic Life 117 Augustan Art and Literature 118 Appraisal of Augustus 120 The Succession 121 136 Growth of the Empire Under the Flavians and Antonines 124 The Flavian 124 The Early Antonine Emperors: and 127 and the Other Antonine Emperors 129 The Empire in the Second Century 132 Trend to Absolute 133 Political Life 134 Rome and Italy 135 Developments in the Provinces 137 The Army 148 Cultural Life 149

Chapter 5: The Later Roman Empire 153 The Dynasty of the Severi (AD 193–235) 153 142 153 157 157 and 158 Religious and Cultural Life in the Third Century 159 The Rise of 161 Cultural Life from the Antonines to Constantine 163 181

Military Anarchy and the Disintegration of the Empire (235–270) 164 The 166 Difficulties in eth East 167 Economic and Social Crisis 168 The Recovery of the Empire and the Establishment of the (270–337) 170 172 Struggle for Power 177 The Reign of Constantine 178 The Roman Empire Under the Fourth-Century Successors of Constantine 181 The Reign of 183 The Reign of Valentinian and 184 190 The Reign of and 186 Social and Economic Conditions 188 The Remnants of Pagan Culture 190 The Christian 191 The Eclipse of the Roman Empire in the West (c. 395–500) and the German Migrations 193 The Beginning of Germanic Hegemony in the West 194 195 Analysis of the Decline and Fall 196

Appendix A: of Roman Emperors from 27 BC through AD 476 198 Appendix B: Ancient 202

Glossary 213 Bibliography 215 Index 221 192

INTRODuCTION Introduction | 11

ncient Rome’s influence cannot be openness to the of the lands Aoverstated. The English , Rome had dominated throughout the government, and culture—from basics ancient world. such as the alphabet and calendar to Rome was ruled by until the more sophisticated legal systems—are so fabled tyrant Tarquinius Superbus was, heavily saturated with Roman traits that according to legend, overthrown by the it is impossible to imagine what the world populace. From then on, Rome would would be like if Rome had not flourished. never again have a , instead electing Any whose influence two called consuls. There reverberates so strongly around the globe were two main social classes in the early thousands of years after its fall deserves a republic (509–280 BC), the patricians and closer look, and that is what this book the . In essence, the patricians provides. Ancient Rome: From Romulus held the power and the plebeians had and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion trans- the right to vote on . The consuls, ports readers back to a time of intrigue, however, were elected by the military; conquest, invention, and empire build- consequently, primarily generals who ing. Readers also will be introduced to the led Rome’s armies were elected to Caesars, , senators, patricians, consulship. and plebeians who built, governed, con- The Senate, which most likely evolved quered, and inhabited the ever-expanding from the king’s group of advisers, was territories under Roman rule. composed of elders. Because of From its mythical founding by their collective wealth and , Romulus on Hill, Rome had the senators and their “advice” were devised a political and social framework taken seriously. The assembly was from which the empire would fall away slightly more egalitarian, with five classes and return and to which emerging coun- ranging from wealthy to the poor tries and civilizations would look for landless, and it passed basic legislation. centuries to come. Popular images of A clearly defined system of law, called the Rome conjure the picture of a fully formed Law of the Twelve Tables, was completed with vast lands and a multilayered about 450 BC. government and social order, but its As leader of the , the beginnings were humble. The once-small loosely aligned individual states of Italy, village of Rome transformed itself into an Rome frequently sought to expand empire through organized government, through what was deemed “justifiable an expansionist military policy, and war,” though in reality Rome typically

Detail of Roman soldiers, taken from the carving Martyrdom Of St Paul, which can be found in the Chapel Of Sisto IV in the Vatican. Hulton Archive/Getty Images 12 | Ancient Rome: From to the Visigoth Invasion provoked other states into war and then countryside, though not as landowners. claimed self-defense. The Senators bought up large plots of land (343–290 BC) brought the acquisition of from fallen soldiers and rented to tenant and 13 other colonies and the farmers or hired slaves to work it. This establishment of the . The relationship served both parties well for Pyrrhic War (280–275 BC) brought Rome many years. control over from coast to With expansion came a new emphasis coast. Next came the Punic Wars, fought on the marketplace. The landless poor against in the period termed flooded Rome, causing food and housing the Middle Republic (264–133 BC), which shortages. Independent of the state, - brought Sicily and some small ufacturing and were still cottage under Rome’s control through naval industries, but Rome provided numerous supremacy and small military move- public works to facilitate growth. Infra­ ments. At the conclusion of the Second structure projects made good use of a Punic War in 201 BC, the empire had recent construction material, , to gained control over Spain and the western build and shore up aqueducts. The Mediterranean. In the east, traditional structure became less was annexed as well. important, and child rearing fell to family The vastness of the empire made nec- slaves, who often were foreigners. essary the local rule of annexed territories, Italy was becoming homogenized in called provinces. Local administrators, the Middle Republic (264–133 BC), as a who were overseen annually by senatorial result of several important developments. magistrates, enforced Lex provincae, the The massive construction of modern rules of the conqueror. The administrators’ increased travel and relocation into and main duties were to collect taxes through out of Rome. While Rome was reluctant to publicani, private debt collectors. In Rome impose itself on provincial governments, itself, power was officially shared among the friendly relationships between the the Senate, assembly, and magistrates. of Rome and other cities naturally resulted However, the elite of the Senate held in similarities in law. The most of the power, forcing the plebeians was united in military campaigns at their to pass laws without their approval, creat- frontiers as Roman troops helped to main- ing a power struggle. tain order throughout the republic. The population was changing, too, as War was an essential part of Roman the influx of people from conquered life during the Late Republic (133–31 BC), lands sought . Rome resulting in further conquests. But as the was generally tolerant of other cultures empire expanded, so did maintenance but was careful not to adopt too many costs. The of each had foreign ideas, especially from . absolute power over the noncitizens of Former slaves replaced farmers in the the city of Rome itself, which opened the Introduction | 13 to abuse of power in the form of His term was marked by self-interest illegal taxation and fining. A court was and bribery, and the once again established to address these issues. controlled the Senate and exploited the Though it did not punish the offenders, it provinces. After his term as consul, he was a step toward making the govern- once again took up military service, gain- ment accountable to the inhabitants of ing control over the East and its wealth. Rome, regardless of citizenship and social Meanwhile, ’s was ris- standing. ing. Returning from a successful and Further reform came at the hands of profitable governorship in Spain, Caesar the Gracchus brothers, Tiberius and became consul in 63 with the initial sup- Gaius, known in plural as the Gracchi. port of Pompey. However, that tenuous Born into wealth, the brothers each had a alignment was soon severed. Through turn as “ of the plebs,” speaking Pompey’s political maneuvers, Caesar for the common people. Tiberius was forced into exile and a civil war Gracchus began his service in 133 BC by began. When Caesar defeated Pompey in attempting to enforce a legal limit to Greece, he returned to Rome and assumed how much land an individual could own, a dictatorship. His desire to please every- with the goal of distributing land more one, and thus his failure to end the equally to landless citizens. Through corruption of the Republic, led to his much bargaining, eventually a compro- notorious assassination in 44 BC. A tri- mise was reached that put control of this umvirate consisting of Antony, Lepidus, project into his family’s hands. After a and Octavian, the son of Caesar, assumed group of opposing senators killed Tiberius, power, but a struggle among them led to his younger brother, Gaius, took up the Octavian’s victory in both the military banner. He continued to strive for more and political arenas. Rome had one ruler equality among the people through the now, and the republic was dead. redistribution of wealth, while also Octavian was technically Rome’s first attempting to grant citizenship to other emperor, but he shunned titles so as not . This tactic was to be a fatal error. to provoke the wrath of his political ene- Gaius was not reelected in 122, and was mies. By demilitarizing much of Rome killed in a riot the next year. An uprising and offering to refuse the consulship called the Social War, begun in 90 BC, after one term, he gained the trust of the resulted in citizenship for anyone who Senate, who named him Augustus and sought it, thereby resolving the issue. gave him control over much of the Despite these advances toward empire. While the people of Rome were egalitarianism, power struggles raged fairly powerless, they did have access to on. Pompey, who inherited his father’s courts of law, the protection of the army, army and captured Spain and North public works such as roads, and socio- Africa with it, became coconsul in 70 BC. political mobility through the newly 14 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion opened channel of the equestrian order. invaders. The Antonine dynasty ended They were taxed heavily, but were given with (180–192), who relied on stability and growth in return. Augustan provincial to secure borders art and literature reflected this stability, and thus allowed another grab for power blending Greek form with Roman values after his death. in the works of and . The For roughly 200 years, the Roman empire expanded in all directions under Empire was stable and relatively secure. Augustus, who was beloved and deified The principate, or emperorship, was by the people of Rome. widely accepted by the people. The Augustus established a familial line emperors kept the people’s loyalty by of succession with mixed results. The last avoiding military despotism and creating of his line, , used brute force to con- an environment that allowed prosperity trol the empire. He committed in and local self-government while still the face of inevitable assassination by his keeping the people subject to their total many enemies. After Nero’s death in 69, authority. The Senate’s legislative power civil wars broke out yet again, and four was greatly decreased during the early military commanders claimed themselves empire, though the emperors treated emperor. At the end of that year, the senators, who were frequently foreign- Senate and assembly ratified born, courteously overall. as emperor, who faced the same task The empire began to decline as soon Augustus had—the restoration of order. as it failed to follow this format. The He and his sons, and , the dynasty of the Severi (193–235) resulted Flavian dynasty (69–96), kept control of in a devalued currency, military distrust the empire by strengthening the borders of the principate, and the of along the and with auxil- . For the next 35 years the iary armies while creating stable posts control of Rome alternated between for the . military leaders and favourites of the When Vespasian’s enemies assassi- Senate. This instability afforded the east- nated Domitian, a series of foreign-born ern provinces and to the north emperors ascended. The Antonine the opportunity to invade and recapture emperors, a moderate and constitutional lost lands. An economic and social crisis succession, strengthened borders with- caused cities to barricade themselves, out expanding. Hadrian (117–138) gave including Rome. members of the equestrian order the Diocletian, who was proclaimed option of civil service as an alternative to emperor in 284, recognized that Rome the formerly required military service. was too large to sustain itself, so he aban- Pius (138–161) had a reign of doned the principate and established and prosperity and adopted son himself as the dominant member of a tet- (161–180) kept out rarchy, or four rulers. The city of Rome Introduction | 15 was no longer the sole , as each who took great entitlements as a privi- emperor ruled from one of four cities. lege of their position. In the west, Diocletian increased the size of the army conditions for the poor were worse than and fortified the borders of Rome. He in the east, most likely because of the financed these maneuvers by means of empire’s increased emphasis on eastern heavy taxation. When he also attached interests and the admittance of barbar- divinity to his , he made enemies ians from the north into the Rhineland. of the Christians, who now numbered 5 Pagan culture was largely restricted to million of Rome’s 60 million inhabitants. the universities, and Christianity was The tetrarchy died with the ascen- rapidly spreading through the west. sion of Constantine, son of a tetrarch. Britain, Spain, , , and Constantine, a Christian convert, was were being taken over by sole Caesar following the surrender of his barbarians and Germanic tribes. By the coruler, , in 324. He established a end of the , Rome possessed a hereditary succession plan, reformed the fraction of its former territory. military to create a border patrol and an Some attribute Rome’s fall to the , and christened a new spread of Christianity or to material capital in for its proxim- excess and self-interest of the ruling ity to trade routes. His sons divided the class. There is also evidence that Rome empire into eastern and western prov- simply became too large to sustain itself. inces, with grandson Julian left standing Leadership was inconsistent, both in after a series of murders. Julian was a form and the conduct of individual rul- pagan and restored to Roman ers. The growth of the military did not gods over the objections of the Christians. keep pace with the physical size of the His successors, Valentinian and Valens, empire and could not police it effectively. again divided the empire into eastern Nevertheless, ancient Rome provided and western provinces, and their succes- much that remains fundamental to mod- sors, Gratian and Theodosius, cemented ern Western thought, including a the religious divide between the two. blueprint for democracy, the notion of In the Rome had a bloated which continues to engage people government payroll of 30,000 workers, throughout the world.

CHAPTER 1

Rome from its Origins to 264 BC

ome must be considered one of the most successful Rimperial powers in history. In the course of centuries Rome grew from a small town on the River in central Italy into a vast empire that ultimately embraced , all of continental west of the Rhine and south of the Danube, most of Asia west of the , northern Africa, and the islands of the Mediterranean. Unlike the , who excelled in intellectual and artistic endeavours, the Romans achieved greatness in their military, political, and social insti- tutions. Roman society, during the republic, was governed by a strong military ethos. While this helps to explain the incessant warfare, it does not account for Rome’s success as an imperial power. Unlike Greek city-states, which excluded foreigners and subjected peoples from political participation, Rome from its begin- ning incorporated conquered peoples into its social and political system. Allies and subjects who adopted Roman ways were eventually granted Roman citizenship. During the principate, the seats in the Senate and even the imperial were occupied by people from the Mediterranean outside Italy. The lasting eff ects of Roman rule in Europe can be seen in the geographic distribution of the (Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian), all of which evolved from Latin, the 18 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion language of the Romans. The Western only inhabitants who did not speak an alphabet of 26 letters and the calendar of Indo-European language. By 700 BC 12 months and 365.25 days are only two several Greek colonies were established simple examples of the cultural legacy along the southern coast. Both Greeks that Rome has bequeathed Western and Phoenicians were actively engaged civilization. in trade with the Italian natives. Modern historical analysis is mak- Ealarly It ing rapid progress in showing how Rome’s early development occurred in a When Italy emerged into the light of his- multicultural environment and was par- tory about 700 BC, it was already ticularly influenced by the higher inhabited by various peoples of different civilizations of the Etruscans to the north cultures and languages. Most natives of and the Greeks to the south. Roman reli- the country lived in villages or small gion was indebted to the beliefs and towns, supported themselves by agricul- practices of the Etruscans. The Romans ture or (Italia means borrowed and adapted the alphabet from “Calf Land”), and spoke an Italic the Etruscans, who in turn had borrowed belonging to the Indo-European family and adapted it from the Greek colonies of languages. Oscan and Umbrian were of Italy. Senior officials of the Roman closely related Italic spoken by Republic derived their insignia from the the inhabitants of the Apennines. The Etruscans: curule chair, purple-bordered other two Italic dialects, Latin and (toga praetexta), and bundle of Venetic, were likewise closely related to rods (). Gladiatorial combats and each other and were spoken, respec- the military triumph were other customs tively, by the Latins of (a plain adopted from the Etruscans. Rome lay 12 of west-central Italy) and the people of (19.3 kg) inland from the sea on the northeastern Italy (near modern ). Tiber River, the border between Latium Apulians (Iapyges) and and . Because the site com- inhabited the southeastern coast. Their manded a convenient river crossing and language resembled the speech of the lay on a land route from the Apennines on the other side of the Adriatic. to the sea, it formed the meeting point of During the fifth century BC the three distinct peoples: Latins, Etruscans, of (Cisalpine ) was and . Although Latin in speech occupied by Gallic tribes who spoke and culture, the Roman population must Celtic and who had migrated across the have been somewhat diverse from earli- from continental Europe. The est times, a circumstance that help Etruscans were the first highly civilized to account for the openness of of Italy and were the society in historical times. Rome from its Origins to 264 BC | 19

Historical sources “the Roman annalistic tradition” because on early Rome many of them attempted to give a year- by-year (or annalistic) account of Roman The regal period (753–509 BC) and the affairs for the republic. early republic (509–280 BC) are the most Although none of these are poorly documented periods of Roman fully preserved, the first 10 books of , history because historical accounts of one of Rome’s greatest historians, are Rome were not written until much later. extant and cover Roman affairs from Greek historians did not take serious notice of Rome until the Pyrrhic War (280–275 BC), when Rome was completing its conquest of Italy and was fight- ing against the Greek city of Tarentum in . Rome’s first native historian, a senator named Quintus Fabius Pictor, lived and wrote even later, during the Second Punic War (218–201 BC). Thus, his- torical writing at Rome did not begin until after Rome had completed its conquest of Italy, had emerged as a major power of the ancient world, and was engaged in a titanic struggle with Carthage for control of the western Mediterranean. Fabius Pictor’s history, which began with the city’s mythical Trojan ancestry and narrated events up to his own day, estab- lished the form of subsequent histories of Rome. During the Engraving of Livy (Titus Livius), the foremost historian and prose of the Augustan Age. The handful of his last 200 years BC, 16 other books that have survived to the present day are the best Romans wrote similarly inclu- record of early Rome available. Kean Collection/Hulton sive . All these works Archive/Getty Images are now collectively termed 20 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion earliest times down to the year 293 BC emperor Augustus (27 BC – AD 14), he was (extant are also Books 21 to 45 treating separated by 200 years from Fabius the events from 218 BC to 167 BC ). Since Pictor, who, in turn, had lived long after Livy wrote during the reign of the many of the events his history described.

Rome’s foundation Myth

Although Greek historians did not write seriously about Rome until the Pyrrhic War, they were aware of Rome’s existence long before then. In accordance with their custom of explaining the origin of the foreign peoples they encountered by connecting them with the wanderings of one of their own mythical heroes, such as and the , (), or , Greek from the fi fth century BC onward invented at least 25 di erent to account for Rome’s foundation. In one of the earliest accounts (), which became accepted, the Trojan hero and some followers escaped the Greek destruction of . After wandering about the Mediterranean for some years, they settled in central Italy, where they intermarried with the native population and became the Latins. Although the connection between Rome and Troy is unhistorical, the Romans of later time were so fl attered by this illustrious mythical pedigree that they readily accepted it and incorporated it into their own folklore about the beginning of their city. Roman historians knew that the republic had begun about 500 BC, because their annual list of magistrates went back that far. Before that time, they thought, Rome had been ruled by seven kings in succession. By using Greek methods of genealogical reckoning, they estimated that seven kings would have ruled about 250 years, thus making Rome’s regal period begin in the middle of the eighth cen- tury BC. Ancient historians initially di ered concerning the precise date of Rome’s foundation, ranging from as early as 814 BC () to as late as 728 BC (Cincius Alimentus). By the end of the republic, it was generally accepted that Rome had been founded in 753 BC and that the republic had begun in 509 BC. Since the generally accepted date of Troy’s destruction was 1184 BC, Roman historians maintained Troy’s unhistorical connection with Rome by inventing a series of fi ctitious kings who were supposed to have descended from the Trojan Aeneas and ruled the Latin town of for the intervening 431 years (1184–753 BC) until the last of the royal line, the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, founded their own city, Rome, on the . According to tradition, the twins, believed to have been the children of the god , were set adrift in a basket on the Tiber by the king of Alba. They survived, however, being nursed by a she-, and lived to overthrow the wicked king. In the course of founding Rome the brothers quarreled, and Romulus slew Remus. This story was a Roman adaptation of a widespread ancient Mediterranean folktale told of many national leaders, such as the Akkadian king Sargon (c. 2300 BC), the biblical , the Persian king the Great, the Theban king , and the twins and Pelias of . Rome from its Origins to 264 BC | 21

Thus, in writing about early Rome, involves personal judgment, modern ancient historians were confronted with scholars have disagreed about many great difficulties in ascertaining the . aspects of early Roman history and will They possessed a list of annual magis- continue to do so. trates from the beginning of the republic onward (the consular ), which formed The regal period, the chronological framework of their 753–509 BC accounts. Religious records and the texts of some laws and treaties provided a Romulus, Rome’s first king according to bare outline of major events. Ancient tradition, was the invention of later historians fleshed out this meagre fac- ancient historians. His name, which is tual material with both native and Greek not even proper Latin, was designed to folklore. Consequently, over time, histori- explain the origin of Rome’s name. His cal facts about early Rome often suffered fictitious reign was filled with deeds from patriotic or face-saving reinterpre- expected of an ancient city founder and tations involving exaggeration of the the son of a war god. Thus he was truth, suppression of embarrassing facts, described as having established Rome’s and invention. early political, military, and social institu- The evidence for the annalistic tradi- tions and as having waged war against tion shows that the Roman histories neighbouring states. Romulus was also written during the BC were thought to have shared his royal power relatively brief resumes of facts and sto- for a time with a Sabine named Titus ries. Yet in the course of the first century Tatius. The name may be that of an BC, Roman writers were increasingly authentic ruler of early Rome, perhaps influenced by Greek rhetorical training, Rome’s first real king. Nothing, however, with the result that their histories became was known about him in later centuries, greatly expanded in length. Included in and his reign was therefore lumped them were fictitious speeches and together with that of Romulus. lengthy narratives of spurious The names of the other six kings are and political confrontations, which, how- authentic and were remembered by the ever, reflect the military and political Romans, but few reliable details were conditions and controversies of the late known about their reigns. However, since republic rather than accurately portray- the later Romans wished to have expla- ing the events of early Rome. Livy’s nations for their early customs and history of early Rome, for example, is a institutions, historians ascribed various blend of some facts and much fiction. innovations to these kings, often in stereo- Since it is often difficult to separate fact typical and erroneous ways. The three from fiction in his works and doing so kings after Romulus are still hardly more 22 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion than names, but the recorded deeds of succeeded by , whose the last three kings are more historical reign was filled with warlike exploits, and can, to some extent, be checked by probably because the name Hostilius was archaeological evidence. later interpreted to suggest hostility and According to ancient tradition, the belligerence. Tullus was followed by warlike founder Romulus was succeeded , who was believed to have by the Sabine , whose been the grandson of Numa. His reign reign was characterized by complete tran- combined the characteristics of those of quility and peace. Numa was supposed to his two predecessors—namely religious have created virtually all of Rome’s reli- innovations as well as warfare. gious institutions and practices. The Archaeological evidence for early tradition of his religiosity probably derives Rome is scattered and limited because it from the erroneous connection by the has proven difficult to conduct extensive ancients of his name with the Latin word excavations at sites still occupied by later , meaning divine power. Numa was buildings. What evidence exists is often

Ruins on Palatine Hill, which archaeologists believe may have been the location of the first Roman village. On the Palatine, archaeological discoveries range from prehistoric remains to the of an imperial palace. Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images Rome from its Origins to 264 BC | 23 ambiguous and cannot be correlated eas- Rome’s urban transformation was ily to the ancient literary tradition. It can, carried out by its last three kings: Lucius however, sometimes confirm or contra- Tarquinius (Tarquin the Elder), dict aspects of the ancient historical , and Lucius Tarquinius account. For example, it confirms that the Superbus (Tarquin the Proud). According earliest settlement was a simple village of to ancient tradition, the two Tarquins thatched huts on the Palatine Hill (one of were father and son and came from the seven hills eventually occupied by Etruria. One tradition made Servius the city of Rome), but it dates the begin- Tullius a Latin. Another described him as ning of the village to the 10th or ninth an Etruscan named Mastarna. All three century BC, not the mid-eighth century. kings were supposed to have been great Rome therefore cannot have been ruled city planners and organizers (a tradition by a succession of only seven kings down that has been confirmed by ). to the end of the sixth century BC. Their Etruscan origin is rendered plau- Archaeology also shows that the sible by Rome’s proximity to Etruria, was next inhabited, thus Rome’s growing geographic signifi- disproving the ancient account which cance, and the public works that were maintained that the was carried out by the kings themselves. The settled after the Palatine. latter were characteristic of contempo- Around 670–660 BC the Palatine rary . It would thus appear settlement expanded down into the val- that during the sixth century BC some ley of the later Romanum and Etruscan adventurers took over the site became a town of artisans living in of Rome and transformed it into a city with stone foundations. The mate- along Etruscan lines. rial culture testifies to the existence of some trade as well as to Etruscan and The foundation of Greek influence. Archaeology of other the republic Latin sites suggests that Rome at this time was a typical Latin community. In Ancient historians depicted Rome’s first another major transition spanning the six kings as benevolent and just rulers sixth century the Latin town was gradu- but the last one as a cruel tyrant who mur- ally transformed into a real city. The dered his predecessor Servius Tullius, swampy Forum valley was drained and usurped the kingship, terrorized the paved to become the city’s public centre. Senate, and oppressed the common There are clear signs of major people with public works. The reign of construction. Pottery and architectural Tarquinius Superbus was described in remains indicate vigorous trade with the the stereotypical terms of a Greek tyr- Greeks and Etruscans, as well as local anny in order to explain the major work done under their influence. political transition from the monarchy to 24 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion the republic in accordance with Greek and influence at the time across the Tiber political theory concerning constitu- into Latium and even farther south into tional evolution from monarchy to Campania. Toward the end of the sixth tyranny to . This explanation century, Rome may have been involved in provided later Romans with a satisfying a war against King Porsenna of , patriotic story of despotism giving way to who defeated the Romans, seized the city, . Tarquinius Superbus supposedly and expelled its last king. Before Porsenna was overthrown by a popular uprising could establish himself as , he ignited by the of a virtuous noble- was forced to withdraw, leaving Rome woman, Lucretia, by the king’s son. The kingless. In fact, Porsenna is known to story is probably unhistorical, however, have suffered a serious defeat at the and merely a Roman adaptation of a well- hands of the combined forces of the other known Greek story of a love affair in Latins and the Greeks of Campanian that led to the murder of the . Rather than restoring Tarquin tyrant’s brother and the tyrant’s eventual from exile to power, the Romans replaced downfall. the kingship with two annually elected According to ancient tradition, as magistrates called consuls. soon as the Romans had expelled their last tyrannical king, the king of the The struggle of Etruscan city of Clusium, Lars Porsenna, the orders attacked and besieged Rome. The city was gallantly defended by Horatius As the Roman state grew in size and Cocles, who sacrificed his life in defense power during the early republic (509–280 of the bridge across the Tiber, and Mucius BC), new offices and institutions were Scaecvola, who attempted to assassinate created, and old ones were adapted to Porsenna in his own camp. When arrested with the changing military, political, before accomplishing the deed, he dem- social, and economic needs of the state onstrated his courage by voluntarily and its populace. According to the annal- burning off his right hand in a nearby fire. istic tradition, all these changes and As a result of such Roman heroism, innovations resulted from a political Porsenna was supposed to have made struggle between two social orders, the peace with Rome and withdrawn his army. patricians and the plebeians, that is One prevalent modern view is that thought to have begun during the first the monarchy at Rome was incidentally years of the republic and lasted for more terminated through military defeat and than 200 years. foreign intervention. This theory sees In the beginning, the patricians were Rome as a site highly prized by the supposed to have enjoyed a monopoly of Etruscans of the sixth century BC, who power (the consulship, the Senate, and all are known to have extended their power religious offices), whereas the plebeians Rome from its Origins to 264 BC | 25 began with nothing except the right to entitled to or debarred from holding vote in the assemblies. During the course certain minor offices. of the struggle the plebeians, however, The discrepancies, inconsistencies, were believed to have won concessions and logical fallacies in Livy’s account of gradually from the patricians through the early republic make it evident that political agitation and confrontation, and the annalistic tradition’s thesis of a they eventually attained legal equality struggle of the orders is a gross over- with them. Thus ancient historians, such simplification of a highly complex series as Livy, explained all aspects of early of events that had no single cause. Rome’s internal political development in Tensions certainly existed; no state can terms of a single sustained social experience 200 years of history without movement. some degree of social conflict and eco- As tradition has it, the distinction nomic unrest. In fact, legal sources between patricians and plebeians was as indicate that the law of debt in early old as Rome itself and had been insti- Rome was extremely harsh and must tuted by Romulus. The actual historical have sometimes created much hardship. dating and explanation of this distinction Yet it is impossible to believe that all still constitutes the single biggest aspects of early Rome’s internal political unsolved problem of early Roman his- development resulted from one cause. tory. The distinction existed during the Early documents, if available, would have middle and late republic, but modern told the later annalistic historians little scholars do not agree on when or how it more than that a certain office had been arose; they are increasingly inclined to created or some law passed. An explana- think that it originated and evolved tion of causality could have been supplied slowly during the early republic. By the only by folklore or by the imagination of time of the middle and late republic, it the historian himself, neither of which was largely meaningless. At that point can be relied upon. Livy’s descriptions of only about one dozen Roman early republican political crises evince were patrician, all others being plebeian. the political rhetoric and tactics of the Both patrician and plebeian families late republic and therefore cannot be made up the nobility, which consisted given credence without justification. For simply of all descendants of consuls. The example, early republican agrarian legis- term “patrician,” therefore, was not syn- lation is narrated in late republican onymous with “noble” and should not be terms. Early republican conflicts between confused with it: the patricians formed plebeian tribunes and the Senate are only a part of the Roman nobility of the likewise patterned after the politics of middle and late republic. The only differ- the and of the ence between patricians and plebeians in late republic. Caution therefore must later times was that each group was either be exercised in examining early Rome’s 26 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion internal development. Many of the major major aspect of the struggle of the orders innovations recorded in the ancient tra- was supposed to have been the plebeians’ dition can be accepted, but the ancient persistent agitation to make the office interpretation of these facts cannot go open to them. However, if the classifica- unchallenged. tion of patrician and plebeian names known for the middle and late republic is The consulship applied to the consular list for the years 509–445 BC, plebeian names are well The later Romans viewed the abolition of represented (30 percent). It is likely that the kingship and its replacement by the there never was a prohibition against consulship as marking the beginning of plebeians holding the consulship. The the republic. The king’s religious func- distinction between patrician and plebe- tions were henceforth performed by a ian families may have become fixed only -king (), who held by the middle of the fourth century BC; office for life. The king’s military power and the law of that time (367 BC), which () was bestowed upon two specified that one of the consuls was to annually elected magistrates called con- be plebeian, may have done nothing suls. They were always regarded as the more than to guarantee legally that both chief magistrates of the republic, so much groups of the nobility would have an so that the names of each pair were given equal share in the state’s highest office. to their year of office for purposes of dat- ing. Thus careful records were kept of The dictatorship these names, which later formed the chronological basis for ancient histories Despite the advantages of consular col- of the republic. legiality, in military emergencies, unity The consuls were primarily generals of command was sometimes necessary. who led Rome’s armies in war. They Rome’s solution to this problem was the were therefore elected by the centuriate appointment of a in place of assembly—that is, the orga- the consuls. According to ancient tradi- nized into a voting body. The two consuls tion, the office of dictator was created in possessed equal power. Such 501 BC, and was used periodically down was basic to almost all Roman public to the Second Punic War. The dictator offices; it served to check abuses of power held supreme military command for no because one ’s actions could longer than six months. He was also be obstructed by his colleague. termed the master of the army (magister According to the annalistic tradition, populi), and he appointed a subordinate the first plebeian consul was elected for commander, the master of horse 366 BC. All consuls before that time were (). The office was thor- thought to have been patrician, and one oughly constitutional and should not be Rome from its Origins to 264 BC | 27 confused with the late republican dictator- who submitted matters to it for discus- of Sulla and Caesar, which were sion and debate. Whatever a majority simply legalizations of autocratic power voted in favour of was termed “the obtained through military usurpation. Senate’s advice” (). These advisory decrees were directed to The Senate a magistrate or the Roman people. In most instances, they were either imple- The Senate may have existed under the mented by a magistrate or submitted by monarchy and served as an advisory him to the people for enactment into law. council for the king. Its name suggests that it was originally composed of elderly The popular assemblies men (senes), whose age and knowledge of traditions must have been highly val- During the republic two different assem- ued in a preliterate society. During the blies elected magistrates, exercised republic, the Senate was composed of legislative power, and made other impor- members from the leading families. Its tant decisions. Only adult male Roman size during the early republic is unknown. citizens could attend the assemblies in Ancient sources indicate that it num- Rome and exercise the right to vote. The bered about 300 during the middle assemblies were organized according to republic. Its members were collectively the principle of the group vote. Although termed patres et conscripti (“the fathers each person cast one vote, he did so and the enrolled”), suggesting that the within a larger voting unit. The majority Senate was initially composed of two vote of the unit became its vote, and a different groups. Since the term “patri- majority of unit votes was needed to cian” was derived from patres and seems decide an issue. to have originally meant “a member of The (comitia the patres,” the dichotomy probably centuriata), as stated, was military in somehow involved the distinction nature and composed of voting groups between patricians and plebeians. called centuries (military units). Because During the republic the Senate of its military character, it always met advised both magistrates and the Roman outside the sacred boundary of the city people. Although in theory the people () in the Field of Mars (Campus were sovereign and the Senate only Martius). It voted on war and peace and offered advice, in actual practice the elected all magistrates who exercised Senate wielded enormous power because imperium (consuls, , censors, and of the collective prestige of its members. curule ). Before the creation of It was by far the most important delib- criminal courts during the late republic, it erative body in the Roman state, sat as a high court and exercised capital summoned into session by a magistrate jurisdiction. Although it could legislate, 28 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion this function was usually performed by The (comitia tributa) the tribal assembly. was a nonmilitary civilian assembly. It The centuriate assembly evolved accordingly met within the city inside the through different stages during the early pomerium and elected magistrates who republic, but information exists only did not exercise imperium (plebeian tri- about its final organization. It may have bunes, plebeian aediles, and ). begun as the citizen army meeting under It did most of the legislating and sat as a arms to elect its commander and to court for serious public offenses involv- decide on war or peace. During historical ing monetary fines. times the assembly had a complex orga- The tribal assembly was more demo- nization. All voting citizens were placed cratic in its organization than the into one of five economic classes accord- centuriate assembly. The territory of ing to wealth. Each class was allotted the Roman state was divided into geo- varying numbers of centuries, and the graphic districts called tribes, and people entire assembly consisted of 193 units. voted in these units according to resi- The first (and richest) class of citizens dence. The city was divided into four was distributed among 80 centuries; the urban tribes. During the fifth century second, third, and fourth classes were BC, the surrounding countryside formed each assigned 20 units. The fifth class, 17 rustic tribes. With the expansion of composed of the poorest people in the Roman territory in central Italy (387–241 army, was allotted 30 centuries. In addi- BC), 14 rustic tribes were added, thus tion, there were 18 centuries of gradually increasing the assembly to 35 knights—men wealthy enough to afford a units, a number never exceeded. horse for cavalry service—and five other centuries, one of which was composed by The plebeian tribunate the proletarii, or landless people too poor to serve in the army. voted According to the annalistic tradition, one together with the first class, and voting of the most important events in the proceeded from richest to poorest. struggle of the orders was the creation of Because the knights and the first class the plebeian tribunate. After being worn controlled 98 units, they were the domi- down by military service, bad economic nant group in the assembly, though they conditions, and the rigours of early constituted the smallest portion of the Rome’s debt law, the plebeians in 494 BC citizen body. The assembly was deliber- seceded in a body from the city to the ately designed to give the greater Sacred Mount, located 3 miles (4.8 km) authority to the wealthier element and from Rome. There they pitched camp and was responsible for maintaining the elected their own officials for their future political supremacy of the established protection. Because the state was threat- nobility. ened with an enemy attack, the Senate Rome from its Origins to 264 BC | 29 was forced to allow the plebe- ians to have their own officials, the tribunes of the plebs. Initially there were only 2 tribunes of the plebs, but their number increased to 5 in 471 BC and to 10 in 457 BC. They had no insignia of office, like the consuls, but they were regarded as sacrosanct. Whoever physically harmed them could be killed with impunity. They had the right to intercede on a citizen’s behalf against the action of a consul, but their powers were valid only within 1 (1.6 km) from the pomerium. They con- voked the tribal assembly and submitted bills to it for legis- lation. Tribunes prosecuted other magistrates before the assembled people for miscon- duct in office. They could also the action of another tri- bune (veto meaning “I forbid”). Plebeian tribunes were duly elected representatives of Two plebeian aediles served as Rome’s general populace in governmental matters. their assistants in managing Though not as powerful as their Senate counterparts, the affairs of the city. Although tribunes could sponsor bills for legislation and punish they were thought of as the magistrates for misconduct. Private Collection/The champions of the people, per- Stapleton Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library sons elected to this office came from aristocratic families and generally Modern scholars disagree about the favoured the status quo. Nevertheless, authenticity of the annalistic account the office could be and sometimes was concerning the plebs’ first secession and used by young aspiring aristocrats to the creation of the plebeian tribunate. make a name for themselves by taking up The tradition presented this as the first of populist causes in opposition to the three secessions, the other two allegedly nobility. occurring in 449 and 287 BC. The second 30 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

The Twelve Tables

The fi rst systematic codifi cation of followed the creation of the plebeian tribunate. The plebeians were supposed to have desired a written law code in which consular imperium would be circumscribed to guard against abuses. After years of tribunician agitation the Senate fi nally agreed. A special board of 10 men () was appointed for 451 BC to draw up a law code. Since their task was not done after one year, a second board of 10 was appointed to fi nish the , but they became tyrannical and stayed in o ce beyond their time. They were fi nally forced out of power when one commissioner’s cruel for an innocent maiden named so outraged the people that they seceded for a second time. The law code was inscribed upon 12 tablets and publicly displayed in the Forum. Its provisions concerned legal procedure, debt foreclosure, paternal authority over children, prop- erty rights, inheritance, funerary , and various major and minor o enses. Although many of its provisions became outmoded and were modifi ed or replaced in later times, the Law of the Twelve Tables formed the basis of all subsequent Roman private law. Because the law code seems not to have had any specifi c provisions concerning consular imperium, the annalistic explanation for the codifi cation appears suspect. The story of the second tyrannical board of 10 is an annalistic invention patterned after the 30 tyrants of Athenian history. The tale of Verginia is likewise modeled after the story of Lucretia and the overthrow of Rome’s last king. Thus the second secession, which is an integral part of the story, cannot be regarded as historical. On the basis of existing evidence, one cannot say whether the law code resulted from any social or economic causes. Rome was a growing city and may simply have been in need of a systematic body of law. secession is clearly fi ctitious. Many schol- the offi ce. However, the urban-civilian ars regard the fi rst one as a later annalistic character of the plebeian tribunate com- invention as well, accepting only the last plements the extra-urban military nature one as historical. Although the fi rst seces- of the consulship so nicely that the two sion is explained in terms resembling the offi ces may have originally been designed conditions of the later Gracchan agrarian to function cooperatively to satisfy the crisis (see The Reform Movement of the needs of the state rather than to be Gracchi [133–121 BC ] on page 78), given antagonistic to one another. the harshness of early Roman debt laws and food shortages recorded by the sources MILITARy TRIBuNES wITH for 492 and 488 BC (information likely to CONSuLAR POwER be preserved in contemporary religious records), social and economic unrest The creation of the offi ce of military tri- could have contributed to the creation of bunes with consular power in 445 BC was Rome from its Origins to 264 BC | 31 believed to have involved the struggle of Roman citizens, assessed the value of their the orders. The annalistic tradition por- property, and assigned them to their proper trayed the innovation as resulting from a tribe and century within the tribal and political compromise between plebeian centuriate assemblies. tribunes, demanding access to the con- The increase in the number of mili- sulship, and the Senate, trying to tary tribunes coincided with Rome’s first maintain the patrician monopoly of the two major wars, against and . office. Henceforth, each year the people In 366 BC six undifferentiated military were to decide whether to elect two patri- tribunes were replaced with five magis- cian consuls or military tribunes with trates that had specific functions: two consular power who could be patricians consuls for conducting wars, an urban or plebeians. The list of magistrates for who handled lawsuits in Rome, 444 to 367 BC shows that the chief magis- and two curule aediles who managed tracy alternated between consuls and various affairs in the city. In 362 BC the military tribunes. Consuls were more fre- Romans began to elect annually six quently elected down to 426 but rarely military tribunes as subordinate officers thereafter. At first there were three mili- of the consuls. tary tribunes, but the number increased to four in 426, and to six in 406. The con- Social and sular tribunate was abolished in 367 BC economic changes and replaced by the consulship. Livy indicates that according to some The law reinstating the consulship was sources the consular tribunate was cre- one of three tribunician bills, the so- ated because Rome was faced with three called Licinio-Sextian Rogations of 367 wars simultaneously. Because there is BC. Another forbade citizens to rent more evidence that there was no prohibition than 500 iugera (330 acres) of public against plebeians becoming consuls, land, and the third provided for the alle- scholars have suggested that the reason viation of indebtedness. The historicity for the innovation was the growing mili- of the second bill has often been ques- tary and administrative needs of the tioned, but the great increase in the size Roman state; this view is corroborated by of Roman territory resulting from Rome’s other data. Beginning in 447 BC, two conquest of Veii renders this law plausible. quaestors were elected as financial offi- The law concerning indebtedness is cials of the consuls, and the number probably historical as well, since other increased to four in 421 BC. Beginning in data suggest that debt was a problem in 443 BC two censors were elected about mid-fourth-century Rome. In 352 BC a every five years and held office for 18 five-man commission was appointed to months. They drew up official lists of extend public credit in order to reduce 32 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion private indebtedness. A Genucian law of Flavius upset conservative opinion but 342 BC (named after Genucius, tribune performed a great public service by of that year) temporarily suspended the erecting an inscription of the calendar in charging of interest on loans. In 326 or the for permanent display. 313 BC a Poetelian law ameliorated the From early times, Roman private law harsh conditions of the Twelve Tables and legal procedure had largely been regarding debt servitude by outlawing controlled and developed by the priest- the use of chains to confine debt hood of pontiffs. In 300 BC the Ogulnian bondsmen. law (after the tribunes Gnaeus and Rome’s economic advancement is Quintus Ogulnius) ended the patrician reflected in its replacement of a cumber- monopoly of two priestly by some bronze currency with coinage increasing the number of pontiffs from adopted from the Greek states of southern four to eight and the number of Italy, the so-called Romano-Campanian from four to nine and by specifying that didrachms. The date of this innovation is the new were to be plebeian. disputed. Modern estimates range from In 287 BC the third (and perhaps the the First Samnite War to the Pyrrhic War. only historical) secession of the plebs Rome was no longer a small town of occurred. Since Livy’s account has not central Italy but rather was quickly survived, detailed knowledge about this becoming the master of the Italian penin- event is lacking. One source suggests sula and was taking its place in the larger that debt caused the secession. Many Mediterranean world. sources state that the crisis was ended by The process of expansion is well the passage of the Hortensian law (after illustrated by innovations in Roman Quintus , dictator for 287), private law about 300 BC. Since legal which was thought to have given enact- business could be conducted only on cer- ments of the tribal assembly the same tain days ( fasti), knowledge of the force as resolutions of the centuriate calendar was important for litigation. In assembly. However, since similar measures early times the rex sacrorum at the were supposed to have been enacted in beginning of each month orally pro- 449 and 339 BC, doubt persists about the claimed in Rome before the assembled meaning of these laws. It is possible that people the official calendar for that no difference ever existed in the degree month. Though suited for a small agri- of legal authority of the two assemblies. cultural community, this parochial The three laws could be annalistic mis- procedure became increasingly unsuit- interpretations of a provision of the Twelve able as Roman territory grew and more Tables specifying that what the people citizens lived farther from Rome. In 304 decided last should be binding. One BC a curule named Gnaeus source indicates that the Hortensian law Rome from its Origins to 264 BC | 33

The Latin League

Although the Latins dwelled in politically independent towns, their common language and culture produced cooperation in religion, law, and warfare. All Latins could participate in the cults of commonly worshiped divinities, such as the cult of the Penates of , of , and (celebrated at both and Rome). Latins freely intermarried without legal complications. When visiting another Latin town, they could buy, sell, litigate, and even vote with equal freedom. If a Latin took up permanent residence in another Latin community, he became a full citizen of his new home. Although the Latin states occasionally waged war among themselves, in times of common danger they banded together for mutual defense. Each state contributed military forces according to its strength. The command of all forces was entrusted by common assent to a single person from one of the Latin towns. Sometimes the Latins even founded colonies upon hostile territory as military outposts, which became new, independent Latin states, enjoying the same rights as all the other ones. Modern scholars use the term “Latin League” to describe this collection of rights and duties. According to ancient tradition, Rome’s last three kings not only transformed Rome into a real city but also made it the leader of the Latin League. There is probably exaggeration in this claim. Roman historians were eager to portray early Rome as destined for future greatness and as more powerful than it actually was. Rome certainly became one of the more important states in Latium during the sixth century, but Tibur, Praeneste, and were equally important and long remained so. By the terms of the fi rst treaty between Rome and Carthage (509 BC), recorded by the Greek historian (c. 150 BC), the Romans (or perhaps more accurately, the Latins generally) claimed a coastal strip 70 miles (112.6 km) south of the Tiber River as their sphere of infl uence not to be encroached upon by the Carthaginians. Rome’s rapid rise during the sixth century was the achievement of its Etruscan overlords, and the city quickly declined with the collapse of Etruscan power in Campania and Latium about 500 BC. Immediately after the fall of the Roman monarchy, amid Porsenna’s conquest of Rome, his defeat by the Latins, and his subsequent withdrawal, the plain of Latium began to be threatened by surrounding hill tribes (Sabines, Aequians, and Volscians), who experienced overpopulation and tried to acquire more land. Thus Rome’s external a airs during the fi fth century largely revolved around its military assistance to the Latin League to hold back these invaders. Many details in Livy’s account of this fi ghting are, however, unreliable. In order to have a literary theme worthy of Rome’s later greatness, Livy’s annalistic sources had described these confl icts in the most grandiose terms. Yet the armies, military ranks, castrametation (i.e., techniques in making and fortifying encampments), and tactics described belong to the late republic, not the Rome of the fi fth century. 34 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion made all assembly days eligible for legal The evidence concerning Roman expan- business. If debt played a role in the sion during the early republic is poor, secession, the Hortensian law may have but the fact that Rome created 14 new been designed to reduce the backlog of rustic tribes during the years 387–241 BC lawsuits in the praetor’s court in Rome. suggests that population growth could have been a driving force. Furthermore, Roman expansion in Italy Romans living on the frontier may have strongly favoured war against restless Toward the end of the fifth century, while neighbours, such as and Samnites. Rome and the Latins were still defending The animal husbandry of the latter themselves against the Volscians and the involved seasonal migrations between Aequians, the Romans began to expand summer uplands and winter lowlands, at the expense of Etruscan states. Rome’s which caused friction between them and incessant warfare and expansion during settled Roman farmers. the republic has spawned modern debate Though the Romans did not wage about the nature of Roman imperialism. wars for religious ends, they often used Ancient Roman historians, who were religious means to assist their war effort. often patriotic senators, believed that The priests were used for the solemn Rome always waged just wars in self- official declaration of war. According to defense, and they wrote their accounts fetial law, Rome could enjoy divine favour accordingly, distorting or suppressing only if it waged just wars—that is, wars of facts that did not fit this view. The modern self-defense. In later practice, this often thesis of Roman defensive imperialism, simply meant that Rome maneuvered which followed this ancient , is now other states into declaring war upon it. largely discredited. Only the fighting in Then Rome followed with its declaration, the fifth century BC and the later wars acting technically in self-defense; this against the Gauls can clearly be so strategy had the effect of boosting Roman characterized. morale and sometimes swaying inter- Rome’s relentless expansion was national public opinion. more often responsible for provoking its Rome’s first major war against an neighbours to fight in self-defense. organized state was fought with Fidenae Roman consuls, who led the legions into (437–426 BC), a town located just , often advocated war because vic- upstream from Rome. After it had been tory gained them personal glory. conquered, its land was annexed to Members of the centuriate assembly, Roman territory. Rome next fought a long which decided war and peace, may some- and difficult war against Veii, an important times have voted for war in expectation Etruscan city not far from Fidenae. Later that it would to personal enrichment Roman historians portrayed the war as through seizure and distribution of booty. having lasted 10 years (406–396 BC), Rome from its Origins to 264 BC | 35 patterning it after the mythical Trojan BC) show Rome’s sphere of influence to War of the Greeks. After its conquest, be about the same as it had been at the Veii’s tutelary , Queen Juno, was time of the first treaty in 509, but Rome’s solemnly summoned to Rome. The city’s position in Latium was now far stronger. territory was annexed, increasing Roman territory by 84 percent and forming four The Samnite Wars new rustic tribes. During the wars against Fidenae and During the 40 years after the second Veii, Rome increased the number of mili- treaty with Carthage, Rome rapidly rose tary tribunes with consular power from to a position of hegemony in Italy south three to four and then from four to six. In of the Po valley. Much of the fighting 406 BC Rome instituted military pay, during this time consisted of three wars and in 403 BC it increased the size of its against the Samnites, who initially were cavalry. The conquest of Veii opened not politically unified but coexisted as southern Etruria to further Roman expan- separate Oscan-speaking tribes of the sion. During the next few years, Rome central and southern Apennines. Rome’s proceeded to found colonies at Nepet expansion was probably responsible for and Sutrium and forced the towns of uniting these tribes militarily to oppose a Falerii and Capena to become its allies. common enemy. Both the rugged terrain Yet, before Roman strength increased and the tough Samnite soldiers proved to further, a marauding Gallic tribe swept be formidable challenges, which forced down from the Po River valley, raided Rome to adopt military innovations that Etruria, and descended upon Rome. The were later important for conquering the Romans were defeated in the battle of Mediterranean. the River in 390 BC, and the Gauls Despite its brevity (343–341 BC), the captured and sacked the city. They First Samnite War resulted in the major departed only after they had received acquisition to the Roman state of the rich ransom in gold. Henceforth the Romans land of Campania with its capital of greatly feared and respected the poten- . Roman historians modeled their tial strength of the Gauls. Later Roman description of the war’s beginning on the historians, however, told patriotic tales Greek historian ’ account of about the commanders Marcus Manlius the outbreak of the and Marcus Furius Camillus in order to between Athens and . Nevertheless, mitigate the humiliation of the defeat. they were probably correct in stating that Roman power had suffered a great the , when fighting over the reversal, and 40 years of hard fighting in town of Capua with the Samnites, allied Latium and Etruria were required to themselves with Rome in order to utilize restore it fully. The terms of the second its might to settle the quarrel. If so, this treaty between Rome and Carthage (348 may have been the first of many instances 36 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion in which Rome went to war after being and pushing forward its frontier through invited into an alliance by a weaker state conquest and colonization. The Romans already at war. Once invited in, Rome soon confronted the Samnites of the usually absorbed the allied state after middle (modern ) River valley, defeating its adversary. In any event, sparking the Second, or Great, Samnite Campania now somehow became firmly War (326–304 BC). During the first half of attached to Rome; it may have been granted the war Rome suffered serious defeats, Roman citizenship without the right to vote but the second half saw Rome’s recovery, in Rome (civitas sine suffragio). Campania reorganization, and ultimate victory. In was a major to Rome’s strength 321 BC a Roman army was trapped in a and manpower. narrow canyon near the Caudine Forks The absorption of Campania pro- and compelled to surrender, and Rome voked the Latins to take up arms against was forced to sign a five-year treaty. Later Rome to maintain their independence. Roman historians, however, tried to deny Since the Gallic in 390 BC, this humiliation by inventing stories of the city had become increasingly domi- Rome’s rejection of the peace and its nant within the Latin League. In 381 BC revenge upon the Samnites. Tusculum was absorbed by being given In 315 BC, after the resumption of Roman citizenship. In 358 BC Rome cre- hostilities, Rome suffered a crushing ated two more rustic tribes from territory defeat at Lautulae. Ancient sources state captured along the Volscian coast. The that Rome initially borrowed (340–338 BC) was quickly tactics from the Etruscans (used during decided in Rome’s favour. Virtually all of the sixth or fifth centuries BC) but later Latium was given Roman citizenship and adopted the manipular system of the became Roman territory, but the towns Samnites, probably as a result of Samnite retained their local governments. The success at this time. The manipular for- large states of Praeneste and Tibur mation resembled a checkerboard pattern, maintained nominal independence by in which solid squares of soldiers were becoming Rome’s military allies. Thus separated by empty square spaces. It was the Latin League was abolished; but the far more flexible than the solidly massed legal rights that the Latins had enjoyed hoplite formation, allowing the army to among themselves were retained by maneuver better on rugged terrain. The Rome as a legal status, the Latin right system was retained throughout the ( Latii), and used for centuries as an republic and into the empire. intermediate step between non-Roman During these same years Rome orga- status and full Roman citizenship. nized a rudimentary navy, constructed its Rome was now the master of central first military roads (construction of the Italy and spent the next decade organizing Via Appia was begun in 312 BC and of the Rome from its Origins to 264 BC | 37

Via Valeria in 306), and increased the size The Pyrrhic War, 280–275 BC of its annual military levy as seen from the increase of annually elected military Rome spent the BC putting down tribunes from 6 to 16. During the period unrest in northern Italy, but its attention 334–295 BC, Rome founded 13 colonies was soon directed to the far south as well against the Samnites and created six new by a quarrel between the Greek city of rustic tribes in annexed terri- tory. During the last years of the war, the Romans also extended their power into northern Etruria and . Several successful campaigns forced the cities in these areas to become Rome’s allies. The Great Samnite War finally ended in Rome’s victory. Dur­ ing the final phase of this war, Rome, on another front, con- cluded its third treaty with Carthage (306 BC), in which the Carthaginians acknowl- edged all of Italy as Rome’s sphere of influence. The Third Samnite War (298–290 BC) was the last des- perate attempt of the Samnites to remain independent. They persuaded the Etruscans, Umbrians, and Gauls to join them. Rome emerged victori- ous over this formidable coalition at the battle of in 295 and spent the remainder of the war putting down lingering Samnite resis- Portrait of King Pyrrhus, the famed Greek general who tance. They henceforth were staged a multiyear battle, known as the Pyrrhic War, with bound to Rome by a series of Rome and its allies. Hulton Archive/Getty Images alliances. 38 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Thurii and a Samnite tribe. called Carthage; he eventually returned to Italy upon the assistance of Rome, whose naval and was defeated by the Romans in 275 operations in the area provoked a war BC at Beneventum. He then returned to with the Greek city of Tarentum. As in Greece, while Rome put down resistance previous conflicts with Italian peoples, in Italy and took Tarentum itself by Tarentum summoned military aid from in 272. mainland Greece, calling upon King Rome was now the unquestioned Pyrrhus of , one of the most bril- master of Italy. Roman territory was a liant generals of the ancient world. broad belt across central Italy, from sea Pyrrhus arrived in southern Italy in 280 to sea. Latin colonies were scattered BC with 20 and 25,000 highly throughout the peninsula. The other trained soldiers. After defeating the peoples of Italy were bound to Rome by a Romans at Heraclea and stirring up revolt series of bilateral alliances that obligated among the Samnites, he offered peace them to provide Rome with military terms that would have confined Roman forces in wartime. According to the power to central Italy. When the Senate Roman census of 225 BC, Rome could call wavered, Appius , an aged blind upon 700,000 infantry and 70,000 cav- senator, roused their courage and per- alry from its own citizens and allies. The suaded them to continue fighting. conquest of Italy engendered a strong Pyrrhus again defeated the Romans military ethos among the Roman nobility in 279 at . His losses in the two and citizenry, provided Rome with con- battles numbered 7,500 (almost one-third siderable manpower, and forced it to of his entire force). When congratulated develop military, political, and legal insti- on his victory, Pyrrhus, according to tutions and practices for conquering and , replied “ . . . that one other such absorbing foreign peoples. The Pyrrhic would utterly undo him.” This type of War demonstrated that Rome’s civilian victory has since been referred to as army could wage a successful war of Pyrrhic victory. Pyrrhus then left Italy attrition against highly skilled merce- and aided the Greeks of Sicily against naries of the Mediterranean world. CHAPTER 2

The Middle Republic (264–133 BC)

ome’s rapidly expanding sphere of hegemony brought Rit almost immediately into confl ict with non-Italian pow- ers. In the south, the main opponent was Carthage. In violation of the treaty of 306, which (historians tend to believe) had placed Sicily in the Carthaginian sphere of infl u- ence, Rome crossed the straits of Messana (between Italy and Sicily) embarking on war. (Rome’s wars with Carthage are known as the “Punic Wars”; the Romans called the Carthaginians Poeni [Phoenicians], from which derived the adjective “Punic.”)

fIRST PuNIC wAR (264–241 BC)

The proximate cause of the fi rst outbreak was a crisis in the city of Messana (). A band of Campanian mercenaries, the Mamertinians, who had forcibly established themselves within the town and were being hard pressed in 264 by Hieron II of Syracuse, applied for help to both Rome and Carthage. The Carthaginians, arriving fi rst, occupied Messana and eff ected a reconciliation with Hieron. The Roman com- mander, nevertheless, persisted in forcing his troops into the city; he succeeded in seizing the Carthaginian during a parley and induced him to withdraw. This aggression involved Rome in war with Carthage and Syracuse. 40 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

A Roman war with infantry on deck; in the Vatican . Alinari/Art Resource, New York

Operations began with their joint coast, their admiral Gaius Duilius attack upon Messana, which the Romans defeated a Carthaginian squadron of easily repelled. In 263 the Romans advanced more maneuverable ships by grappling with a considerable force into Hieron’s and boarding. This left Rome free to land territory and induced him to seek peace a force on Corsica (259) and expel the and alliance with them. In 262 they Carthaginians, but it did not suffice to besieged and captured the Carthaginian loosen their grasp on Sicily. A large base at Agrigentum on the south coast of Roman fleet sailed out in 256, repelled the island. The first years of the war left the entire Carthaginian fleet off Cape little doubt that Roman intentions Ecnomus (near modern ), and extended beyond the protection of established a fortified camp on African Messana. soil at Clypea (Kélibia in ). The In 260 the Romans built their first Carthaginians, whose citizen levy was large fleet of standard battleships. At utterly disorganized, could neither keep (Milazzo), off the north Sicilian the field against the invaders nor prevent The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 41 their subjects from revolting. After one suspended. At the same time, the campaign they were ready to sue for Carthaginians, who felt no less severely peace, but the terms offered by the Roman the financial strain of the prolonged commander Marcus Atilius Regulus were struggle, reduced their forces and made intolerably harsh. Accordingly, the no attempt to deliver a counterattack. Carthaginians equipped a new army in In 242 Rome resumed operations at which cavalry and elephants formed the sea. A fleet of 200 warships was equipped strongest arm. In 255 they offered battle and sent out to renew the blockade of to Regulus, who had taken up position Lilybaeum. The Carthaginians hastily with an inadequate force near , out- assembled a force, but in a battle maneuvered him, and destroyed the fought off the Aegates, or Aegusae bulk of his army. A second Roman fleet, (Aegadian) Islands, west of Drepanum, which reached Africa after defeating their fleet was caught at a disadvantage the full Carthaginian fleet off Cape and was largely sunk or captured Hermaeum (Cape Bon), withdrew all the ( 10, 241). This victory, by giving remaining troops. the Romans undisputed command of the The Romans now directed their sea, rendered certain the ultimate fall of efforts once more against Sicily. In 254 the Punic strongholds in Sicily. The they captured the important fortress of Carthaginians accordingly opened nego- Panormus (), but when Carthage tiations and consented to a peace by moved reinforcements onto the island, which they ceded Sicily and the the war again came to a standstill. In 251 Islands to Rome and paid an indemnity or 250 the Roman general Caecilus of 3,200 talents. The protracted nature of Metellus at last staged a the war and the repeated loss of ships near Panormus, in which the enemy’s resulted in an enormous loss of life and force was effectively crippled. This victory resources on both sides. was followed by a siege of the chief Punic base at Lilybaeum (), together Between the First with Drepanum (Trapani), by land and and Second Punic Wars sea. In the face of resistance, the Romans (241–218 BC) were compelled to withdraw in 249; in a surprise attack upon Drepanum the The loss of naval supremacy not only Roman fleet under the command of deprived the Carthaginians of their pre- admiral Publius Claudius Pulcher lost 93 dominance in the western Mediterranean ships. This was the Romans’ only naval but exposed their overseas empire to defeat in the war. Their fleet, however, disintegration under renewed attacks by had suffered a series of grievous losses Rome. Even the Greek historian Polybius, by storm and was now so reduced that an admirer of Rome, considered the sub- the attack upon Sicily had to be sequent Roman actions against Carthage 42 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion aggressive and unjustified. A gross 219 laid siege to Saguntum and breach of the treaty was perpetrated when carried the town in spite of stubborn a Roman force was sent to occupy defense. The Romans responded with , whose insurgent garrison had an ultimatum demanding that the offered to surrender the island (238). To Carthaginians surrender Hannibal or go the remonstrances of Carthage the to war. The Carthaginian council sup- Romans replied with a declaration of ported Hannibal and accepted the war. war and only withheld their attack upon the cession of and the Second Punic War payment of a further indemnity. (218–201 BC) From this episode it became clear that Rome intended to use the victory to It seemed that the superiority of the the utmost. To avoid further infringe- Romans at sea ought to have enabled ment of its hegemony, Carthage had them to choose the field of battle. They little choice but to respond with force. decided to send one army to Spain and The recent complications of foreign and another to Sicily and Africa. But before internal strife had indeed so weakened their preparations were complete, the Punic power that the prospect of Hannibal began the series of operations renewing the war under favourable circum- that dictated the course of the war for the stances seemed remote. Yet Hamilcar greater part of its duration. He realized Barca sought to rebuild Carthaginian that as long as the Romans commanded strength by acquiring a dominion in the resources of an undivided Italian Spain where Carthage might gain new confederacy, no foreign attack could wealth and manpower. Invested with an overwhelm them beyond recovery. Thus unrestricted foreign command, he spent he conceived the plan of cutting off their the rest of his life founding a Spanish source of strength by carrying the war empire (237–228). His work was contin- into Italy and causing a disruption of the ued by his son-in-law Hasdrubal and his league. His chances of ever reaching Italy son Hannibal, who was placed at the head seemed small, for the sea was guarded by of the army in 221. These conquests the Roman fleets and the land route was aroused the suspicions of Rome, which in long and arduous. a treaty with Hasdrubal confined the But the very boldness of his enter- Carthaginians to the south of the prise contributed to its success; after a six River. At some point Rome also entered months’ march through Spain and Gaul into relations with Saguntum (), a and over the Alps, which the Romans town on the east coast, south of the Ebro. were nowhere in time to oppose, Hannibal To the Carthaginians it seemed that arrived (autumn 218) in the plain of the once again Rome was expanding its inter- Po with 20,000 soldiers and 6,000 ests into their sphere of hegemony. In horses, the pick of his African and The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 43

Spanish levies. At the end of the year, Hannibal, by superior tactics, repelled a Roman army on the banks of the Trebbia River, inflicting heavy losses, and thus made his position in northern Italy secure. In 217 the land campaign opened in Etruria, into which the invading army, largely rein- forced by Gauls, penetrated via an unguarded pass. A rash pur- suit by the Roman field force led to its being entrapped on the shore of Lake Trasimene (Trasimeno) and destroyed with a loss of at least 15,000 men. This catastrophe left Rome completely uncovered; but Hannibal, having resolved not to attack the capital before he could collect a more over- whelming force, directed his march toward the south of Italy, where he hoped to stir up the peoples who had formerly been the most stubborn ene- mies of Rome. The , The Carthaginian general Hannibal proved a formidable however, were slow everywhere adversary during the Second Punic War. Henry to join the Carthaginians. A Guttmann/Hulton Archive/Getty Images new Roman army under the dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus part of Rome. An exceptionally strong (“Cunctator”) dogged Hannibal’s steps field army, variously estimated at between on his forays through and 48,000 and 85,000 men, was sent to crush Campania and prevented him from the Carthaginians in open battle. On a acquiring a permanent base of level plain near in Apulia, operations. Hannibal deliberately allowed his centre The eventful campaign of 216 was to be driven in by the numerically supe- begun by a new, aggressive move on the rior Romans, while Hasdrubal’s cavalry 44 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion wheeled around so as to take the enemy as evidence of divine wrath at Roman in flank and rear. The Romans, sur- impiety, to be propitiated by punishment rounded on all sides, were practically ( alive) of two offending Vestal annihilated, and the loss of citizens was Virgins and by the of a perhaps greater than in any other defeat Gallic and Greek man and woman. that befell the republic. The subsequent campaigns of the The effect of the battle on morale was war in Italy assumed a new character. no less momentous. The southern Italian Though the Romans contrived at times to peoples seceded from Rome, the leaders raise 200,000 men, they could spare only of the movement being the people of a moderate force for field operations. Capua, at the time the second greatest Their generals, among whom the veterans town of Italy. Reinforcements were sent Fabius and Marcus Claudius Marcellus from Carthage, and several neutral pow- frequently held the most important ers prepared to throw their weight into commands, rarely ventured to engage the scale on Hannibal’s behalf. But the Hannibal in the open and contented great resources of Rome, though terribly themselves with observing him or skir- reduced in respect to both men and mishing against his detachments. money, were not yet exhausted. In north- Hannibal, whose recent accessions of ern and central Italy the insurrection strength were largely discounted by the spread but little and could be sufficiently necessity of assigning troops to protect guarded against with small detachments. his new allies or secure their wavering In the south the Greek towns of the coast loyalty, was still too weak to undertake a remained loyal, and the numerous Latin vigorous offensive. In the ensuing years colonies continued to render important the war resolved itself into a multiplicity service by interrupting free communica- of minor engagements, which need not tion between the rebels and detaining be followed in detail. In 216 and 215 the part of their forces. chief seat of war was Campania, where In Rome itself the crisis gave way to a Hannibal, vainly attempting to establish unanimity unparalleled in the of himself on the coast, experienced a severe the republic. The guidance of operations repulse at . was henceforth left to the Senate, which, In 214 the main Carthaginian force by maintaining a persistent policy until was transferred from Apulia in hopes of the conflict was brought to a successful capturing Tarentum (), a suitable end, earned its greatest to fame. But harbour by which Hannibal might have it also produced a severe strain, released secured his overseas communications. In through cruel religious rites, which were 213–212 the greater part of Tarentum and an embarrassment to later Roman other cities of the southern seaboard at authors. The disasters were interpreted last came into Hannibal’s power, but in The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 45 the meantime the Romans were sup- Italy by the army of Marcus Livius pressing the revolt in Campania and in Salinator, reinforced by part of Gaius 212 were strong enough to place Capua Claudius Nero’s army. The battle on the under blockade. They severely defeated a banks of the Metaurus (Metauro) River Carthaginian relief force and could not was evenly contested until Nero, with a be permanently dislodged even by dexterous flanking movement, cut off the Hannibal himself. In 211 Hannibal made enemy’s retreat. The bulk of Hasdrubal’s a last effort to relieve his allies by a feint army was destroyed, and he himself was upon Rome itself, but the besiegers killed. His head was tossed into his refused to be drawn away from their brother’s camp as an announcement of entrenchments, and eventually Capua his defeat. was starved into surrender. The Romans The campaign of 207 decided the in 209 gained a further important suc- war in Italy. Though Hannibal still main- cess by recovering Tarentum. Though tained himself for some years in southern Hannibal still won isolated engagements, Italy, this was chiefly due to the exhaus- he was slowly being driven back into the tion of Rome. In 203 Hannibal, in extreme south of the peninsula. accordance with orders received from In 207 the arrival of a fresh invading home, sailed back to Africa; and another force produced a new crisis. Hasdrubal, expedition under his brother Mago, who in 208–207 had marched overland which had sailed to in 205 and from Spain, appeared in northern Italy endeavoured to rouse the slumbering with a force scarcely inferior to the army discontent of the people in Cisalpine that his brother had brought in 218. After Gaul and Etruria, was forced to withdraw. levying contingents of Gauls and Ligurians, he marched down the east Campaigns in Sicily coast with the object of joining his brother and Spain in central Italy for a direct attack upon Rome itself. By this time the steady drain Concurrently with the great struggle in of men and money was telling so severely Italy, the Second Punic War was fought upon the confederacy that some of the on several other fields. To the east King most loyal allies protested their inability began the First to render further help. Nonetheless, by Macedonian War (214–205) in concert exerting a supreme effort, the Romans with the Carthaginians, when the Roman raised their war establishment to the power seemed to be breaking up after highest total yet attained and sent a Cannae. Although this compelled the strong field army against each Romans to stretch their already severely Carthaginian leader. Before reaching strained resources still further by send- Hannibal, Hasdrubal was met in northern ing troops to Greece, the diversions 46 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Roman diplomacy provided for Philip in The conflict in Spain was second in Greece and the maintenance of a Roman importance only to the Italian war. From patrol squadron in the pre- this country the Carthaginians drew large vented any effective cooperation between supplies of troops and money that might Philip and Hannibal. serve to reinforce Hannibal; hence it was in Italy had collapsed, in the interest of the Romans to challenge and the Romans had to look to Sardinia their enemy within Spain. Though the and Sicily for their food supply. Sardinia force that Rome at first spared for this was attacked by Carthaginians in 215, but war was small in numbers and rested a small Roman force was enough to repel entirely upon its own resources, the gen- the invasion. In Sicily the death of Hieron erals Publius Cornelius and Gnaeus II, Rome’s steadfast friend, in 215 left the Cornelius , by skillful strategy realm of Syracuse to his inexperienced and diplomacy, not only won over the grandson Hieronymus. The young prince peoples north of the Ebro and defeated abruptly broke with the Romans, but the Carthaginian leader before hostilities commenced he was in his attempts to restore communication assassinated. The Syracusan people now with Italy but also carried their arms repudiated the monarchy and resumed along the east coast into the heart of the their republican constitution. When the enemy’s domain. Romans threatened terrible punishment, But eventually the Roman successes the Syracusans found it necessary to were nullified by a rash advance. cooperate with the Carthaginians. Deserted by their native contingents and The Roman army and fleet under cut off by Carthaginian cavalry, among Marcus Claudius Marcellus, which speed- which the Numidian prince ily appeared before the town, were rendered conspicuous service, the Roman completely baffled by the mechanical generals were killed and their troops contrivances that the Syracusan mathe- destroyed (211). matician Archimedes had invented in 213 Disturbances in Africa prevented the for the defense of the city. Meanwhile, the Punic commanders from exploiting their revolt against Rome spread in the interior success. Before long the fall of Capua of the island, and a Carthaginian fleet enabled Rome to transfer troops from gained control of towns on the to Spain; and in 210 the best Roman coast. In 212 Marcellus at last broke general of the day, the young son and through the defense of Syracuse and, in namesake of Publius Scipio, was placed spite of the arrival of a Carthaginian relief in command by popular vote, despite his force, took control of the whole town in youth and lack of the prerequisite senior 211. By the end of 210 Sicily was wholly magistracies. He signalized his arrival by under the power of Rome. a bold and successful coup de main upon The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 47 the great arsenal of Carthago Nova the kingdom from which had (Cartagena) in 209. Though after an recently expelled him. These disasters engagement at Baecula (Bailen; 208) he induced the Carthaginians to sue for was unable to prevent Hasdrubal Barca peace; but before the moderate terms from marching away to Italy, Scipio prof- that Scipio offered could be definitely ited by his opponent’s departure to push accepted, a sudden reversal of opinion back the remaining hostile forces the more caused them to recall Hannibal’s army for rapidly. A last effort by the Carthaginians a final trial of war and to break off nego- to retrieve their losses with a fresh army tiations. In 202 Hannibal assumed was frustrated by a great Roman victory command of a composite force of citizen at Ilipa, near Sevilla (Seville), and by the and mercenary levies reinforced by a end of the year 206 the Carthaginians corps of his veteran Italian troops. had been driven out of Spain. After negotiations failed, Scipio and Hannibal met in the Battle of . The war in Africa Scipio’s force was somewhat smaller in numbers but well trained throughout and In 205 Scipio, who had returned to Rome greatly superior in cavalry. His infantry, to hold the consulship, proposed to follow after evading an attack by the Cartha­ up his victories by an attack on the home ginian elephants, cut through the first territory of Carthage. Though the pres- two lines of the enemy but was unable to ence of Hannibal in Italy deterred Fabius break the reserve corps of Hannibal’s vet- and other senators from sanctioning erans. The battle was ultimately decided this policy, Scipio gradually overbore all by the cavalry of the Romans and their resistance. He built up a force, which he new ally Masinissa, who by a maneuver organized and supplemented in Sicily, recalling the tactics of Cannae took and in 204 sailed across to Africa. He was Hannibal’s line in the rear and destroyed it. met there by a combined levy of Carthage The Carthaginians again applied for and King Syphax of and for a peace and accepted the terms that Scipio time was penned to the shore near Utica. offered. They were compelled to cede But in the spring he extricated himself Spain and the Mediterranean islands still by a surprise attack on the enemy’s camp, in their hands, to surrender their war- which resulted in the total loss of the ships, to pay an indemnity of 10,000 allied force by sword or fire. talents within 50 years, and to forfeit their In the campaign of 203, a new Cartha­ independence in affairs of war and for- ginian force was destroyed by Scipio on eign policy. the Great Plains 75 miles (120.7 km) from The Second Punic War, by far the Utica, their ally Syphax was captured, and greatest struggle in which either power the renegade Masinissa was reinstated in engaged, had thus ended in the complete 48 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

During the Battle of Zama, Hannibal’s elephants were easily outmaneuvered by the . The Romans eventually claimed victory. Pushkin Museum, Moscow, Russia/The Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images triumph of Rome, although not because Second Punic War illustrated the superi- of any faultiness in the Carthaginians’ ority of the strong method of attack. Carthage could only over Hannibal’s individual . hope to win by invading Italy and using the enemy’s home resources against him. The establishment of The failure of Hannibal’s brilliant endea- Roman hegemony in the vour was ultimately due to the stern Mediterranean world determination of the Romans and to the nearly inexhaustible manpower from Just before the Second Punic War, Rome their Italian confederacy, which no shock had projected its power across the of defeat or strain of war could entirely Adriatic Sea against the Illyrians. As disintegrate. Although Rome and its noted, Philip V of Macedon in turn had allies suffered casualties of perhaps one- joined the Carthaginians for a time dur- fifth of their adult male population, they ing the war in an attempt to stem the tide continued fighting. For Polybius, the of Roman expansion but had agreed to The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 49 terms of peace with Rome’s allies, the took over the command and defeated Aetolians, in 206 and then with Rome in Philip at the battle of Cynoscephalae in the Peace of of 205. 197. The terms of settlement allowed Immediately after the Second Punic Philip to remain king of Macedon but War, the Roman Senate moved to settle stipulated payment of an indemnity and affairs with Philip, despite the war-weary restrictions on campaigning beyond the centuriate assembly’s initial refusal to borders of his kingdom. Flamininus then declare war. Historians have debated sought to win the goodwill of the Greeks Rome’s reasons for this momentous deci- with his famous proclamation of their sion, with suggestions ranging from a liberation at the Isthmian Games of 196. desire to protect Athenians and other To lend credibility to this proclamation, Greeks from Philip out of he successfully argued against senatorial to fear of a secret alliance between Philip opposition for the withdrawal of Roman and the Seleucid king Antiochus III. Yet troops from all Greece, including the these suggestions are belied by the fact strategically important “Fetters” (the key that Rome later treated the Greek cities garrisons of Acrocorinth, Chalcis, and callously and that no fear is apparent in Demetrias). Rome’s increasing demands on Philip Even before the Romans withdrew, and in its refusal to negotiate seriously the seeds had been sown for their reentry with him through the course of the war. into the East. As an active king, Antiochus Rather, the III set out to recover the ancestral posses- (200–196) fits the long pattern of Roman sions of his kingdom on the western coast readiness to go to war in order to force of and in . In response to ever more distant neighbours to submit the Roman demand that he stay out of to superior Roman power. Europe, the king attempted to negotiate. When the Romans showed little interest Roman Expansion in the in compromise, Antiochus accepted the Eastern Mediterranean invitation of Rome’s former allies, the Aetolians, who felt they had not been In the winter of 200–199, Roman legions duly rewarded with additional territory marched into the under the com- after the victory over Philip, to liberate mand of Publius Sulpicius . During the Greeks. Upon crossing into Greece, the next two years there was no decisive however, the king found no enthusiasm battle, as the Romans gathered allies among the other Greeks for a war of lib- among the Greeks—not only their previ- eration and was defeated at ous allies, the Aetolians, but also Philip’s in 191 by legions under the command of traditional allies, the Achaeans, who rec- . ognized Roman military superiority. The Antiochus returned home to gather a consul of 198, Titus Quinctius Flamininus, larger army. In 190 Lucius Cornelius 50 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Scipio was elected consul in Rome and to adjudicate and ultimately to intervene was authorized to recruit a force for a once again. In the the campaign against Antiochus. Accom­ Achaean League was at odds with Sparta, panying Lucius as a legate was his wishing to bring Sparta into the league brother, the great general Scipio and to suppress the radical social pro- Africanus. In an attempt to avert war, gram of its king, . Flamininus in 195 Antiochus offered to accept the earlier supported the independence of Sparta, Roman terms, only to find that the but in 192 the Achaean leader, Romans had now extended their demands , induced Sparta to join the to keep Antiochus east of the Taurus league with a promise of no interference Mountains of Anatolia. Unable to accept, in its internal affairs. When an infringe- Antiochus fought and lost to Scipio’s ment of the promise prompted the army at Magnesia ad Sipylum in the Spartans to secede, Philopoemen in 188 winter of 190–189. In the following Treaty led an Achaean army to take Sparta, kill of Apamea (188), the Seleucid kingdom the anti-Achaean leaders, and force the city was limited to Asia east of the Taurus back into the league. Although the Senate range and was required to pay an indem- heard complaints, it took no immediate nity of 15,000 talents and to give up its action. Then, in 184, the Senate reasserted elephants and all but 10 ships. Rome its own terms for settlement but was cir- punished its opponents, the Aetolians, cumvented by Philopoemen, who reached and rewarded its supporters, notably a separate agreement with the Spartans. Pergamum and , which were The independent-minded Philopoemen granted new territories, including Greek died the following year in a campaign by cities, at the expense of “the liberation of the league to suppress a revolt of Messene. the Greeks.” The consul of 189, Gnaeus His death led to a change of leadership, Manlius Vulso, came east with reinforce- as the pro-Roman Callicrates (regarded ments, took command of the legions, and by Polybius as a sycophant) began a pol- proceeded to plunder the Galatians of icy of obeying Rome’s every wish. Anatolia on the pretext of restoring order. Meanwhile, tensions between Rome The withdrawal of Roman legions and Philip were increasing. Philip had this time did not entail the withdrawal of supported Rome’s war with Antiochus in a Roman presence from the Hellenistic the hope of recovering Thessalian and East. On the contrary, according to Thracian territory, but in this he was Polybius, the Romans now “were dis- disappointed by the Romans. They did, pleased if all matters were not referred however, return Philip’s younger son, to them and if everything was not done Demetrius, taken to Rome as a in in accordance with their decision.” 197—a reward with tragic consequences. Continuing jealousies and disputes in the During his years as a hostage, Demetrius Greek world offered Rome opportunities had made senatorial friendships, which The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 51 aroused suspicions at home that the Licinius Crassus, to land his army on Romans would prefer to see Demetrius the Illyrian coast unhindered—a ploy rather than his elder brother, Perseus, decried by some older senators as “the succeed Philip. Philip ordered the death new .” of Demetrius in 181 and then died in 179, Perseus’s initial success against the leaving his throne to Perseus, the last Roman army in Thessaly in 171 did not king of Macedon. alter the massive imbalance of power; the Perseus’s activism started a stream of Romans again refused the king’s offer to complaints to the Senate from neigh- negotiate. Over the next three years bouring Greek powers from 175 onward. Roman commanders devoted more effort The king’s real intentions are unclear; to plunder than to the defeat of Perseus. perhaps Polybius was right that he In a notorious incident, the praetor wished to make the Romans “more cau- Lucius Hortensius anchored his fleet at tious about delivering harsh and unjust Abdera, a city allied with Rome, and orders to .” The Senate lis- demanded supplies; when the Abderitans tened to the unfavourable interpretations asked to consult the Senate, Hortensius of Perseus’s enemies, who claimed that sacked the town, executed the leading the king’s actions revealed an intent to citizens, and enslaved the rest. When attack Rome. Like his father, Perseus complaints reached the Senate, weak campaigned to extend Macedonian attempts were made to force the Roman power to the northeast and south and commanders to make restitution. In 168 marched through Greece as far as . the experienced Lucius Aemilius Paullus He solicited alliances with the Achaean was reelected consul and sent out to League and other Greek states, which restore discipline. He quickly brought the some of the leaders hostile to Rome to an end by would have liked to accept. He arranged defeating Perseus in the Battle of Pydna dynastic marriages with other Hellenistic in 168. Perseus was deposed, and kings, taking the daughter of Seleucus IV Macedonia was divided into four repub- as his wife and giving the hand of his lics, which were forbidden to have sister to Prusias II of . Although relations with one another; they paid these actions could have been viewed as tribute to Rome at half the rate they had the behaviour expected of a Hellenistic previously paid to the king. monarch, of Pergamum sug- In 167 Rome proceeded to punish gested to the Senate that Perseus was those who had sided with Perseus (such preparing for war against Rome. After the as the Illyrian Genthius), those whose Senate decided on war, it sent Quintus loyalty had wavered (such as Eumenes), Marcius Philippus to propose a truce and and even those who had contemplated to give Perseus false hopes of negotiation acting as mediators in the war (such as in order to allow the consul of 171, Publius the Rhodians). In , Paullus, on 52 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion instructions from the Senate, swept trade, thus raising prices for their pro- through the countryside enslaving 150,000 duce in Rome. inhabitants from 70 Epirote towns. In The arrangements of 167 served the , 1,000 leading men suspected of Roman policy of weakening the powers Macedonian sympathies were taken as of the eastern Mediterranean. In the pre- to Rome. (Among them was vious year Rome had also intervened to Polybius, who befriended the noble stop Seleucid expansion into . In a Scipionic family and wrote his great famous episode, the Roman ambassador history of the rise of Rome with the aid of delivered to privileged access to the views of the sen- Antiochus IV the Senate’s demand that atorial leadership.) Eumenes was refused the king withdraw from Egypt. When the a hearing before the Senate on his visit to king requested time for consultation, Italy; his fall from favour prompted his Popillius “drew a circle around the king enemies to dispute his territory, and in with a stick he was carrying and told him 164 a Roman embassy in Anatolia - not to leave the circle until he gave his licly invited complaints against the king. response. The king was astonished at this Rhodes had thrived as the leading trade occurrence and the display of superiority, centre of the eastern Mediterranean, but, after a brief time, said he would do all using its considerable resources to con- the Romans demanded.” trol ; now Rome undermined its The power vacuum fostered by the economy and power by making the island Romans was not ultimately conducive to of a free port, thereby depriving stability. An adventurer, Andriscus, Rhodes of its income from harbour dues. claiming to be descended from the Territory in and on the main- Macedonian dynasty, was able to enter land, granted to Rhodes in 189, was now the Macedonian without serious taken away. But the far harsher proposal resistance. He was successful enough in in the Senate to declare Rhodes an enemy raising an army to defeat the first Roman and to destroy it was opposed by senior force sent against him in 149 under the senators such as Cato the Censor and command of the praetor Publius was voted down. As a result of the weak- Iuventius Thalna (who was killed). A ening of Rhodes, piracy became rampant second Roman army under Quintus in the eastern Mediterranean (the young Caecilius Metellus defeated the pre- Julius Caesar was captured by pirates). tender in 148. With the death of During the next century Roman senators Callicrates, leadership of the Achaean did not find the political will to suppress League passed to Critolaus and Diaeus, the piracy, perhaps in part because it outspoken proponents of Greek inde- served their interests; pirates supplied pendence from Rome. In 147 a Roman tens of thousands of slaves for their embassy was sent to intervene in the affairs Italian estates and disrupted the grain of the league by supporting the secession The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 53 of Sparta and also by calling for the invasion of Italy, the Insubres and Boii, detachment of Corinth and Argos from Gallic peoples in the Po valley, had the league. The embassy provoked a vio- joined the Carthaginians against Rome. lent reply. When further negotiations In 200 the Gauls and Ligurians combined were blocked by Critolaus, Rome declared forces and sacked the Latin colony of war on the Achaeans in 146, citing as Placentia in an attempt to drive the reason the ill-treatment of their embassy. Romans out of their lands. In the follow- Metellus (now with the appellation of ing years consular armies repeatedly “Macedonicus”), having delayed with his attacked the Gauls. In 194 Lucius Valerius army, marched against Critolaus and won a decisive victory over the defeated him in Locris. Then Lucius Insubres; in 192 the leading Boii under Mummius Archaicus, consul of 146, took severe pressure went over to the Roman over the command and defeated Diaeus side, signaling the coming defeat of and the remaining Achaeans. The Senate their tribe. Following their victories, the ordered Mummius to teach a lesson to Romans sent thousands of new colonists the Greeks: the venerable city of Corinth to the Po valley to reinforce the older was sacked, its treasures taken to Rome, colonies of Placentia and (190) and its buildings burned to the ground. and to establish new colonies, notably The nature of Roman domination in Bononia (189) and (181). the East began to change decisively after During the same period the Romans these wars: in place of influence through were at war with the Ligurian tribes of the embassies, arbitration of disputes, and northern Apennines. The serious effort the occasional military incursion came began in 182, when both consular armies direct rule. Macedonia was annexed as and a proconsular army were sent against a province, to be governed and taxed by a the Ligurians. The wars continued into the Roman , who also watched , when victorious generals celebrated over the Greek cities to the south, where two over the Ligurians. Here the leagues were disbanded. Farther also the Romans drove many natives off east, the kingdom of Pergamum was added their land and settled colonies in their as the province of Asia, as a bequest to stead (e.g., and Luca in the ). the Roman people from Attalus III in 133. As a result of the Second Punic War, Roman legions had marched into Spain Roman Expansion in the against the Carthaginians and remained Western Mediterranean there after 201. The Romans formalized their rule in 197 by creating two prov- If Roman military intervention in the inces, Nearer and Further Spain. They east was sporadic in the second century, also exploited the Spanish riches, espe- campaigning in northern Italy and Spain cially the mines, as the Carthaginians was nearly continuous. During Hannibal’s had done. In 197 the legions were 54 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

His comments show that he prided himself on his bravery and lack of as compared with other Roman command- ers. Yet his must overstate the extent and deci- siveness of his success because fighting persisted for years to come, as later Roman gover- nors sought to extend Roman control over more Spanish peoples—the of northeastern Spain, the of modern-day , and the and of northwestern Spain. In 177 Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus celebrated a triumph over the Celtiberians. The size of the Roman forces was prob- ably then reduced from four to two legions; from 173 to 155 there was a lull in the regular campaigning. During these Cato the Censor was a Roman noted for his decades Spanish peoples conservative and anti-Hellenic policies. His accounts of brought complaints to Rome life in the Roman Empire also made him the first Latin about corrupt governors. prose writer of importance. Hulton Archive/Getty Images Annual warfare resumed in Spain in 154, being perhaps withdrawn, but a Spanish revolt against in part a violent reaction to a corrupt the Roman presence led to the death of administration, and dragged on until 133. one governor and required that the two Labeled a “fiery war” (really wars), these praetorian governors of 196 be accompa- struggles acquired a reputation for nied by a legion each. The situation was extreme cruelty; they brought destruction serious enough for the consul of 195, Cato to the native population (e.g., 20,000 the Censor, to be sent to Spain with two Vaccaei were killed in 151 after giving legions. themselves up to Lucius Licinius From Cato the earliest extant ) and made recruiting legionaries firsthand account of Roman conquest. in Italy difficult. In Further Spain the The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 55

Lusitanian leader Viriathus enjoyed some Initially, the Carthaginians submis- successes, including the surrender of a sively sought the arbitration of Rome in Roman army in 141–140 and a favourable these disputes, but more often than not treaty with Rome, but the next governor Roman judgment went in favour of of the province, Quintus Servilius Caepio, Masinissa. After a series of losses, the arranged for his assassination in 139. Carthaginians in 151 decided to act on Two years later in Nearer Spain, the their own and raised an army to ward off Numantines also forced the surrender of the Numidian attacks. When a Roman an army under Gaius Hostilius Mancinus; delegation observed the Carthaginian the Senate later disavowed the agreement army raised in breach of the treaty of 201, of equal terms and handed Mancinus, Rome was provided with the casus bound and naked, over to the for a declaration of war in 149; Polybius, to absolve themselves of responsibility however, claims that the Senate had before the gods. The wars in Spain were decided on this war “long before.” The brought to a conclusion in 133 by Publius elderly Cato had been ending his Cornelius Scipio , who took speeches in the Senate since 153 with the after a long siege, enslaved the notorious exhortation that “Carthage population, and razed the city. must be destroyed.” Carthage desper- It was (b. 185/184) ately and pathetically tried to make who in the previous decade had imposed amends, executing the generals of the a similar final solution on Carthage in expedition against the Numidians, sur- the (149–146). After the rendering to Rome, and handing over Second Punic War, Carthage had recov- hostages, , and artillery. Only then ered to the point that in 191 it offered to did the Romans deliver their final repay the remainder of the 50-year trib- demand: Carthage must be abandoned ute of 200 talents per year in one lump and the population moved to a new site sum. Rome’s refusal of the offer sug- inland. Such extreme terms could not be gests that beyond its monetary value accepted. the tribute had the symbolic importance The war against Carthage, with its of signifying subjection. Carthage’s prospects of rich booty, presented no neighbour, the Numidian king Masinissa, recruiting for the Romans: had been granted as a reward for his huge land and naval forces were sent out support of Rome at the Battle of Zama under both consuls of 149, Lucius Marcius his paternal kingdom and the western and Manius Manilius. The Numidian kingdom ruled by Syphax. imbalance of resources meant that the During the next half century Masinissa outcome was never in doubt, but the forti- periodically tried to exploit his favour in fications of Carthage delayed the Roman Rome by encroaching on Carthaginian victory. The young Scipio Aemilianus territory. was elected consul for 147, and by popular 56 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion vote he was assigned the task of bringing are anachronistic impositions on the the war to an end. He blockaded the city ancient world; ancient testimony, for by land and sea, inflicting terrible suffer- example, gives no support to commercial ing. Finally, in 146, the Roman army took or mercantile explanations. Cultural and Carthage, enslaved its remaining 50,000 economic interpretations seem more inhabitants, burned the buildings to the appropriate. Roman culture placed a high ground, and ritually sowed the site with value on success in war: (courage to guarantee that nothing would ever and qualities of leadership) was displayed, grow there again. Carthaginian territory above all, in war, and the triumph, a was annexed as the province of Africa. parade through Rome celebrating a major victory over an enemy, was the honour Explanations of Roman most highly prized by the senatorial Expansion generals who guided Roman decisions about war and peace. Moreover, these As one of the decisive developments in leaders, and the whole Roman people, western history, Roman expansion has were fully aware of the increasing profits invited continual reinterpretation by of victory; in the 2nd century command- historians. Polybius, who wrote his his- ers and soldiers, as well as the city itself, tory in order to explain to other Greeks were enriched by the glittering booty the reasons for Roman success, believed from Africa and the Greek East. that after their victory over Hannibal the Yet, it is rightly pointed out, Roman Romans conceived the aim of dominating intervention in the East was sporadic, not all before them and set out to achieve it in systematic, and the Romans did not the Second Macedonian War. If one annex territory in the Balkans, Anatolia, accepts the Roman view that they fought or North Africa for more than 50 years only “just wars”—that is, only when pro- after their initial victories. The latter voked—then Roman conquest emerges point, however, is not telling, since the as “one of the most important accidents Romans regarded defeated states allied in European history,” as Rome had to to them as part of their imperium, whether defend itself from threats on all sides. or not they were under Roman provincial Historians have suggested other motives administration. The sporadic timing of for empire, such as a desire to profit from the wars would seem to support the war, an interest in commercial expansion, Romans’ claim that they only reacted, or a love of the Greeks, who asked for pro- justly, to provocations. But attention to tection against Hellenistic monarchs. the individual provocations should not Major historical phenomena of this blind the historian to the larger pattern of kind rarely receive final, decisive inter- Roman behaviour. pretations, but several assertions may be From 218 the Romans annually ventured. Some of the interpretations fielded major armies decade after decade. The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 57

Rome was able to go to war every year in Africa were annexed in 146, and the prov- response to provocations only because ince of Asia (northwestern Anatolia) in it chose to define its interests and make 133. In principle, each province was to be alliances farther and farther afield. administered in accordance with its lex Polybius, as noted, reveals how the provinciae , a set of rules drawn up by the Romans were the masters of manipulation conquering commander and a senatorial of circumstances to force opponents to embassy. The lex provinciae laid down behave in a way they could interpret as the organization of taxation, which varied provocative. Therefore, the Roman inter- from province to province. pretation of “just wars” and the Polybian The provincial administrative appa- interpretation of a universal aim to con- ratuses were minimal and unprofessional, quer need not be contradictory. The as the Romans relied heavily on the local concept of “just war” may have justified as mediators. Each year a senatorial any given war but does not explain the magistrate was sent out to govern with perpetual Roman readiness to go to war. nearly unfettered powers. Because ini- For that the historian must look to tially the governors were usually praetors, Polybius’s universal aim or to general the addition of new provinces required political, social, economic, and cultural the of more praetors (increased features of Rome. Finally, it must be to four in 227 and to six in 197). The remembered that in some instances it assignments to provinces were done by was clearly the Roman commander who lot. The governor took with him one of the provoked the war in order to plunder and quaestors to oversee the finances of pro- to win a triumph (e.g., Licinius Lucullus, vincial government and senatorial governor of Nearer Spain, in 151). friends and relatives to serve as deputies and advisors ( legati ). Among the hum- Beginnings of provincial bler functionaries assisting the governor administration were scribes to keep records and with fasces (bundles of rods and axes) to Rome dominated its Latin and Italian symbolize gubernatorial authority and neighbours by incorporating some into to execute sentences pronounced by the the Roman citizen body and by forming governor in criminal cases. bilateral alliances with most of the Italian The governor’s main duties were to city-states. After the Punic Wars, Rome maintain order and security and to col- undertook to rule newly acquired territo- lect revenues. The former often entailed ries directly as subject provinces. In 241 command of an army to ward off external Sicily became Rome’s first province, fol- threats and to suppress internal disorders lowed by Sardinia-Corsica in 238, and such as banditry. When not commanding Spain, divided into two provinces, in 197. his army, the governor spent his time After a 50-year hiatus, Macedonia and hearing legal cases and arbitrating 58 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion disputes. During the republic, revenue 188. Yet Rome’s glittering successes made collection was left to private companies such openness ever more problematic. of publicani , so called because they won For one, the city attracted increasing by highest bid the contract to collect the numbers of Latins and allies, who wished revenues. It was the governor’s responsi- to use their ancient right to migrate and bility to keep the publicani within the take up Roman citizenship. The depletion bounds of the lex provinciae so that they of Latin and Italian towns prompted pro- did not exploit the helpless provincials tests until, in 177, Rome took away the too mercilessly, but this was difficult. right of migration and forced Latin and Governors expected to make a profit from Italian migrants to return to their home- their term of office, and some collabo- towns to register for military service. rated with the publicani to strip the Such measures were sporadically provinces of their wealth. repeated in the following years. In addition, the flood of slaves into Transformation during Rome from the great conquests increased the middle republic the flow of foreign-born freedmen into the citizen body. Sempronius Gracchus The Greek historian Polybius admired (father of the famous tribunes) won sena- Rome’s balanced constitution, discipline, torial approbation as censor in 168 by and strict religious observance as the registering the freedmen in a single bases of the republic’s success and stabil- urban tribe and thus limiting their elec- ity. Yet Rome’s very successes in the toral influence. Despite these efforts, the second century undermined these fea- nature and meaning of Roman citizen- tures, leading to profound changes in the were bound to change, as the citizen republic’s politics, culture, economy, and body became ever more diffuse and lived society. dispersed from Rome, the only place where the right of suffrage could be Citizenship and Politics in exercised. the Middle Republic Polybius greatly admired Rome’s balanced constitution, with its elements The Romans organized their citizenry in of monarchy (magistrates), aristocracy a way that permitted expansion. This was (Senate), and democracy (popular assem- regarded as a source of strength by con- blies). According to Greek political temporaries such as Philip V, who noted theory, each form of constitution was that Rome replenished its citizen ranks believed to be unstable and susceptible with freed slaves. The extension of citi- to decline until replaced by another. Yet zenship continued in the early 2nd Rome’s system of balance, Polybius century, as in the grant of full citizen thought, was a check on the cycle of decline. rights to Arpinum, Formiae, and Fundi in By forcing the Roman constitution into The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 59 the mold of Greek political theory, how- While aristocratic electoral competi- ever, he exaggerated the symmetry of tion was tradition during the republic, checks and balances. In reality, the Senate this period began to exhibit the escala- enjoyed a period of steady domination tion in competitiveness that was later through the first two-thirds of the 2nd fatal to the republic. For example, Publius century, having emerged from the Second Cornelius emerged Punic War with high prestige. Only from the Second Punic War as the Roman occasionally did the developing tensions whose (prestige) far surpassed and contradictions surface during these that of his peers. Nonetheless, a number decades. of senators attacked him and his brother Politics during the period was largely Lucius Cornelius with legal charges until a matter of senatorial families competing he finally retired from Rome to end his for high office and the ensuing lucrative life at his Campanian at Liternum. commands. Because offices were won in For younger senators, however, Scipio’s the centuriate and tribal assemblies, sena- spectacular achievement was something tors had to cultivate support among the to emulate. The ambitious young populus. Yet the system was not as demo- Flamininus moved swiftly through the cratic as it might appear. Senators with senatorial (“course of illustrious names and consular ancestors honors”) to win the consulship and com- dominated the election to the highest mand against Philip V at the age of 30. offices, increasing their share of the con- Such cases prompted laws to regulate sulates from about one-half to two-thirds the senatorial cursus: iteration in the same during the second century. These propor- magistracy was prohibited, the praetor- tions can be interpreted in two ways: the ship was made a prerequisite for the Senate was not a closed, hereditary aris- consulship, and in 180 the tocracy but was open to new families, who (Villian law on minimum ages) set mini- usually rose through the senatorial ranks mum ages for senatorial magistrates and in the course of generations with the required a two-year interval between patronal support of established families. offices. The consulship (two elected to it Yet a small circle of prominent families per year) could be held from age 42, the (e.g., the Aemilii, Claudii, and Cornelii) praetorship (six per year) from age 39, were disproportionately successful, sur- and the curule aedileship from 36. prisingly so in view of the popular Patricians, still privileged in this area, electoral process. Since the campaigning were probably allowed to stand for these was not oriented toward issues, the great offices two years earlier. The senatorial families were able to maintain their supe- career was preceded by 10 years of mili- riority over the centuries by their inherited tary service, from age 17, and formally resources: their famous names, their began with a quaestorship, the most wealth, and their clienteles of voters. junior senatorial magistracy (eight per 60 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

supporting popular causes, respectively. Here again, excess elicited restraint, and legal limits were placed on the lavishness of the games. More broadly, from 181 legislation designed to curb electoral bribery was intermittently introduced. The problems of electoral competition did not disappear. In the late 150s second con- sulships were prohibited altogether, but within decades the rules were broken. Scipio Aemilianus, grandson by of Scipio Africanus, challenged the system. Return­ ing from the Carthaginian campaign to Rome to stand for the aedileship, he was elected instead to the consulship, even though he was underage and had not held the prerequisite praetorship. He was then elected to a second consulship for 134. Scipio had no subver- sive intent, but his career set the Scipio Africanus’s victory over Hannibal in the Battle of precedent for circumventing Zama brought the Second Punic War to an end. Hulton the cursus regulations by appeal Archive/Getty Images to the popular assemblies. While the second century year), at age 30 or just under. The offices was a time of heated competition among between the quaestorship and praetor- senators, it was generally a period of ship, the aedileship (4 per year) and the quiescence of the plebs and their magis- plebeian tribunate (10 per year), were trates, the tribunes. Nevertheless, signs not compulsory but provided opportu- of the upheaval ahead are visible. For nities to win popularity among the one, the long plebeian struggle against voters by staging aedilician games and arbitrary abuse of magisterial power The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 61 continued. A series of Porcian laws were perceptible in the Aelian and Fufian law passed to protect citizens from summary of about 150. This law, imperfectly known execution or scourging, asserting the from later passing references, provided citizen’s right of appeal to the assembly that a magistrate holding a legislative (ius provocationis). A descendant of the assembly could be prevented from pass- Porcian clan later advertised these laws ing a bill on religious grounds by another on as a victory for freedom. magistrate claiming to have witnessed Moreover, the massive annual war effort unfavourable in a procedure provoked occasional resistance to mili- called obnuntiatio. In addition, the days tary service. In 193 the tribunes started to of the year on which legislative assem- investigate complaints about overly long blies could be held were reduced. military service. Interpreting this as a As conservative senators worked to challenge to magisterial authority, the restrain the democratic element in the Senate responded with a declaration of an political processes, the plebeians sought emergency levy, and the tribunes stopped to expand their freedom. Voting in elec- their activity. In 151 the tribunes tried to toral and judicial assemblies had been protect some citizens from the levy for public, allowing powerful senators more the unpopular war in Spain. A confronta- easily to manage the votes of their clients. tion between the tribunes and the recruiting The Gabinian law (139) and Cassian law consuls ensued, in which the tribunes (137) introduced secret written ballots briefly imprisoned the consuls until a into the assemblies, thus loosening the compromise relieved the crisis. The scene control of patrons over their clients. of tribunes taking consuls to jail was Significantly, the reform was supported repeated in 138 during a period of by Scipio Aemilianus, the sort of senator renewed difficulties over recruiting. who stood to benefit by attracting the Since the Hortensian law of 287, the clients of other patrons through his per- plebs had the constitutional power to sonal popularity. These reforms, together pass laws binding on the entire state with the changing composition of the without senatorial approval. During the electorate in the city, carried the poten- next century and a half few attempts were tial, soon to be realized, for more volatile made to use the power for purposes of assemblies. major reform against the Senate’s will, in part because the plebeian tribunes, as Culture and Religion members of the senatorial order, gener- ally shared the Senate’s interests and in Expansion brought Rome into contact part because the plebeians benefited with many diverse cultures. The most from Rome’s great successes abroad under important of these was the Greek culture senatorial leadership. Yet senatorial fear in the eastern Mediterranean with its of unbridled popular legislative power is highly refined literature and learning. 62 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Rome responded to it with ambivalence: annalistic in Greek partly although Greek doctrina was attractive, it in order to influence Greek views in was also the culture of the defeated and favour of Rome, and he emphasized enslaved. Indeed, much Greek culture Rome’s ancient ties to the Greek world by was brought to Rome in the aftermath of incorporating in his history the legend military victories, as Roman soldiers that the Trojan hero Aeneas had settled returned home not only with works of art in Latium. Because Roman history was but also with learned Greeks who had about politics and war, the writing of been enslaved. Despite the ambivalence, history was always judged by Romans to nearly every facet of Roman culture was be a suitable pastime for men of politics— influenced by the Greeks, and it was a i.e., for senators such as Fabius. Greco-Roman culture that the Roman Rome had had a folk tradition of empire bequeathed to later European poetry in the native verse with civilization. a metre based on stress, but not a formal As Roman aristocrats encountered literature. Lucius was Greeks in southern Italy and in the East regarded as the father of , in the third century, they learned to speak a fact that illustrates to what extent the and write in Greek. Scipio Africanus and development of Roman literature was Flamininus, for example, are known to bound up with conquest and enslave- have corresponded in Greek. By the late ment. Livius, a native Greek speaker from republic it became standard for senators Tarentum, was brought as a slave to to be bilingual. Many were reared from Rome, where he remained until his death infancy by Greek-speaking slaves and (c. 204). Becoming fluent in Latin, he later tutored by Greek slaves or freed- translated the Homeric into men. Nonetheless, despite their increasing Latin in Saturnian verse. Thus Latin lit- fluency in Greek, senators continued to erature began with a from insist on Latin as the official language of Greek into the native metre. Livius government; visiting dignitaries from reached wider audiences through his the East addressing the Senate in Greek of Greek plays for public had their speeches translated—as a mark performance. , the next of their subordination. major figure c.( 270–c. 201), was again not Because Greek was the lingua franca a native Roman but an Oscan speaker of the East, Romans had to use Greek if from Campania. In addition to translat- they wished to reach a wider audience. ing Greek , he wrote the first major Thus the first histories by Romans were original work in Latin, an epic poem written in Greek. The patrician Fabius about the First Punic War. Naevius’s Pictor, who, as noted above, founded the successors, Quintus from Roman tradition of dur- (239–169) and Titus Maccius ing the Second Punic War, wrote his from Umbria (c. 254–184), transformed The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 63 the Latin poetic genres by importing had erected in public a of Greek metrical forms based on the length Pythagoras, a sixth-century Greek phi- of syllables rather than on stress. Ennius losopher who had founded communities was best known for his epic history of of philosophers in southern Italy. In the Rome in verse, the , but he also mid-second century some senators dis- wrote and . Plautus pro- played an interest in philosophy. Scipio duced adapted from Greek Aemilianus, Gaius Laelius (consul 140), New . He is the only early author and (consul 136) whose work is well represented in the were among those who listened to the corpus of surviving literature (21 plays lectures of the three leaders of the Ath­ judged authentic by Marcus Terentius enian philosophical visiting Varro, Rome’s greatest scholar). None of Rome on a diplomatic mission in 155— the plays of his younger contemporaries, the academic Carneades, the peripatetic Caecilius (c. 210–168) and Marcus Critolaus, and the stoic . On an (c. 220–130), survive, nor do the official visit to the East in 140, Scipio once highly esteemed tragedies of Lucius included in his entourage the leading Accius (170–c. 86). The six extant come- stoic . In the same period, dies of (Publius Terentius Afer; another stoic, Blossius of Cumae, was c. 190–159) provide a sense of the varia- said to have influenced the reforming tion in the comic tradition of the 2nd tribune Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus. century. These authors also were outsid- Yet the philosophical influence should ers, coming from the Celtic Po valley, not be exaggerated; none of these sena- Brundisium, Umbria, and North Africa, tors was a philosopher or even a formal respectively. Thus, while assorted for- student of philosophy. eigners, some of servile origin, Moreover, the sophisticated rhetoric established a Latin literature by adapting of the philosophers—in 155 Carneades Greek genres, metrical forms, and con- lectured in favour of natural justice one tent, native Roman senators began to day and against it the next—was per- write history in Greek. ceived by leading Romans such as Cato Other forms of Greek learning were the Censor as subversive to good morals. slower to take root in Rome. Later Romans At his urging the Senate quickly con- remembered that a Greek doctor estab- cluded the diplomatic business of lished a practice in Rome for the first time Carneades, Critolaus, and Diogenes in just before the Second Punic War, but his 155 and hurried them out of Rome. This reputation did little to stimulate Roman was part of a broader pattern of hostility interest in the subject. Like doctors, to philosophy: in 181 the (spurious) Books Greek philosophers of the second century of Numa, falsely believed to have been were regarded with interest and suspi- influenced by Pythagoras, were burned, cion. In the early third century Romans and the following decades witnessed 64 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion several expulsions of philosophers from men from the Senate on various charges the city. In comedies of the period, the of immorality and penalized through tax- discipline was held up for ridicule. ation the acquisition of such luxuries as The hostility toward philosophy was expensive , jewelry, carriages, one aspect of a wider Roman sense of and fancy slaves. The worry about luxury unease about changing mores. Cato, a was widespread, as evidenced by the pas- “new man” (without senatorial ancestors) sage of a series of sumptuary laws elected consul (195) and censor (184), rep- supported by Cato. During the depths of resented himself as an austere champion the Second Punic War the Oppian law of the old ways and exemplifies the hard- (215) was passed to meet the financial cri- ening Roman reaction against change sis by restricting the jewelry and clothing under foreign influence. Although Cato women were allowed to wear. In 195, after knew Greek and could deploy allusions the crisis, the law was repealed despite to , he advised his son Cato’s protests. Later sumptuary laws against too deep a knowledge of the lit- were motivated not by military crisis but erature of that “most worthless and by a sense of the dangers of luxury: the unteachable race.” Cato despised those Orchian law (182) limited the lavishness senatorial colleagues who ineptly - of banquets; the Fannian law (161) tated Greek manners. He asserted the strengthened the Orchian provisions, and value of Latin culture in the role of father the Didian law (143) extended the limits of Latin prose literature. His treatise on to all Italy. A similar sense of the dangers estate management, the De agricultura of wealth may also have prompted the lex (c. 160), has survived with its rambling Voconia (169), which prohibited Romans discourse about how to run a 200-iugera of the wealthiest class from naming (124-acre) , including advice on women as heirs in their wills. everything from buying and selling The laws and censorial actions ulti- slaves to folk medicine. Cato’s greater, mately could not restrain changes in historical work, the , survives Roman mores. Economic conditions had only in fragments: it challenged the ear- been irreversibly altered by conquest; the lier Roman histories insofar as it was magnitude of conspicuous consumption written in Latin and emphasized the is suggested by a senatorial decree of achievements of the Italian peoples 161 that restricted the weight of silver rather than those of the few great senato- tableware in a banquet to 100 pounds—10 rial families of Rome (whose names were times the weight for which Publius conspicuously omitted). Cornelius Rufinus was punished in 275. Elected censor in 184 to protect Moreover, the very competitiveness that Roman mores, Cato vowed “to cut into had traditionally marked the senatorial pieces and burn like a hydra all luxury aristocracy ensured the spread of cul- and voluptuousness.” He expelled seven tural innovations and new forms of The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 65

Seventeenth-century painter captured the ribald spirit of Bacchic worship in A Bacchanalian Revel before a Herm. National Gallery, , UK/The Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images conspicuous consumption among the the eastern Mediterranean was perceived elite. In contrast to the austere Cato, other as potentially subversive to a far wider senators laid claim to prestige by collect- audience. Polybius praised the Romans ing Greek art and books brought back for their conscientious behaviour toward by conquering armies, by staging plays the gods. Romans were famous for their modeled on Greek drama, and by com- extreme precision in recitation of missioning literary works, public and performance of to the gods, buildings, and private sculptural monu- meticulously repeating archaic words ments in a Greek . and actions centuries after their original Whereas the influence of Greek high meanings had been forgotten. Guiding culture was felt principally in a small cir- these state cults were priestly colleges, cle of elite Romans who had the wealth and priestly offices such as of pontifex to acquire Greek art and slaves and the and were filled by senators, whose leisure and education to read Greek dominance in politics was thus replicated authors, the influence of from in civic religion. 66 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

In earlier centuries Rome’s innate poisoning of kin. According to Livy, more religious conservatism was, however, than 7,000 were implicated in the wrong- counterbalanced by an openness to for- doing, many of whom were tried and eign gods and cults. As Rome incorporated executed. The consuls destroyed the places new peoples of Italy into its citizen body, of Bacchic worship throughout Italy. For it accepted their gods and religious prac- the future, the (extant) senatorial decree tices. Indeed, among the most authoritative prohibited men from acting as priests in religious texts, consulted in times of cri- the cult, banned secret meetings, and sis or doubt, were the prophetic Sibylline required the praetor’s and Senate’s autho- Books, written in Greek and imported rization of ceremonies to be performed from Cumae. The receptivity appears by gatherings of more than five people. most pronounced in the third century: The terms of the decree provide a during its final decades temples were built sense of what provoked the harsh senato- in the city for Erycina from Sicily rial reaction. It was not that the Bacchic and for the Magna Mater, or Great Mother, cult spread heretical beliefs about the gods; from Pessinus in Anatolia; games were Roman civic religion was never based on instituted in honour of the Greek god theological doctrine with pretensions to (212) and the Magna Mater after exclusive truth. Rather, the growing secret the war. The new cults were integrated cult led by male priests threatened the into the traditional structure of the state traditionally dominant position of sena- religion, and the “foreignness” was con- tors in . The decree did not trolled (i.e., limits were placed on the aim to eliminate Bacchic worship but to orgiastic elements in the cult of the Great bring it under the supervision of senato- Mother performed by her priests). rial authorities. The following centuries The openness, never complete or a witnessed sporadic official actions against matter of principle, tilted toward resistance foreign cults. It happens to be recorded in the early second century. In 186 Roman that a praetor of 139 removed private magistrates, on orders from the Senate, built in public areas and expelled astrolo- brutally suppressed Bacchic worship in gers and from the city. Thus the Italy. Associations of worshipers of the reaction to eastern religions paralleled that Greek god Bacchus () had spread to Greek philosoph. Both were perceived across Italy to Rome. Their members, as new ways of thinking that threatened numbering in the thousands, were initi- to undermine traditional mores and the ated into secret mysteries, knowledge of relations of authority implicit in them. which promised life after death. They also engaged in orgiastic worship. The secrecy Economy and Society soon gave rise to reports of the basest activities, such as uncontrolled drinking, It seems certain that the economy and sexual promiscuity, forgery of wills, and society of Italy were transformed in the The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 67 wake of Rome’s conquest of the Mediter­ agriculture as the basis of its economy, ranean world, even though the changes with probably four-fifths of the popula- can be described only incompletely and tion tilling the soil. This great majority imprecisely, owing to the dearth of reli- continued to be needed in food produc- able information for the preceding tion because there were no labour-saving centuries. Romans of the first century BC technological breakthroughs. The power believed that their ancestors had been a driving agricultural and other production people of small farmers in an age uncor- was almost entirely supplied by rupted by wealth. Even senators who and animals, which set modest limits to performed heroic feats were said to have economic growth. In some areas of Italy, been of modest means—men such as such as the territory of Capena in south- Cinncinatus, who was ern Etruria, archaeologists have found said to have laid down his plow on his traditional patterns of settlement and tiny farm to serve as dictator in 458 BC. land division continuing from the fourth Although such legends present an ideal- to the end of the first century—evidence ized vision of early Rome, it is probably that the Second Punic War and the fol- true that Latium of the fifth and fourth lowing decades did not bring a complete centuries was densely populated by break with the past. farmers of small plots. Rome’s military Economic change came as a result of strength derived from its superior massive population shifts and the social resources of manpower levied from a pool reorganization of labour rather than tech- of small landowning citizens (assidui). A nological improvement. The Second dense population is also suggested by Punic War, and especially Hannibal’s per- the emigration from Latium of scores of sistent presence in Italy, inflicted a thousands as colonists during the fourth considerable toll, including loss of life on and third centuries. The legends of sena- a staggering scale, movement of rural tors working their own fields seem populations into towns, and destruction of implausible, but the disparity in wealth agriculture in some regions. Although the was probably much less noticeable than devastation has been overestimated by in the late republic. The fourth-century some historians, partial depopulation of artifacts uncovered by archaeologists the Italian countryside is evident from the display an overall high quality that makes literary and archaeological records: imme- it difficult to distinguish a category of diately after the war enough land stood luxury goods from the pottery and - vacant in Apulia and to settle cottas made for common use. between 30,000 and 40,000 of Scipio’s War and conquest altered this pic- veterans, while areas of Apulia, Bruttium, ture; yet certain fundamental features of southern Campania, and south-central the economy remained constant. Until Etruria have yielded no artifacts indicat- its fall, the Roman Empire retained ing settlement in the postwar period. 68 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Populations have been known to so many that “Sardinian” became a show great resilience in recovering from byword for “cheap” slave. These are only wars, but the Italian population was given a few examples for which the sources no peace after 201. In subsequent decades happen to give numbers. More slaves Rome’s annual war effort required a mili- flooded into Italy after Rome destabilized tary mobilization unmatched in history the eastern Mediterranean in 167 and for its duration and the proportion of the gave pirates and bandits the opportunity population involved. During the 150 to carry off local peoples of Anatolia and years after Hannibal’s surrender, the sell them on the block at Delos by the Romans regularly fielded armies of more thousands. By the end of the republic than 100,000 men, requiring on average Italy was a thoroughgoing slave society about 13 percent of the adult male citizens with well over one million slaves, accord- each year. The attested casualties from ing to the best estimates. No census 200 to 150 add up to nearly 100,000. The figures give numbers of slaves, but slave- levy took Roman away from holding was more widespread and on a their land. Many never returned. Others, larger scale than in the antebellum perhaps 25,000, were moved in the years American South, where slaves made up before 173 from peninsular Italy to the about one-third of the population. In colonies of the Po valley. Still others, in effect, Roman soldiers fought in order to unknown but considerable numbers, capture their own replacements on the migrated to the cities. By the later second land in Italy, although the shift from free century some Roman leaders perceived to servile labour was only a partial one. the countryside to be depopulated. The influx of slaves was accompanied To replace the peasants on the land of by changes in patterns of landownership, central and southern Italy, slaves were as more Italian land came to be concen- imported in vast numbers. was trated in fewer hands. One of the well established as a form of agricultural punishments meted out to disloyal allies labour before the Punic Wars (slaves after the Second Punic War was confisca- must have produced much of the food tion of all or part of their territories. Most during the peak mobilization of citizens of the ager Campanus and part of the from 218 to 201). The scale of slavery, Tarentines’ lands—perhaps two million however, increased in the second and acres in total—became Roman ager first centuries as a result of conquests. publicus (public land), subject to rent. Enslavement was a common fate for the Some of this property remained in the defeated in : the Romans hands of local peoples, but large tracts in enslaved 5,000 Macedonians in 197; 5,000 excess of the 500-iugera limit were occu- in 177; 150,000 Epirotes in 167; pied by wealthy Romans, who were 50,000 Carthaginians in 146; and in 174 legally possessores (i.e., in possession of an unspecified number of Sardinians, but the land, although not its owners) and as The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 69 such paid a nominal rent to the Roman Although based on Greek handbooks state. The trend toward concentration discussing estate management, it reflects continued during the second century, the assumptions and thinking of a second- propelled by conquests abroad. On the century senator. Cato envisaged a one side, subsistence farmers were always medium-sized, 200-iugera farm with a per- vulnerable in years of poor harvests that manent staff of 11 slaves. As with other could lead to debt and ultimately to the Roman enterprises, management of the loss of their plots. The vulnerability was farm was left to a slave bailiff, who was exacerbated by army service, which took helped by his slave wife. While Cato, like peasants away from their farms for years the later agricultural writers Varro and at a time. On the other side, the elite Lucius Junius , assumed the orders were enriched by the booty from economic advantage of a slave work the eastern kingdoms on a scale previ- force, historians today debate whether ously unimaginable. Some of the vast estates worked by slaves were indeed new wealth was spent on public works more profitable than smaller and new forms of luxury, and part was farms. Cato had his slaves use much the invested to secure future income. Land same technology as the peasants, was the preferred form of investment for although a larger estate could afford senators and other honourable men: large processing implements, such as farming was regarded as safer and more grape and crushers, which peasants prestigious than manufacture or trade. might have to share or do without. Nor For senators, the opportunities for trade did Cato bring to bear any innovative were limited by the law of 218 management advice; his suggestions prohibiting them from owning large aimed to maximize profits by such com- ships. Wealthy Romans thus used the monsense means as keeping the slave proceeds of war to buy out their smaller work force occupied all year round and neighbours. As a result of this process of buying cheap and selling dear. Never­ acquisition, most senatorial estates con- theless, larger estates had one significant sisted of scattered small farms. The advantage in that the slave labour could notorious latifundia, the extensive con- be bought and sold and thus more eas- solidated estates, were not widespread. ily matched to labour needs than was Given the dispersion of the property, the possible on small plots worked by peas- new landlord was typically absentee. He ant families. could leave the working of the farms in Cato’s farm was a model representing the hands of the previous peasant owners one aspect of the reality of the Italian as tenants, or he could import slaves. countryside. Archaeologists have discov- The best insights into the mentality ered the characteristic of the of the estate-owning class of this period Catonian estate beginning to appear in come from Cato’s De agricultura. Campania in the second century and 70 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion later in other areas. The emergence of of about one million in the imperial ; slave agriculture did not exclude the con- other Italian cities grew to a lesser extent. tinuing existence in the area of peasants The mass of consumers created new, as owners of marginal land or as casual more diverse demands for foodstuffs day labourers or both. The larger estates from the countryside and also for manu- and the remaining peasants formed a factured goods. The market was bipolar, symbiotic relationship, mentioned by with the poor of the cities able to buy Cato: the estate required extra hands to only basic foodstuffs and a few plain help during peak seasons, while the peas- manufactured items and the rich demand- ants needed the extra wages from day ing increasingly extravagant luxury labour to supplement the meagre pro- goods. The limitations of the poor are duction of their plots. Yet in many areas reflected in the declining quality of of Italy the villa system made no inroads humble temple offerings. The craftsmen during the republic, and traditional peas- and traders produced mainly for the ant farming continued. Other areas, rich minority. The trading and artisanal however, underwent a drastic change: the enterprises in Rome were largely worked desolation left by the Second Punic War by slaves and freedmen imported to in the central and southern regions Rome by the wealthy. Although honour- opened the way for wealthy Romans to able, freeborn Romans considered it acquire vast tracts of depopulated land beneath their dignity to participate to convert to grazing. This form of exten- directly in these businesses, they willingly sive agriculture produced , , shared in the profits through ownership and goats, herded by slaves. These were of these slaves and through collection of the true latifundia, decried as wastelands rents on the shops of humbler men. Thus, by Roman imperial authors such as the manufacturing and trading were gener- elder Pliny. ally small-scale operations, organized on The marketplace took on a new the basis of household or family. Roman importance as both the Catonian estate law did not recognize business corpora- and the aimed primarily to tions with the exception of publican produce goods to sell for a profit. In this companies holding state contracts; nor sense, they represented a change from were there of the medieval type to peasant agriculture, which aimed above organize or control production. Unlike all to feed the peasant’s family. The buy- some later medieval cities, Rome did not ers of the new were the produce for export to support itself; its growing cities—another facet of the com- revenues came from booty, provincial plex economic transformation. Rome was taxes, and the surplus brought from the swelled by migrants from the country- countryside to the city by aristocratic side and became the largest city of Roman landlords. Indeed, after 167 pro- preindustrial Europe, with a population vincial revenues were sufficient to allow The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 71 for the abolition of direct taxes on Roman censorship of 184), the Aemilia citizens. et (179), and the Basilica Sempronia Building projects were the largest (170–169) were constructed out of the enterprises in Rome and offered freeborn traditional tufa blocks but in a Hellen­ immigrants jobs as day labourers. In ized style. addition to the private building needed New infrastructures were required to to the growing population, the early bring the necessities of life to the growing and middle second century witnessed population. The (193), a public building on a new scale and in new warehouse of 300,000 square feet on the shapes. The leading senatorial families banks of the Tiber, illustrates how the new gained publicity by sponsoring major needs were met with a major new building new buildings named after themselves technology, concrete construction. Around in the Forum and elsewhere. The Basilica 200 BC in central Italy it was discovered Porcia (built during Marcus Porcius Cato’s that a wet mixture of crushed stone, lime,

An entablature, or horizontal molding, from the Basilica Aemilia et Fulvia hints at the grandeur of this public building, constructed in 179 BC. Manuel Cohen/Getty Images 72 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion and sand (especially a volcanic sand called Social Changes pozzolana) would set into a material of great strength. This construction tech- Major social changes and dislocations nique had great advantages of economy accompanied the demographic shifts and and flexibility over the traditional cut- economic development. Relations between stone technique: the materials were more rich and poor in Rome had traditionally readily available, the concrete could be been structured by the bond existing molded into desired shapes, and the molds between patron and client. In the daily could be reused for repetitive production. morning ritual of the salutatio, humble The Porticus Aemilia, for example, con- Romans went to pay their respects in the sisted of a series of roughly identical houses of senators, who were obligated to arches and vaults—the shapes so charac- protect them. These personal relation- teristic of later Roman . The ships lent stability to the social hierarchy. new technology also permitted improve- In the second century, however, the dis- ments in the construction of the aqueducts parity between rich and poor citizens needed to increase the city’s water supply. grew. While this trend increased the per- The economic development outside sonal power of individual senators, it of Rome encompassed some fairly large- weakened the social control of the elite scale manufacturing enterprises and as a whole; the poor had become too export trade. At Puteoli on the Bay of numerous to be controlled by the tradi- the ironworks industry was orga- tional bond of patron and client. nized on a scale well beyond that of the Until the end of the 170s the impover- household, and its goods were shipped ishment of humble citizens had been beyond the area. Puteoli flourished dur- counterbalanced to some extent by the ing the republic as a port city, handling founding of colonies, because dispossessed imports destined for Rome as well as peasants were given new lands in outlying exports of manufactured goods and pro- regions. During the middle decades of cessed agricultural products. In their the second century, however, colonization search for markets, the large Italian land- ceased, and the number of dispossessed owners exported and to increased, to judge from the declining and more distant loca- number of small landowners in the census. tions. Dressel I , the three-foot The problem created by a growing prole- pottery jars carrying these products, have tariat was recognized by a few senators. been found in substantial quantities in Gaius Laelius, probably during his consul- Africa and Gaul. Yet the magnitude of the ship of 140, proposed a scheme of land economic development should not be redistribution to renew the class of small- exaggerated: the ironworks industry was holders, but it was rejected by the Senate. exceptional, and most pottery production Some of the dispossessed went to continued to be for local use. Rome, where, together with the increasing The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 73 numbers of slaves and freedmen, they legal authority (or that of his father if he contributed to the steadily growing pop- was still alive), and her dowry merged ulation. This density led to the miseries with the rest of the estate under the owner- associated with big cities, which were ship of the . The husband exacerbated by the absence of . managed the family’s affairs outside the By 200 BC the pressure of numbers neces- house, while the wife was custodian sitated buildings of three within. Marriage was an arrangement for stories. Constructed without a building life; divorces were rare and granted only code, these structures were often unsound in cases of serious moral infractions, such and prone to collapse. Moreover, closely as adultery or wine-tippling on the part of placed and partly made of wood, they the wife. The children of the couple were were tinderboxes, ever ready to burst subject to the father’s nearly absolute into flame. The population density also legal powers (patria potestas), including increased the vulnerability to food short- the power of life and death, corporal pun- ages and plagues. In 188 fines were levied ishment, and a monopoly of ownership of against dealers for withholding grain, all property in the family. The father’s attesting to problems of supply. The power lasted until his death or, in the case and 170s witnessed repeated outbreaks of of a daughter, until her marriage. When plague. The state, which could use its the father died, his sons, his wife, and his power to increase the grain supply, was unmarried daughters became legally helpless against diseases. In general, the independent, and all inherited equal republican state developed few new insti- shares of the family’s property unless tutions to manage the growing urban otherwise specified in a will. The imperial problems. Until the reign of Augustus, authors idealized the early republic as a matters were left to the traditional time of family harmony and stability, authority of urban magistrates, who were which was lost through the corruption of unaided by a standing fire brigade or the later republic. police force. Consequently, Rome held an When family life emerged into the increasing potential for social discontent full light of history in the second century and conflicts without a corresponding BC, it had changed in significant ways. A increase in means of control. form of marriage, commonly called “free The family, regarded by Romans as a marriage,” was becoming prevalent. mainstay of the social order, also was Under this form, the wife no longer came affected by the wider economic and social into her husband’s power or property transformations of the second century regime but remained in that of her father; BC. In the early republic the family had upon her father’s death she became inde- formed a social, economic, and legal pendent with rights to own and dispose unity. The woman generally married into of property. But she was not a member of her husband’s family and came under his the family of her husband and children 74 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion and had no claim to inheritance from a specialized education by slaves or them, even though she lived with them in freedmen. The management of aristo- the same house. Because many women cratic households was entrusted to slaves inherited part of their fathers’ estates, and freedmen, who served as secretaries, they could use their independent fortunes accountants, and managers. The wife was to exert influence on , children, no longer needed as custodian of the and people outside the house. In the household, though domestic guardian- same period, divorce became far more ship remained an element in the common. Moral infractions were no lon- idealization of her role. Later moralists ger needed to justify divorce, which could attributed a decline in Roman and be initiated by either side. Frequent discipline to the intrusion of slaves into divorce and remarriage went hand in familial relationships and duties. hand with the separation of marital prop- erty. There is plausibility in the suggestion Rome and Italy that these changes were brought on by a desire of the women’s fathers to avoid During the middle republic the peoples having their daughters’ portions of the of Italy began to coalesce into a fairly larger family estates slip irrevocably into homogeneous and cohesive society. the hands of their husbands. Although Polybius, however, does not give insight the changes in law and practice were not into this process, because, living in Rome, motivated by any movement to emanci- he too little appreciated the variety of pate women, the result was that propertied Italian cultures under Roman sway, women of the late republic, always from the Gallic peoples in the mountains excluded from the public sphere of male of the north to the urbane Greeks on the citizens, came to enjoy a degree of free- southern coasts. Other evidence, though dom and social power unusual before the meagre, nonetheless suggests several 20th century. processes that contributed to the increas- Slaves came to permeate the fabric of ing cohesion. family life and altered relationships First, the Romans built a network of within the household. They were regu- roads that facilitated communication larly assigned the tasks of child-rearing, across Italy. The first great was the traditionally the domain of the mother, Via Appia, which was laid out by Appius and of education, until then the responsi- Claudius Caecus in 312 to connect Rome bility of both the father and the mother. to Capua. Between the First and Second Whereas children had acquired the skills Punic Wars roads were built to the north: needed for their future roles by observing the (241?) along the Tyrrhenian their parents in a kind of apprenticeship, coast, the (220) through in wealthy houses sons and, to a lesser Umbria, and the through Etruria. extent, daughters were now given Then, in the second century, Roman The Middle Republic (264–133 BC) | 75 presence in the Po valley was consolidated by the (187) from Ariminum on the Adriatic coast to the Latin colony of Placentia and by the (148) run- ning through Transpadane Gaul to Aquileia in the east and Genua in the west. Second, internal migration— Italians moving to Rome and Romans being sent to Latin colonies throughout Italy— promoted social and cultural homogeneity. Some of these colonies were set alongside existing settlements; others were founded on new sites. The colonies re-created the physi- cal and social shape of Rome; the town plans and architec- ture, with forums including temples to , were mod- eled on those of Rome. The imposition of a Latin colony on the Greek city of in (273) entailed the implantation of a Roman-style forum in the centre of the exist- Via Appia, or Way was the first and most famous ing city in a way that rudely of the ancient , running from Rome to intruded on the old sanctuary Campania and southern Italy. Shutterstock.com of . The initial system gov- erning the distribution of land to Latin the cavalrymen 140 iugera (86 acres). The colonists aimed to replicate the Roman unifying effect of the colonies is evident social hierarchy differentiated by wealth. in Paestum’s notable loyalty to Rome It is recorded of the colonists sent to during the Second Punic War. Aquileia in 181 that the 3,000 infantry- Third, although Rome did not seek to men each received 50 iugera (31 acres), govern Italy through a regular adminis- the centurions 100 iugera (62 acres), and tration, it influenced local affairs through 76 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion formal bonds of personal friendship legion to Etruria to fight a pitched battle (amicitia) and hospitality (hospitium) in which many slaves were killed; and the between the Roman elite and their local praetor of 185 dealt with rebellious slaves counterparts. Through these ties the in Apulia, condemning 7,000 to death. leading men of Italy were gradually The later slave revolt in Sicily (c. 135–132) drawn into the in Rome. The was not contained so effectively and most prominent example of the second grew to include perhaps 70,000. The century is that of Gaius Marius of slaves defeated the first consular army Arpinum, who, only two generations after sent in 134; the efforts of two more con- his town had received full citizen rights, suls were required to restore order. The began his meteoric senatorial career revolts, unusual for their frequency and under the patronage of the great Roman size, are not to be explained by abolition- nobles, the Metelli. ist programs (nonexistent in antiquity) Fourth, the regular military cam- nor by maltreatment. The causes lay in paigns brought together Romans and the enslavement and importation of Italians of all classes under the command entire communities with their native of Roman magistrates. The Italian troops leadership and in the free reign given to appear to have been levied in a fashion slave shepherds who roamed armed similar to the one used for the Romans, around the countryside serving as com- which would have required a Roman- munication lines between slave style census as a means of organizing the plantations. These uprisings made it local citizenries. In the absence of direct clear that the social fabric of Italy, put administration, military service was the under stress by the transformations context in which Italians most regularly brought about by conquest, had to be experienced Roman authority. protected by Roman force. Fifth, Rome occasionally deployed its While the exercise of Roman author- troops in Italy to maintain social order. ity and force was sometimes resented by Rome suppressed an uprising of serfs in Italians, Rome’s power made its mores Etruscan Volsinii in 265 and a sedition and culture worthy of imitation. The in Patavium in 175. When the massive Latin language and Roman political influx of slaves raised the spectre of rebel- institutions slowly spread. A request from across Italy, Roman troops were the old Campanian city of Cumae in 180 deployed to put down uprisings: in 195, that it be allowed to change its official 5,000 slaves were executed in Latin Setia; language from Oscan to Latin was a sign in 196 the praetor was sent with his urban of things to come. CHAPTER 3

The Late Republic (133–31 BC)

he fall of Carthage and Corinth did not mark even a Ttemporary end to warfare. War and military glory still were an essential part of the Roman aristocratic ethos and, hence, of Roman political life during the later years of the Roman Republic.

AfTERMATH Of vICTORIES

Apart from major wars still to come, small wars on the frontiers of Roman power—never precisely fi xed—continued to provide an essential motive in Roman history: in Spain, Sardinia, Illyria, and Macedonia, barbarians could be defeated and triumphs won. Thus the limits of Roman power were gradu- ally extended and the territories within them pacifi ed, while men of noble stock rivaled the virtus of their ancestors and new men staked their own competing claims, winning glory essential to political advancement and sharing the booty with their offi cers and soldiers. could still depict it as a major disgrace for Lucius Piso (consul; 58 BC ) that he had won no triumph in the traditionally “triumphal” province of Macedonia. Nonetheless, the coincidence of the capture of Corinth and Carthage was even in antiquity regarded as a turning point in Roman history: it was the end (for the time being) of warfare against civilized powers, in which the danger was felt to be greater and the glory and the booty were superior to those won against barbarian tribes. 78 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Changes in Provincial commanders, it was decided to break with Administration precedent by not increasing the number of senior magistrates (praetors). Instead, The first immediate effect was on the prorogation—the device of leaving a mag- administration of the empire. The mili- istrate in officepro magistratu (“in place of tary basis of provincial administration a magistrate”) after his term had expired, remained: the governor (as he is called) which had hitherto been freely used when was in Roman eyes a commander with emergencies had led to shortages of reg- absolute and unappealable powers over ular commanders—was established as part all except Roman citizens, within the of the administrative system: thenceforth, limits of the territory (his provincia) every year at least two praetors would assigned to him (normally) by the Senate. have to be retained as promagistrates. He was always prepared—and in some This was the beginning of the dissociation provinces expected—to fight and win. But between urban magistracy and foreign it had been found that those unlimited command that was to become a cardinal powers were often abused and that principle of the system of Sulla and of the Senate control could not easily be developed Roman Empire. asserted at increasing distances from Rome. For political and perhaps for moral Social and Economic Ills reasons, excessive abuse without hope of a remedy could not be permitted. It is not clear to what extent the tempo- Hence, when the decision to annex rary end of the age of major wars helped Carthage and Macedonia had been made to produce the crisis of the Roman in principle (149 BC), a permanent court Republic. The general view of thinking (the quaestio repetundarum) was estab- Romans was that the relaxation of exter- lished at Rome to hear complaints against nal pressures led to internal disintegration. former commanders and, where necessary, (This has happened in other states, and to assure repayment of illegal exactions. the view is not to be lightly dismissed.) No penalty for offenders was provided, Moreover, the end of large-scale booty and there was no derogation from the led to economic recession in Rome, thus commander’s powers during his tenure. intensifying and discontent. But Nevertheless, the step was a landmark in the underlying crisis had been building the recognition of imperial responsibility, up over a long period. and it was also to have important effects on Roman politics. The reform movement of Another result of the new conquests the Gracchi (133–121 BC) was a major administrative departure. When Africa and Macedonia became From the state’s point of view, the chief provinciae to be regularly assigned to effect was a decline in military manpower. The Late Republic (133–31 BC) | 79

The minimum property qualification for and the need for a major increase in mili- service was lowered and the minimum tary citizen manpower. age (17) ignored. Resistance became fre- Tiberius’s proposal was bound to quent, especially to the distant and meet with opposition in the Senate, which unending guerrilla war in Spain. consisted of large landowners. On the advice of his eminent backers, he took his The Program and Career of bill, which made various concessions to Tiberius Sempronius those asked to obey the law and hand back Gracchus excess public land, straight to the Assembly of the Plebs, where it found wide support. , grandson of Scipio This procedure was not revolutionary; Africanus and son of the Gracchus who bills directly concerning the people appear had conquered the Celtiberians and to have been frequently passed in this way. treated them well, was in But his opponents persuaded another aris- Mancinus’s army when it faced annihila- tocratic tribune, , to veto tion. On the strength of his family name, the bill. Tiberius tried the constitutional he personally negotiated the peace that riposte—an appeal to the Senate for arbi- saved it. When the Senate—on the motion tration. The Senate was unwilling to help, of his cousin Scipio Aemilianus, who and Octavius was unwilling to negotiate later finished the war—renounced the over his veto—an action apparently peace, Tiberius felt aggrieved. He joined unprecedented, though not (strictly speak- a group of senior senators hostile to ing) unconstitutional. Tiberius had to Aemilianus and with ideas on reform. improvise a way out of the impasse. He met Elected tribune for 133, in Scipio’s Octavius’s action with a similarly unprec- absence, Tiberius attempted to find a edented retort and had Octavius deposed solution for the social and military crisis, by the Assembly. He then passed his bill with the political credit to go to himself in a less conciliatory form and had himself, and his backers. Tiberius had no inten- his father-in-law, and his brother appointed tion of touching private property. His commissioners with powers to determine idea was to enforce the legal but widely boundaries of public land, confiscate ignored limit of 500 iugera (309 acres) on excess acreage, and divide it in inalienable occupation of public land and to use the allotments among landless citizens. land thus retrieved for settling landless As it happened, envoys from citizens, who would both regain a secure Pergamum had arrived to inform the living and be liable for service. The slave Senate that Attalus III had died and made war in Sicily, which had lasted several the Roman people his heirs (provided the years and had threatened to spread to cities of his kingdom were left free). Italy, had underlined both the danger of Tiberius, at whose house the envoys were using large numbers of slaves on the land lodging, anticipated Senate debate and 80 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion had the inheritance accepted by the peo- unprecedented act, bound to reinforce ple and the money used to finance his fears of tyranny. The took place agrarian schemes. in an atmosphere of violence, with nearly Tiberius’s opponents now charged him all his tribunician colleagues now with aiming at tyranny, a charge that many opposed to him. When the consul Publius may well have believed. Redistribution of Scaevola, on strict legal grounds, refused land was connected with demagogic tyr- to act against him, Publius Scipio Nasica, anny in Hellenistic states, and Tiberius’s the chief , led a number of senators subsequent actions had been high-handed and their clients to the Assembly, and and beyond the flexible borderline of what Tiberius was killed in a resulting scuffle. was regarded as mos majorum (constitu- Widespread and bloody repression fol- tional custom). Fearing prosecution once lowed in 132. Thus political murder and his term in office was over, he now began political martyrdom were introduced into to canvass for a second tribunate—another Roman politics.

The reign of brothers Tiberius and was marked by dissension and charges of tyranny. Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY The Late Republic (133–31 BC) | 81

The land commission, however, was served on Tiberius’s land commission allowed to continue because it could not and had supported Flaccus’s plan. Making easily be stopped. Some evidence of its the most of his martyred brother’s name, activities survives. By 129, perhaps run- Gaius embarked on a scheme of general ning out of available land held by citizens, reform in which, for the first time in Rome, it began to apply the Gracchan law to Greek theoretical influences may be public land held by Italian individuals or traced. Among many reforms—including communities. This had probably not provision for a stable and cheap wheat been envisaged by Tiberius, just as he price and for the foundation of colonies did not include noncitizens among the (one on the site of Carthage), to which beneficiaries of distributions. The Senate, Italians were admitted—two major ideas on the motion of Scipio Aemilianus, stand out. The first was to increase public upheld the Italians’ protests, transferring revenues (both from the empire and from decisions concerning Italian-held land taxes) and pass the benefit on to the people. from the commission to a consul. This The second was to raise the wealthiest seriously hampered the commission’s nonsenators (particularly the , activities. Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, chair- holders of the “public horse”and next to man of the commission and consul in 125, senators in social standing) to a position tried to solve the problem by offering the from which, without actually taking part Italians the citizenship (or alternatively in the process of government, they could the right to appeal against Roman execu- watch over senatorial administration and tive acts to the Roman people) in return make it more responsible. The idea was for bringing their holdings of public land evoked by Tiberius’s death. under the Gracchan law. This aroused As early as 129 a law compelled sena- fears of uncontrollable political repercus- tors to surrender the “public horse” sions. Flaccus was ordered by the Senate (which hitherto they had also held) and to fight a war in southern France (where possibly in other ways enhanced the group he gained a triumph) and had to abandon consciousness and privileges of the equites. his proposal. There is no sign of wide- Regarding the increase of public revenue, spread Italian interest in it at this time, Gaius put the publicani (public contrac- though the revolt of the Latin colony tors, hitherto chiefly concerned with army (destroyed 125) may be con- and building contracts and with farming nected with its failure. minor taxes) in charge of the main tax of Asia—a rich province formed out of The Program and Career of Attalus’s inheritance, which would hence- Gaius Sempronius Gracchus forth provide Rome with the major part of its income. This was expected both In 123 Gaius Gracchus, a younger brother to reduce senatorial corruption and to of Tiberius, became tribune. He had improve efficiency. Gaius also put 82 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion eminent nonsenators (probably defi ned interests to share the privileges of citizen- by wealth, but perhaps limited to the ship: the bill was defeated, and Gaius equites, or equestrian class) in charge of failed in his attempt to be re-elected once the quaestio repetundarum , whose sena- more. In 121, preparing (as private citi- torial members had shown too much zens) to use force to oppose the leniency to their colleagues, and he cancellation of some of their laws, Gaius imposed severe penalties on senators and Flaccus were killed in a riot, and convicted by that court. many of their followers were executed. Finally, in a second tribunate, he During the next decade the measures hoped to give citizenship to Latins and benefi ting the people were largely abol- Latin rights to other Italians, with the ished, though the Gracchan land help of Flaccus who, though a distin- distributions, converted into private guished former consul, took the unique property, did temporarily strengthen the step of becoming tribune. But a consul Roman citizen peasantry. The provisions and a tribune of 122 together persuaded giving power to wealthy nonsenators the citizen voters that it was against their could not be touched, for political war Against Jugurtha

On the whole, Roman historians were no more interested in internal factional politics than in social or economic developments, so the struggles of the aristocratic families must be pieced together from chance information. It would be mere paradox to deny the importance in republi- can Rome, as in better known aristocratic republics, of family feuds, alliances, and policies, and parts of the picture are known—e.g., the central importance of the family of the Metelli, prominent in politics for a generation after the Gracchi and dominant for part of that time. In foreign a airs the client kingdom of Numidia—loyal ever since its institution by Scipio Africanus—assumed quite unwarranted importance when a succession crisis developed there soon after 120. As a bastard, Jugurtha, relying on superior ability and aristocratic Roman connections, sought to oust his two legitimate brothers from their shares of the divided kingdom. Rome’s usual diplomatic methods failed to stop Jugurtha from disposing of his brothers, but the massacre of Italian settlers at Cirta by his soldiers forced the Senate to declare war (112). The war was waged reluctantly and ine ectively, with the result that charges of bribery were freely bandied about by demagogic tribunes taking advantage of suspicion of aristocratic political behaviour that had smoldered ever since the Gracchan crisis. Signifi cantly, some eminent men, hated from those days, were now convicted of corruption. The Metelli, however, emerged unscathed, and Quintus Metellus, consul in 109, was entrusted with the war in Africa. He waged it with obvious competence but failed to fi nish it, and thus gave Gaius Marius, a senior o cer, his chance. The Late Republic (133–31 BC) | 83 reasons, and they survived as the chief had finally established a Roman sphere of effect of Gaius’s tribunates. The court influence there. A road had been built seems to have worked better than before, linking Italy with Spain, and some garri- and, during the next generation, several son posts probably secured it. Finally, a other standing criminal courts were insti- colony was settled at , an tuted, as were occasional ad hoc tribunals, important road junction (c. 118). But, always with the same class of jurors. In unwilling to extend administrative 106 a law adding senators to the juries responsibilities, the Senate had refused was passed, but it remained in force for to establish a regular provincia. Then only a short time. some migrating German tribes, chief of them the , after defeating a Roman The Career of Gaius Marius consul, invaded southern France, attract- ing native sympathy and finding little Marius, born of an equestrian family at effective Roman opposition. Two more Arpinum, had attracted the attention of consular armies suffered defeat, and in Scipio Aemilianus as a young soldier 105 a consul and proconsul with and, by shrewd political opportunism, their forces were destroyed at Orange. had risen to the praetorship and married There was panic in Rome, allayed only by into the patrician family of the Julii the firm action of the other consul, Caesares. Though Marius had deeply . offended the Metelli, once his patrons, his At this moment news of Marius’s considerable military talents had induced success in Africa arrived, and he was at Quintus Metellus to take him to Africa as once dispensed from legal restrictions a . Marius intrigued against his and again elected consul for 104. After a commander in order to gain a consulship; brilliant triumph that restored Roman he was elected (chiefly with the help of morale, he took over the army prepared the equites and antiaristocratic tribunes) and trained by Rutilius. He was reelected for 107 and was given charge of the war consul year after year, while the German by special vote of the people. He did little tribes delayed attacking Italy. Finally, in better than Metellus had, but in 105 his 102–101, he annihilated them at Aquae quaestor Lucius Sulla, in delicate and Sextiae (Aix-les-Bains) and, with his col- dangerous negotiations, brought about league, Quintus Catulus, on the Campi the capture of Jugurtha, opportunely Raudii (near the Po delta). Another tri- winning the war for Marius and Rome. umph and a sixth consulship (in 101) During the preceding decade a seri- were his reward. ous threat to Italy had developed in the In his first consulship, Marius had north. Starting in 125, several Roman taken a step of great (and probably unrec- commanders had fought against Ligurian ognized) importance: aware of the and Gallic tribes in southern France and difficulties long endemic in the traditional 84 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Gaius Marius, carried in victory on the shoulders of his troops. Marius capitalized on an impressive war record to win political office, eventually gaining consul status.The Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images system of recruitment, he had ignored course led to the increasing prominence property qualifications in enrolling his of the cohort (one-tenth of a legion) as a army and, as a result, had recruited ample tactical unit and the total reliance on non- volunteers among men who had nothing Roman auxiliaries for light-armed and to lose. This radical solution was thence- cavalry service. The precise development forth generally imitated, and conscription of these reforms cannot be traced, but became confined to emergencies (such they culminated in the much more effec- as the Social and Civil wars). He also tive armies of Pompey and Caesar. enhanced the importance of the legion- Marius’s African army had been ary (the standard), thus beginning unwilling to engage in another war, and the process that led to each legion’s hav- Marius preferred to use newly levied - ing a continuing corporate identity. At diers (no longer difficult to find). But the same time, Rutilius introduced arms neither he nor the Senate seemed aware of drill and reformed the selection of senior any responsibilities to the veterans. In 103 officers. Various tactical reforms in due a tribune, Lucius Saturninus, offered to The Late Republic (133–31 BC) | 85 pass a law providing land in Africa for them his achievement; he never thought of rev- in return for Marius’s support for some olution or tyranny. Hence, when called on anti-oligarchic activities of his own. to save the state from his revolutionary Marius agreed, and the large lots distrib- allies, he could not refuse. He imprisoned uted to his veterans (both Roman and them and their armed adherents and did Italian) turned out to be the beginning of not prevent their being lynched. the of Africa. In 100, with the Despite having saved the German wars ended, Saturninus again from revolution, he received little reward. proved a welcome ally, arranging for the He lost the favour of the plebs while the settlement of Marius’s veterans in Gaul. oligarchs, in view of both his birth and An incidental effect was the departure of his earlier unscrupulous ambition, Marius’s old commander and subsequent refused to accept him as their equal. enemy, Quintus Metellus, who refused to Metellus was recalled. This was a bitter recognize the validity of Saturninus’s law blow to Marius’s prestige, and he pre- and, choosing martyrdom, went into ferred to leave Rome and visit Asia. exile. But this time Saturninus exacted a Before long a face-saving compromise high price. With his ally, the praetor Gaius was found, and Marius returned; but in Glaucia, he introduced laws to gain the the he played no major part. Though favour of plebs and equites and pro- he held his own when his friends and ceeded to provide for the settlement of clients were attacked in the courts, his veterans of wars in Macedonia and Sicily old aristocratic protégés now found more in the same way as for those of Marius’s promising allies. Sulla is typical: closely war. He planned to seek reelection for 99, associated with Marius in his early career, with Glaucia illegally gaining the consul- he was by 91 ready to take the lead in ship. Violence and even murder were attacking Marius and (significantly) freely used to accomplish these aims. found eager support. The oligarchy could Marius now had to make a choice. not forgive Marius. Saturninus and Glaucia might secure him the continuing favour of the plebs Events in Asia and perhaps the equites, though they might also steal it for themselves. But as In foreign affairs, the 90s were dominated the saviour of his country and six times by Asia, Rome’s chief source of income. consul, he now hoped to become an elder Mithradates VI, king of , had built statesman (), accepted and hon- a large empire around the Sea and oured by those who had once looked was probing and intriguing in the Roman down on him as an upstart. To this end he sphere of influence. Marius had met him had long laboured, dealing out favours to and had given him a firm warning, which aristocrats who might make useful allies. was temporarily effective. Mithradates This was the reward Marius desired for had proper respect for Roman power. 86 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Scheming to annex , he had D evelOPMENTS in Italy been thwarted by the Senate’s instructing Sulla, as proconsul, to install a pro-Roman The 90s also saw dangerous develop- king there in 96–95. (It was on this occa- ments in Italy. In the second century BC, sion that Sulla received a Parthian Italians as a whole had shown little desire embassy—the first contact between the for Roman citizenship and had been two powers.) But dissatisfaction in the remarkably submissive under exploita- of Asia gave new hope tion and ill treatment. The most active to Mithradates. Ineffectively organized of their governing class flourished in after and corrupt in its cities’ overseas business, and the more tradi- internal administration, it was soon over- tionally minded were content to have run with Italian businessmen and Roman their oligarchic rule supported by Rome. tax collectors. When the Senate realized Their admission to citizenship had been the danger, it sent its most distinguished proposed as a by-product of the Gracchan jurist, Quintus Mucius Scaevola (consul reforms. in 95 and ), on an By 122 it had become clear that the unprecedented mission to reorganize Roman people agreed with the oligarchy Asia (94). in rejecting it. The sacrifices demanded Scaevola took Publius Rutilius Rufus— of Italy in the Numidian and German jurist, stoic philosopher, and former wars probably increased dissatisfaction consul—with him as his senior officer, among Italians with their patently inferior and after Scaevola’s return, Rutilius status. Marius gave citizenship to some as remained behind, firmly applying the a reward for military distinction—illegally, new principles they had established. This but his standing () sufficed to caused an outcry from businessmen, defend his actions. Saturninus admitted whose profits Scaevola had kept within Italians to veteran settlements and bounds; he was prosecuted for “extortion” tried to gain citizenship for some by in 92 and convicted after a trial in which full admission to Roman colonies. The Roman publicani and businessmen censors of 97–96, aristocrats connected unscrupulously used their power among with Marius, shared his ideas and freely the class that provided criminal juries. placed eminent Italians on the citizen The verdict revealed the breakdown of registers. This might have allayed dissat- Gaius Gracchus’s system: The class he isfaction, but the consuls of 95 passed a had raised to watch over the Senate now law purging the rolls and providing pen- held irresponsible power, making orderly alties for those guilty of fraudulent administration impossible and endanger- arrogation. The result was insecurity and ing the empire. Various leading senators danger for many leading Italians. By 92 were at once vexatiously prosecuted, and there was talk of violence and conspiracy political threatened. among desperate men. The Late Republic (133–31 BC) | 87

It was in these circumstances that the suspending its sittings because of the eminent young noble, Marcus Livius military danger. , became tribune for 91 and hoped The first year of the Social War (90) to solve the menacing accumulation of was dangerous. The tribes of central and problems by means of a major scheme southern Italy, traditionally among the of reforms. He attracted the support of best soldiers in Rome’s wars, organized in the poor by agrarian and colonial legisla- a confederacy for the struggle that had tion and tried to have all Italians admitted been forced upon them. Fortunately all to citizenship and to solve the jury prob- but one of the Latin cities—related to lem by a compromise: the courts would Rome by blood and tradition and spe- be transferred to the Senate, and 300 cially favoured by Roman law—remained equites would be admitted to it. (To cope loyal. Their governing class had for some with the increase in business it would time had the privilege of automatically need this expansion in size.) acquiring Roman citizenship by holding Some leading senators, frightened at local office. Moreover, Rome now showed the dangerous situation that had devel- its old ability to act quickly and wisely in oped, gave weighty support. Had Drusus emergencies: the consul Lucius Caesar succeeded, the poor and the Italians passed a law giving citizenship to all might have been satisfied; the equites, Italians who wanted it. The measure came deprived of their most ambitious element in time to head off major revolts in Umbria by promotion, might have acquiesced; and Etruria, which accepted at once. and the Senate, always governed by the prestige of the noble rather Civil war and the rule of than by votes and divisions, could have Lucius Sulla returned, little changed by the infusion of new blood, to its leading position in the In 89 BC the war in central Italy was won, process of government. But Drusus and Gnaeus Pompeius celebrated failed. Some members of each class a triumph. Attention now turned to the affected were more conscious of the loss East, where Mithradates had taken than of the gain, and an active consul, advantage of Rome’s troubles to expel Lucius Philippus, provided leadership for the kings of Cappadocia and Bithynia. A their disparate opposition. After much Roman embassy restored them, and he violence, Drusus’s laws were declared withdrew. However, when the envoys invalid. Finally, he himself was assassi- incited Bithynian incursions into his nated. The Italians now rose in revolt territory, Mithradates launched a major (the Social War), and in Rome a special offensive; he overran the two kingdoms tribunal, manned by the Gracchan jury and invaded Roman territory, where he class, convicted many of Drusus’s sup- attracted the sympathy of the natives by porters until the Senate succeeded in executing thousands of Italians and 88 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion defeating and capturing the Roman com- overthrow of Sulla’s measures. Resisted manders in the area. by his colleague Octavius, he left Rome In Rome, various men, including to collect an army and, with the help of Marius, had hoped for the Eastern com- Marius, occupied the city after a siege. mand. But it went to Lucius Sulla, elected Several leading men were killed or con- consul for 88 after distinguished service demned to death, Sulla and his supporters in the Social War. Publius Sulpicius, a tri- were outlawed, and (after Marius’s death bune in that year and an old friend of early in 86) another commander was sent Drusus, tried to continue the latter’s pol- to Asia. The policy now changed to one icy of justice to the Italians by abolishing of reconciliation: the Social War was the gerrymandering that in practice wound up, and the government gained deprived the new citizens of an effective wide acceptance until Cinna was killed vote. Finding the oligarchy firmly by mutinous soldiers (84). opposed, he gained the support of Marius Sulla meanwhile easily defeated (who still commanded much loyalty) for Mithradates’ forces in two battles in his plans by having the Eastern com- , took Athens, which under a revo- mand transferred to him. After much lutionary regime had declared for street-fighting, the consuls escaped from Mithradates, and cleared the king’s army Rome, and Sulpicius’s bills were passed. out of Greece. While negotiating with Sulla’s response was totally unfore- Cinna’s government, Sulla also entered seen. He appealed to the army he had led upon negotiations with Mithradates and, in the Social War, which was still engaged when he heard of Cinna’s death, quickly in mopping-up operations in Campania, made peace and an alliance with and persuaded them to march on Rome. Mithradates, driving the government’s He occupied the city and executed commander in Asia to suicide. After win- Sulpicius; Marius and others escaped. tering his troops in the rich cities of Asia, Significantly, Sulla’s officers left him. It Sulla crossed into Greece and then into was the first time a private army of citi- Italy, where his veteran army broke all zens had occupied Rome—an effect of resistance and occupied Rome (82). Sulla Marius’s army reform, which had ended was elected dictator and, while Italy and by creating a “client army” loyal chiefly all the provinces except Spain were to its commander, and of the Social War, quickly reduced, began a reign of terror which had made the use of force within (the “”), in which hundreds Italy seem commonplace. The end of the of his enemies or those of his adherents republic was foreshadowed. were killed without trial, while their prop- Having cowed Rome into acquies- erty went to enrich him and his friends. cence and having passed some legislation, Wherever in Italy he had met resistance, Sulla left for the East. Cinna, one of the land was expropriated and given to his consuls of 87, at once called for the soldiers for settlement. The Late Republic (133–31 BC) | 89

While the terror prevailed, Sulla used extended recent developments where his powers to put through a comprehen- they seemed useful: the Italians retained sive program of reform (81). Although he full citizenship; the system of standing had twice taken Rome with a private pro- criminal courts was expanded; the prac- letarian army, he had earlier had tice of praetors normally spending their connections with the inner circles of the year of office in Rome and then going to oligarchy, and after Cinna’s death some provinces for a second year was extended eminent men who had refused to collabo- to consuls and became an integral part of rate with Cinna joined Sulla. By the time his system. To prevent long command of Sulla’s success seemed certain, even most armies (which might lead to careers like of those who had collaborated were on his own), Sulla increased the number of his side, and he was acclaimed as the praetors so that, in principle and in nor- defender of the nobility who had defeated mal circumstances, each province might an illegal revolutionary regime. His have a new governor every year. As for reforms aimed chiefly at stabilizing the overriding problem of poverty, his Senate authority by removing alternative contribution to solving it was to settle centres of power. tens of thousands of his veterans on land The tribunate was emasculated, the confiscated from enemies in Italy; having censors’ powers were reduced, provincial become landowners, the veterans would governors were subjected to stricter be ready to defend the social order, in Senate control, and the equites, who had which they now had a stake, against the been purged of Sulla’s opponents by the dispossessed. proscriptions, were deprived of some At the beginning of 80 Sulla laid symbols of dignity and made leaderless down his dictatorship and became merely by the inclusion of 300 of Sulla’s chief consul, with the senior Metellus (Quintus supporters in the Senate. The jury reform Metellus Pius), a relative of his wife, as of Gaius Gracchus, seen by some leading his colleague. The state of emergency senators as the prime cause of political was officially ended. At the end of the disintegration, could now be undone, and year, after seeing to the election of two the criminal courts could once more reliable consuls, Sulla retired to Campania become a monopoly of senators. as a private citizen; he hoped that the Sulla’s measures were by no means restored oligarchy would learn to govern merely reactionary. His program was the state he had handed over to them. In basically that of Marcus Drusus. His over- 78 Marcus Lepidus, an ambitious patri- riding aim was the restoration of stable cian whom Sulla disliked and distrusted, government, and this could only come was elected consul. Sulla did not inter- from the Senate, directed by the principes vene. Within a few months, Sulla was (former consuls and those they chose to dead. Lepidus at once attacked his sys- consult). Sulla accepted and even tem, using the grievances of the 90 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

hatred because of cold-blooded duplicity during the troubles of 88 and 87. After Strabo’s death, young Pompey, who had served under him and inherited his dubiously won wealth, was pro- tected by Cinna’s government against his father’s enemies. Following in his father’s foot- steps, he deserted the government after Cinna’s death, raised a force among his father’s veterans in central Italy, and helped to conquer Italy and, in a lightning cam- paign, Sicily and the province of Africa for Sulla. Although not old enough to hold any regular magistracy (he was born in 106), he had, from these military bases, black- mailed Sulla into granting him After initiating sweeping reforms—some wrought by force a triumph (81) and had married and bloodshed—Sulla voluntarily gave up his dictator- into the core of the Sullan oli- ship and receded from public life. Hulton Archive/ garchy. Out of pique against Getty Images Sulla, he had supported Lepidus’s election for 78, but expropriated as a rallying cry and his he had too great a stake in the Sullan sys- province of Gaul as a base. But he was tem to permit Lepidus to overthrow it. easily defeated by his former colleague Meanwhile a more serious challenge to Quintus Catulus, assisted by young the system had arisen in Iberia. Quintus Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey). Sertorius, a former praetor of tough Sabine stock, had refused to follow most of The early career his social betters in joining Sulla; instead of Pompey he had left for Spain, where he claimed to represent the legitimate government. Pompey was the son of Gnaeus Pompeius Although acting throughout as a Roman Strabo, who had triumphed after the proconsul, with a “counter-Senate” of Social War but had incurred general eminent Roman citizens, Sertorius won The Late Republic (133–31 BC) | 91 the enthusiastic support of the native population by his fair- ness, honesty, and charisma, and he soon held most of the , defending it success- fully even against a large force under Quintus Metellus Pius. When the consuls of 77 would have nothing to do with this war, Pompey was entrusted by the Senate, through the efforts of his eminent friends and sponsors, with the task of assisting Metellus. The war dragged on for years, with little glory for the Roman commanders. Although Sertorius had many sympathiz- ers in Italy, superior numbers and resources finally wore him down, and he was assassinated by a Roman officer. Pompey easily defeated the remnants of Sertorius’s forces in 72. The death of Nicomedes IV of Bithynia (74) led to another major war. Like Attalus Early in his career, during his joint consulate with of Pergamum, Nicomedes left Crassus, the great statesman and general Pompey his kingdom to Rome, and managed to substantially repeal Sulla’s political reforms. this provoked Mithradates, Pompey was first an associate, then an opponent, of who was in contact with Julius Caesar. Hulton Archive/Getty Images Sertorius and knew of Rome’s difficulties, to challenge Rome again. The command against the pirates in the east- Eastern command again led to intrigues ern Mediterranean (whom his father in Rome. The command finally went to had already fought in 102–100), partly, Lucius Lucullus, a relative of Sulla and perhaps, as further reinsurance against consul in 74, who hoped to build up a Pompey. With Italian manpower heavily countervailing power in the East. committed, a minor slave rising led by At the same time, , (73) assumed threatening father of the later Triumvir, was given a dimensions, until Marcus Crassus (an old 92 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Sullan and profiteer in the proscriptions) succeeded in persuading Cicero—an volunteered to accept a special command ambitious young “new man” from and defeated the slaves. At this point (71) Arpinum hoping to imitate the success Pompey returned from Spain with his of his fellow citizen Marius by means of army, crucified the remnants of the slave his rhetorical ability—to undertake the army, and claimed credit for the victory. prosecution. Despite obstruction from Verres’ friends, Cicero collected massive Pompey and Crassus evidence against him, presented his case to fit into the political context of the year, Pompey and Crassus now confronted and obtained Verres’ conviction as an act each other, each demanding the consul- of expiation for the shortcomings of the ship for 70, though Pompey had held no Sullan order. regular magistracy and was not a senator. The year 70 thus marked the loss of Agreeing to join forces, both secured it. control by the Sullan establishment. The During their consulship, the political, nobility (families descended from consuls) though not the administrative, part of continued to gain most of the consul- the Sullan settlement was repealed. The ships, with the old patriciate (revived by tribunes’ powers were fully restored, Sulla after a long decline) stronger than criminal juries were divided between for generations. The Senate still super- senators and wealthy nonsenators, and, vised administration and made ordinary for the first time since Sulla, two censors— political decisions, and the system con- both supporters of Pompey—were tinued to rely essentially on mos majorum elected. The censors purged the Senate (constitutional custom) and auctoritas and, in compiling the registers, at last fully (prestige)—potent forces in the status implemented the Italians’ citizenship. society of the Roman Republic. The solid The year 70 also saw the prosecution bases of law and power that Sulla had of Verres (son of a “new man” and Sullan tried to give it had been surrendered, profiteer), who had surpassed the liberal however. The demagogue—tribune or Roman conventions in exploiting his consul—could use the legal machinery province of Sicily. For future impunity he of the popular assembly (hence such men relied on his aristocratic connections are called populares), while the com- (especially the Metelli and their friends), mander could rely on his army in the his fortune, and the known corruptibility pursuit of private ambition. The situation of the Sullan senatorial juries. But Verres that Sulla had tried to remedy now was unlucky. First, he had ill-treated some recurred, made worse by his intervention. of Pompey’s important Sicilian clients, His massacres and proscriptions had thus incurring Pompey’s displeasure. weeded out the defenders of lawful gov- Next, his case coincided with the anti- ernment, and his rewards had gone to the Sullan reaction of 70. Finally, the timeservers and the unscrupulous. The The Late Republic (133–31 BC) | 93 large infusion of equites into the Senate Opposition to all this in the Senate, where had intensified the effect. While eliminat- it appeared, was based on personal or ing the serious friction between the two political antagonism. If the robber barons classes, which had made the state ungov- were attacked on moral grounds, it was ernable by 91, it had filled the Senate with because of the use they made of their men whose tradition was the opposite power in Rome. of that sense of mission and public ser- Politically, the 60s lay under the vice that had animated the best of the shadow of Pompey. Refusing to take an aristocracy. Few men in the new ruling ordinary province in 69, he waited for his class saw beyond self-interest and chance. It came in 67 when his adherent self-indulgence. Gabinius, as tribune, secured him, against One result was that massive bribery the opposition of all important men, an and civil disorder in the service of ambi- extraordinary command with unprece- tion became endemic. Laws were dented powers to deal with the pirates. repeatedly passed to stop them, but they Pompey succeeded within a few months remained ineffective because few found where Antonius and others had failed. it in their interest to enforce them. The equites and the people were Exploitation of the provinces did not delighted because trade, including decrease after Verres. Governors (still Rome’s food imports, would now be with unlimited powers) feathered their secure. Meanwhile Lucullus had driven own nests and were expected to provide Mithradates out of Anatolia and into for all their friends. Extortion cases ; but he had offended Roman became a political ritual, with convictions businessmen by strict control and his impossible to obtain. Cicero, thenceforth own soldiers and officers by strict disci- usually counsel for the defense, presented pline. Faced with mutinies, he suffered a hair-raising behaviour as commonplace reverse and became vulnerable to attacks and claimed it as acceptable. The Senate’s in Rome. In 66 another tribunician law traditional opposition to annexation appointed Pompey, fresh from his naval faded out. Pompey made into a victories, to take over supreme command province and added a large part of Pontus in the East, which he did at once, studi- to Bithynia (inherited in 74 and occupied ously insulting his predecessor. He in 70). The demagogue annexed quickly defeated Mithradates and pro- —driving its king to suicide—to cured his death, then spent some time in pay for his massive grain distributions in a total reorganization of the East, where Rome. Caesar, finally, conquered Gaul by Asia (the chief source of revenue) was open aggression and genocide and bled protected by three further provinces and it for the benefit of his friends and a of client states beyond the frontier. his ambitions. Crassus would have done The whole of the East now stood in his the same with , had he succeeded. clientela (clientship), and most of it owed 94 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion him money as well. He returned by far the for it. Pompey was miffed at having to wealthiest man in Rome. share his fame with a municipal upstart, and eminent gentlemen could not forgive Political suspicion that upstart for having driven patricians and violence to their death. Pompey’s return was peaceful. Like Meanwhile Roman politics had been full Marius, he wanted recognition, not tyr- of suspicion and violence, much of it anny. He dismissed his army, to the stirred up by Crassus who, remembering surprise of Crassus and others, and 71, feared Pompey’s return and tried to basked in the glory of his triumph and the make his own power impregnable. There honours voted to him. But having given was much material for revolution, with up power, he found himself caught in a poverty (especially in the country, among net of constitutional obstruction woven families dispossessed by Sulla) and debt by his politically experienced enemies (among both the poor and the dissolute and was unable to have either of his rich) providing suitable issues for unscru- principal demands met: land for his vet- pulous populares. One such man, the erans and the ratification of his patrician , after twice failing to arrangements in the East. It was at this gain the consulship by traditional bribery point that Caesar returned from Spain. and intrigue, put himself at the head of a Gaius Julius Caesar, descended (as movement planning a coup d’état in he insisted) from kings and gods, had Rome to coincide with an armed rising shown talent and ambition in his youth: in Italy (late 63). Cicero, as consul, he opposed Sulla but without inviting defeated these efforts and, relying on the punishment, married into the oligarchy doubtful legality of a Senate vote in sup- but advocated popular causes, vocally port, had Catiline’s eminent Roman defended Pompey’s interests while aid- associates executed. Catiline himself fell ing Crassus in his intrigues and in a desperate battle. borrowing a fortune from him, flirted For Cicero—the “new man” who had with Catiline but refused to dabble in rev- made his way to the top by his own ora- olution, then worked to save those whom torical and political skill, obliging Cicero executed. In 63 he won a startling everyone by unstinting service, repre- success: defeating two distinguished senting Pompey’s interests in Rome while principes, he, who had not yet been praetor, avoiding offense to Pompey’s enemies— was elected pontifex maximus—a post of this was the climax of his life. Like his supreme dignity, power, and patronage. compatriot Marius, he had saved the state Despite some among Roman for its rulers: he had taken resolute action aristocrats toward the state religion, its when those rulers were weak and vacillat- ceremonial was kept up and was a recog- ing; and, like Marius, he got small thanks nized means of political manipulation; The Late Republic (133–31 BC) | 95

surplus sufficient to pay off his debts. On returning to Rome, he naturally hoped for the con- sulship of 59; but his enemies, by legal chicanery, forced him to choose between standing for office and celebrating a tri- umph. He gave up the triumph and easily became consul.

The final collapse of the Roman Republic (59–44 BC)

For his consulship Caesar fash- ioned an improbable alliance. His skill in having won the trust of both Crassus and Pompey enabled him to unite these two enemies in his support. Cras­ sus had the connections, Pompey had the soldiers’ vote, and Caesar was consul and pontifex maximus. The combination that Caesar had fashioned (often misleadingly called the “”) was invincible, especially since the consul Julius Caesar is credited with laying the foundations for Caesar had no scruples about the Roman imperial system and changing the course of countering legal obstruction Greco-Roman history. Hulton Archive/Getty Images with open force. Pompey got what he wanted, as did Crassus, thus priesthoods could give more lasting whose immediate need was a concession power than magistracies, in addition to to the Asian tax farmers, in whose com- the cachet of social success. Young panies he probably had much of his Caesar was now head of the hierarchy. capital. In return, Caesar got a special After his praetorship (62), Caesar suc- command in Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum cessfully governed Spain, clearing a for five years by vote of the people; the 96 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Senate itself, on Pompey’s motion, with a large army. Thus the three dynasts extended it to Transalpine Gaul. Marriage would practically monopolize military alliances sealed the compact, chief of power for the foreseeable future. them Pompey’s marriage to Caesar’s Cicero, among others, had to submit daughter . and was thenceforth their loyal spokes- Caesar left for Gaul, but Rome was man. After his achievement of 63 he had never the same. The shadow of the alli- dreamed of leading a coalition of all ance hung over it, making the old-style “right-thinking” men in Italy in defend- politics impossible. In 58 Publius Clodius, ing the traditional oligarchy, but he had another aristocratic demagogue, was tri- found little support among the oligarchy. bune and defended Caesar’s interests. He now used this fact to rationalize his Cicero had incurred Clodius’s enmity surrender. His brother took service in and was now sacrificed to him: he was Gaul under Caesar. driven into exile as having unlawfully The dynasts’ pact did not even bring executed citizens in 63. By 57 Caesar’s peace. Clodius, as tribune, had created a allies had drifted back into rivalry. private army, and there was no state force Pompey secured Cicero’s return, and to counter it. Pompey could have done it Cicero at once tried to break up the alli- by calling his soldiers in, but the Senate ance by attracting Pompey to the Senate’s did not trust him enough to request this, side. Just when he seemed about to suc- and Pompey did not wish to parade him- ceed, the three dynasts secretly met and self as an unashamed tyrant. Other men revived their compact (56). Rome had to formed private armies in opposition to bow once more. Clodius, and one Milo at last managed to In 55 Pompey and Crassus were con- have him killed after a scuffle (52). By suls, and the contents of their secret then, however, Roman politics had radi- agreement were slowly revealed. Caesar, cally and unexpectedly changed. whom his enemies had made efforts to recall, was prolonged in his command for Political Maneuvers five years and (it later appeared) had been promised another consulship Julia died in 54, breaking the ties between straight after, to secure him against pros- . Caesar pressed ecution and give him a chance of another Pompey to renew them, but Pompey held army command. Pompey was given a off, preserving his freedom of action. special command over all of Spain, which Crassus’s Parthian campaign ended in he exercised through deputies while he disaster and in Crassus’s death (53). By 52 himself remained just outside Rome to Pompey and Caesar stood face to face, keep an eye on the city. Crassus, who now still nominally friends but with no per- needed glory and new wealth to equal sonal link between them and no common those of his allies, was to attack Parthia interests. Caesar, by conquering the The Late Republic (133–31 BC) | 97 whole of Gaul, had almost equaled with Pompey’s silent support, worked for Pompey’s prestige and, by his utterly Caesar’s recall, which would have meant ruthless way of waging war, Pompey’s his instantly sharing the fate of Milo, wealth. Unlike Pompey, he used his while Caesar and his agents in Rome wealth to dispense patronage and buy tried to strike some bargain that would useful friends. ensure his safety and his future in poli- At this point Pompey cautiously tics. Finally, Pompey declared himself, offered the oligarchy his support. It had and, early in 49, the Senate voted to out- much to give him that he wanted—control law Caesar. Two tribunes supporting of the administrative machine, respecta- him (one of them ) had to bility, and the seal of public approval. Its flee. By the time they reached him, leaders (even the intransigent young Caesar had already crossed the : Cato, who had led opposition to the three he now had a cause. individually long before their alliance and to their joint oppression of the state Civil War ever since) now recognized that accep- tance of Pompey’s terms and surrender to Pompey had exuded confidence over the his protection was their only chance of outcome if it came to war. In fact, how- survival. Pompey at once turned firmly ever, Caesar’s veterans were unbeatable, against Milo, who presented a political and both men knew it. To the disgust of threat. If Milo could use the force that had his followers, Pompey evacuated Rome, killed Clodius to keep firm control of then Italy. His plan was to bottle Caesar Rome, he—an ambitious man of known up in Italy and starve him out. But Caesar, conservative views—might in due course in a lightning sweep, seized Massilia and offer an alternative and more trustworthy Spain from Pompey’s commanders, then champion to the oligarchy. crossed into Greece, where a short cam- But he was not yet ready. Pompey paign ended in Pompey’s decisive defeat forced them to make their choice at once, at Pharsalus (48). Pompey fled to Egypt, and they chose Pompey in preference. He where he was assassinated by a man hop- was made sole consul and had Milo con- ing thus to curry Caesar’s favour. This victed by an intimidated court. Meanwhile was by no means the end of the war. he had made a marriage alliance with the Almost at once Caesar was nearly trapped noblest man in Rome, Quintus Metellus at , where he had intervened in Scipio, who became his colleague in the a succession dispute; but he escaped and consulship. The state had captured installed on the throne, for per- Pompey (or vice versa), and Caesar stood sonal as well as political reasons. In Africa alone in opposition to both of them. the Pompeian forces and their native During the next two years there were a allies were not defeated until Caesar him- series of maneuvers. The Senate leaders, self moved against them and annihilated 98 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion them at Thapsus. Cato, disdaining the planned for his own retirement. For a time, ’s pardon, committed suicide at honourable men, such as Cicero, hoped Utica (46). In Spain, where Pompey’s that the “Dictator for Settling the name was still powerful, his sons orga- Constitution” (as Caesar called himself) nized a major rising, which Caesar himself would produce a real constitution—some again had to defeat at Munda (45) in the return to free institutions. By late 45 that bloodiest battle of the war. By the time he hope was dead. Caesar was everywhere, returned, he had only a few months to live. doing everything to an almost superhuman degree. He had no solution for the crisis The Dictatorship and of the republic except to embody it in Assassination of Caesar himself and none at all for the hatred of his peers, which he knew this was causing. He In Rome the administrative machine had began to accept more and more of the hon- inevitably been disrupted, and Caesar ours that a subservient Senate invidiously had always remained in control, as consul offered, until finally he reached a position or as dictator. Those who had feared pro- perilously close to kingship (an accursed scriptions, or hoped for them, were term in Rome) and even deification. proved wrong. Some of Caesar’s enemies Whether he passed those hazy had their property confiscated, but it was boundary lines is much debated and not sold at fair value; most were pardoned very important. He had put himself in a and suffered no loss. One of these was position in which no Roman ought to have Cicero, who, after much -searching, been and which no Roman aristocrat had followed his conscience by joining could tolerate. As a loyal friend of his was Pompey before Pharsalus. later to say: “With all his genius, he saw no Poverty and indebtedness were alle- way out.” To escape the problem or post- viated, but there was no wholesale pone it, he prepared for a Parthian war to cancellation of debts or redistribution of avenge Crassus—a project most likely property, and many of Caesar’s adherents to have ended in similar disaster. Before were disappointed. Nor was there a gen- he could start on it, about 60 men—former eral reform of the republic. (Caesar’s only friends and old enemies, honourable patri- major reform was of the calendar; indeed, ots and men with grievances—struck him the proved adequate for down in the Senate on March 15, 44 BC. centuries.) The number of senators and magistrates was increased, the citizenship The Triumvirate and was more freely given, and the province of Octavian’s Achievement of Asia was relieved of some of its tax burden. Sole Power But Caesar had no plan for reforming the system—not even to the extent that Sulla and Cassius, the organizers of had tried to do, for Sulla had at least the conspiracy, expected all Romans to The Late Republic (133–31 BC) | 99

Caesar was launching a series of political and social reforms when he was assassinated by a group of nobles in the Senate House on March 15—the infamous . Hulton Archive/Getty Images rejoice with them in the rebirth of “free- by adoption and now his heir. Although dom.” But to the Roman people the not yet 20, Octavian proved an accom- freedom of the governing class had never plished politician. He attracted loyalty as meant very much. The armies (especially a Caesarian while cooperating against in the west) were attached to Caesar and Antony with the Senate, which, under the Senate was full of Caesarians at all Cicero’s vigorous leadership, now turned levels, cowed but biding their time. Mark against the consul. Cicero hoped to frag- Antony, the surviving consul whom Brutus ment and thus defeat the Caesarian party, had been too scrupulous to assassinate with the help of Brutus and Cassius, who with his master, gradually gained control were making good progress in seizing of the city and the official machinery, and control of the eastern provinces and the “liberators” withdrew to the East. armies. In 43 the two consuls (both old But a challenger for the position of Caesarian officers) and Octavian defeated leader of the Caesarians soon appeared Antony at Mutina, and success seemed in the person of Octavian, Caesar’s son imminent. But the consuls died, and 100 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Octavian demanded and, by armed force, extended), even though Lepidus had obtained the consulship. been eliminated in 36. The armies of Italy, Spain, and Gaul Each of the two leaders embarked on soon showed that they would not fight campaigns and reorganization in his against one another. Octavian, Antony, half—Octavian in Illyricum, Antony par- and Lepidus (the senior Caesarian with ticularly on the Parthian frontier. But an army) now had themselves appointed Antony now married Cleopatra and tried “Triumvirs for Settling the Constitution” to make Egypt his military and political for five years and secured control of Italy base. In a war of propaganda, Octavian by massive proscriptions and confiscations gradually convinced the western prov- (Cicero, Antony’s chief enemy, was inces, Italy, and most of the Roman upper among the first to die). They then class that Antony was sacrificing Roman defeated and killed Brutus and Cassius at interests, trying to become a Hellenistic Philippi (42) and divided the Roman king in Alexandria, and planning to rule world among themselves, with Lepidus, the Roman world from there with a weak man accidentally thrust into Cleopatra. In 32, though he now held no prominence, getting the smallest share. legal position, Octavian intimidated Octavian, who was to control Italy, met most of Antony’s remaining aristocratic armed opposition from Antony’s brother friends into joining him, made the whole and wife, but they got no help from Antony West swear allegiance to himself, and in and were defeated at Perusia (41). 31, as consul, crossed into Greece to Octavian and Antony sealed their attack Antony. On 2 he alliance with a marriage compact. defeated in a naval Antony married , Octavian’s sis- battle at Actium. Although in itself not a ter. Octavian then confronted Pompey’s major victory, it was followed by the dis- son Sextus Pompeius, who had seized integration of Antony’s forces, and control of the islands off Italy. After Antony and Cleopatra finally committed much diplomatic maneuvering (includ- suicide in Alexandria (30). ing another meeting with Antony), Octavian attacked and defeated Sextus; Intellectual life of when Lepidus tried to reassert himself, the late republic Octavian crushed him and stripped him of his office of Triumvir (while with con- The late Roman Republic, despite its spicuous leaving him the chief turmoil, was a period of remarkable intel- pontificate, now an office without power). lectual ferment. Many of the leading Octavian now controlled the West and political figures were men of serious Antony the East, still officially as intellectual interests and literary achieve- Triumvirs (their term of office had been ment; foremost among them were Cicero, The Late Republic (133–31 BC) | 101

Caesar, Cato, Pompey, and Varro, all of Roman traditions favoured the devel- them senators. The political upheaval opment of certain disciplines, creating a itself leavened intellectual life; imperial pattern that was distinct from the Greek. senators were to look back to the late Disciplines related to the public life of republic as a time when great political senators prospered—notably oratory, law, struggles stimulated great oratory, some- and history; certain fields of study were thing the more ordered world of the judged fit for diversions in leisure , emperors could no longer do. and still others were considered beneath The seeds of intellectual develop- the dignity of an honourable Roman. ment had been sown in the late third and Areas such as medicine and architecture early second centuries; the flowering were left to Greeks and others of lower came in the last generation of the repub- status, and mathematics and the sciences lic. As late as the 90s BC the Romans still aroused little interest. Greek slaves espe- appear relatively unsophisticated. Greek cially played an important role in the were absorbed in debates intellectual life of the late republic, serv- among themselves, giving only passing ing in roles as diverse as teachers, nods to Romans by dedicating untechni- copyists of manuscripts, and oral readers cal works to them. In 92 the censors issued to aristocrats. an closing down the schools of By the beginning of the imperial era Latin rhetoric in Rome. Serious students the maturing of Roman intellectual culture such as Cicero had to go east in the to was evident. Caesar had commissioned receive their higher education from lead- Varro to organize the first ing Greek philosophers and rhetoricians. in Rome, and Greek scholars such as the The centre of intellectual life began geographer Strabo moved west to pursue to shift toward the West after the 90s. As their studies in Rome. a result of the Mithradatic wars, libraries were brought from the East to Italy. The Grammar and Rhetoric Hellenistic kingdoms, which had pro- vided the patronage for much intellectual The education of the Roman elite was activity, were dismantled by Pompey dominated by training in language skills, and Octavian, and Greek intellectuals grammar, and rhetoric. The grammatici , increasingly joined the retinues of great who taught grammar and literature, were Roman senators such as Pompey. Pri­ lower-class and often servile depen- vate Roman houses, especially senatorial dents. Nevertheless, they helped to villas on the Bay of Naples, became the develop a Roman consciousness about focus of intellectual life; it was there that “proper” spelling and usage that the elite libraries were reassembled and Greek adopted as a means of setting them- teachers kept as dependents. selves off from humbler men. This 102 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion interest in language was expressed in to write treatises aimed at organizing Varro’s work on words and grammar, De existing law into a system, defining prin- Lingua Latina (43?), with its prescriptive ciples and concepts, and then applying tone. Rhetoric, though a discipline of those principles systematically. Quintus higher status, was still taught mainly by Mucius Scaevola was a pivotal figure: a Greeks in Greek. The rhetoricians offered pontifex in the traditional role, he pub- rules for composition: how to elaborate a lished the first systematic legal treatise, speech with ornamentation and, more De iure civili, in the 80s. Cicero credited important, how to organize a work his contemporary Servius Sulpicius through the dialectical skills of defini- Rufus with being the jurist who trans- tion and division of the subject matter formed law into a discipline (ars). into analytical . The Romans The decisive events of the late repub- absorbed these instructions so thor- lic stimulated the writing of history. The oughly that the last generation of the first extant historical works in Latin republic produced an equal of the great- (rather than in Greek) date from this est Greek orators in Cicero. The influence period: ’s Bellum Iugurtinum on Roman culture of dialectical thinking, (Iugurthine War) and Bellum Catilinae instilled through rhetoric, can hardly be (Catilinarian Conspiracy) and Caesar’s overstated; the result was an increas- about his Gallic and civil wars. ingly disciplined, well-organized habit of The rapid changes also prompted anti- thinking. This development can be seen quarian studies as Roman senators most clearly in the series of agricultural looked back to archaic institutions and works by Roman authors: whereas Cato’s religious rituals of the distant past to second-century De agricultura is ram- legitimize or criticize the present. Varro’s bling and disorganized, Varro’s three 41 books (now lost) on Antiquitates terum books on Res rusticae (37), with their humanarum et divinarum (“Antiquities of division of soils into 99 types, seem things human and divine”) were influen- excessively organized. tial in establishing the traditions of early Rome for future generations. Law and History Philosophy and Poetry Roman law, although traditional in con- tent, was also deeply influenced by Greek Philosophy and poetry were suitable as dialectic. For centuries the law had been pastimes for senators; few, however, were passed down orally by pontifical priests. as serious about philosophy as the It emerged as an intellectual discipline younger Cato and Cicero. Even Cicero’s only in the late republic, when men who philosophical works were not technical saw themselves as legal specialists began treatises by Greek standards. Rather, they The Late Republic (133–31 BC) | 103

were written by humbler men and are now lost. A survey of their names and titles, however, shows that was not yet the dominant philosophical it later became. More in evidence were the Epicureans, peripatetics, and academics. There also were revivals of Aristotelian and Pythagorean studies in this period. The best-known of the late republican and civil war periods came from well- to-do Italian families. from (c. 84–c. 54) had a reputation as doctus (learned) for his exquisitely crafted poems full of literary allusions in the Alexandrian style. Far from cumbersome, however, were many of his short, witty poems that chal- lenged traditional Roman mores and deflated senatorial pretensions. Rome’s greatest poets, Virgil (70–19) and Horace (65– One of Rome’s greatest poets, Virgil wrote poems that 8), were born during the expressed his sorrow regarding the political and social republic, came of age during upheaval all around him. Hulton Archive/Getty Images the civil wars, and survived to celebrate the victory of their were presented as dialogues among lead- patron, Augustus. Virgil’s one ing senators in their leisure. Similarly, and nine, written during the civil wars, ’s (“On the poignantly evoke the suffering of the Nature of Things”; 50s) offered, in verse, a great upheaval that ironically inspired nontechnical explanation of Epicurean­ Rome’s highest intellectual and artistic ism. The technical philosophical works achievements. CHAPTER 4

The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193)

ctium left Octavian the master of the Roman world. This Asupremacy, successfully maintained until his death more than 40 years later, made him the fi rst of the Roman emperors. Suicide removed Antony and Cleopatra and their potential menace in 30 BC , and the annexation of Egypt with its Ptolemaic treasure brought fi nancial independence. With these reassurances Octavian could begin the task of reconstruction.

THE CONSOLIDATION Of THE EMPIRE uNDER THE JuLIO-CLAuDIANS

Law and order had vanished from the Roman state when its ruling aristocrats refused to curb their individual ambitions, and the most corrupt and violent people could gain protec- tion for their by promising their support to those ambitious. Furthermore, the ambitious and the violent together could thus transform a republic based on disciplined liberty into a turbulent cockpit of murderous rivalries. Good government depended on limits being set to unre- strained aspirations, and Octavian was in a position to impose them. But his military might, although suffi ciently strong in 31 BC to guarantee orderly political processes, was itself incompatible with them; nor did he relish the role of military despot. The fate of Julius Caesar, an eagerness to The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 105 acquire political respectability, and his 27 BC hardly aff ected his military own esteem for ancestral custom com- strength. Moreover, so long as he was bined to dissuade Octavian from it. He consul (he was reelected every year until wished to be, in his own words, “the 23 BC ), he was civilian head of govern- author of the best civilian government ment as well. In other words, he was still possible.” His problem was to regularize preeminent and all-powerful, even if he his own position so as to make it gener- had, in his own words, placed the res ally acceptable, without simultaneously reopening the door to violent lawless- ness. His pragmatic responses not only ensured stability and continuity but also respected republican forms and tradi- tions so far as possible.

The Establishment of the Principate Under Augustus

Large-scale demobilization allayed people’s fears; regular consular elections raised their hopes. In 29–28 BC Octavian car- ried out, with Marcus Vipsanius , his powerful deputy, the fi rst census of the Roman people since 70; and this involved drawing up an electoral roll for the Centuriate Assembly. Elections fol- lowed, and Octavian was inevitably chosen consul. Then, on Jan. 13, 27 BC , he off ered to lay down his powers. The Roman Senate rejected this proposal, charging him instead to administer (besides Egypt) Spain, Gaul, and Syria for the next 10 years, while the Senate was to supervise the rest of the empire. Three days later, among other honours, it bestowed upon him the name by which Gaius Octavius was the fi rst to rule after the republic. The Senate con- he has ever since been known, Augustus. ferred upon him the name Augustus, a title As most of the troops still under that is meant to convey Octavius’s superiority arms were in the regions entrusted to among men. Hulton Archive/Getty Images Augustus’s charge, the arrangements of 106 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion publica at the disposal of the Senate and unlikely to rouse resentment. Indeed, the Roman people. Augustus particularly Augustus thenceforth shrewdly propa- wished to conciliate the senatorial class, gated the notion that if his position in the without whose cooperation civilian gov- state was exceptional (which it clearly ernment was impossible. But his was), it was precisely because of his tribu- monopolization of the consulship offended nician power. Although he held it for only the Senate, making a different arrange- one year at a time, it was indefinitely ment clearly necessary. Accordingly, in renewable and was pronounced his for life. 23 Augustus made a change; he vacated Thus, it was both annual and perpetual the consulship and never held it again and was a suitable vehicle for numbering (except momentarily in 5 BC and again in the years of his supremacy. His era (and 2 BC, for a limited, specific purpose). this is true also of later emperors) was In its place he received the tribunician counted officially from the year when he power (tribunicia potestas). He could not acquired the tribunician power. become an actual plebeian tribune, The year 23 likewise clarified the because Julius Caesar’s action of making legal basis for Augustus’s control of his him a patrician had disqualified him for provincia (the region under his jurisdic- the office. But he could acquire the rights tion) and its armed forces. The Senate and privileges pertaining to the office; and invested him with an imperium procon- they were conferred upon him, apparently sulare (governorship and high command), by the Senate, whose action was then rati- and, while this had a time limit, it was fied by the popular assembly. He had automatically renewed whenever it already been enjoying some of a tribune’s lapsed (usually every 10 years). This pro- privileges since 36; but he now acquired consular imperium, furthermore, was them all and even some additional ones, pronounced valid inside Italy, even inside such as the right to convene the Senate Rome and the pomerium (the boundary whenever he chose and to enjoy priority within which only Roman gods could be in bringing business before it. Through worshiped and civil magistrates rule), his tribunician power he could also sum- and it was superior (majus) to the impe- mon the popular assembly and participate rium of any other proconsul. Thus, fully in its proceedings. Clearly, although Augustus could intervene legally in any no longer consul, he still retained the province, even in one entrusted to some- legal right to authority in civilian affairs. one else. The arrangement of 23 entailed an The network of favours owed him additional advantage. The power of the that Augustus had cultivated within the plebeian tribune was traditionally associ- state, among people of the greatest ated with the protection of citizens, and authority over their own networks, made Augustus’s acquisition of it was therefore his position virtually unassailable, but he The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 107 avoided provoking this high class of his dependent on him. Of that capacity, man- supporters, senatorial and equestrian, by ifest on a grand scale, his tribunician not drawing attention to the most power and proconsular imperium were and autocratic of the many grants of only the formal expression. He was a power he had received, the imperium charismatic leader of unrivaled prestige proconsulare majus. Instead, he paraded (auctoritas), whose merest suggestions the tribunician power as the expression were binding. of his supreme position in the state. Like an ordinary Roman, he con- After 23 no fundamental change in tented himself with three names. His, Augustus’s position occurred. He felt no however, Caesar Augustus, need to hold offices that in republican were absolutely unique, with a all times would have conferred exceptional their own that caused all later emperors power (e.g., dictatorship, lifetime censor- to appropriate them, at first selectively ship, or regular consulship), even though but after AD 69 in their entirety. Thereby these were offered him. Honours, of they became titles, reserved for the course, came his way. In 19 BC he received emperor (or, in the case of the name some consular rights and prerogatives, Caesar, for his heir apparent); from them presumably to ensure that his imperium derive the titles emperor, kaiser, and . was in no particular inferior to a consul’s. Yet, as used by Augustus and his first In 12, when Lepidus died, he became pon- four successors, the words Imperator tifex maximus (he had long since been Caesar Augustus were names, not titles— elected into all of the priestly colleges). that is, respectively, , nomen In 8 BC, the eighth month of the year (in effect), and . One title that was named after him, and in 2 BC, he was Augustus did have was princeps (prince). designated (“father of his This, however, was unofficial—a mere country”), a distinction that he particu- popular label, meaning Rome’s first citi- larly esteemed because it suggested that zen—and government documents such as he was to all Romans what a paterfamilias inscriptions or coins do not apply it to was to his own household. He also Augustus. But because of it the system of accepted special commissions from time government he devised is called the to time—e.g., the supervision of the sup- principate. ply of grain and water, the maintenance of public buildings (including temples), The Roman Senate and the the regulation of the Tiber, the superin- Urban Magistracies tendence of the police and firefighting services, and the upkeep of Italy’s roads. Augustus regarded the Senate, whose Such behaviour advertised his will and leading member () he capacity to improve the lives of people had become in 28, as a body 108 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion with important functions. It heard fewer To rid the Senate of unworthy mem- overseas embassies than formerly, but bers, he reduced its numbers by otherwise its dignity and authority successive reviews to about 600 (from seemed unimpaired. Its members filled the triumviral 1,000 or more). Sons of sen- the highest offices, and its decrees, ators and men of good repute and although not formally called laws, were substance who had served in the army just as binding. The Senate soon became and the vigintiviri (“board of twenty,” a high court whose verdicts were unap- minor magistracy) could become mem- pealable. It supervised the older provinces bers by being elected, at age 25 or over, to and, nominally, the state finances as well the quaestorship. Their subsequent rank and, in effect, elected the urban magis- in the Senate depended on what other trates. Formally, even the emperor’s magistracies they managed to win. These powers derived from the Senate. were, in ascending order, the aedileship Nevertheless, it lacked real power. Its (or plebeian tribunate), the praetorship, provinces contained few troops (and by and the consulship. No one disliked by AD 40 it had ceased to control even these Augustus could expect to reach any of few). Hence, it could hardly dispute them, while anyone whom he nominated Augustus’s wishes. In fact, real power or endorsed was sure of election. Despite rested with Augustus, who superintended the emperor’s control, there were usually state finances and above all controlled enough candidates for keen contests. membership in the Senate; every sena- By AD 5 destinatio seems to have tor’s career depended on his goodwill. been the practice—that is, a special panel But he valued the Senate as the reposi- of senators and equites selected the tory of the true Roman spirit and praetors and consuls, and the comitia traditions and as the body representing centuriata automatically ratified their public opinion. He was considerate choice. In about AD 5, likewise, the toward it, shrewdly anticipated its reac- consul­ship was shortened to six months. tions, and generally avoided contention This not only gratified senators and with it. He regularly kept it informed increased the number of high-ranking about his activities; and an imperial qualified officials but also showed that council (Consilium Principis), which he the consuls’ duties were becoming largely consulted on matters of policy, in the ceremonial. This was also true, but to a manner of a republican magistrate seek- far lesser degree, of the other unpaid ing the opinion of his advisory committee, magistrates. A senator really made his consisted of the consuls, certain other mark in between his magistracies, when magistrates, and 15 senators—not hand- he served in important salaried posts, picked by him but chosen by lot every military or civilian or both, sometimes far six months. from Rome. The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 109

The Equestrian Order

One of the great institutions of the Roman Empire developed because senators were either too proud or too few to fi ll all the posts open throughout the empire. Some posts were considered menial and went to the emperor’s freedmen or slaves. Others were entrusted to equites, and thus it was that the equestrian order developed. Augustus decided that membership in the order should be open to Roman citizens of means and reputation but not necessarily of good birth. Ultimately, there were thousands of equites throughout the empire. Although this was a lower aristocracy, a good career was available to them. After tours of duty as an army o cer (the so-called militiae equestres), an aspiring eques might serve as the emperor’s agent (procurator) in various capacities and eventually become one of the powerful (of the fl eet, of the , or fi re brigade, of the grain supply, of Egypt, or of the ). This kind of an equestrian career became standardized only under Claudius I, but Augustus began the system and, by his use of equites in responsible posts, founded the imperial civil service, which later was headed chiefl y by them. The equites also performed another function. The senatorial order had di culty in main- taining its numbers from its own ranks and depended on recruitment from below, which meant from the equestrian order. Because this order was not confi ned to Rome or even to Italy, the Senate gradually acquired a non-Italian element. The western provinces were already supply- ing senators under Augustus.

Members of the equestrian order, called eques, were the Roman equivalent of an English . Most were originally part of the military cavalry, later becoming members of a political and administrative class. Hulton Archive/Getty Images 110 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Administration of he himself, with help from such aides as Rome and Italy Agrippa, monumentalized Italian towns. The numerous Augustan structures in Ordinary Roman citizens who were neither Italy and Rome (as he boasted, a city of senators nor equites were of lesser conse- before his time and of quence. Although still used, the old afterward) have mostly perished, but formula senatus populusque Romanus impressive ruins survive (e.g., , (“the Senate and the Roman people”) had forum, and in Rome; bridge changed its meaning; in effect, its popu- at Narni; at Fano; gate at Perugia). lusque Romanus portion now meant Doubtless their construction alleviated “the emperor.” The “Roman people” had unemployment, especially among the become the “Italian people,” and it was at Rome. embodied in the person of Augustus, But economic considerations did not himself the native of an Italian town. influence Augustus’s policies much (cus- To reduce the risk of popular demon- toms tariffs, for instance, were for fiscal, strations in Rome, the emperor provided not protective, purposes), nor did he build grain doles, occasional donatives, and harbour works at Ostia, Rome’s port. various entertainments; but he allowed Italian commerce and industry—notably the populace no real power. After AD 5 the fine pottery, the so-called terra sigillata, Roman people’s participation in public and wine—nevertheless flourished in the life consisted in the formality of holding conditions he created. Public finances, occasional assemblies to ratify decisions mints, and coinage issues, chaotic before made elsewhere. Ultimately, this caused him, were placed on a sound basis, partly the distinction between the Roman citizens by the introduction of a sales tax and of a of Italy and the provincial inhabitants of new levy (inheritance taxes) on Roman the overseas empire to disappear; under citizens—who hitherto had been subject Augustus, however, the primacy of Italy only to harbour dues and was insistently emphasized. charges—and partly by means of repeated Indeed, Italy and justice for its inhab- subventions to the public treasury (aer- itants were Augustus’s first cares. arium Saturni) from Augustus’s own Arbitrary triumviral legislation was pro- enormous private resources (patrimo- nounced invalid after 29 BC, and ordinary nium Caesaris). To keep the citizen body Roman citizens everywhere had access pure, he made manumission of slaves to Augustus’s own court of appeal (his difficult, and from those irregularly man- appellate jurisdiction dated from 30 BC umitted he withheld the citizenship. His and in effect replaced the republican many highways also contributed to Italy’s appeal to the people). His praetorian and economic betterment. urban cohorts provided physical security; Augustus’s great achievement in his officials assured grain supplies; and Italy, however, was to restore morale and The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 111 unify the country. The violence and self- him alone. These imperial provinces aggrandizement of the first century BC might be “unarmed,” but many of them had bred apathy and corruption. To were garrisoned, some quite heavily. reawaken a sense of responsibility, Those containing more than one legion especially in official and administrative were entrusted to former consuls and circles, Augustus reaffirmed traditional those with a legion or less to former prae- Italian (by laws aimed against tors; in both cases their governors were adultery, by strengthening family ties, called legati Augusti pro praetore (“leg- and by stimulating the ) and ates of Augustus with authority of a revived ancestral religion (by repairing praetor”). There were also some imperial temples, building new shrines, and reacti- provinces governed not by senators but vating moribund cults and rituals). To by equites (usually styled procurators but infuse fresh blood and energy into dis­ sometimes prefects); Judaea at the time illusioned Roman society, he promoted of Christ’s was such an eques- the assimilation of Italy: the elite of its trian province, Pontius Pilate being its municipal towns entered the . An entirely exceptional impe- Senate, and Italy became firmly one rial province was Egypt, so jealously with Rome. guarded that no senator could visit it without express permission; its Administration of was unique in being an equestrian in the Provinces command of legions. The provinces paid tribute, which Sharply distinguished from Italy were the helped to pay for the armed services, vari- provinces of the empire. From 27 BC on ous benefactions to supporters, a growing they were of two types. The Senate super- palace staff, and the public-works pro- vised the long-established ones, the grams. Periodical censuses, carefully so-called public provinces. Their gover- listing provincial resources, provided the nors were chosen by lot, usually served basis for the two direct taxes: for a year, commanded no troops, and soli, exacted from occupiers of provincial were called (although only soil, and , paid on other those superintending Asia and Africa forms of property (it was not a , were in fact former consuls, the others except in Egypt and in certain backward being former praetors). The emperor areas). In addition, the provinces paid supervised all other provinces, and col- indirect taxes, such as harbour dues. In lectively they made up his provincia. He imperial provinces the direct taxes (trib- appointed their governors, and these uta) were paid to the emperor’s procurator, served at his pleasure, none with the title an equestrian official largely indepen- of proconsul because in his own provin- dent of the governor. In senatorial cia proconsular imperium was wielded by provinces, quaestors supervised the 112 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion fi nances; but, increasingly, imperial proc- to be Roman citizens, and the form of urators also appeared. The indirect taxes government and many other aspects of (vectigalia) were still collected by publi- life specifi ed in their charters bore a cani , who were now much more rigorously thoroughly Roman character. Some controlled and gradually replaced by coloniae, in further approximation to imperial civil servants. Italian models, enjoyed exemption from To reward his troops after faithful tribute. In the municipia, only those service, Caesar had settled them on lands elected as magistrates were awarded mostly in the provinces, in veteran towns; Roman citizenship (after Hadrian, in and Augustus, for the same reason and to Africa, admission was sometimes reduce the dangerous military presence extended to the whole of the local sen- in the state generally, resorted to the ate); but the whole of the local aristocracy same procedure on a vast scale. Thus, in in the course of time would be in this the space of a single generation, more way gradually incorporated fully into the than 120 new centres were organized state. In municipia, too, charters specifi ed across the empire in an explosion of Roman forms of government. Urban urbanizing energy never equaled or even centres that were wholly noncitizen, approached in later times. In the settle- called civitates, enjoyed autonomy in ments called coloniae all residents were their own aff airs, under the governor’s

Emperor worship

Many individuals and even whole communities, in Italy and elsewhere, spontaneously expressed their thanks for the priceless gift of peace by worshiping Augustus and his family. Emperor worship was also encouraged o cially, however, as a focus of common loyalty for the polyglot empire. In the provinces, to emphasize the superiority of Italy, the o cial cult was dedicated to et Augustus. To celebrate it, representatives from provincial communities or groups of communities met in an assembly (Consilium Provinciae), which incidentally might air griev- ances as well as satisfactions. This system began in the Greek-speaking provinces, long used to wooing their rulers with divine honours. It penetrated the west only slowly, but from 12 BC an assembly for the three imperial Gallic provinces existed at . In Italy, the o cial cult was to the genius Augusti (the life spirit of his family); it was coupled in Rome with the Compitales (the spirits of his ancestors). Its principal custodi- ans ( seviri Augustales ) were normally freedmen. Both the Senate and the emperor had central control over the institution. The Senate could withhold a vote of posthumous deifi cation, and the emperor could acknowledge or refuse provincial initiatives in the establishment of emperor worship, in the construction for it, or in its liturgical details. The energy, however, that infused emperor worship was to be found almost wholly among the local . The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 113 eye. They paid taxes and administered was inherited from his “father,” the dei- the rural territory around them. In the fied Julius. The allegiance was to the west, many of them were eventually emperor personally, through a military granted the status of municipia, and they oath taken in his name every 1; adopted the originally Italian magistra- and the soldiers owed it after his death to cies (duoviri and aediles, collectively his son or chosen successor. This prefer- quattuorviri) and senate ( or ordo), ence of theirs for legitimacy could not be normally numbering 100 members. The ignored because they were now a stand- entire West rapidly came under the ing army, something that the republic administration of urban centres of these had lacked. Demobilization reduced the three forms, without which the central 60 legions of Actium to 28, a number government could never have done its hardly sufficient but all that Augustus’s job. Moreover, these centres radiated prudence or economy would counte- economic and cultural influence around nance. These became permanent them and so had an immense effect, par- formations, each with its own number ticularly on the way of life of the more and name; the soldiers serving in them backward areas. In the east, however, were called legionnaries. urban centres, though equally important Besides the legionnaries there was a for government purposes, had already somewhat smaller body of auxiliaries, or been in existence and long settled into supporting troops. The two corps their own culture and their own forms of together numbered more than a quarter government. of a million men. To them must be added The provinces were generally better the garrison of Italy—the praetorian off under the empire. Appointment over cohorts, or emperor’s bodyguard, about them as governor was now and hence- 10,000 strong—and the of the forth generally granted with the imperial fleet, which had its main head- emperor’s approval. Because he thought quarters at Misenum and in of himself as in some ways the patron Italy and subsidiary stations and flotillas and defender of the provincial popula- on seas and rivers elsewhere (the marines, tion, lax or extortionate officials could however, were not reckoned good com- expect some loss of imperial favour, an bat forces). All these troops were end to their careers, or an even more long-service professionals—the praetorians severe punishment. serving 16 years; legionaries, 20; - ries, 25; and marines, 28—with differing The Army pay scales, the praetorians’ being the highest. In addition to their pay, the men It was Augustus’s soldiers, however, not his received donatives, shares of booty, and worshipers, who made him all-powerful. retirement bonuses from a special trea- Their allegiance, like the name Caesar, sury ( militare) established in 114 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

municipal towns and the auxil- iaries from tribal areas. The tendency to use provincials grew, and by the year 100 the Roman imperial army was overwhelmingly non-Italian. Nevertheless, it helped greatly to Romanize the empire. The legionnaries were Roman citizens from the day they enlisted, if not before, and the auxiliaries (after Claudius any- way) from the day they were discharged; and, though serv- ing soldiers could not legally marry, many had mistresses whose children often became Roman citizens. The troops, other than praetorians and marines, passed their years of service in the “armed” imperial provinces—the auxiliaries in forts near the frontier and the legionaries at some distance from it in camps that showed an increasing tendency, especially after AD 69, to become perma- nent (some of them, indeed, An carving depicting Roman soldiers wearing the developed into great European legions’ familiar plumed helmets. Time & Life Pictures/ cities). There was no central Getty Images reserve, because, although desirable for emergencies, it AD 6 and maintained out of the sales tax might prove dangerous in peacetime. and Roman citizens’ death duties. Under The officers were naturally Roman Augustus the praetorians were normally citizens. In the legions those of the highest Italians, but many legionaries and virtu- rank (legati and tribuni) were senators ally all auxiliaries were provincials, or equites; lower officerscenturiones ( ) mainly from the imperial provinces in might enter directly from Italian or pro- the west, the legionaries coming from vincial municipalities or might rise The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 115 through the ranks; by the time they roads, paved with thick stone blocks: retired, if not sooner, many of them were these also served the official post system equites. In the auxiliaries the unit com- (cursus publicus) and were provided with manders (praefecti) were equites, often rest stages and overnight lodges at regu- of provincial birth. On retirement the sol- lar intervals. diers frequently settled in the provinces Areas where subjugation looked where they had served, made friends, and arduous and where Romanization seemed perhaps acquired families. Imperial pol- problematic were left to client kings, icy favoured this practice. Thus the army, dependent on the emperor’s support and which had done much to introduce into goodwill and under obligation to render the provinces Romans of all ranks, with military aid to Rome. Such satellite king- their own way of life, through veteran set- doms spared Augustus the trouble and tlements of the 40s, 30s, and 20s BC, expense of maintaining strong defenses continued in the same role on a more everywhere; nevertheless, their ultimate modest and casual scale throughout the and intended was incorporation Augustan reign and for two centuries or as soon as it suited their overlord’s con- so afterward. venience. Usually, territory was gained more easily by creating and subsequently Foreign Policy incorporating a client kingdom than by launching an expansionist war. After Actium and on two other occasions, In the south, Augustus found suitable Augustus solemnly closed the gates of frontiers quickly. In 25 BC an expedition the shrine of (a gesture of peace) to under opened the Sea show that Rome had peace as well as a to Roman use and simultaneously princeps. These well-publicized gestures revealed the Arabian Desert as an unsur- were purely temporary; the gates were passed and, indeed, unsurpassable swiftly reopened. His proconsular impe- boundary. The same year Gaius , rium made Augustus the arbiter of peace the prefect of Egypt, tightened Rome’s and war, and an ostensible search for grip as far as the First and estab- defensible frontiers made his a very war- lished a broad military zone beyond it. like reign. While the republic had left the The vast region north of the and limits of Roman territorial claims rather the Atlas Mountains was also secured vague and indefinite, he planned con- (c. 25) after a series of punitive raids quests stretching to the boundaries against native tribes and the annexation defined by nature (deserts, rivers, and of one client kingdom (Numidia) and the shores), not always, however, with creation of another (). Three immediate annexation in mind. When legions, two in Egypt and one in Africa (a annexation did occur, it was followed by senatorial province), policed the south- the construction of solidly built military ern shore of the Mediterranean. 116 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

In the west, consolidation was and , the latter a large new prov- extended to the Atlantic. Gaul, Julius ince created in 25 BC out of Amyntas’s Caesar’s conquest, was organized as four client kingdom). provinces: senatorial Narbonensis and the By a show of force, Augustus’s step- imperial three Gauls (Aquitania, Belgica, son Tiberius, in 20 BC, recovered the and Lugdunensis). In Spain, after Agrippa standards lost at Carrhae and installed successfully ended in 19 BC the last cam- Tigranes as client king of Armenia. paign that Augustus had launched in Although Augustan propaganda depicted person in 26, three provinces were formed: this as a famous victory, strategic consid- senatorial Baetica and imperial erations inevitably obliged the Parthians, and Tarraconensis. Three legions enforced once they settled their internal, dynastic Roman authority from to the dissensions, to dispute Roman control of mouth of the Rhine. Augustus ignored Armenia. Thus it can hardly be said that the advice of court poets and others to Augustus settled the eastern frontier. advance still farther and annex Britain. Missions were sent to the East repeatedly In the east, Parthia had demonstrated (Agrippa, 17–13 BC; , AD 1–4; its power against Crassus and Antony, , 18–19), and Armenia remained and Augustus proceeded warily. He a problem for Augustus’s successors: retained Antony’s ring of buffer client Tiberius successfully maintained Roman kingdoms, although he incorporated influence there, but Gaius and Claudius some, including the most celebrated of failed to do so, leaving Nero with a diffi- them, Judaea; he made it a province in cult situation. AD 6, respecting, however, some of the In the north, too, there was difficulty. customs of its Jewish inhabitants. The Alps and their passes were finally Augustus stationed four legions in Syria subjugated early in Augustus’s reign. and obviously envisaged the Euphrates This enabled Tiberius and his brother River and the northern extension of the Drusus between 16 and 8 BC to conquer Arabian Desert as the desirable frontier all the way to the great rivers of central with . Farther north, how- Europe. New provinces were created in ever, no such natural line existed. North the Alps and (Maritime­ and of the the client kingdom of the Pennine Alps, , ) and also Cimmerian , under its succes- farther east (, ). Stability sive rulers Asander and Polemo, helped along the Danube was precariously main- to contain southward and westward tained, under Augustus and later, by thrusts by the Scythians, an Iranian people means of periodical alliances with related to the Parthians, and this pro- Maroboduus and his successors, who vided protection in the north for Anatolia ruled Germanic tribes such as the and its provinces (senatorial Asia and and in to Bithynia-Pontus and imperial the north of the river, and by the The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 117 existence of a Thracian client kingdom to in manufacturing, and such products as the south of its lowest course. textiles, pottery, tiles, and were The push across the Rhine began in turned out in surprising quantities. 12 BC. Although it reached the Elbe, con- Advanced techniques were also known: solidation beyond the Rhine proved , for example, dates from the elusive. A revolt in Pannonia (AD 6–9) Augustan age. Most products were con- interrupted it, and, in AD 9, German sumed locally, but the specialties or tribes under Arminius annihilated monopolies from any region usually Quinctilius Varus and three legions in exceeded local needs, and the surplus the Teutoburg Forest. This disaster was sold elsewhere, generating a brisk reduced the number of legions to 25 (it interchange of goods. did not reach 28 again until half a century Some traveled great distances, even later), and it disheartened Augustus. beyond the empire: trade with , for Old and weary, he withdrew to the example, reached respectable propor- Rhine and decided against all further tions once the nature of the monsoon was expansion, a policy he urged upon his understood, and the was opened successor. For the watch on the Rhine the to Roman shipping. , especially military districts of Upper and Lower Levantines, traveled everywhere, and Germany were created, containing eight fairs were frequent. The Mediterranean legions between them. Another seven world was linked together as never before, garrisoned the . and standardization made considerable These figures reveal imperial anxiety for headway. In Augustus’s day Italy was eco- the northern frontier. nomically the most important part of the empire. It could afford to import on a Economic Life large scale, thanks partly to provincial tribute but above all to its own large pro- Although widespread, Augustus’s wars ductivity. The eastern provinces, for their chiefly affected the frontier districts. part, recovered rapidly from the depreda- Elsewhere, peace prevailed. Indeed, never tions of the civil wars and were industrially before had so large an area been free of quite advanced. The other provinces war for so long. This state of affairs helped were less developed, but they soon ceased trade. The suppression of piracy and the being mere suppliers of raw materials; use of military roads, which the frontier they learned to exploit their natural warfare itself brought into being, pro- resources by using new techniques and vided safe arteries of commerce. Stable then began overtaking the more advanced currency also aided economic growth. economies of Italy and the Greek- Activity directly connected with the soil speaking regions. The importance of predominated; but there were also many trade in unifying the empire should not establishments, usually small, engaged be underestimated. 118 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Augustan Art and house of on the Palatine. In Augustan Literature architecture, decidedly conservative and Hellenic, the potentialities of curving In 17 BC Rome held , a and vaulted spaces that had been revealed traditional celebration to announce the in the earlier first century BC were not entry into a new epoch (). New realized. Building was, however, very it was, for, although Augustus preserved active and widespread. what he could of republican institutions, The culture of the age undoubtedly he added much that was his own. His attained a high level of excellence, domi- Rome had become very Italian, and this nated by the personality of the emperor spirit is reflected in the art and literature and his accomplishments. Imperial art of his reign. Its greatest writers were had already reached full development, a native Italians, and, like the ruler whose matter of no small moment, because program they glorified, they used the Rome’s political predominance made the traditional as the basis for something spread of its influence inevitable. The new. Virgil, Horace, and Livy, as noted Mediterranean world was soon assuming above, imitated the writing of classical a Roman aspect, and this is a measure of Greece, but chiefly in form, their tone Augustus’s extraordinary achievement. and outlook being un-Hellenic. It was the Yet it was an achievement with limitations. glory of Italy and faith in Rome that His professed aim—to promote stability, inspired Virgil’s and , peace, security, and prosperity—was irre- Horace’s , and the first 10 books of proachable, but perhaps it was also Livy’s history. unexciting. Emphasizing conservatism In Augustan art a similar fusion was by precept and his own example, he achieved between the prevailing Attic encouraged the simpler virtues of a less and Hellenistic models and Italian natu- sophisticated age, and his success made ralism. The sculptured portraits on the this sedate but rather static outlook ( of the Augustan Peace) fashionable. People accepted the routine of 9 BC, for all their lifelike quality, are of his continuing rule, at the cost, how- yet in harmony with the classical poise ever, of some loss of intellectual energy of the figures, and they strike a fresh and moral fervour. The great literature, note: the stately converging significantly, belongs to the years near (Rome’s imperial family and magistrates Actium, when people’s imagination still on one side; senators, equites, and citizens nursed heady visions of Roman victory on the other) became the prototypes for and Italian destiny. After the Secular all later processional reliefs. Augustan Games the atmosphere became more painting likewise displays a successful commonplace and produced the frivoli- combination of Greek and Roman ele- ties of and the pedestrian later ments, to judge from the frescoes in the books of Livy. The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 119

The sculpted portraits of imperial house members, including Emperor Augustus, adorn a wall of the Ara Pacis (“Altar of the Augustan Peace”). Roger Viollet/Getty Image 120 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Appraisal of Augustus suspected, treasonable (men were, in fact, executed for conspiracy during his reign). Augustus’s position as princeps cannot be But there had been no constitutional defined simply. He was neither a Roman safeguards in the republic, under Sulla, king (rex) nor a Hellenistic monarch Pompey, the triumvirs, or even Julius (), nor was he, as the 19th-century Caesar. Augustus’s improved police ser- German historian vices probably made lower-class Romans thought, a partner with the Senate in a at least feel safer under him. The senatorial dyarchy. He posed as the first servant of class, however, contained a minority an empire over which the Roman Senate resentful of the sheer undeniable pre- presided, and it would appear that his ponderance of the princeps’ power, and claim to have accepted no office inconsis- he was the target of several unsuccessful tent with ancestral custom was literally plots against his life. true. Proconsular imperium was a republi- The principate was something per- can institution, and, although tribunician sonal, what the emperor chose to make it, power was not, it contained nothing and the relations prevailing between specifically unrepublican. But, while emperor and Senate usually indicated precedents can be cited for Augustus’s what a reign was like. In Augustus’s case various powers, their concentration and they reveal a regime that was outwardly tenure were absolutely unparalleled. Under constitutional, generally moderate, and the republic, powers like his would have certainly effective. But, as he himself been distributed among several holders, implied at the end of his life, he was a each serving for a limited period with a skillful in life’s comedy. Later colleague. Augustus wielded them all, by emperors lacked his sureness of touch. himself, simultaneously and without any When Augustus died, the Senate time limit (in practice, at least). This fact unhesitatingly pronounced him divus— made him an emperor, but it did not nec- the deified one who had restored peace, essarily make him a military tyrant. organized a to defend the In discharging both military and frontiers, expanded those frontiers far- civilian functions, Augustus was no dif- ther than any previous Roman, improved ferent from republican consuls or administrative practices everywhere, praetors. Admittedly his military power promoted better standards of both pub- was overwhelming; but, if he chose not to lic and private behaviour, integrated Rome brandish it, the tone of his reign could and Italy, embellished Rome, reconciled remain essentially civilian. Constitutional the provinces, expedited Romanization, safeguards were indeed lacking; every- and above all maintained law and order thing was at the emperor’s discretion, while respecting republican traditions. and even Augustus passed legislation Augustus’s luck was hardly inferior that made anti-imperial behaviour, real or to his statecraft. Despite indifferent The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 121 health, he headed the Roman state in one Agrippa), were groomed in turn; but they capacity or another for 56 years. His rule, all predeceased him. Augustus, finally one of the longest in European history, and reluctantly, chose a member of the consolidated the principate so firmly that republican nobility, his stepson Tiberius, what might have been an episode became a scion of the ultra-aristocratic Claudii. In an epoch. At his death there was practi- AD 4 Augustus adopted Tiberius as his cally no one left with any personal son and had tribunician power and prob- memory of the republic, and Augustus’s ably proconsular imperium as well wish came true: he had fashioned a last- conferred upon him. This arrangement ing as well as constitutional government. was confirmed in 13, and, when Augustus The principate endured with only minor died the following year, Tiberius auto- changes for about 200 years. matically became emperor. Tiberius (ruled 14–37), during whose The Succession reign Christ was crucified, was a soldier and administrator of proved capability Like any great Roman magnate, Augustus but of a reserved and moody tempera- owed it to his supporters and dependents ment that engendered misunderstanding to maintain the structure of power that and unpopularity. Slander blamed him they constituted together and which for the death in 19 of his nephew and heir would normally pass from father to son. apparent, the popular Germanicus; and, In accepting the heritage from Caesar, he when informers (delatores), who func- had only done the right thing, and he was tioned at Rome like public prosecutors, respected for it by his peers. None of charged notables with treason, Tiberius them would have advised him later to dis- was thought to encourage them. By con- mantle what he had since added to it. centrating the praetorian cohorts in a When, for instance, he was away from camp adjoining Rome, he increased the Rome, rather than accepting a diminu- soldiers’ scope for mischief-making with- tion in his prerogatives of administration, out building any real security, and in 26 a senator as city prefect was deputed to he left Rome permanently for the island represent him. Consequently, Augustus of Capreae (), entrusting Rome to began thinking early about who should the care of the city prefect. Tiberius follow him. The soldiers’ views on legiti- heeded the aged Augustus’s advice and macy reinforced his own natural desire to did not extend the empire. (The annexa- found a dynasty, but he had no son and tion of Cappadocia, a client kingdom, was therefore obliged to select his suc- represented no departure from Augustan cessor. Death played havoc with his policy.) In general he took his duties seri- attempts to do so. His nephew Marcellus, ously; however, by administering the his son-in-law Agrippa, his grandsons empire from Capreae he offended the Gaius and Lucius (Julia’s children by Senate and was never fully trusted, much 122 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion less really liked. At his death he was not important entrepôt. Claudius also pro- pronounced divus. His great-nephew, moted Romanization, especially in the Germanicus’s son Gaius, succeeded him. western provinces, by liberally granting Gaius (better known by his nickname, Roman citizenship, by founding coloniae, , meaning “Little Boot”) ruled and by inducting provincials directly into from 37 to 41 with the absolutism of a the Senate—he became censor in 47 and monarch. His short reign was filled with added to the Senate men he wanted, reckless spending, callous murders, and bestowing appropriate quaestorian or humiliation of the Senate. Gaius’s foreign praetorian rank upon them to spare the policy was inept. Projected annexation maturer ones among them the necessity proved abortive in Britain; it touched off of holding junior magistracies; lest exist- heavy fighting in Mauretania. In Judaea ing senators take offense, he elevated and Alexandria, Gaius’s contemptuous some of them to patrician status (a form disregard of Jewish sentiment provoked of patronage often used by later near rebellion. When assassination emperors). ended his tyranny, the Senate contem- Claudius’s provincial policies made plated restoration of the republic but was the primacy of Italy less pronounced, obliged by the Praetorian Guard to rec- although that was hardly his aim. In ognize Claudius, Germanicus’s brother fact, he did much for Italy, improving its and therefore Gaius’s uncle, as emperor. harbours, roads, and municipal adminis- Claudius I (ruled 41–54) went far tration and draining its marshy districts. beyond Augustus and Tiberius in cen- The execution of many senators and tralizing government administration and, equites, the insolence and venality of his particularly, state finances in the imperial freedmen, the excessive influence of household. His freedmen secretaries con- his wives, and even his bodily infirmities sequently acquired great power; they combined to make him unpopular. Never­ were in effect directors of government theless, when he died (murdered probably bureaus. Claudius himself displayed by his fourth wife, Julia Agrippina, much interest in the empire overseas; he Augustus’s great-granddaughter, who enlarged it significantly, incorporating was impatient for the succession of the client kingdoms (Mauretania in 42; Lycia, 16-year-old Nero, her son by an earlier 43; Thrace, 46) and, more important, marriage), he was pronounced divus. annexing Britain. Conquest of Britain Nero (ruled 54–68) left administra- began in 43, Claudius himself participat- tion to capable advisers for a few years ing in the campaign; the southeast was but then asserted himself as a vicious soon overrun, a established at despot. He murdered successively his () and a muni- stepbrother , his mother Julia cipium at (St. Albans), while Agrippina, his wife Octavia, and his (London) burgeoned into an tutor Seneca. He also executed many The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 123

Christians, accusing them of starting the uprising under Queen Boudicca; thousands in 64 (this is the first were slaughtered, and Camulodunum, recorded Christian persecution). In Vernulamium, and Londinium were Rome his reliance on particular favou- destroyed. In the east a major military rites and his general misgovernment led effort under Corbulo, Rome’s foremost to a conspiracy by Gaius Calpurnius Piso general, was required (62–65) to reestab- in 65, but it was suppressed, leading to lish Roman prestige. A compromise yet more executions; the victims included settlement was reached, with the Romans the . accepting the Parthian nominee in The empire was not enlarged under Armenia and the Parthians recognizing this unwarlike emperor, but it was called him as Rome’s client king. In 66, however, upon to put down serious disorders. In revolt flared in Judaea, fired by in 60–61 the rapacity and brutality cruelty and stupidity, Jewish fanaticism, of Roman officials provoked a furious and communal hatreds; the prefect of

Portrait of Emperor Nero committing suicide after the Roman army had overrun the city in 68 AD. Hulton Archive/Getty Images 124 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Egypt, Julius Alexander, prevented and unrest grew. Early in January 69 involvement of the Jews of the Diaspora. the Rhineland armies acclaimed Aulus An army was sent to Judaea under Titus , commander in Lower Germany; Flavius Vespasianus to restore order; but at Rome the praetorians preferred Marcus it had not completed its task when two Salvius , whom Galba had alienated provincial governors in the west rebelled by choosing a descendant of the old against Nero—Julius Vindex in Gallia republican aristocracy for his successor. Lugdunensis and Sulpicius Galba in Otho promptly procured Galba’s murder Tarraconensis. When the prae- and obtained senatorial recognition; this torians in Rome also renounced their ended the monopoly of the purple for the allegiance, Nero lost his nerve and com- republican nobility. mitted suicide. He brought the Otho, however, lasted only three Julio-Claudian dynasty to an ignomini- months; defeated at Bedriacum, near ous end by being the first emperor to Cremona in northern Italy, by Vitellius’s suffer damnatio memoriae—his reign powerful Rhineland army, he committed was officially stricken from the record by suicide ( 69). The Senate thereupon order of the Senate. recognized Vitellius; but the soldiers along the Danube and in the east sup- Growth of the empire ported Vespasianus, the commander in under the Flavians Judaea. In a second battle near Bedriacum, and Antonines the Rhineland troops were defeated in their turn, and on Vitellius’s death soon Nero’s death ushered in the so-called year afterward an accommodating Senate pro- of the four emperors. The extinction of nounced Vespasian emperor. the Julio-Claudian imperial house robbed the soldiers of a focus for their The Flavian Emperors allegiance, and civil war between the different armies ensued. The army of On Dec. 22, 69, the Senate conferred all Upper Germany, after crushing Vindex, the imperial powers upon Vespasian urged its commander, Verginius Rufus, to bloc with the famous Lex de Imperio seize the purple for himself. But he Vespasiani (“Law Regulating Vespasian’s elected to support Galba—scion of a authority”), and the Assembly ratified republican patrician family claiming the Senate’s action. This apparently was the descent from Jupiter and Pasiphae—who first time that such a law was passed; a was recognized as emperor by the Senate. fragmentary copy of it is preserved on However, the treasury, emptied by Nero’s the Capitol in Rome. extravagance, imposed a stringent econ- Vespasian (ruled 69–79) did not omy, and this bred unpopularity for originate from Rome or its aristocracy. Galba; his age (73) was also against him, His family came from the Sabine The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 125 municipality Reate, and with his eleva- allowed it little initiative but used it as a tion the Italian came into its reservoir from which to obtain capable own. He and his two sons, both of whom administrators. To that end he assumed in turn succeeded him, constituted the the censorship and added senators on a Flavian dynasty (69–96). Vespasian faced larger scale than Claudius had done, the same difficult task as Augustus—the especially from the municipalities of Italy restoration of peace and stability. The and the western provinces. Already disorders of 69 had taken troops away before 69 an aristocracy of service had from the Rhine and Danube frontiers. arisen, and the provincialization of the Thereupon, the Danubian lands were Roman Senate had begun; thereafter this raided by , a combination of development made rapid headway. tribes who had overwhelmed and Besides the censorship, Vespasian also replaced the Scythians, their distant kins- often held the consulship, usually with men, in eastern Europe. The assailants Titus as his colleague. His object presum- were repelled without undue difficulty; ably was to ensure that his own parvenu but the Sarmatian , now firmly in Flavian house outranked any other. In control of the region between the Tisza this he succeeded; the troops especially and Danube rivers, posed a threat for were ready to accept the Flavians as the the future. new imperial family. On Vespasian’s Developments in the Rhineland were death in 79, Titus, long groomed for the more immediately serious. There in 69 a succession, became emperor and imme- certain Civilis incited the Batavians serv- diately had his father deified. ing as auxiliaries in the Roman army to Titus (ruled 79–81) had a brief reign, rebel. Gallic tribes joined the movement, marred by disasters (the volcanic eruption and the insurgents boldly overran all but that buried and two of the camps along the and another great fire in Rome); but his Rhine. Vespasian sent his relative Petilius attempts to alleviate the suffering and Cerealis to deal with the rebels, who, for- his general openhandedness won him such tunately for Rome, were not united in popularity that he was unhesitatingly their aims; by 70 Cerealis had restored deified after his early death. order. That same year Vespasian’s elder Domitian (ruled 81–96), Titus’s younger son, Titus, brought the bloody war in brother, had never been formally indicated Judaea to its end by besieging, capturing, for the succession; but the praetorians and destroying . acclaimed him, and the Senate ratified To rehabilitate the public finances, their choice. Throughout his reign Vespasian introduced new imposts, Domitian aimed at administrative effi- including a poll tax on Jews, and prac- ciency, but his methods were high-handed. ticed stringent economies. With the For him the Senate existed merely to Senate he was courteous but firm. He supply imperial servants. He also used 126 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion equites extensively, more than any previ- governors—Petilius Cerealis, Julius ous emperor. He held the consulship , and Julius , the latter repeatedly, was censor perpetuus from ’s father-in-law—enlarged the 85 on, and demanded other extravagant province to include and northern honours. On the whole, his efficiency pro- England; Agricola even reached the moted the of the empire. Above Scottish highlands before Domitian all, he retained the allegiance of the recalled him. troops. Although scornful of the Senate’s Along the Rhine, weaknesses dignity, he insisted on his own and merci- revealed by Civilis’ revolt were repaired. lessly punished any act of disrespect, real Vespasian crossed the river in 74 and or fancied, toward himself. He became annexed the , the triangle even more suspicious and ruthless when of land between the Rhine, Danube, and Saturninus, commander in Upper Main rivers. To consolidate the position, Germany, attempted rebellion in 89. He he and Domitian after him penetrated crushed Saturninus; executions and the Neckar River valley and confiscations ensued, and delatores mountains, and began to flourished. The tyranny was particularly take shape to the east of the Rhine, a dangerous to senators, and it ended only military boundary complete with strong- with Domitian’s assassination in 96. The points, watchtowers, and, later, a Flavian dynasty, like the Julio-Claudian, continuous rampart of earthworks and ended with an emperor whose memory . Once Saturninus’s revolt in 89 was officially damned. had been suppressed, Domitian felt the The disorders in 69 were the cause of situation along the Rhine sufficiently some military reforms. Under the stable to warrant conversion of the mili- Flavians, auxiliaries usually served far tary districts of Upper and Lower from their native hearths under officers of Germany into regular provinces and the different nationality from themselves. At transfer of some Rhineland troops to the same time, the tasks assigned to them the Danube. To the north of this latter came increasingly to resemble those per- river, the had been organized formed by the legionaries. The latter into a strong kingdom, ruled by grew less mobile, as camps with stone and centring on modern ; in 85 buildings came to be the rule; and it they raided southward across the Danube, became common for detachments from a and in the next year they defeated the legion (vexillationes), rather than the Roman punitive expedition. Domitian entire legion, to be used for field - restored the situation in 88, but tions. This army of a new type proved its Saturninus’s rebellion prevented him mettle in Britain, where the advance from following up his success. Domitian halted by Boudicca’s revolt was now and Decebalus thereupon came to terms: resumed. Between 71 and 84 three able Decebalus was to protect the lower The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 127

Danube against Sarmatian attack, and chosen in places other than Rome, their Domitian was to pay him an annual sub- attitude imposed caution. sidy in recompense. The Danubian Nerva, who ruled from 96 to 98, frontier, however, remained disturbed, adopted a generally lavish and liberal and Domitian wisely strengthened its policy, but it failed to win the soldiers garrisons; by the end of his reign it con- over completely, and he proved unable to tained nine legions, as against the save all Domitian’s murderers from their Rhineland’s six, and Pannonia was soon vengeance. Unrest subsided only when, to become the military centre of gravity overlooking kinsmen of his own, he of the empire. adopted an outstanding soldier, Marcus The Flavians also took measures to Ulpius Trajanus, who was governor of strengthen the eastern frontier. In Asia Upper Germany, as his successor. Nerva Minor, Vespasian created a large “armed” himself died a few months later. province by amalgamating Cappadocia, Trajan (ruled 98–117) was the first and Lesser Armenia, and Galatia; and the whole perhaps the only emperor to be adopted area was provided with a network of mili- by a predecessor totally unrelated to him tary roads. South of Asia Minor, Judaea was by either birth or marriage. He was also converted into an “armed” province by the first in a series of “good” rulers who getting legionary troops; and two client succeeded one another by adoption and kingdoms—Commagene and Transjordan— for most of the second century provided were annexed and added to Syria. the empire with internal harmony and Furthermore, the legionary camps seem careful government; they are collectively, now to have been established right on the if somewhat loosely, called the Antonine Euphrates at the principal river cross- emperors. More significantly still, Trajan, ings. This display of military strength a Spaniard, was also the first princeps to kept the empire and Parthia at peace for come from the provinces; with the greater many years. number of provincials now in the Senate, the elevation of one of them, sooner or The Early Antonine later, was practically inevitable. Through­ Emperors: Nerva and Trajan out his reign, Trajan generally observed constitutional practices. Mindful of the Marcus Cocceius Nerva, an elderly senator susceptibilities of the Senate, he regularly of some distinction, was the choice of consulted and reported to it. Modest in Domitian’s assassins for emperor; and his bearing, he did not claim ostentatious the Senate promptly recognized him. The honours such as frequent consulships or soldiers, however, did so much more numerous imperial salutations, and he reluctantly, and, because the year 69 had mixed easily with senators on terms of revealed that emperors no longer needed cordial friendship. This reestablished to be Roman aristocrats and could be mutual respect between princeps and 128 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Senate. Empire and liberty, in Tacitus’s them; to rescue Achaea and Bithynia, words, were reconciled, and the atmo- senatorial provinces, from threatened sphere of suspicion, intrigue, and terror bankruptcy, Trajan made them both tem- surrounding the court in Domitian’s day porarily imperial, sending special disappeared. Trajan endeared himself commissioners of his own to them. His also to the populace at large with lavish correspondence with his appointee in building programs, gladiatorial games, Bithynia, the younger Pliny, has survived and public distributions of money. Above and reveals how conscientiously the all, he was popular with the armed forces; emperor responded on even the smallest he was the soldier-emperor par excel- details. At the same time, it reveals how lence. Understandably, he received the limited was access to the central govern- title Optimus (Best), officially from 114 on ment and, consequently, how great a (and unofficially for many years earlier). latitude for independent decisions must Yet Trajan was a thoroughgoing auto- be left to the governors who lacked some crat who intervened without hesitation or special claim on the emperor’s attention. scruple even in the senatorial sphere, Trajan’s day was too short to hear every whenever it seemed necessary. His aim speech of every delegation from the prov- was efficiency; his desire was to promote inces, every recommendation to bestow public welfare everywhere. He embel- favour or grant promotion, and every lished Rome with splendid and substantial appeal to himself as supreme judiciary. structures, and he showed his care for To assist him, he had a “” of Italy by refurbishing and enlarging the only a few hundred in Rome and a few harbours at Ostia, Centumcellae, and more hundred serving in various capaci- . He sent officials calledcuratores ties in the provinces—to direct the lives of to Italian municipalities in financial diffi- some 60 million people. Clearly, most culties and helped to rehabilitate them. government must in fact rest in the hands He greatly expanded an ingenious char- of local . ity scheme probably begun by Nerva: In the military sphere, Trajan’s reign money was loaned to farmers on easy proved a most dynamic one. He decided terms, and the low interest they paid went to strengthen the dangerous Danube into a special fund for supporting indi- frontier by converting into a salient gent children. Nor did Trajan neglect of Roman territory north of the river in Italy’s highway network: he built a new order to dismember the Sarmatian tribes road () that soon replaced the and remove the risk of large, hostile com- Via Appia as the main thoroughfare binations to a safer distance. Bringing to between Beneventum and Brundisium. bear a force of 100,000 men, he conquered Interest in Italy implied no neglect of Decebalus in two hard-fought wars (101– the provinces. Curatores were also sent to 102; 105–106) and annexed Dacia, settling The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 129 it with people from neighbouring parts of Hadrian and the Other the empire. On the eastern frontier he Antonine Emperors planned a similar operation, evidently in the conviction, shared by many eminent Hadrian (ruled 117–138), also a Spaniard, Romans both before and after him, that was an emperor of unusual versatility. only conquest could solve the Parthian Unlike Trajan, he was opposed to territorial problem. Possibly, too, he wished to con- expansion. Being himself in the East in tain the menace of the Sarmatian Alani in 117, he renounced Trajan’s conquests the Caspian region. In a preliminary there immediately and contemplated move, the of Arabia evacuating Dacia as well. Furthermore, Petraea was annexed in 105–106. Then, in four of the consular generals particularly 114, Trajan assembled another large army, identified with Trajan’s military ventures incorporated the client kingdom of were arrested and executed “for con- Armenia, and invaded Parthia. spiracy”; Hadrian claimed later that the After spectacular victories in 115 and Senate ordered their deaths against his 116, he created additional provinces wishes. The only heavy fighting during (Northern Mesopotamia, Assyria) and his generally peaceful reign occurred in reached the Persian Gulf. But he had Judaea—or , as it was merely overrun Mesopotamia; he had not thenceforth called—where Bar Kokhba consolidated it, and, as his army passed, led a furious, if futile, Jewish revolt (132– revolts broke out in its rear. The Jews of 135) against Hadrian’s conversion of the Diaspora and others seized their Jerusalem into a Roman colony named chance to rebel, and before the end of 116 . much of the besides Parthia Instead of expansion by war, Hadrian was in arms (Cyrene, Egypt, Cyprus, sought carefully delimited but well- Anatolia). Trajan proceeded resolutely to defended frontiers, with client states restore the situation, but death found him beyond them where possible. The frontiers still in the East. themselves, when not natural barriers, Before his last illness he had not for- were strongly fortified: in Britain, Hadrian’s mally indicated his successor. But high Wall, a complex of ditches, mounds, forts, honours and important posts had been and stone wall, stretched across the island accorded his nearest male relative, Publius from the Tyne to the Solway; Germany Aelius Hadrianus, the governor of Syria; and Raetia had a (fortified boundary) and, according to Trajan’s widow, Hadrian running between on the Rhine and had actually been adopted by Trajan on his on the Danube. Within the deathbed. Accordingly, both Senate and frontiers the army was kept at full soldiers recognized him. Trajan’s posthu- strength, mostly by local recruiting of mous deification was never in doubt. legionnaries and apparently of auxiliaries, 130 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion too (so that Vespasian’s system of having the edictum perpetuum (the set of rules the latter serve far from their gradually elaborated by the praetors for gradually ceased). Moreover, the tendency the interpretation of the law). He also for auxiliaries to be assimilated to legion- appointed four former consuls to serve as aries continued; even the officers became circuit judges in Italy. This brought Italy less distinguishable, because equites close to becoming a province; Hadrian’s now sometimes replaced senators in intent, however, was not to reduce the sta- high posts in the legions. To keep his tus of Italy but to make all parts of the essentially sedentary army in constant empire important. For one part of his realm, readiness and at peak efficiency (no easy he was exceptionally solicitous: he spent task), Hadrian carried out frequent per- much time in Greece and lavishly embel- sonal inspections, spending about half lished Athens. his reign in the provinces (121–125; Hadrian maintained good relations 128–134). with but was never fully trusted by the Hadrian also was responsible for Senate. His foreign policy seemed to be significant developments on the civilian unheroic, his cosmopolitanism to be un- side. Under him, equites were no longer Roman, and his reforms to encroach on required to do military service as an activities traditionally reserved for sena- essential step in their career, and many of tors. Moreover, in his last two years he them were employed in the imperial civil was sometimes capricious and tyrannous. service, more even than under Domitian. Like Augustus, he had no son of his own By now the formative days of the civil and conducted a frustrating search for a service were over; its bureaucratic phase successor. After executing his only male was beginning, and it offered those blood relative, his grandnephew, in 136, equites who had no military aspirations he adopted Lucius Ceionius Commodus, an attractive, purely civilian career. renaming him Lucius Aelius Caesar. The Formal titles now marked the different latter, however, died shortly afterward, equestrian grades of dignity: a procura- whereupon Hadrian in 138 chose a tor was vir egregius; an ordinary prefect, wealthy but sonless senator, the 51-year- vir perfectissimus; a praetorian prefect, vir old Titus Aurelius Antoninus. Evidently eminentissimus, the latter title being intent on founding a dynasty, he made obviously parallel to the designation vir Antoninus, in his turn, adopt two youths— clarissimus for a senator. Thenceforth, Marcus Aurelius (the nephew of equites replaced freedmen in the impe- Antoninus’s wife) and (the rial household and bureaus, and they son of Aelius Caesar) 16 and 7 years old, even appeared in Hadrian’s imperial respectively. When Hadrian died soon council. thereafter, Antoninus succeeded and Hadrian also improved legal admin- induced a reluctant Senate to deify the istration. He had his expert jurists codify deceased emperor. According to some, it The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 131 was this act of filial piety that won for was imprudent. Fortunately, Verus left Antoninus his cognomen, Pius. decision making to Marcus. Marcus’s (ruled 138–161) action was also dangerous for another epitomizes the Roman Empire at its reason; it represented a long step away cosmopolitan best. He himself was of from imperial unity and portended the Gallic origin; his wife was of Spanish ultimate division of the empire into origin. For most men his was a reign of Greek- and Latin-speaking halves. Nor quiet prosperity, and the empire under was this the only foreboding develop- him deserves the praises lavished upon ment in Marcus’s reign—formidable it by the contemporary writer Aelius barbarian assaults were launched against . Unlike Hadrian, Antoninus the frontiers, anticipating those that were traveled little; he remained in Italy, where later to bring about the disintegration of in 148 he celebrated the 900th anniver- the empire. Marcus himself was a stoic sary of Rome. Princeps and Senate were philosopher; his humanistic, if somewhat on excellent terms, and coins with the pessimistic, reveal how con- words and on scientiously he took his duties. Duty them in Antoninus’s case mean what they called him to war; he responded to the call say. Other of his coins not unreasonably and spent far more of his reign in the proclaim temporum (“the happi- field than had any previous emperor. ness of the times”). Yet raids and At Marcus’s very accession the rebellions in many of the borderlands Parthians turned aggressive, and he sent (in Britain, Dacia, Mauretania, Egypt, Verus to defend Roman interests (162). Palaestina, and elsewhere) were danger Verus greedily took credit for any victo- symptoms, even though to the empire at ries but left serious fighting to Avidius large they seemed only faraway bad Cassius and the army of Syria. Cassius dreams, to use the expression of Aelius succeeded in overrunning Mesopotamia Aristides. Antoninus prudently pushed and even took , the Parthian the Hadrianic frontiers forward in Dacia, capital; he was therefore able to conclude the Rhineland, and Britain (where the a peace that safeguarded Rome’s eastern from the Firth of Forth to provinces and client kingdoms (166). In the River Clyde became the new bound- the process, however, his troops became ary) and carefully groomed his heir infected with plague, and they carried it apparent for his imperial responsibilities. back with them to the west with calami- Marcus Aurelius (ruled 161–180) suc- tous results. The Danube frontier, already ceeded the deified Antoninus and more weakened by the dispatch of large detach- than honoured Hadrian’s intentions by ments to the East, collapsed under immediately co-opting Lucius Verus as barbarian assault. Pressed on from behind his full co-emperor. Because Verus’s com- by , , , and others, petence was unproved, this excess of zeal the Germanic Marcomanni and Quadi 132 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion and the Sarmatian Iazyges poured over forced the Senate to recognize his god- the river; the Germans actually crossed head officially. He left serious business to Raetia, Noricum, and Pannonia to raid his favourites, whose ambitions and northern Italy and besiege Aquileia. intrigues led to plots, treason trials, con- Marcus and Verus relieved the city fiscations, and insensate murders. shortly before Verus’s death (169). Then, Commodus’s assassination on the last making Pannonia his pivot of maneuver, day of 192 terminated a disastrous reign; Marcus pushed the invaders back; by 175 thus the Antonines, like the Julio- they were again beyond the Danube. At Claudians, had come to an ignominious that moment, however, a false report of end. And there was a similar sequel. Marcus’s death prompted Avidius Commodus’s damnatio memoriae, like Cassius, by now in charge of all eastern Nero’s, was followed by a year of four provinces, to proclaim himself emperor. emperors. The news of this challenge undid Marcus’s achievements along the Danube because The empire in the it took him to the East and reopened the second century door to barbarian attacks. Fortunately, Cassius was soon murdered, and Marcus The century and three-quarters after could return to central Europe (177). But Augustus’s death brought no fundamen- he had barely restored the frontier again tal changes to the principate, although so when he died at () in long a lapse of time naturally introduced 180, bequeathing the empire to his son, modifications and shifts of emphasis. By the 19-year-old Commodus, who had Flavian and Antonine times the princi- actually been named co-emperor three pate was accepted universally. For the years earlier. provinces, a return to the republic was Commodus (ruled 180–192), like Gaius utterly unthinkable; for Rome and Italy, and Nero, the youthful emperors before the year 69 served as a grim warning of him, proved incompetent, conceited, and the chaos to be expected if, in the absence capricious. Fortunately, the frontiers of a princeps, the ambitions of a few pow- remained intact, thanks to able provincial erful individuals obtained unfettered governors and to barbarian allies, who scope. A princeps was clearly a necessity, had been settled along the Danube with and people were even prepared to toler- land grants and who gave military service ate a bad one, although naturally they in return. But Commodus abandoned always hoped for a good one. Marcus’s scheme for new trans-Danubian The princeps, moreover, did not have provinces, preferring to devote himself to to be chosen any longer from the Julio- sensual pleasures and especially to the Claudians. The great achievement of the excitements of the arena in Rome, where Flavians was to reconcile the soldiers and he posed as Hercules Romanus and the upper classes everywhere to the idea The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 133 that others were eligible. The Flavians’ avowed monarchy. Proconsular imperium frequent tenure of consulship and cen- began to be reflected in the imperial sorship invested their family, although titulary, and official documents started not of the highest nobility, with the out- calling the emperor noster (“our ward trappings of prestige and the master”). aristocratic appearance of an authentic The development of imperial law- imperial household. The deification of making clearly illustrates the change. the first two Flavians contributed to the From the beginnings of the principate, same end, and so did the disappearance the emperor had had the power to legis- of old republican families that might late, although no law is known that have outranked the reigning house (by formally recognized his right to do so; by 69 most descendants of the republican Antonine times, legal textbooks stated nobility had either died of natural causes unequivocally that whatever the emperor or been exterminated by imperial - ordered was legally binding. The early cution). After the Flavians, the newness emperors usually made the Senate their of a man’s senatorial dignity and the mouthpiece and issued their laws in the obscurity of his ultimate origin, whether form of senatorial decrees. In fact, by it was Italian or otherwise, no longer for- the second century, the emperor was bade his possible elevation. Indeed, openly replacing whatever other sources Domitian’s successors and even Domitian of written law had hitherto been permit- himself in his last years did not need to ted to function. After 100 the Assembly enhance their own importance by never met formally to pass a law, and the repeated consulships. The Antonine Senate often no longer bothered to couch emperors, like the Julio-Claudians, held its decrees in legal language, being con- the office infrequently. They did, how- tent to repeat verbatim the speech with ever, continue the Flavian practice of which the ruler had advocated the mea- emphasizing the loftiness of their fami- sure in question. After Hadrian, lies by deifying deceased relatives (Trajan magistrates ceased modifying existing deified his sister, his niece, and his father; law by their legal interpretations because Antoninus, his wife; and so forth). the praetors’ edictum perpetuum had become a permanent code, which the Trend to Absolute Monarchy emperor alone could alter. By 200, learned jurists had lost the Glorification of the reigning house, right they had enjoyed since the time of together with a document such as Augustus of giving authoritative rulings Vespasian’s Lex de Imperio, helped to on disputed points (responsa pruden- advertise the emperor’s position; and tium). Meanwhile, the emperor more and under the Flavians and Antonines the more was legislating directly by means principate became much more like an of , judgments, mandates, and 134 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion rescripts—collectively known as constitu- two of service. Actually, the third tiones principum. He usually issued such century soon showed what it meant to constitutiones only after consulting the have a princeps whose whole experience “friends” (amici Caesaris) who composed had been confined to camps and his imperial council. But a constitutio was barracks. nevertheless a fiat. The road to the later As imperial powers became more dominate (after 284) lay open. concentrated, republican institutions decayed; the importance of imperial offi- Political Life cials grew, while the authority of urban magistrates declined. Quaestorship, Nevertheless, the autocratic aspect of the praetorship, and consulship (the last- Flavian and Antonine regimes should named now reduced to a two-month not be overstressed. Augustus himself sinecure) became mere stepping-stones had been well aware that it was impossible to the great imperial posts that counted to disguise permanently the supremacy most in the life of the empire. Governors that accumulation of powers gained of imperial provinces and commanders of piecemeal conferred; his deportment in legions were Roman senators; but they his last years differed little from that of were equally imperial appointees. Clearly, Vespasian, Titus, and the so-called five the emperor was the master of the Senate; good emperors who followed them. Nor and it was disingenuous for him to get had other Julio-Claudians hesitated to impatient, as some emperors did, with parade their predominance—Claudius, by the Senate’s lack of initiative and reluc- centralizing the imperial powers, reduced tance to take firm decisions of its own. their apparent diversity to one all- The emperor might not even consult the embracing imperium; Gaius and Nero Senate much, preferring to rely on his revealed the implicit in the imperial council, in which equestrian principate with frank brutality. bureau chiefs over the course of the sec- What impresses perhaps as much as ond century came to constitute an the undoubtedly autocratic behaviour of established element. the Flavians and Antonines is the mark- The Senate, however, at least until the edly civilian character of their reigns. reign of Commodus, was treated courte- They held supreme power, and some of ously by most Flavians and Antonines. them were distinguished soldiers; yet They recognized its importance as a law- they were not military despots. For this court, as the body that formally appointed the old republican tradition—whereby a a new emperor, and as a sounding board state official might serve in both a civilian of informed opinion. Senators came and a military capacity—was largely increasingly from the provinces, and, responsible. Matters, however, were open although this meant preeminently the to change after Hadrian separated the western provinces (the Greek-speaking The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 135

East being underrepresented), the Senate Inevitably, there was extensive trade did reflect to some extent the views of the and commerce (much of it in empire at large. hands) in so large a city, which was also The equites, meanwhile, steadily the centre of imperial administration. acquired greater importance as imperial There was little industry, however, and officials. In newly created posts they the urban poor had difficulty finding invariably became the incumbents, and steady employment. Theirs was a precari- in posts of long standing they replaced ous existence, dependent on the public freedmen and publicani. During the sec- grain dole and on the private charity of ond century equestrian procurators the wealthy. Large building programs increased markedly in numbers as the gave Flavian and Antonine emperors the direction of imperial business came to be opportunity not only to repair the dam- more tidily subdivided. Four grades of age caused by fire and falling buildings service distinguished by salary were (as stated, a frequent hazard among the established. While the government densely packed and flimsily built accom- assumed a more rational flow and outline, modations for the urban plebs) but also its total number of employees neverthe- to relieve widespread urban unemploy- less remained quite tiny, compared with ment. They also made imperial Rome a that of the fourth and later centuries. city of grandeur. Augustus’s building program had been vast but mostly con- Rome and Italy cerned with repairing or rebuilding structures already existing, and his Julio- By the second century the city of Rome Claudian successors had built relatively had attracted freeborn migrants from all little until the great fire made room for over the empire; it housed, additionally, the megalomaniac marvels of Nero’s last large numbers of manumitted slaves. years. It was under the Flavians and These newcomers were all assimilated Antonines that Rome obtained many of and diluted the city’s Italian flavour. The its most celebrated structures: the vast majority of them were poor, the , Palatine palaces, Trajan’s handful of opulent imperial freedmen Forum, the Pantheon, the Castel Sant’ being entirely exceptional. But many Angelo (Hadrian’s mausoleum), the were energetic, enterprising, and lucky, Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, able to make their way in the world. Aurelius’s , as well as the aque- Freedmen laboured under a , ducts whose arches spanned across although some of them managed to Campagna to keep the city and its innu- become equites. Their sons, however, merable supplied with water. might overcome discrimination, and Italy was much less cosmopolitan their grandsons were even eligible for and sophisticated and, according to liter- membership in the Senate. ary tradition, much more sober and 136 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

The remains of Rome’s famed Colosseum, built as part of a work project designed to stabilize the economy and help the city return to its former glory. Shutterstock.com straitlaced than was Rome. It was the mis- reign, the ascendancy of its wine, oil, tress of the empire, although the gap marble, and fine pottery in the markets of between it and the provinces was narrow- Gaul and Germany had already begun to ing. Hadrian’s policies especially helped yield to the competition of local produc- to reduce its privileged position. His use tion in the West; and, by Flavian times, of circuit judges was resented precisely Italy was actually importing heavily not because with them Italy resembled a only from Gaul (witness the crates of yet- province; actually, Italy badly needed unpacked Gallic bowls and plates caught them, and their abolition by Antoninus in the destruction of Pompeii) but also Pius was soon reversed by Marcus from Spain. The latter province was espe- Aurelius. Also, in Aurelius’s reign a pro- cially represented by its extraordinarily vincial fate overtook Italy in the form of popular condiment, ; its olive oil, barbarian invasion; a few years later the too, was a sizable item on Italian tables country got its first legionary garrison after AD 100, only to yield its primacy under Septimius Severus. there, by the mid-second century, to oil The economic importance of Italy from northern Africa. By then, Spanish, also declined. By the end of Augustus’s Gallic, and African farm products all The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 137 outweighed Italian ones in Ostia and Ambitious men striving for a career Rome. Against such tendencies, the naturally found it helpful, if not neces- emperors did what they could: Domitian, sary, to become Roman in bearing and for example, protected Italian conduct and perhaps even in language as by restricting vine growing in the prov- well (although speakers of Greek often inces; Trajan and his successors forced rose to exalted positions). But local self- Roman senators to take an interest in the government was the general rule, and country, even though it was no longer neither Latin nor Roman ways were the of many of them, by invest- imposed on the communities composing ing a high proportion of their capital in the empire. The official attitude to religion Italian land (one-third under Trajan, one- illustrates this—in line with the absolutist quarter under Aurelius). trend, emperor worship was becoming slowly but progressively more theocratic Developments in the (Domitian relished the title of god, Provinces Commodus demanded it). Yet this did not lead to the suppression of non-Roman The 18th-century historian Edward or even outlandish cults, unless they were Gibbon’s famous description of the sec- thought immoral (like Druidism, with its ond century as the period when men were ) or conducive to public happiest and most prosperous is not disorder (like Christianity, with its entirely false. Certainly, by then people uncompromising dismissal of all gods had come to take for granted the unique other than its own as mere demons, and greatness and invincibility of the empire. wicked and hurtful ones at that). Even the ominous events of Aurelius’s While there is no indication that the reign failed to shatter their conviction central authorities consciously opposed that the empire was impregnable, and the the increase of governmental personnel, the internal disturbances of the preceding number of government employees cer- reign had not given cause for much alarm. tainly grew very slowly. Thus the The credit for the empire’s success lay responsibilities of the magnates in pro- less with what its rulers did and could do vincial cities were correspondingly great. than with what they did not do: they did In parts of southern Spain or in the area not interfere too much. The empire was a south of the Black Sea, for example, where vast congeries of peoples and races with the extent of the territories dependent on differing religions, customs, and lan- cities stretched out over many scores of guages, and the emperors were content to miles into the surrounding landscape, let them live their own lives. Imperial pol- city senators had not only to collect taxes icy favoured a veneer of common culture but also to build roads and carry out transcending ethnic differences, but there much rural police work. Within their cit- was no deliberate denationalization. ies, too, senators had to see to the 138 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion collection of taxes and tolls. As a group, himself. It was from the provincial elite they had to oversee and assign the that new Roman senators were made. income from municipal lands or build- Cities, through their elite families, ings rented out and from endowments competed with each other across entire established by generous citizens. They regions. City rivalries in northern Italy or had to authorize the plans and financing western Anatolia happen to be especially of sometimes very elaborate civic struc- well reported. Within individual cities, tures—an aqueduct, an , or a elite families were often in competition temple to the imperial family—or of great as well. In consequence, the standards of annual and fairs or of ongoing municipal beneficence rose, encouraged amenities serving the public baths (free by a populace who on public occasions oil for oneself, heating, and assembled in large numbers in the the- upkeep) or the public markets. In the atre, demanding yet more expenditure eastern provinces, they had to replenish from their leaders. The emperors, who from time to time the stock of small local realized that the well-being of cities, the bronze coins, and they had to insure that jewels of their realm, depended on such magistracies were effectively staffed, munificence, increasingly intervened to even though there usually was no salary insure a continued flow of good things of any sort to attract candidates. Magis­ from the rich of a community to their trates and city senators generally had to fellow citizens. Legislation might, for pay handsomely for their election and example, specify the binding nature of thereafter make further handsome contri- electoral campaign promises or of for- butions, as need arose and so far as they merly voluntary contributions connected could afford, toward the adornment of with public service. As a consequence, in their community. the second century consideration must What attracted candidates in ade- for the first time be given to the local aris- quate numbers were most often three tocrat unwilling to serve his city; the inducements: the feeling of community series of imperial pronouncements exert- approval and praise, offered in the most ing compulsion on such a person to serve public ways (described by writers of the was to stretch far into the future, with time with striking psychological pene- increasing severity. Attempts to stabilize tration); the enhancement of personal the benefits arising from ambitious rival- influence (meaning power) through the ries thus had an oppressive aspect. demonstration of great financial means; As to the lower orders, their voice is and finally, the social and political rarely heard in surviving sources, except advancement that might follow on local in acclamation. So long as the rich volun- prominence through attracting the atten- tarily covered the bulk of local expenses tion of a governor or of the emperor and so long as they commanded the The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 139 leisure and knowledge of the world to This , from the mid-second cen- give to administration unsalaried, the tury defined in law as “the more poor could not fairly claim much of a honourable,” honestiores, was minutely right to determine the city’s choices. subdivided into degrees of dignity, the Thus they acclaimed the candidacies of degrees being well advertised and jeal- the rich and their gifts and otherwise ously asserted; the entire stratum, gave vent to their wishes only by shout- however, was entitled to receive specially ing in unison in the or tender treatment in the courts. The amphitheatre (in between spectacles) or remaining population was lumped through violent mob actions. together as “the more lowly,” humiliores, As noted above, the poor routinely subject to when giving witness in solved the problems of daily life by court; to beatings, not fines; and to execu- appealing to someone of influence tion (in increasingly savage forms of locally; this was true whether in , death) rather than exile for the most seri- as indicated in the Talmud, or in Italy, as ous crimes. Yet because of the existing is evident from Pliny’s correspondence. patterns of power, which directed the The higher one looked in society, the humiliores to turn for help to the upper more it appeared crisscrossed and inter- stratum, the lower classes did not form a connected by ties of or of past revolutionary mass but constituted a sta- services exchanged. It was at these higher ble element. levels that answers to routine problems The pyramidal structure of society were to be sought. Appeal was not suggested by the statistics given above is directed to one’s peers, even though trade somewhat obscured by the reality and associations, cult groups of social equals, prominence of the urban scene. In the cit- and burial clubs with monthly ies the harsh outlines of the distribution meetings could be found in every town. of wealth were moderated by a certain Such groups served social, not political degree of . No class offers or economic, purposes, at least during more success stories than that of freed- the principate. men. Especially in the West, freedmen Accordingly, society was ordinarily are astonishingly prominent in the record described by contemporaries simply in of inscriptions and proverbial for what terms of two classes: the upper and the the upper classes called unprincipled lower, rich and poor, powerful and depen- enterprise and vulgar moneygrubbing. dent, well known and nameless. The Artisans and tradespeople—lowly folk, in upper classes consisted of little more the eyes of someone like Cicero—in fact than 600 Roman senators, 25,000 equites, presented themselves with a certain and 100,000 city senators; hence, a total dignity, even some financial ease. At the amounting to 2 percent of the population. bottom, slaves were numerous, 140 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion constituting perhaps one-tenth of the only Roman conquest but, in the East, the population in at least the larger towns conquests of centu- outside of Italy and considerably more in ries earlier. However, the device of Italy—as much as one-quarter in Rome. organizing conquered territories under In the cities many of them at least cities responsible for their surrounding enjoyed security from starvation and territory proved as successful under the had a good over their heads. When Romans as under the Greeks. The intent one turns to the rural scene, however, one of both conquerors may have been lim- encounters a far larger, harsher world. In ited to ensuring political control and the the first place, nine-tenths of the empire’s yield of tribute; however, in fact, they people lived on the land and from its achieved much more: an approach to - yield. Where details of their lives emerge formity, at least in the cities. with any clarity, they most often tell of a changeless and bleak existence. The city Urban Centres looked down on the countryside with elaborate scorn, keeping the rural popu- The first thing to strike the traveler’s eye, lation at arm’s length. Very often people in any survey of the second-century in the country had their own language— empire, would have been the physical such as Gallic, Syriac, Libyphoenician, or appearance of urban centres. Whatever Coptic, which further isolated them—and the province, many of the same architec- their own religion, marriage customs, tural forms could be observed: The and forms of entertainment. In time, the suburbs tended to have aqueducts and very term “country dweller,” paganus , set racetracks and the cities a central grand the rural population still further apart market area surrounded by porticoes, from the empire’s Christianized urban temples, a records office, a council hall, a population. basilica for judicial hearings and public auctions, and a covered market hall of a The Creation of a characteristic shape for perishable foods Unified Civilization (a macellum, as in Pompeii, in Perge on the southern coast of modern , or In the overall context of Western history, in North African Lepcis). There also the degree to which the Mediterranean would have been public baths with sev- world during the period of the empire eral separate halls for cold or hot became one single system, one civiliza- or exercise, a covered or open-air theatre, tion, is a matter of the greatest importance. grand fountains, monumental arches, Clearly, one must distinguish between and statues of local worthies by the life of the rural masses and that of the the dozens or even hundreds. Eastern urban minority. The former retained centres would have gymnasia (occasion- many traits of a way of life predating not ally Western ones as well) and Western The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 141

The hot room of the imperial baths at , Ger. Fototeca Unione

cities would have (occa- mark, can be detected at the heart of sionally Eastern ones as well) for the places such as , Banasa (), imported institution of gladiatorial com- and Autun, all Augustan foundations, as bats. Throughout the Western provinces, well as in (), , public buildings were likely to be and Silchester, all later ones. As noted arranged according to a single plan— above, orthogonal town planning was not more or less the same everywhere—in a Roman invention, but the Romans which a grid of right-angle streets was introduced it to new regions and with a dominant, at least toward the central part particular regularity of their own. of the city. Moreover, the grid of the central part of In the West, as opposed to the East, a the city was matched, and sometimes great deal of urbanization remained to extended on the same lines, by another be done and was accomplished by the grid laid across the surrounding territory. Romans. The , its particular The process, referred to as , 142 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

The ancient Roman city of Thamugadi in northeastern , founded by Trajan in AD 100. Fototeca Unione typically made use of squares of 2,330 the lives of conquered populations inside feet (710 metres) on a side, intended for their own characteristic framework. land distribution to settlers and general purposes of inventory. Signs of it were Latinization first detected in northern Africa in the 1830s, through surviving crop marks and The special burst of energy in the roads, and have since (especially through Augustan colonizing spread abroad not air photography) been traced in the envi- only the visible elements of a ruling civi- rons of Trier and (Syria) and large lization but the invisible ones as well. areas of northern Italy, Tunisia, and else- Colonies and municipalities received where. In the placing of cities and roads Roman forms of government according and property boundaries, the Romans of to their charters, they were administered the empire therefore left a nearly indelible by Roman law in Latin, and they diffused stamp of their organizing energies on these things throughout the general pop- the map of Europe; they also established ulation within and around them. In The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 143 frontier areas such lessons in an service, and by election to magistracies civilization were pressed home by garri- or simply to the city of colonies son forces through their frequent contacts and municipalities, a growing proportion with their hosts and suppliers. By the sec- of the empire’s population had gained citi- ond century considerable Latinization zenship; moreover, their children were had occurred in the West. Modern citizens, whose descendants in turn were Spanish, Portuguese, and French show Romans in the legal sense. By AD 212 this that this was particularly true of the accelerating process had advanced so far Iberian peninsula, which had been pro- that the emperor Caracalla could offer the vincial soil ever since the Second Punic gift of incorporation to the entirety of his War, and of Gaul, where Latin enjoyed the subjects without much notice being taken advantage of some relationship to Celtic. of his generosity—it was already in the In these regions, except in the less acces- possession of most of the people who sible rural or mountainous parts, even the counted and whose reactions might be lower orders adopted Latin. Today one recorded. Once citizenship was universal, can find in Romania the tongue that is it ceased to constitute a distinction; thus the closest to its parent, Latin, even at so the declaration of it through the custom great a distance from its home. And Latin of funerary commemoration rapidly can be found not only in Romance lan- passed out of favour. guages; it has left its mark on languages such as Basque and German. Limits of Unification Inscriptions represent the most fre- quent testimony to linguistic allegiance; One great flaw in the picture of the more than a quarter of a million survive empire as one single civilization by 212, in Latin from the period of the empire, triumphantly unified in culture as in its the vast majority of them being funerary. political form, has already been pointed The number of inscriptions per year out—what was achieved within the cities’ increases slowly during the first century walls did not extend with any complete- and a half AD, thereafter ascending in a ness to the rural population, among steep line to a point in the second decade whom local ways and native languages of the third and then falling off even more persisted. Peasants in fourth-century steeply. The curve is best explained as Syria spoke mostly Syriac, in Egypt reflecting pride in “Romanness”—in pos- mostly Coptic, in Africa often Punic or sessing not only Latin but full citizenship Libyphoenician, and in the Danube and as well and, thereby, admission to a group northwestern provinces other native for whom commemoration of the tongues. deceased was a legal as well as a moral There was still another great flaw: duty. Over the course of time, by individ- The empire was half Roman (or Latin), ual gift from the emperors, by army half Greek. The latter was hardly touched 144 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion by the former except through what may differences was the cult of the emperors. be called official channels—that is, law, In one sense, it originated in the fourth coinage, military presence, , century BC, when Alexander the Great and the superposition of an alien struc- first received veneration by titles and ture of power and prestige, to which the symbols and forms of address as if he elite of the Eastern provinces might were a superhuman being. Indeed, he must aspire. On the other hand, the Roman half have seemed exactly that to contempo- was steeped in Greek ways. , for raries in Egypt, where the pharaohs had example, though born and reared in a long been worshiped, and to peoples in small North African town of the second the Middle East, for similar reasons of century, was sent to Athens to study rhet- religious custom. Even the Greeks were oric. On his return he could find not only quite used to the idea that beings who an audience for his presentations in lived a human life of extraordinary Greek but ordinary people in the market- accomplishment, as “heroes” in the full place able to read a in that language. sense of the Greek word, would never die In Rome the Christian community used but be raised into some higher world; Greek as its liturgical language well into they believed this of heroes such as the third century, and the crowds in the Achilles, Hercules, Pythagoras, and Dion could enjoy a pun in of Syracuse in the mid-fourth century BC. Greek. An aristocrat such as the emperor Great Roman commanders, like Marcus Aurelius could be expected to be Hellenistic rulers, had altars, festivals, as bilingual as was Cicero or Caesar and special honours voted to them by before him or even, like the emperor Greek cities from the start of the second , help the Greek philosopher century BC. found a sort of Institute for It was not so strange, then, that a Advanced Studies in the Naples area. freedman supporter of Caesar’s erected Greece continued to supply a great a pillar over the ashes of the dead dictator deal of sculpture for Western buyers or in the Forum in April 44 BC and offered even the teams of artisans needed for the cult to him as a being now resident decoration of public buildings in third- among the gods. Many citizens joined in. century northern Africa. By such various Within days Caesar’s heir Octavian means the division between the two pressed for the declaration of Caesar as halves of the empire was for a time cov- divine—which the Senate granted by its ered over. vote in 42. By 25 BC the city of had organized annual cult acts honour- Cult of the Emperors ing Augustus and communicated their forms and impulse to in Spain as Among the institutions most important well as to other Eastern Greek cities. By in softening the edges of regional 12 BC divine honours to Caesar and The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 145

Augustus’s genius were established disquisitions on monarchy, and prefatory through the emperors’ initiative both in announcements accompanying the pub- the Gallic capital, Lugdunum, and in the lication of government edicts. They neighbourhood chapels to the crossroads established a tone in which it was proper gods in Rome. to think of Roman rule and government. From these various points and mod- Portraits, the second means of propa- els, emperor worship spread rapidly. ganda, included painted ones on general Within a few generations, cities every- display in cities, sculpted ones, especially where had built in its service new temples in the early years of each reign, based on that dominated their forums or had official models available in a few major assigned old temples to the joint service cities (hundreds of these survive, includ- of a prior god and the imperial family. ing at least one in gold), and engraved Such centres served as rallying points for ones on coins. Imperial coins offered a the citizenry to express its devotion to more rapidly changing exhibition of Rome and the emperor. To speak for images than even postage stamps in the whole provinces, priests of the cult modern world. Because the dies soon assembled during their year of office in wore out, many scores of issues had to be central shrines, such as Lugdunum, as brought out each year, in gold, silver, delegates of their cities, where they for- and bronze. While the images (“types”) and mulated for the emperor their complaints words (“legends”) on them tended to or their views on the incumbent gover- repetition, there was much conscious nor’s administration. Whether these inculcation of topical messages. For priests were freedmen in urban neigh- example, in the short and rocky reign of bourhoods, municipal magnates in local Galba in AD 69, one finds the legends temples, or still grander leaders of the “All’s well that ends well” (), provinces, they perceived the imperial “Rome reborn,” “Peace for Romans,” and cult as something of high prestige and “Constitutional government restored” invested it and Roman rule with glory. ( restituta, with iconographic ref- The emotional and political unifica- erence to Brutus’s coins of 43 BC) and tion of the empire was further promoted superlative portraits of Galba himself. In by submissive or flattering forms of refer- other reigns, the legends, enriched with ence or address, adopted even by the suitable symbolism, read “the soldiers highest personages when speaking of loyal,” “Italy well fed,” and fecunditas of the emperor, and by portraits of the the and its progeny. So far emperors or their families with attendant as it is possible to comprehend the written messages. Of these two most mind of the empire’s populace, there obvious means of propaganda, the first was no significant opposition to the survives in the texts of many government by the second century; delivered to the throne, rhetorical instead, there prevailed a great deal of 146 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion ready veneration for the principate as an soldiers spent their wages locally. So far institution. as they could, they bought goods and ser- vices of a Roman sort and generally The Economic Factor attracted concentrations of people likely to develop into cities of a Roman sort. Economic factors, to the extent that they The economic impact of army payrolls were favourable, played an obvious part was all the greater because of the cash in promoting both cultural and political added to them from taxes raised in other, unity. So far as acculturation was con- more developed provinces in the East. cerned, a limit to its achievement was Much of the urbanization and enrich- clearly set by the amount of disposable ment of the western and northern capital among non-Romanized popula- provinces can be explained by these four tions. The cost of such luxuries as factors. schooling in Latin or frescoes on one’s The sources for studying the econ- walls were high. But more and more omy of the empire were insufficient until people could afford them as the benefits the mid-20th century. The archaeological of Roman occupation were spreading. sources were too scarce and heteroge- The rising levels of prosperity did not, neous to be of much help, and the written however, result from a special benevo- ones contained barely usable amounts of lence on the part of the conquerors, intent quantified data; economic analysis with- as they were (and often cruelly intent) on out quantification, however, is almost a the pleasures and profits of physical mas- contradiction in terms. Thus discussion tery over the conquered. Rather, they can was obliged to limit itself to rather gen- be explained, first, by the imposition of eral remarks about the obviously wide the Romana, which gave urban cen- exchange of goods, the most famous tres surer access to the surrounding rural points of production or sale of given areas and rural producers access in turn articles, techniques of banking, or com- to convenient, centralized markets; sec- mercial law. This is still the case with ond, by the sheer attractiveness of regard to the Eastern half of the imported articles, which intensified Mediterranean world, where excavation efforts to increase the power to buy them; has made relatively little headway; but, third, by the economic stimulation for the West, archaeological data have afforded by taxes, which had to be paid greatly increased in recent decades in on new earnings but which remained in both quantity and intelligibility. As a the provinces where they were raised. result, a growing number of significant In the fourth place, prosperity also statements based on quantification can rose in the regions least Romanized. This now be made. They are of special value can be explained by the fact that they because they bear on what was eco- tended to be heavily garrisoned and the nomically most important—namely, The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 147 agriculture. Like any preindustrial econ- identification, however, an economic one omy, that of the empire derived the does not fit very well. Evidence, as it accu- overwhelming bulk of its gross national mulates in more quantifiable form, does product from food production. One would not seem to show any perceptible eco- therefore like to know what regions in nomic decline in the empire as a whole what periods produced what rough per- after roughly 160. Rather, Italy had prob- centage of the chief comestibles—wine, ably suffered some decrease in disposable oil, wheat, garum, or legumes. Thanks to wealth in the earlier first century. Gaul’s techniques such as neutron activation greatest city, Lugdunum, had begun to analysis or X-ray fluorescence spectrom- shrink toward the end of the second, and etry, the contents of large samples of various other regions in the West suf- amphorae at certain market junctures fered setbacks at various times, while all can be identified, dated by shape of ves- of Greece continued to be poor. Other sel, and occasionally ascribed to certain regions, however, had more wealth to named producers of the vessel, and the spend, and as is manifest in major urban information drawn into a graph; or, the projects of utility and beautification or in numbers and find-spots of datable fine the larger rooms and increasingly expen- “” (so-called Arretine ware or later sive decoration of rural villas. Roman rule equivalents) or ceramic oil lamps from also brought extraordinary benefits to the named producers can be indicated on a economies of Numidia and Britain, to map of, say, Spain or France. The yield of name its two most obvious successes. such data underlies statements made To the extent the empire grew richer, above regarding, for example, the super- modern observers are likely to look for an session of Italy as producer of several explanation in technology. As noted essential agricultural products by the above, in Augustus’s reign a new mode of mid-first century ad, the concurrent trans- glassblowing spread rapidly from Syria formation of Gaul from importer to to other production centres; Syria in the exporter, and the emergence by the third third century was also the home of new century of northern Africa as a major and more complicated weave patterns. exporter of certain very common articles. Such rather minor items, however, only Information of this general nature pro- show that technical improvements in vides some sense of the shift in prosperity industry were few and insignificant. The in the Western provinces. screw press for wine and olive oil was In the age of the Antonines, Rome’s more efficient than the levered variety, empire enjoyed an obvious and prosper- but it was not widely adopted, even within ous tranquility; modern consensus has Italy. Waterwheels for power, known in even settled on about AD 160 as the peak Anatolia in Augustus’s reign, were little of Roman civilization. Whatever mea- used; a few examples in Gaul belong only surement may be used in this to the later empire. Similarly, the 148 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion mechanical reaper was found only in its inadequacies by borrowing in times of Gaul of the fourth century. Perhaps the special need; Nero’s need to harry his most significant advances were regis- millionaire subjects with false charges of tered in the selective breeding of strains treason in order to pay for his incredibly of grains and domestic animals: for expensive court and spendthrift impulses example, the “Roman” sheep (which had reflects the realities of raising revenue. originated in the Greek East) spread So do the very cautious experiments of throughout Europe, banishing the infe- Augustus in setting army pay and army rior Age species to a merited exile in size. Ultimately, the military strength of the Outer Hebrides (the Soay sheep of St. the empire was insufficient—inadequate Kilda island). What is vastly more signifi- for emergencies—because of these cant, however, than these oddments of realities. technological history is the minute sub- division of productive skills and their The Army transmission from father to son in popu- lations adequate to the demand—for iron The army that enforced the ore from Noricum, most notably, or for had expanded little beyond the size envis- glass and paper from Alexandria. Special­ aged for it by Augustus, despite the ization in inherited skills produced a enlargement of the empire by Claudius, remarkably high level of proficiency, the Flavians, and Trajan. It reached 31 requiring only the security of the Pax legions momentarily under Trajan, but it Romana for the spreading of its products usually numbered 28 under the Flavians everywhere—transport itself being one of and Antonines until the onset of the fron- those skills. tier crisis in Aurelius’s reign brought it to The health of the economy no doubt 30. Without raising pay rates to attract helps to explain the political success of recruits more easily, a large force was the empire, which was not disturbed by seemingly beyond reach—which proba- frequent revolts or endemic rural or bly explains why Hadrian, and later urban unrest. On the other hand, there Commodus, halted further expansion. were limits in the economy, which The army was used not to prop up a expressed themselves through resistance militarist government but to defend the to taxation. Tax levels settled at the frontiers. Shifts in enemy pressures, how- enforceable maximum; but revenue fell ever, caused the legions to be distributed far short of what one might expect, given differently than in Julio-Claudian times. the best estimates of the empire’s gross Under Antoninus Pius, the Danubian national product. The basic problem was provinces (Pannonia, Moesia, Dacia) had the tiny size of the imperial government 10, and the East (Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, and the resulting inefficiency of its pro- Egypt) had 9, and both regions also had cesses. Moreover, it could not make good supporting naval flotillas; of the The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 149 remaining 9 legions, Britain contained 3 to the rewards at some frontier posting. and the Rhineland 4. Tacitus in his Annals Peace and prosperity thus combined to (4.5) rates the auxiliary troops near the make the army less and less Roman, less turn of the era as being about as numer- and less of the centre, and more and more ous as the legionnaries. But they soon nearly barbarous. outnumbered them: that is, whereas The troops’ loyalty did not suffer on legions contained somewhat more than that account. The men were no more 5,000 men each if they were at full ready to mutiny or to support a strength and thus totaled roughly around AD 200 than they had been in the 150,000 in the mid-second century, the early empire. However, experience espe- auxiliaries numbered 245,000—again, if cially in the year of the four emperors at full strength. Recent estimates put the (AD 69) did suggest the desirability of actual figure for the entire army at 375,000 splitting commands into smaller units, to 400,000. which, in turn, involved splitting up prov- Two reasons, military and financial, inces, the number of which was constantly explain the growing use of nonlegion- growing; by Hadrian’s day subdivision naries. Mustered in units mostly of 500, began to anticipate the fragmentation they were easier to move around and later carried out by Diocletian. could be encouraged to maintain the spe- cial native skills of their inheritance—as Cultural Life slingers from the or , in corps from Numidia, or as The literature of the empire is both abun- from Thrace. In addition, dant and competent, for which the they could be recruited for lower wages emperors’ encouragement and financing than legionnaries. As regards recruit- of libraries and higher education were ment for the legions, even that higher perhaps in part responsible. The writers, rate proved less and less attractive. however, with the possible exception of Whereas legions in the early empire Christian apologists, were seldom excit- could be largely filled with men born in ingly original and creative. As Tacitus Italy and southern Gaul, by the second said, the great masters of literature had half of the first century most of the men ceased to be. Perhaps Augustus’s empha- had to be drawn from the provinces; sis on tradition affected more than after Trajan, they were largely natives of political ideals and practice. At any rate, the frontier provinces. Young men from the men of letters, too, looked often back- inner parts of the empire, growing up in ward. At the same time, they clearly reveal successive generations of continual peace, the success of the empire in spreading no longer looked on military service as a Greco-Roman culture, for the majority of natural part of manhood, and the civilian them were natives of neither Italy nor economy appeared attractive compared Greece. Of the writers in Latin, the two 150 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Senecas, Lucan, , Columella, by authors who were not native to the Hyginus, and came from birthplace of the language. The so-called Spain; Fronto, Apuleius, and probably Second Sophistic reverted to the atticism Florus and , from Africa. of an earlier day but often in a Roman Tacitus was perhaps from Gallia spirit; its products from the Asian pens of Narbonensis. and Aelius Aristides are The Latin writers in general sought sometimes limpid and talented tours de their models less in Greece than in force but rarely great literature. In Greek, Augustus’s , when Latin lit- too, the best work was in satire, the comic erature had reached maturity. Thus, the prose dialogues of the Syrian poets admired Virgil and imitated Ovid; being the most noteworthy and original lacking genuine inspiration, they substi- literary creations of the period. Among tuted for it an erudite cleverness, the fruit minor writers the charm of and of an education that stressed oratory of a , Asians both, and above all of striking but sterile kind. Authentic elo- Plutarch abides (although Plutarch’s tal- quence in Latin came to an end when, as ents were mediocre, and his moralizing Tacitus put it, the principate “pacified” was shallow, his biographies, like those of oratory. Under the Flavians and his Latin contemporary , are Antonines, an artificial rhetoric, con- full of information and interest). stantly straining after meretricious Imperial encouragement of Greek effects, replaced it. The epigrammatic culture and a conviction, no longer justi- aphorism (sententia) was especially culti- fied, of its artistic and intellectual vated; the epics of Lucan, Valerius superiority caused the East to resist Flaccus, Silius Italicus, and Statius are Latinization. This attitude was bound to full of it, and it found a natural outlet in lead to a divided empire, and thoughtful satirical writing, of which the Latin observers must have noted it with mis- instinct for the mordant always ensured givings. The split, however, was still far in an abundance. In fact, Latin satire the future. Meanwhile, there was a more excelled: witness Martial’s , immediate cause for disquiet. The pleth- Petronius’s and ’s pictures of the ora of summaries and anthologies that period, and ’s more academic talent. appeared implies a public progressively For that matter, Tacitus’s irony and pes- indifferent to reading whole works of lit- simism were not far removed from satire. erature for themselves. In other words, In the East the official status of Greek the outlook for letters was poor, and this and the favour it enjoyed from such had an unfortunate effect on the scien- emperors as Hadrian gave new life to tific literature of the age, which was in Greek literature. It had something in com- itself of first-class quality. Dioscorides on mon with its Latin counterpart in that it botany, on medicine, and looked to the past but was chiefly written on mathematics, astronomy, and The Early Roman Empire (31 BC–AD 193) | 151 represent expert scholars Flavian times this Roman artistic instinct expounding carefully, systematically, and had asserted itself and with it the old lucidly the existing knowledge in their Roman tendency toward lively and accu- respective fields. But their very excel- rate pictorial representation. It can be lence proved fatal because, as the reading seen from the reliefs illustrating the tri- public dwindled, theirs remained standard umph over Judaea in the passageway of works for far too long; their inevitable the in the Roman Forum. errors became enshrined, and their works The narrative description dear to Roman acted as brakes on further progress. art found its best expression in the great Stoicism was the most flourishing spiral frieze on Trajan’s Column, where philosophy of the age. In the East a ster- the emperor can be seen among his sol- ile scholasticism diligently studied diers at various times in the Dacian and Aristotle, but , the stoic campaigns; the story of the war plays a from Anatolia, was the preeminent phi- most important part, although, like most losopher. In the West, stoicism permeates imperial , the column is meant Seneca’s work and much of Pliny’s to exalt the leader. Under Hadrian a reac- . Evidently, its advocacy tion made sculpture less markedly Italian, of common morality appealed to the tra- as if to be in conformity with the slow ditional Roman sense of decorum and decline of Italy toward quasi-provincial duty, and its doctrine of a world directed status. Also under Hadrian, the figure by an all-embracing providence struck a of the emperor was more prominent— responsive chord in the second-century bigger and more frontal than the other emperors, though they deeply disap- figures—as if to illustrate the growing proved of its extremist offshoots, the monarchical tone of the principate. This cynics: Marcus Aurelius, as noted, was tendency continued under the Antonines, himself a stoic. when there was a magnificent flowering Imperial art, dealing above all with of sculpture on panels, , and man and his achievements, excelled in sarcophagi; but its exuberance and splen- portraits and commemoration of events; dour foreshadow the end of classical art. and presumably Roman The artistic currents that flowed in painting, also, owed much to Greek styles Rome were felt throughout the empire, and techniques. It emerged, however, as the less developed areas being influenced its own distinctive type. The Augustan most. In the West, provincial sculpture age had pointed the way that closely resembled Roman, although it would go: Italian taste would be imposed sometimes showed variations, in Gaul on Hellenic models to produce some- especially, owing to local influences (the thing original. The reliefs of the Augustan native element, however, is not always Ara Pacis belong to Rome and Italy, no easy to identify). The Roman quality of matter who actually carved them. By portraits painted on Egyptian mummy 152 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion cases shows that the Greek-speaking huge thermal establishments, the massive regions were also affected, although solidity of the amphitheatres, and the generally they maintained their own audacity of the soaring bridges and aque- traditions. But by now the Greek East had ducts. The East was greatly impressed. become rather barren; much of its pro- Admittedly, the agoras and gymnasiums duction was imitative rather than vitally in Greek towns are hardly Roman in creative. Greece proper contributed little, aspect, but, for most structures of a prac- the centre of Hellenism having shifted to tical utilitarian kind, the Greek debt to Anatolia, to places such as , Rome was heavy. Sometimes Roman where there was a flourishing school of influence can be seen not only in the sculpture. fundamental engineering of such build- In at least one respect the East was ings as market gateways, , and heavily influenced by Rome. The use of amphitheatres but even in such decora- concrete and cross enabled Roman tive details as composite capitals as well. architects and engineers to span wide Roman features abound in exotic , areas. Their technological achievements , Gerasa, and , and even included the covered vastness of the in Athens itself. CHAPTER 5

The Later Roman Empire

fter the assassination of Commodus on Dec. 31, AD 192, AHelvius , the prefect of the city, became emperor. In spite of his modest birth, he was well respected by the Senate, but he was without his own army. He was killed by the praetorians at the end of March 193, after a three- month reign.

THE DyNASTy Of THE SEvERI (AD 193–235)

The praetorians, after much corrupt bargaining, designated as emperor an old general, , who had promised them the largest (a donation given to each soldier on the emperor’s accession). The action of the praetorians roused the ire of the provincial armies. The army of the Danube, which was the most powerful as well as the closest to Rome, appointed Septimius Severus as emperor in May 193.

Septimius Severus

Severus soon had to face two competitors, supported, like himself, by their own troops: , the legate of Syria, and Clodius Albinus, legate of Britain. After having temporarily neutralized Albinus by accepting him as Caesar (heir apparent), Septimius marched against Niger, whose troops, having come from Egypt and Syria, were already occupying . The Danubian legions were 154 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion victorious, and Niger was killed at the at not being associated with the empire, end of 194; and Byzantium were proclaimed himself Augustus in 196 and pillaged after a long siege. Septimius invaded Gaul. He was supported by the even invaded Mesopotamia, for the troops, by the population, and even by Parthians had supported Niger. the senators in Rome. In 197 he But this campaign was quickly inter- was defeated and killed in a difficult battle rupted. In the West, Albinus, disappointed near his capital of Lugdunum, which, in turn, was almost devastated. Septimius Severus remained the sole master of the empire, but the pillagings, executions, and confiscations left a pain- ful memory. A few months later, in the summer of 197, he launched a second Mesopotamian cam- paign, this time against the Parthian king Vologases IV, who had attacked the frontier outpost Nisibis conquered two years previously by the Romans. Septimius Severus was again victorious. Having arrived at the Parthian capitals ( and Ctesiphon), he was defeated near but in 198 obtained an advantageous peace: Rome retained a part of Mesopotamia, together with Nisibis, the new province being governed by an eques. After having inspected the East, the emperor returned to Rome in 202. He spent most of his time there until 208, when the incursions of Caledonian rebels called him to Britain, Septimius Severus converted the government of Rome into a military monarchy. Hulton Archive/Getty Images where he carried out a three- year campaign along Hadrian’s The Later Roman Empire | 155

Wall. He died at (York) in place, Septimius Severus, aware of the February 211. urgency of external problems, estab- Septimius Severus belonged to a lished a sort of military monarchy. The Romanized Tripolitan family that had praetorian cohorts doubled their ranks, only recently attained honours. He was and the dismissal of the old staff of Italian born in in North Africa and origin transformed the Praetorian Guard favoured his native land throughout his into an imperial guard, in which the elite reign. He was married to of of the Danube army were the most impor- Emesa, a Syrian woman from an impor- tant element. The auxiliary troops were tant priestly family, and was surrounded increased by the creation of 1,000-man by Easterners. He had pursued a senato- units (infantry cohorts) and cavalry rial career and had proved himself a troops, sometimes outfitted with mail competent general, but he was above all a armour in the Parthian manner. The good administrator and a jurist. Disliking careers of noncommissioned officers Romans, Italians, and senators, he delib- emerging from the ranks now opened erately relied on the faithful Danubian onto new horizons: centurions and non- army that had brought him to power, and commissioned grades could attain the he always showed great concern for the tribunate and enter into the equestrian provincials and the lower classes. order. Thus, a simple Illyrian peasant Although he had sought to appropriate might attain high posts: this was undoubt- the popularity of the Antonines to his edly the most significant aspect of the own advantage by proclaiming himself “Severan revolution.” This “democratiza- the son of Marcus Aurelius and by nam- tion” was not necessarily a barbarization, ing his own son Marcus Aurelius for the provincial legions had long been Antoninus, he in fact carried out a totally Romanized. Their salaries were increased, different policy—a brutal yet realistic and donativa were distributed more fre- policy that opened careers to new social quently; thenceforth, soldiers were fed at classes. Indifferent to the prestige of the expense of the provincials. Veterans the Senate, where he had a great many received lands, mostly in Syria and Africa. enemies, he favoured the equites. The right of legitimate marriage, previ- The army thus became the seedbed of ously refused by Augustus, was granted the equestrian order and was the object to almost all of the soldiers, and the right to of all of his attentions. The ready forces form collegia (private associations) was were increased by the creation of three given to noncommissioned officers. new legions commanded by equites, and Because more than a century had passed one of these, the Second Parthica, was since the last raise in pay for the troops, installed near Rome. Unlike Vespasian, despite a steady (if slow) rise in the level who also owed his power to the army of prices, Severus increased the legionary’s but who knew how to keep it in its proper base rate from 300 to 500 denarii, with, 156 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion no doubt, corresponding increases in other favoured by the Antonines, were more ranks. The reflection of this step in the and more considered as administrative content of in silver coinage wheels in the service of the state: the rich- recalls a point made earlier: the imperial est decuriones (municipal councillors) revenues were constrained within the were financially responsible for levying narrow limits of political and administra- the taxes, and it was for this purpose that tive reality. the towns of Egypt finally received a The administrative accomplishments boulē (municipal senate). of Septimius Severus were of great impor- The burden of taxes and forced gov- tance: he clearly outlined the powers of ernment service was made weightier by the city prefect; he entrusted the praeto- numerous transport duties for the army rian to first-class jurists, such and for the service and was regu- as ; and he increased the num- lated by the jurists through financial, ber of procurators, who were recruited for personal, or mixed charges. The state was financial posts from among Africans and watchful to keep the decuriones in the Easterners and for government posts service of their cities and to provide a (praesides) from among Danubian offi- control on their administration through cers. Italy lost its privileges and found the appointment of curatores rei publicae, itself subjected, like all the other prov- or officials of the central government. inces, to the new annona , a tax paid in The lower classes were, in principle, pro- kind, which assured the maintenance of tected against the abuses of the rich, but the army and of the officials. The conse- in fact they were placed at the service of quent increase in expenditures—for the state through the restrictions imposed administration, for the salaries and the on shipping and commercial corpora- donativa of the soldiers, for the mainte- tions. Membership might entail forced nance of the Roman plebs, and for contributions of capital or labour to such construction—obliged the emperor to public necessities as the supply of food to devalue the in 194. But the con- Rome. The state became more and more fiscations increased his personal fortune, a policeman, and the excesses of power of the res privata, which had been previ- numerous grain merchants (frumentarii) ously created by Antoninus. weighed heavily on the little man. Severus’s social policy favoured both Imperial power, without repudiating the provincial recruitment of senators the ideological themes of the principate, (Easterners, Africans, and even rested in fact on the army and sought its Egyptians), causing a sharp decrease in legitimacy in heredity: the two sons of the percentage of Italian senators, and Septimius Severus, Caracalla and , the elevation of the equestrian order, were first proclaimed Caesars, the former which began to fill the prince’s council in 196, the latter in 198; later, they were with its jurists. The cities, which had been directly associated with imperial power The Later Roman Empire | 157 through bestowal of the title of Augustus, revenues by bringing new elements of in 198 and 209, respectively. Thus, during the population under tax obligations for- the last three years of Septimius Severus’s merly limited to Romans only. reign, the empire had three Augusti at Although little endowed with military its head. qualities, Caracalla adopted as his patron Alexander the Great, whom he admired Caracalla greatly, and embarked on an active exter- nal policy. He fought successfully against Caracalla, the eldest son of Septimius the Teutonic tribes of the upper Danube, Severus, reigned from 211 to 217, after among whom the Alamanni, as well as having assassinated his younger brother, the Capri of the middle Danube, appeared Geta. He was a caricature of his father: for the first time; he often prudently violent, megalomaniacal, full of complexes, mixed military operations with negotia- and, in addition, cruel and debauched. He tion and gave important subsidies and retained the entourage of the equites and money (in sound currency) to the barbar- jurists who had governed with his father ians, thus arousing much discontent. His but enforced to an even greater degree ambition was to triumph in the East like his father’s militaristic and egalitarian his hero of old and, more recently, policy. He increased the wages of the Trajan and his own father. He invaded army even further and, at the same time, Armenia and Adiabene and annexed began a costly building program that Osroëne in northwest Mesopotamia, join- quickly depleted the fortune left him by ing it to the part of Mesopotamia taken his father. He forced the senators to pay by Septimius Severus. In April 217, while heavy contributions, doubled the inheri- pursuing his march on the , he was tance and emancipation taxes, and often assassinated on the order of one of his required the aurum coronarium (a contri- praetorian prefects, Marcus Opellius bution in gold), thereby ruining the urban Macrinus. middle classes. To counter the effects of a general upward drift of prices and the Macrinus larger and better-paid army of his own and his father’s making, he created a new Macrinus was accepted as emperor by silver , the . It was the soldiers, who were unaware of the role intended to replace the basic denarius at he had played in the death of his prede- double its value, although containing only cessor. For the first time an eques had about one and a half times its worth in acceded to the empire after having been precious metal. The only historical source no more than a manager of financial to suggest Caracalla’s motive for his gift affairs. The senators reluctantly accepted of universal citizenship, Dio Cassius, this member of the equestrian order, who, states that it was meant to increase nevertheless, proved to be moderate and 158 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion conciliatory; but the armies despised him killed him in 222 and proclaimed as as a mere civilian, and the ancient authors emperor his first cousin, Alexianus, who were hostile to him. His reign was brief, took the name of Severus Alexander. and little is known of him. He concluded Although well educated and full of an inglorious peace with the Parthians, good intentions, Severus Alexander which assured Mesopotamia to Rome showed some weakness of character by through the payment of large sums of submitting to the counsel of his mother, money. And to make himself popular, he Mamaea, and of his grandmother, Maesa. canceled Caracalla’s tax increases and The Scriptores historiae Augustae, a col- reduced military expenditures. A plot lection of biographies of the emperors, against him was soon organized: two attributes to him a complete program of young grandnephews of Septimius reforms favourable to the Senate, but Severus were persuaded by their mothers these reforms are not mentioned else- and especially by their grandmother, where. As in the time of Septimius , the sister of Julia Domna Severus, his counselors were equites. (who had recently died), to reach for , the praetorian prefect, was the imperial power. The eldest, Bassianus, greatest jurist of this period, and the basic was presented to the troops of Syria, who policies of the founder of the dynasty had been bought with gold, and was pro- were carried on, but with less energy. claimed in April 218. Shortly afterward, This weakening of energy had disastrous Macrinus was defeated and killed, as was results: in Persia, the Arsacids were his son (whom he had associated with replaced in 224 by the more ambitious him on the throne). Sāsānid dynasty, who hoped to recover the former possessions of the Elagabalus and Achaemenids in the East. Their initial Severus Alexander attacks were stopped in 232 by a cam- paign that was, however, poorly The new emperor was presented as the conducted by the emperor and that alien- son of Caracalla, whose name he took ated the army as a result of its ineptitude. (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus). He is bet- In Rome there were frequent disorders, ter known, however, under the name and, as early as 223, Ulpian had been Elagabalus, the god whose high priest he killed by the praetorians. While gathered was and whom he quickly and imprudently on the Rhine to fight the , the attempted to impose on the Romans, in soldiers once again revolted and killed spite of his grandmother’s counsel of mod- Severus Alexander and his mother. A eration. Fourteen years old, he caused coarse and uneducated but energetic sol- himself to be detested by his heavy dier, Maximinus the Thracian, succeeded expenditures, his orgies, and the dissolute him without difficulty in March 235. The behaviour of his circle. The praetorians Severan dynasty had come to an end. The Later Roman Empire | 159

Religious and cultural on people by the state, but the statement life in the third century needs qualification. The cults of Rome were certainly official in the city itself. On the right bank of the Tiber in Rome, They were supported out of the state trea- in the least fashionable section of town sury and by the devotion of the emperor, among Lebanese and Jewish labourers, at least if he lived up to what everyone Elagabalus built an elegant temple to his felt were his responsibilities. In the army, ancestral god. He was no doubt in those too, camps had shrines in which portraits precincts very well received when he pre- of the emperor were displayed for venera- sided personally at its inauguration. Yet the tion on certain days of the year. A world that counted, the world of senators third-century calendar has been found in and centurions, reacted with indignation. an Eastern city that specifies for the gar- Within the capital the ruler was expected rison regiment the religious ceremonies to honour the gods of the capital, the to be carried out during the year, includ- ancient Roman ones. At the same time, it ing a number of the oldest and most was deemed appropriate that he reverently traditional ones in Rome. Many Western recognize other gods, in their place. For this cities accorded special size and promi- reason a biography presenting Severus nence to a temple in which Jupiter or the Alexander for the reader’s admiration imperial family or both together were records how scrupulously he offered wor- worshiped not by orders from on high, it ship on the Capitoline to Jupiter, while is true, but spontaneously. The ubiquity also having, in a chapel attached to his of the imperial cult has already been domestic quarters, the images of his lares emphasized. All these manifestations of (household gods), of the deified emperors piety gave some quality of “Romanness” of most beloved memory, and of such to the religion of the empire. superhuman beings as the Greeks would On the other hand, the empire had have called “heroes,” including Apollonius been assembled from a great number of the holy man of , Christ, Abraham, parts, whose peoples already had their and Orpheus. The furnishing of the chapel own way of life fully matured. They were is described by a most dubious source. not about to surrender it nor, in fact, But if it is not history, it is at least reveal- were they ever asked to do so by their ing of ideals. A Roman ruler was to express conquerors. What characterized the reli- not only the piety of the capital and its gious life of the empire as a whole was citizens but also that of all his people the continued vitality of local cults in throughout his empire. Imperial religion combination with a generally reverent was properly compounded of both Roman awareness of one’s neighbours’ cults. The and non-Roman piety. emperor, for example, might openly offer Official religion can hardly be said to personal veneration to his favourite have existed in the sense of being pressed god, a god outside the traditional Roman 160 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion circle, while also practicing a more con- Augustus to Severus Alexander followed ventional piety. When he was on his a somewhat different course from those travels, he would offer cult at the chief in the West. In the East the further jum- shrines of all the localities he visited. bling together of already well-mixed What was expected of the emperor was traditions encouraged a tolerance that expected of everyone: respectful tolera- eroded their edges. It became possible to tion of all components in the religious see predominant similarities in , amalgam. Of course, there were differ- , and , in , Iarhibol, ences according to individual , and Serapis, or in , , and temperament and degree of education; . From recognition of basic simi- approaches to religion might be literal or larities one might reason to a sort of philosophical, fervent or relaxed. Rural monotheism, by the lights of which, for society was more conservative than persons given to theology, local urban. But the whole can fairly be called were no more than narrow expressions an integrated system. of greater . A juncture was then Just as the special power of the Greek natural with , the school of gods had gained recognition among the philosophy that later came to be held in Etruscans and, subsequently, among high regard. the Romans in remote centuries BC or as On the other hand, in Italy, the Serapis in Hellenistic times had come to Danube provinces, and the Western prov- be worshiped in scattered parts of the inces, religious change and development ’ realm—Macedonia and Ionia, can be more easily seen in the immigra- for example—so at last the news of unfa- tion of worshippers of Easter deities. miliar gods was carried by their Those took root and became popular— worshipers to distant places in the Roman none more so than , though Isis, Empire where, too, they worked their Cybele, and Jupiter of were close wonders, attracted reverent attention, behind. Apuleius in the closing chapters and received a pillared lodging, a priest- of his novel usually called The Golden hood, and daily offerings. The Pax Ass in English describes how a young Romana encouraged a great deal more man is brought from mere consciousness than commerce in material objects. It of Isis as a famous goddess with certain made inevitable the exchange of ideas in well-known rites and attributes, to a sin- a more richly woven and complex fabric gle-minded devotion to her. Aelius than the Mediterranean world had ever Aristides, a famous rhetorician of the seen, in which the Phrygian Cybele was time, recounts in his spiritual diary at home also in Gaul and the Italian the development of a similar devotion in in northern Africa. himself to . Both the fictional Religious developments in the East­ and the factual account give a central ern provinces during the centuries from place to benefits miraculously granted. The Later Roman Empire | 161

temples, and so forth—through which it is possible to trace the spread of foreign cults. Eastern cults, however, also introduced to the West complex liturgies, beliefs underlying beliefs that could be explained in espe- cially dramatic ways to special devotees (“mysteries”), and much rich symbolism. Of no cult was this more true than , known to the 20th century through excavation of the underground shrines that it preferred.

The Rise of Christianity

During the first and second centuries, Christianity spread with relative slowness. The doctrines of , who was crucified about AD 30, first took root among the Jews of Palestine, where a large num- ber of sects were proliferating—orthodox sects, such as the Sadducees and the Isis, the Egyptian goddess of fertility, experienced a Pharisees, as well as dissident resurgence of popularity in the Western provinces during and sometimes persecuted the third century. Hulton Archive/Getty Images sects such as the , whose ascetic practices have It was by such means that piety was been illuminated by the discovery of the ordinarily warmed to a special fervour, Scrolls in the mid-20th century. whether or not that process should be At the end of Tiberius’s reign, Christianity called conversion. had spread to the gentiles as a result of In any case, it produced what are known the preaching of St. Paul in Anatolia and as the testimonies—votive inscriptions, in Greece. At the same time, Christianity 162 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion continued to make progress among the It was a peace that could not extend to Jews of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Syria people who had (it would be alleged) and quickly reached even Osroëne and apostasized from their own Judaism. the Parthian towns of the Euphrates, Christians did not participate in the where Jewish colonies were numerous. Jewish revolt of 66–73, and, under the The Roman authorities at first had diffi- Flavians, Christianity completely severed culty in distinguishing the “Christos” itself from its origins. believers from the orthodox Jews, but the At this time the East was the centre of religion of the former, on leaving its origi- the new religion, whose followers grew in nal milieu, quickly became differentiated. numbers from Egypt to the Black Sea and However, a familiar charge against were beginning to be noticed in Bithynia the Jews, that they felt a hatred of man- and in Greece. Christians seemed fairly kind, continued to pursue the Christians. numerous in Rome as early as the end of Their expectation of the end of the world the first century. When the age of the aroused a suspicion that that was what Apostles ended, the age of the church they indeed desired; moreover, they began, with its , presbyters, and were also suspect for their aloofness— deacons, with its catechism, preaching, they cut themselves off from family and and celebration of the Eucharist. In the community—and for their meetings, second century, Christianity began to whose purpose was obscure. Their sec- reach the intellectuals. Hellenistic cul- ond-century spokesmen had to dispel the ture offered educated Christians the belief, often recorded, that they practiced resources of philosophical dialectic and magic involving cannibalism, indulged of rhetoric. The example of in sex orgies (incestuous to boot), and, of Alexandria had shown in the first cen- the most common accusation of all, that tury that it was possible to reconcile the they were atheists—people who denied with the great Platonic ideas. By the existence of the gods and rejected the second century the Christian “apolo- accepted cults. This last charge, which gists” tried to show that Christianity was was, of course, exactly on the mark, must in harmony with Greco-Roman humanism be set in the context of occasional epi- and that it was intellectually, and above sodes of mob violence against all morally, superior to . (non-Christian) atheists or doubters. But the Christians did not succeed in Here the association of Christians with convincing the authorities. The first per- Jews, equally monotheistic, might have secution, that of Nero, was related to a provided some protection for the devastating fire in the capital in 64, for Christians, but the Jews were faithful to a which the Christians were blamed or, cult of the greatest antiquity and, more- perhaps, only made the scapegoats. In over, had long made their peace with any case, their position as bad people Caesar, Augustus, and their successors. (mali homines of the sort a governor The Later Roman Empire | 163 should try to suppress) had been estab- quieted, and the church continued to lished, and later suppressions could be progress, favoured perhaps by the rela- justified by reference to “the Neronian tive freedom that the law granted to practice.” So far as criminal law was con- funerary collegia (whence the first cerned, such a precedent had considerable ). authority, of the sort that Pliny, as gover- nor, was looking for in his handling of the Cultural Life from the Christians of Bithynia-Pontus in 111. His Antonines to Constantine master, the emperor Trajan, told him not to seek them out but to execute those Latin literature enjoyed its “Silver Age” who, being informed against, refused to under the Antonines, with the majority of abjure their religion. great authors, such as Tacitus, Juvenal, Hadrian and other successors hewed and , having begun to the same line thereafter. Thus, the their careers under Domitian. They had remained localized and no heirs; after Tacitus, Roman history was sporadic and were the result of private reduced to biography. It was only in the denunciations or of spontaneous popular fourth century that history began to flour- protests. Under Marcus Aurelius, the dif- ish again, with , a ficulties of the times often caused the Greek writing in Latin. Satire, the Roman Christians, who refused to sacrifice to genre par excellence, came to an end with the state gods and to participate in the Juvenal; and Pliny the Younger, a dili- imperial cult, to be accused of provoking gent rhetorician but with a lesser degree the wrath of the gods. appeared of talent, had only the mediocre Fronto in the East, in Rome, in Gaul, and in as a successor. More original was the Africa. Commodus’s reign was more aforementioned rhetorician, scholar, favourable to them, perhaps because and picaresque novelist Apuleius of certain members of his circle, not a very Madauros. edifying one in other respects, were A Greek , however, took Christians or Christian sympathizers. place during the second century. The This reprieve, however, was short- Second Sophistic school reigned in every lived: Septimius Severus inaugurated the area: in rhetoric, history, philosophy, and first systematic persecution. In 202 an even in the sciences. Schools of rhetoric edict forbade Christian (and Jewish) and philosophy prospered in the East— proselytism. Members of extremist sects in , , Pergamum, were persecuted for preaching continence Rhodes, Alexandria, and even in Athens— (which violated Augustus’s laws against protected and subsidized by the ), for holding the state in con- emperors, from Vespasian to Marcus tempt, and especially for refusing military Aurelius. The great were service. Under Caracalla, the situation , a multimillionaire from 164 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Athens; Polemon; and Aelius Aristides, a 160–after 222), Christian thought deep- valetudinarian devotee of Asclepius. Dio ened, and theology made its appearance. Cassius and were conscientious Clement and (c. 185–c. 254), the and useful historians (first half of the greatest theologian of the time, were third century), as was later the the luminaries of the church of Alex­ Athenian, whose work survives only in ; the Roman church still wrote in fragments. Greek and was represented by the slightly Science was represented by the old-fashioned ; and the church mathematician Nicomachus of Gerasa, of Africa had a powerful personality, St. medicine by Galen of Pergamum, and , of Carthage. astronomy by the Alexandrian Ptolemy. The disappearance of the great lyric Law remained the only Roman science, and poetic styles, the fossilizing of educa- exemplified under the Antonines by tion as it came to be completely based on and Gaius (the rhetoric (paideia), and the growing Institutiones) and rising to its zenith in importance of philosophical and reli- the third century as a result of the works gious polemical literature among both of three jurists: Papinian, Ulpian, and pagans and Christians were the basic Modestinus. Philosophy, heavily influ- traits that, as early as the third century, enced by rhetoric and ethics, was foreshadowed the intellectual life of the represented under Domitian and Trajan late empire. by Dio (or Chrysostom) of Prusa, who outlined the stoical doctrine of the ideal Military anarchy and sovereign. The biographer Plutarch and the disintegration of the Lucian of Samosata were more eclectic, empire (235–270) especially Lucian, who resembled Voltaire in his caustic skepticism. Under The period from the death of Severus Marcus Aurelius, one of Lucian’s friends, Alexander to the time of Claudius II , wrote the first serious criticism of Gothicus was marked by usurpations and Christianity, “The True Word,” known barbarian invasions. After Maximinus through Origen’s refutation of it in the the Thracian, who bravely fought the third century. At this time philosophy but showed great hostility leaned toward religious mysticism: toward the Senate and the educated elite, under the Severans, Ammonius Saccas the Gordians rose to power as a result of created the school of Alexandria, and his a revolt by wealthy African landowners. disciple Plotinus founded the Neo­ A senatorial reaction first imposed civil- platonist school, which was to fight ian emperors, and bitterly against Christianity. After the together, and then named Gordian III, a apologists and, above all, (c. youth backed by his father-in-law, the The Later Roman Empire | 165

The surrender of the emperor to the Persian king Shāpūr, rock relief, AD 260, in the province of Fārs, . Roger-Viollet praetorian prefect Timesitheus. Gordian His son then reigned alone, facing III was murdered by the soldiers during a multiple invasions and several usurpa- campaign against the and was tions. He moved constantly between the replaced, first by Philip the Arabian and Rhine and the Danube, achieving bril- then by , both soldiers. Decius liant victories ( in 262, the Nestus tried to restore Roman traditions and also in 267), but the Pannonian army raised persecuted the Christians, but he was several competitors against him killed by the Goths in 251 in a battle near (, , ). Too the Black Sea. From 253 to 268 two Roman busy to protect the Gauls against the senators, Valerian and his son Gallienus, and the Alemanni and the East reigned. Valerian revived the persecution against , he had to tolerate of the Christians, but he was captured the formation of the under by the Persians during a disastrous cam- the praetorian prefect Marcus Cassianius paign and died in captivity (260). (259–268) and the Palmyrene 166 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion kingdom of Odenathus (260–267). Some necessity but had been too weak to of his reforms were a foreshadowing of impose them. the future. The senators were practically excluded from the army, the equites The Barbarian Invasions received the majority of commands and of provincial governorships, and the com- The Goths were Germans coming from position of the army was modified by the what is now Sweden and were followed creation of new army corps and espe- by the Vandals, the Burgundians, and the cially of a strong cavalry, which was Gepidae. The aftereffect of their march to placed under the command of a single the southeast, toward the Black Sea, was leader and charged with closing the to push the Marcomanni, the Quadi, and breaches that the barbarians were open- the Sarmatians onto the Roman limes in ing along the frontiers. Marcus Aurelius’s time. Their presence Upon his father’s death, Gallienus was brusquely revealed when they had put an end to the persecution of the attacked the Greek towns on the Black Christians, preferring to fight the new Sea about 238. Timesitheus fought religion through intellectual means; to against them under Gordian III, and that end, he favoured the under Philip and Decius they besieged cults ( of ) and protected the towns of Moesia and Thrace, led by the Neoplatonist philosopher Plotinus. their kings, Ostrogotha and Kniva. These initiatives increased the number of Beginning in 253, the Crimean Goths and his enemies, particularly among the the appeared and dared to venture patriotic senators and the Pannonian on the seas, ravaging the shores of the generals. While Gallienus was in Milan Black Sea and the Aegean as well as besieging the usurper Aureolus, he was several Greek towns. In 267 Athens was killed by his chiefs of staff, who pro- taken and plundered despite a strong claimed Claudius II (268), the first of the defense by the historian Dexippus. Illyrian emperors. The new emperor won After the victories of Gallienus on the a great victory against the Alemanni on Nestus and Claudius at Naissus (Nish), the Garda lake and overwhelmed the Goths there was for a time less danger. But the in Naissus (269) but died of the plague in countries of the middle Danube were still 270. This fatal period brought to light one under pressure by the Marcomanni, of the major defects of the empire: the Quadi, Iazyges, Sarmatians, and the lack of a legitimate principle of succes- of free Dacia, who were later joined by the sion and the preponderant role of the Roxolani and the Vandals. In spite of army in politics. The structures that had stubborn resistance, Dacia was gradually created the strength of the principate overwhelmed, and it was abandoned by were weakened, and the empire required the Roman troops, though not evacuated deep reforms. Gallienus had felt their officially. When Valerian was captured in The Later Roman Empire | 167

AD 259/260, the Pannonians were gravely The several invasions had so fright- threatened, and Regalianus, one of the ened the people that the new emperor usurpers proclaimed by the Pannonian was readily accepted, even in Spain and legions, died fighting the invaders. The Britain. He devoted himself first to the defense was concentrated around defense of the country and was finally and Siscia-Poetovio, the ancient considered a legitimate emperor, having fortresses that had been restored by established himself as a rival to Gallienus, Gallienus, and many cities were burned. who had tried in vain to eliminate him In the West the invasions were par- but finally had to tolerate him. Postumus ticularly violent. The Germans and the governed with moderation, and, in good Gauls were driven back several times by Roman fashion, minted excellent coins. the confederated Frankish tribes of the He, too, was killed by his soldiers, but he coast and by the Alemanni had successors who lasted until 274. from the middle and upper Rhine. Gallienus fought bitterly, concentrating Difficulties in the East his defense around Mainz and , but the usurpations in Pannonia pre- In the East the frontiers had been fixed by vented him from obtaining any lasting Hadrian at the Euphrates. But under results. In 259–260 the Alemanni came Nero, the Romans had claimed control through the Agri Decumates (the territory over the kings of Armenia, and under around the ), which was now Caracalla they had annexed Osroëne and lost to the Romans. Some of the Alemanni Upper Mesopotamia. The headed for Italy across the Alpine passes; had been weak and often troubled, but others attacked Gaul, devastating the the Sāsānids were more dangerous. In entire eastern part of the country. Passing 241, Shāpūr I (Sapor), an ambitious orga- through the Rhône Valley, they eventu- nizer and statesman, mounted the throne. ally reached the Mediterranean, and He united his empire by bringing the some bands even continued into Spain. Iranian into line and by protecting There they joined the Franks, many of the Zoroastrian religion. He also toler- whom had come by ship from the North ated the Manichaeans and put an end to Sea, after having plundered the western the persecutions of the Christians and part of Gaul. Sailing up the estuaries of Jews, thereby gaining the sympathy of the great rivers, they had reached Spain these communities. and then, crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, In 252, with a large army at his com- had proceeded to . mand, Shāpūr imposed Artavasdes on Outflanked, Gallienus entrusted Gaul Armenia, attacked Mesopotamia, and and his young son to Postumus, took Nisibis. In 256 his advance troops who then killed Saloninus and pro- entered Cappadocia and Syria and plun- claimed himself emperor. dered Antioch, while Doura-Europus, on 168 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion the middle Euphrates, was likewise fall- supported Avidius Cassius and ing to him. Valerian had rushed to its aid, Pescennius Niger against the legitimate but he could not remedy the situation; emperors. In 272 unity was restored by and in 259 or 260 he was imprisoned by , but Mesopotamia was lost, and Shāpūr during operations about which the Euphrates became the new frontier little is known. Mesopotamia was lost and of the empire. Rome was pushed back to the Euphrates. Cappadocia, Cilicia, and Syria were again Economic and Social Crisis plundered, and a puppet emperor was appointed in Antioch. But these victories The invasions and the civil wars worked were transitory. In Osroëne, had in combination to disrupt and weaken the shown resistance, a defense was orga- empire over a span of half a century. nized in Cappadocia and Cilicia, and Things were at their worst in the , but Odenathus, the prince of Palmyra, took the entire period from 235 to 284 brought Shāpūr by surprise and forced him back the empire close to collapse. Many to Iran. regions were laid waste (northern Gaul, Having thus aided the Roman cause, Dacia, Moesia, Thrace, and numerous Odenathus then began to act in his own towns on the Aegean), many important interest. He continued the fight against cities had been pillaged or destroyed the Persians and took the title “King of (Byzantium, Antioch, Olbia, Lugdunum), Kings.” The Romans officially entrusted and northern Italy (Cisalpine Gaul) had him with the defense of the East and con- been overrun by the Alemanni. During ferred on him the governorship of several the crisis, the emperor either focused his provinces; the “kingdom” of Palmyra thus forces on the defense of one point, invit- extended from Cilicia to Arabia. He was ing attack at another, or he left some murdered in 267 without ever having sev- embattled frontier altogether to its own ered his ties with Gallienus. His widow devices; any commander who proved suc- had her husband’s titles granted cessful had the emperorship thrust upon to their son . Then in 270, tak- him, on the very heels of his victories ing advantage of the deaths of Gallienus over the invaders. Counting several sons and Claudius II, she invaded Egypt and a and brothers, more than 40 emperors part of Anatolia. This invasion was fol- thus established themselves for a reign of lowed by a rupture with Rome, and in 271 some sort, long or (more often) short. Vaballathus was proclaimed Imperator The political destabilization fed on Caesar Augustus. The latent separatism itself, but it also was responsible for heavy of the Eastern provinces and, undoubtedly, expenditure of life and treasure. To keep some commercial advantages caused pace with the latter, successive emperors them to accept Palmyrene domination rapidly and radically reduced the per- without difficulty, as they had, in the past, centage of precious metal in the standard The Later Roman Empire | 169 silver coins to almost nothing so as to The Pax Romana had then, in all spread it over larger issues. What thus these manifest ways, been seriously dis- became a fiduciary currency held up not rupted. On the other hand, in Egypt, too badly until the 260s, when confidence where inflation is most amply docu- collapsed and people rushed to turn the mented, its harmful effects cannot be money they had into goods of real value. detected. The Egyptian economy showed An incredible inflation got under way, no signs of collapse. Furthermore, some lasting for decades. regions—most of Britain, for example— The severity of damage done to the emerged from the half-century of crisis in empire by the political and economic a more prosperous condition than before. destabilization is not easily estimated A summary of the effects of crisis can since for this period the sources of every only underline one single fact that is sort are extremely poor. almost self-evident: the wonders of civili- would suggest that commerce was dis- zation attained under the Antonines rupted, taxes collected more harshly required an essentially political base. and unevenly, homes and harvests They required a strong, stable monarchy destroyed, the value of savings lost to in command of a strong army. If either inflation, and the economy in general or both were seriously disturbed, the badly shaken. A severe plague is reported economy would suffer, along with the civ- that lasted for years in mid-century, pro- ilization’s ease and brilliance. If, on the ducing terrible casualties. In some other hand, the political base could be western areas, archaeology provides restored, the health of the empire as a illustration of what one might expect. whole was not beyond recovery. Cities in Gaul were walled, usually in In the meantime, certain broad much reduced circuits. Villas here and changes unconnected with the political there throughout the Rhine and Danube and economic crisis were going forward in provinces also were walled, and road the third century. Civilians increasingly systems were defended by lines of fort- complained of harassment and extortion lets in northern Gaul and adjoining by troops stationed among them. Exaction Germany. A few areas, such as Brittany, of taxes intended for the army also became were abandoned or relapsed into pre- the target of more frequent complaint, and Roman primitiveness. Off the coasts of demands by soldiers to interfere in civil- that peninsula and elsewhere, too, piracy ian government, foremost by those reigned; on land, brigandage occurred stationed in the capital, grew more inso- on a large scale. The reentrant triangle lent. The choice of emperor became more of land between the upper Danube and and more openly the prerogative of the upper Rhine had to be permanently aban- military, not the Senate, and, in the 260s, doned to the barbarians around it in senators were being largely displaced about 260. from high military commands. The 170 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion equestrian rank, in which persons risen several “Illyrian” emperors, who were from military careers were often to be good generals and who tried in an ener- found, was the beneficiary of the new pol- getic way to restore equilibrium. The icy. In sum, the power of the military, high most remarkable was Aurelian. He first and low, was asserting itself against that of gained hard-won victories over the the civilians. Alemanni and the Juthungi, who had From this change, further, there flowed invaded the Alpine provinces and north- certain cultural consequences, for, con- ern Italy. To cheer the inhabitants of tinuing the tendencies detectable even in Rome, who had succumbed to panic, he the first century, the army was increas- began construction of the famous ram- ingly recruited from the most backward part, Aurelian Wall. And while crossing areas, above all, from the Danubian prov- the Danubian provinces, before march- inces. Here, too—indeed, throughout the ing against Palmyra, he decided on an whole northern glacis of the empire—it orderly evacuation of Dacia, an unde- had been state policy to allow entire tribes fendable region that had been occupied of barbarians to immigrate and to settle by the barbarians since the time of on vacant lands, where they dwelled, Gallienus. In the East, he defeated farmed, paid taxes, and offered their sons Zenobia’s troops easily and occupied to the army. Such immigrants, in increas- Palmyra in 272. ingly large numbers from the reign of Shortly afterward, an uprising broke Marcus Aurelius on, produced, with the out in Egypt under the instigation of a rural population, a very non-Romanized rich , who, like a great part of mix. From the midst of just such people, the population, was a partisan of the Maximinus mounted to the throne in 235, Palmyrene queen. In response, Aurelian and later, likewise, (Caesar from undertook a second campaign, plunder- 293). It is quite appropriate aesthetically, ing Palmyra and subjugating Alexandria. from Aurelian on, that these later third- These troubles, however, along with the century rulers chose to present themselves devastation of the great caravan city, to their subjects in their propaganda with were to set back Roman trade seriously in stubbly chin, set jaw, and close-cropped the East. Later, rounding back on the hair on a bullet head. Gallic empire of Postumus’s successors, he easily defeated Tetricus, a peaceful The recovery of the man not very willing to fight, near empire and the Cabillonum. The unity of the empire was establishment of the restored, and Aurelian celebrated a dominate (270–337) splendid triumph in Rome. He also reestablished discipline in the state, After Claudius II’s unexpected death, the sternly quelled a riot of artisans in empire was ruled from 270 to 284 by the mints of Rome, organized the The Later Roman Empire | 171

About two-thirds of the Aurelian Wall, built in the AD to strengthen Rome’s defenses against Germanic invaders, remains intact. Shutterstock.com provisioning of the city by militarizing 275, he was murdered by certain officers several (the , the pork who mistakenly believed that their lives merchants), and tried to stop the inflation were in danger. by minting an antoninianus of sounder For once, his successor, the aged sen- value. His religious policy was original. ator Tacitus, was chosen by the Senate—at In order to strengthen the moral unity of the army’s request and on short notice; he the empire and his own power, he reigned only for a few months. After him, declared himself to be the protégé of the , another Illyrian general, inher- (the Invincible ) and ited a fortified empire but had to fight built a magnificent temple for this god hard in Gaul, where serious invasions with the Palmyrene spoils. Aurelian was occurred in 275–277. Thereafter, Probus also sometimes officially called dominus devoted himself to economic restoration; et : the principate had definitely he attempted to return abandoned farm- been succeeded by the “dominate.” In land to cultivation and, with the aid of 172 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion military labour, undertook works of Illyrians who had attained high com- improvement. To remedy the depopula- mands after a long military career. Of the tion, he admitted to the empire, as had four, only Diocletian was a statesman. Aurelian, a great number of defeated The unity of the empire was safeguarded, Goths, Alemanni, and Franks and permit- despite appearances, for there was no ted them to settle on plots of land in Gaul territorial partitioning. Each emperor and in the Danubian provinces. After the received troops and a sector of operation: assassination of Probus in 282 by sol- , Italy and Africa; Constantius, diers, became emperor and Gaul and Britain; Galerius, the Danubian immediately associated with himself his countries; and Diocletian, the East. two sons, and . Carus Practically all governmental decisions and Numerian fought a victorious cam- were made by Diocletian, from whom the paign against the Persians but died under others had received their power. He legis- unknown circumstances. Carinus, left lated, designated consuls, and retained behind in the West, was later defeated precedence. After 287 he declared his and killed by Diocletian, who was pro- kinship with the god Jupiter (Jove), who claimed emperor in 284 by the Diocletian claimed was his special pro- army of the East. tector. Diocletian, together with his Caesar Galerius, formed the “Jovii” Diocletian dynasty, whereas Maximian and Constan­ tius, claiming descent from the mythical Diocletian may be considered the real hero Hercules, formed the “Herculii.” founder of the late empire, though the form This “Epiphany of the Tetrarchs” served of government he established—the tet- as the divine foundation of the regime. rarchy, or four people sharing power The ideological recourse to two tradi- simultaneously—was transitory. His tional Roman divinities represented a reforms, however, lasted longer. Military break with the Orientalizing attempts of exigencies, not the desire to apply a pre- Elagabalus and Aurelian. Even though he conceived system, explain the successive honoured Mithra equally, Diocletian nomination of Maximian as Caesar and wanted to be seen as continuing the later as Augustus in 286 and of Constantius work of Augustus. In dividing power, and Galerius as Caesars in 293. Diocletian’s aim was to avoid usurpa- The tetrarchy was a of tions, or at least to stifle them quickly—as emperors comprising two groups: at its in the attempt of , chief of the head, two Augusti, older men who made army of Britain, who was killed (293), as the decisions; and, in a secondary posi- was his successor, Allectus (296), after a tion, two Caesars, younger, with a more landing by Constantius. executive role. All four were related either The deification of the imperial func- by adoption or by marriage, and all were tion, marked by elaborate rituals, tended The Later Roman Empire | 173 to set the emperors above the rest of administration (justice, police, finances, mankind. But it was still necessary to and taxes). The cities lost their auton- avoid future rivalries and to assure the omy, and the administered and tetrarchy a legitimate and regular succes- collected the taxes under the governor’s sion. Some time between 300 and 303 direct control. The breaking up of the Diocletian found an original solution. provinces was compensated for by their After the anniversary of their 20-year regrouping into a dozen , under reign the two Augusti abdicated equestrian vicars who were responsible (Maximian quite unwillingly), and on the to the emperor alone. The two praetorian same day (May 1, 305) the two Caesars prefects had less military power but became Augusti. Two new Caesars were played an important role in legislative, chosen, Severus and Maximinus Daia, judicial, and above all, financial matters: both friends of Galerius, whose strong the administration of the annona, which personality dominated Constantius. In had become the basis of the fiscal system, repudiating the principle of natural in fact gave them management of the heredity (Maximian and Constantius entire economy. Within the central each had an adult son), Diocletian took a administration the number of offices great risk: absolute divine monarchy, increased, their managers being civilians which Diocletian largely established, who carried out their functions as a regu- implies the hereditary transmission of lar career. All officials were enrolled in power, and the future was soon to demon- the , whose hierarchy was to be strate the attachment of the troops and outlined during the fourth century. even of the population to the hereditary Great efforts were devoted to principle. strengthening the borders, and the limes In order to create a more efficient were outfitted with fortressescastella ( ) unity between subjects and administra- and small forts (burgi), notably in Syria. tors, Diocletian multiplied the number of The army’s strength was increased to 60 provinces; even Italy was divided into a legions (but with reduced personnel); dozen small units of the provincial type. and, in principle, each border province Rome, moreover, was no longer the effec- received a garrison of two legions, com- tive capital of the empire, each emperor plemented by subsidiary troops. having his own residence in the part of Adopting one of Gallienus’s ideas, the empire over which he ruled (Trier, Diocletian created an embryonic tactical Milan, Sirmium, ). Although a army under the direct orders of the few provinces were still governed by sen- emperor whose escort (comitatus) it ators (proconsuls or consuls), the majority formed. The troops were most often com- were given to equestrian praesides, usu- manded by duces and praepositi rather ally without any military power but with than by provincial governors and were responsibility for the entirety of civil mainly recruited from among the sons of 174 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion soldiers and from barbarians who enlisted The wars, the reforms, and the individually or by whole tribes. In addi- increase in the number of officials were tion, the landowners had to provide either costly, and inflation reduced the resources recruits or a corresponding sum of money. of the state. The annona, set up by All of these reforms were instituted Septimius Severus, had proved imperfect, gradually, during defensive wars whose and Diocletian now reformed it through success demonstrated the regime’s effi- the jugatio-capitatio system: henceforth, ciency. Constantius put down Carausius’s the land tax, paid in kind by all landown- attempted usurpation and fought the ers, would be calculated by the assessment Alemanni fiercely near Basel; Maximian of fiscal units based on extent and quality of first hunted down the (gangs land, type of crops grown, number of set- of fugitive peasant brigands) in Gaul, tlers and cattle, and amount of equipment. then fought the Moorish tribes in Africa, The fiscal valuation of each piece of in 296–298, triumphing at Carthage; and property, estimated in juga and capita on the Danube, Diocletian, and later (interchangeable terms whose use varied Galerius, conquered the , the by region and period of time), required a Iazyges, and the Carpi, deporting them number of declarations and censuses in large numbers to the provinces. In similar to those practiced long before in the East, however, the opposition of the Egypt. Each year, the government estab- Persians, led by the enterprising Narses, lished the rate of tax per fiscal unit; and extended from Egypt to Armenia. The every 15 years, beginning in 312, taxes Persians incited uprisings by both the were reassessed. This complicated sys- Blemmyes nomads in southern Egypt tem was not carried out uniformly in and the Saracens of the and every region. Nevertheless, it resulted in made use of anti-Roman propaganda by an improved of the empire’s the Manichaeans and Jews. Diocletian resources and a certain progress in fiscal succeeded in putting down the revolt in equity, thus making the administration’s Egypt and fortified the south against the heavy demands less unbearable. Blemmyes. But in 297, Narses, the heir to In addition, Diocletian wished to reor- Shāpūr’s ambitions, precipitated a war by ganize the coinage and stabilize inflation. taking Armenia, Osroëne, and part of He thus minted improved sterling coins Syria. After an initial defeat, Galerius won and fixed their value in relation to a gold a great victory over Narses, and in 298 standard. Nevertheless, inflation again the peace of Nisibis reinstated a Roman became disturbing by the end of the cen- protégé in Armenia and gave the empire tury, and Diocletian proclaimed his a part of Upper Mesopotamia that well-known Edictum de Maximis Pretiis, extended even beyond the Tigris. Peace fixing price ceilings for foodstuffs and for was thus assured for some decades. goods and services, which could not be The Later Roman Empire | 175 exceeded under pain of death. The edict imposed controls. Diocletian, however, had indifferent results and was scarcely greatly increased the weight and com- applied, but the inscriptions revealing it plexity of all these obligations. have great economic interest. Diocletian also changed the adminis- Diocletian’s reforms adumbrated the trative districts in Egypt, in keeping with principal features of late Roman society— the model found elsewhere, by designat- a society defined in all parts that could be ing in each a central city to take useful to the state by laws fixing status responsibility for the whole. The last and, through status, responsibility. The anomalous province was thus brought persons owning grain mills in Rome were into line with the others. Everywhere, the (to anticipate developments that contin- imperial government continued to count ued to unfold throughout the next two or on the members of the municipal senate three generations) responsible for the to serve it, above all in tax collection but delivery of flour for the dole and could also in the supply of recruits, in rural not bequeath or withdraw any part of police work, billeting for troops, or road their capital from their enterprise. Several building. As had been the case for centu- other labour groups were similarly ries, they had to have a minimum of restricted, such as owners of seagoing landed property to serve as surety for the vessels that served the supply of Rome, performance of their administrative bargees in the Tiber, Ostian grain han- duties as well as to submit to nomination dlers, distributors of olive oil and pork for as senator, if it was so determined by the the dole, bath managers, and limeburners. Senate. There had never been any one A ban on moving to some other home or law to that effect, but by Diocletian’s time job along with production quotas were the emperor had at his command a body placed on people in serving state of long-established custom and numer- factories that made imperial court and army ous imperial decisions that served just as garments, cavalry equipment, and arms. well. Local elites were thus hereditary, Diocletian built a number of such facto- compulsory agents of his purpose, exactly ries, some in his capital Nicomedia, like the Tiber bargees. others in cities close to the groups whose Two other groups were frozen into needs they served. The laws imposing their roles in the same fashion: soldiers these obligations affected only labour and farmers. The sons of soldiers were groups serving the army and the capital required to take up their fathers’ occupa- (or capitals, plural, after the promotion of tion (a law to that effect was in operation Constantinople); and, to identify them, at least by 313); and the natural tendency induce them to serve, and hold them in of tenant farmers (coloni) to renew their their useful work, emperors as early as lease on land that they, and perhaps their Claudius had offered privileges and fathers and grandfathers, had worked 176 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion was confirmed by imperial decisions—to emperors, as outraged by the Christians such effect that, in 332, Constantine could as many private citizens, considered it speak of tenants on his Sardinian estates their duty to maintain harmony with the as bound to the acres they cultivated. gods, the pax deorum, by which alone This is the earliest explicit pronounce- the empire flourished. Accordingly, ment on what is called the “colonate.” Soon Decius and Valerian in the had dealt the institution was extended beyond severely with the Christians, requiring imperial estates to tie certain categories them to demonstrate their apostasy by of tenants to private estates as well. The offering sacrifice at the local temples, and emperors wanted to ensure tax revenue for the first time had directly struck the and, for that, a stable rural labour supply. church’s and property. There were The empire, as it is seen in abundant scores of Christians who preferred death, legislation for the period of Diocletian though the great majority complied or and beyond into the fifth century, has hid themselves. Within a matter of been called a “” or months after he had begun his attacks, even a sort of totalitarian prison, in which however, Decius had died (251), and the every inhabitant had his own cell and his bloody phase of Valerian’s attacks also own shackles. This may well have been lasted only months (259/260). His son the rulers’ intent. By their lights, such a Gallienus had issued an edict of toler- system was needed to repair the weak- ance, and Aurelian was even appealed to nesses revealed in the third-century by the church of Antioch to settle an crisis. The principle of hereditary obliga- internal dispute. tions was not, after all, so very strange, Christianity had now become open set against the natural tendencies of the and established, thanks to the power of economy and the practices that had its God so often, it seemed, manifested in developed in earlier, easier times. Yet miraculous acts and to the firmness with Diocletian’s intentions could not be fully which converts were secured in a new realized, given the limits on governmen- life and community. The older slanders— tal effectiveness. cannibalism and —that had After a period of initial indifference troubled the Apologists in the second toward the Christians, Diocletian ended century no longer commanded credence. his reign by unleashing against them, in A measure of respectability had been 303, the last and most violent of their per- won, along with recruits from the upper secutions. It was urged on him by his classes and gifts of land and money. By Caesar Galerius and prolonged in the the end of the third century Christians East for a decade (until 311) by Galerius actually predominated in some of the as Augustus and by other emperors. As smaller Eastern towns or districts, and in earlier persecutions, the initiative they were well represented in Italy, Gaul, arose at the heart of government; some and Africa around Carthage. All told, The Later Roman Empire | 177 they numbered perhaps as many as 5 Constantius died at Eboracum in 306, the million out of the empire’s total popula- armies of Britain and Gaul, without observ- tion of 60 million. Occasional meetings ing the rules of the tetrarchic system, had on disputed matters might bring together hastened to proclaim Constantine, the dozens of bishops, and it was this institu- young son of Constantius, as Augustus. tion or phenomenon that the Great Young , the son of Maximian Persecutions sought to defeat. (who had never wanted to retire), there- The progress of a religion that could upon had himself proclaimed in Rome, not accept the religious basis of the tet- recalled his father into service, and got rid rarchy and certain of whose members of Severus. Thus, in 307–308 there was were imprudent and provocative, as in great confusion. Seven emperors had, or the incidents at Nicomedia (where a pretended to have, the title of Augustus: church was built across from Diocletian’s Maximian, Galerius, Constantine, Max­ palace), finally aroused Galerius’s fanati- entius, Maximinus Daia, Licinius (who cism. In 303–304 several edicts, each had been promoted Augustus in 308 by increasingly stringent, ordered the Galerius against Constantine), and, in destruction of the churches, the seizure Africa, the usurper Domitius Alexander. of sacred books, the imprisonment of the This situation was clarified by suc- clergy, and a sentence of death for all cessive eliminations. In 310, after those who refused to sacrifice to the numerous intrigues, old Maximian was Roman gods. In the East, where Galerius killed by his son-in-law Constantine, and was imposing his ideas more and more in the following year Alexander was slain on the aging Diocletian, the persecution by one of Maxentius’s praetorian pre- was extremely violent, especially in fects. In 311 Galerius died of illness a few Egypt, Palestine, and the Danubian days after having admitted the failure of regions. In Italy, Maximian, zealous at the his persecutions by proclaiming an edict beginning, quickly tired, and in Gaul, of tolerance. There remained, in the West, Constantius merely destroyed a few Constantine and Maxentius and in the churches without carrying reprisals any East, Licinius and Maximinus Daia. further. Nevertheless, Christianity could Constantine, the best general, invaded no longer be eradicated, for the people of Italy with a strong army of faithful Gauls the empire and even some officials no and defeated Maxentius near the Milvian longer felt the blind hatred for Christians Bridge, not far from Rome. While attempt- that had typified previous centuries. ing to escape, Maxentius drowned. Constantine then made an agreement Struggle for Power with Licinius, and the two rallied the Eastern Christians to their side by guar- The first tetrarchy had ended on May 1, anteeing them religious tolerance in the 305; the second did not last long. After (313). This left Maximinus 178 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Daia, now isolated and regarded as a per- some time before. The second Flavian , in a weak position; attacked by dynasty was thus founded, and Constan­ Licinius near Adrianople, he fell ill and tine let it be believed that his father, died soon afterward, in 313. This left the Flavius Constantius (Chlorus), was empire with two leaders, Constantine and descended from . Licinius, allied in outward appearances Constantine’s conversion to Christi­ and now brothers-in-law as a result of anity had a far-reaching effect. Like his Licinius’s marriage to Constantine’s sister. father, he had originally been a votary of the Sun. Worshiping at the Grand Temple The Reign of Constantine of the Sun in the Mountains of Gaul, he had had his first vision, albeit a Constantine and Licinius soon disputed pagan one. During his campaign against among themselves for the empire. Maxentius, he had had a second vision—a Constantine attacked his adversary for lighted cross in the sky—after which he the first time in 316, taking the dioceses had painted on his men’s shields a figure of Pannonia and Moesia from him. A that was perhaps Christ’s monogram truce between them lasted 10 years. In (although he probably had Christ con- 316 Diocletian died in Salona, which he fused with the Sun in his manifestation had never felt a desire to leave despite as summa divinitas [“the highest divin- the collapse of his political creation. ity”]). After his victory he declared Constantine and Licinius then reverted himself Christian. His conversion to the principles of heredity, designating remains somewhat mysterious and his three potential Caesars from among their contemporaries— and respective sons, all still infants, with the of —are scarcely enlightening intention of securing their dynasties (two and even rather contradictory on the sons of Constantine and one of Licinius). subject. But it was doubtless a sincere The dynastic concept, however, required conversion, for Constantine had a reli- the existence of only a single emperor, gious turn of mind. He was also who imposed his own descendance. progressive and greatly influenced by the Although Constantine favoured the capable bishops who surrounded him Christians, Licinius resumed the perse- from the very beginning. cutions, and in 324 war erupted once Until 320–322 solar symbols appeared again. Licinius, defeated first at on Constantine’s monuments and coins, Adrianople and then in Anatolia, was and he was never a great theologian. Yet obliged to surrender and, together with his favourable policy toward the his son, was executed. Next, Constantine’s Christians never faltered. Christianity third son, Constantius, was in turn named was still a minority religion in the empire, Caesar, as his two elder brothers, especially in the West and in the country- and Constantine the Younger, had been side (and consequently within his own The Later Roman Empire | 179 army), thus excluding the possibility of Diocletian’s persecutions. The Arian her- any political calculation on his part. But it esy raised even more difficulties. , was enthusiastically welcomed in the an Alexandrian priest and disciple of East, and thanks to Constantine the new Lucian of Antioch, questioned the religion triumphed more rapidly; his offi- of the Trinity and of the godhead of cial support led to the conversion of Christ, and his asceticism, as well as the numerous pagans, although with doubt- sharpness of his dialectics, brought him ful because they were indifferent many followers. He was convicted several in their moral conviction. times, but the disorders continued. The church, so recently persecuted, Constantine, solicited by both sides was now suddenly showered with favours: and untroubled by doctrinal nuances that the construction of magnificent churches were, moreover, foreign to most believers (Rome, Constantinople), donations and in the West, wished to institute a univer- grants, exemptions from decurial duties sal creed. With this in mind he convened for the clergy, juridical competences for the general Council of , or Nicene the bishops, and exceptional promotions Council, in 325. He condemned Arius and for Christian officials. Pagans were not declared, in spite of the Easterners, that persecuted, however, and Constantine Jesus was “of one substance” with God retained the title of pontifex maximus. the Father. Nevertheless, the con- But he spoke of the pagan gods with con- tinued to exist, for Constantine changed tempt and forbade certain types of his mind several times; he was influenced worship, principally nocturnal sacrifices. by Arian or semi-Arian bishops and was In 331 he ordered an inventory of pagan even baptized on his deathbed, in 337, by property, despoiled the temples of their one of them, Eusebius of Nicomedia. treasure, and finally destroyed a few Between 325 and 337 Constantine Eastern sanctuaries on the pretext of effected important reforms, continuing immorality. Diocletian’s work. The division between The churches were soon to feel the the limitanei border troops and the tacti- burden of imperial solicitude: the “secular cal troops ( and imperial arm” (i.e., the government) was placed at guard) led by magistri militum was clari- the service of a fluctuating orthodoxy, fied, and military careers became for the emperor was impressionable to independent of civil careers. At the same arguments of various coteries and time, however, he lodged an increasing became quite lost in theological subtle- number of troops in or next to cities, a ties. In 314 the Council of had tried process whose objective was ease and in vain to stop the Donatist (a economy of supply. However, training nationalistic heretical movement ques- and discipline were harder to enforce tioning the worthiness of certain church because of it, and the men hung about officials) that arose in Africa after in idleness. 180 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

It was also under Constantine that a gave first rank in the central administra- barbarian commander in the Roman tion to the palace quaestor, the magister army attained a historical significance. officiorum, and the counts of finance He was Crocus the Alaman, who led the (comes sacrarum largitionum, comes rei movement among the troops that resulted privatae). The diocesan vicars were made in Constantine’s seizure of the rank of responsible to the praetorian prefects, Augustus in 306 immediately after his whose number was increased and whose father Constantius’s death. A similar fig- jurisdictions were now vast territories: the ure was the great commander Bonitus, a of Gaul, Italy, Illyricum, and Frank, in the years 316–324. Constantine the East. The unification of political credited his victories against Maxentius power brought with it a corresponding in 311–312 principally to his barbarian decentralization of administration. troops, who were honoured on the trium- In order to reorganize finances and cur- phal in Rome. In rency, Constantine minted two new coins: opposition to him, Licinius mustered the silver miliarensis and, most impor- drafts of Goths to strengthen his army. tant, the gold , whose stability Goths were also brought in by Constantine, was to make it the ’s basic to the number of 40,000, it is said, to help currency. And by plundering Licinius’s defend Constantinople in the latter part of treasury and despoiling the pagan temples, his reign, and the palace guard was thence- he was able to restore the finances of the forward composed mostly of Germans, state. Even so, he still had to create class from among whom a great many high taxes: the gleba for senators, and the chrys- army commands were filled. Dependence argyre, which was levied in gold and silver on immigrants or first-generation barbar- on merchants and craftsmen in the towns. ians in war was to increase steadily, at a Constantine’s immortality, however, time when conventional Roman troops rests on his founding of Constantinople. were losing military value. This “New Rome,” established in 324 on Constantine raised many equestrians the site of Byzantium and dedicated in 330, to senatorial rank, having in his earlier rapidly increased in population as a result reign the still rapidly increasing ranks of of favours granted to immigrants. A large the civil service to fill—it was at least 50 number of churches were also built there, times the size of the civil service under even though former temples were not Caracalla—and having in his later reign a destroyed; and the city became the admin- second senate to fill, in Constantinople. istrative capital of the empire, receiving a A rapid inflation in titles of honour also senate and proconsul. This choice of site took place. As a result of these several was due not to religious considerations, as changes, the equestrian order ceased to has been suggested, but rather to reasons have meaning, and a new nobility of that were both strategic (its proximity to imperial service developed. Constantine the Danube and Euphrates frontiers) and The Later Roman Empire | 181

After Emperor Constantine personally embraced Christianity, the empire itself evolved into a Christian state. Shutterstock.com economic (the importance of the straits (Crispus, the eldest son, had been exe- and of the junction between the great cuted in mysterious circumstances in continental road, which went from 326), supported by the armies faithful to Boulogne to the Black Sea, and the east- their father’s memory, divided the ern commercial routes, passing through empire among themselves and had all Anatolia to Antioch and Alexandria). the other members of their family killed. Constantine died on May 22, 337. Constantine II kept the West, Constantius the East, and , the youngest The Roman Empire under brother, received the central prefecture the fourth-century (Italy, Africa, and Illyricum). In 340 successors of Constantine II tried to take this away Constantine from Constans but was killed. For the next 10 years there was peace between After some months of confusion, the two remaining brothers, and Constans Constantine’s three surviving sons won acceptance for a religious policy 182 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion favourable to the Nicaeans, whose leader, Shāpūr II. Nearly every year the Persians Athanasius, had received a triumph in attacked and pillaged Roman territory; Alexandria. In 350 a mutiny broke out the Mesopotamian towns were besieged, in Autun. Constans fled but was killed in and Nisibis alone resisted. There was a Lugdunum by , a usurper lull between 350 and 357, while Shāpūr who was recognized in Gaul, Africa, and was detained by troubles in the eastern Italy. Constantius went out to engage regions of his own kingdom. The war Magnentius, and the Battle of Mursa resumed, however, and Mesopotamia was (351) left the two strongest armies of partly lost when the emperor had to leave the empire—those of Gaul and of the in order to fight Julian. Danube—massacred, thus compromising Constantius had fought Shāpūr con- the empire’s defense. Magnentius retreated scientiously, but his generals were after his defeat and finally committed mediocre, except for Urisicinus, and he suicide in 353. himself was clumsy. In the meantime, the Thenceforth, Constantius reigned Rhine and Danube were threatened fre- alone as Augustus, aided by a meddle- quently, because the troops had been some bureaucracy in which mission withdrawn from there and sent to the East. deputies (agentes in rebus), informers, and Constantius, moreover, had made a mis- spies played an important role. He named take in sending Chnodomar, the two Caesars in succession, his two young Alemannic king, against Magnentius in surviving cousins, Gallus in the East and 351, for his tribes had gone on to ravage Julian in Gaul. Constantius eventually had Gaul. Julian, however, soon revealed him- to get rid of Gallus, who proved incompe- self to be a great military leader by winning tent and cruel and soon terrorized Antioch. several well-fought campaigns between Julian, however, was a magnificent suc- 356 and 361, most notably at Strasbourg cess, a fact that aroused Constantius’s in 357, and by restoring approximately 70 jealousy and led to Julian’s usurpation; plundered villages. His abandonment, in for the latter was proclaimed Augustus, AD 358, of the district of Toxandria, roughly in spite of Constantius’s opposition, at equivalent to modern , to its bar- in 361. Civil war was averted when barian squatters, on condition of their Constantius died in November 361, leav- defending it against other invaders, was ing the empire to Julian, the last ruler of no doubt a realistic decision. Constantius the Constantinian family. defeated the Quadi and the Goths on the At the time of his death in 337, Danube in 359, but court intrigues, Constantine had been preparing to go to Magnentius’s usurpation, and the inter- war against the Persians. This legacy minable war against the Persians allowed weighed heavily on the shoulders of the barbarians to wreak great havoc. Constantius, a military incompetent when Constantius was primarily interested in compared to the energetic Sāsānian king religious affairs. His interventions created The Later Roman Empire | 183 a “caesaro-papism” that was unfavourable The religion he himself espoused to the church, for after the Battle of Mursa was compounded of traditional non- the emperor had become violently Arian. Christian elements of piety and theology, The Christological problem had moved to such as might have been found in any the forefront. In 360 Constantius obtained fairly intellectual person in the preceding a new creed by force from the Council of centuries, along with elements of Constantinople, which, rejecting the notion Neoplatonism developed by of “substance” as too risky, declared only and Iamblichus of two or three generations that the Son was like the Father and thus earlier, and, finally, much of the organiza- left the problem unresolved. Pagans as well tion and social ethic of the church. From as orthodox Nicaeans (Homoousians) Neoplatonism he learned the techniques and extremist Arians (Anomoeans) were of direct communication with the gods persecuted, for in 356–357 several edicts (theurgy) through prayer and . proscribed magic, , and sacrifices From the church he adopted, as the church and ordered that the temples be closed. itself had adopted from the empire’s civil But when Constantius visited Rome in organization, a hierarchy of powers: 357, he was so struck by its pagan gran- provincial, metropolitan, urban, with deur that he apparently suspended the himself as supreme pontiff. His deep love application of these measures. of traditional higher culture, moreover, provoked his war on Christian intellectu- The Reign of Julian als and teachers who, he protested, had no right to or Plato. Many Julian, who had been spared because of Christians both before and later con- his tender age from the family butcher- curred with him, being themselves ing in 337, had been brought up far from troubled by the relationship between the court and was undoubtedly intended Christianity and inherited literature and for the priesthood. Nevertheless, he had thought, steeped as both were in pagan been allowed to take courses in rhetoric beliefs. and philosophy at Ephesus and, later, at In the latter part of his 18-month Athens. He developed a fondness for reign, Julian forbade Christians from Hellenic literature, and he secretly apos- teaching, began the rebuilding of the tatized around 351. When he became sole Temple at Jerusalem, restored many pagan emperor at the end of 361, Julian pro- shrines, and displayed an exaggerated claimed his pagan faith, ordered the piety. Whereas Constantine (and his sons restitution of the temples seized under to a lesser degree) had introduced a huge Constantius, and freed all the bishops number of coreligionists into the upper who had been banished by the Arians, so ranks of the army and government, as to weaken Christianity through the achieving a rough parity between the resumption of doctrinal disputes. members of the two religions, Julian 184 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion began to reverse the process. Within a Julian’s successor, , chosen by short while Julian was successful enough the army’s general staff, was a Christian, in his undertaking to have aroused the but not a fanatic. He negotiated a peace fear and hatred of the Christians, who for with Shāpūr, by which Rome lost a good a long time thought of him as the part of Galerian’s conquests of 298 Antichrist. (including Nisibis, which had not surren- In the political realm, Julian wished dered) and abandoned Armenia. He also to return to the liberal principate of the restored tolerance in religious affairs, for Antonines—to a time before the reforms he neither espoused any of the of Diocletian and Constantine, whom he nor persecuted pagans. In February 364 detested. He put an end to the terrorism he died accidentally. of Constantius’s eunuchs and agentes in rebus and reduced the personnel and The Reign of Valentinian expenditures of the court, while he him- and Valens self lived like an ascetic. In the provinces he lightened the financial burden on Once again the general staff unanimously individuals by reducing the capitatio, chose a Pannonian officer—Valentinian, and on cities, by reducing the aurum an energetic patriot and, like Jovian, a coronarium and restoring the municipal moderate Christian. But Valentinian had properties confiscated by Constantius. to yield to the rivalry of the armies by On the other hand, he increased the dividing authority. Taking the West for number of curiales by reinstating numer- himself, he entrusted the East to his ous clerks in an attempt to return the brother Valens, an inexperienced man ancient lustre to municipal life. Thus, he whom he raised to the rank of Augustus. earned the gratitude of pagan intellectuals, For the first time the two parts of the empire who were enamoured of the past of free were truly separate, except for the selec- Greece; and Ammianus made him the tion of consuls, in which Valentinian had central hero of his history. precedence. Taking up Trajan’s dream, Julian Although he served the state with wished to defeat Persia definitively by dedication, Valentinian could be brutal, engaging the empire’s forces in an offen- choleric, and authoritarian. His foreign sive war that would facilitate a national policy was excellent. All the while he was reconciliation around the gods of pagan- fighting barbarians (the Alemanni in Gaul, ism. But his army was weak—corrupted the Sarmatians and Quadi in Pannonia) perhaps by large numbers of hostile and putting down revolts in Britain and Christians. After a brilliant beginning, he Africa (notably that of the Berber Firmus) was defeated near Ctesiphon and had to with the aid of his top general, Theodosius retrace his steps painfully; he was killed the Elder, he was taking care to improve in an obscure encounter on June 26, 363. the army’s equipment and to protect Gaul The Later Roman Empire | 185 by creating a brilliant . His favours that aroused violent reactions domestic measures favoured the curiales from the orthodox, whose power had and the lower classes: from then on, taxes increased in the East. Valens’ policies would be collected exclusively by officials. made the East prey to violent religious The protection of the poor was entrusted passions. to “defenders of the plebs,” chosen from On the Danube, Valens fought the among retired high officialshonorati ( ). and made a treaty with their Nevertheless, the needs of state obliged king, Athanaric, in 369; but in 375 the him to accentuate social immobility, to and the Greutingi appeared reinforce discipline and offi- on the frontiers, pushed from their home cial hierarchization, and to demand taxes in southern Russia by the powerful . ruthlessly. At first he was benevolent to In 376 Valens authorized the starving the Senate of Rome, supervised the provi- masses to enter Thrace; but, being sioning of the city, and legislated in exploited and mistreated by the officials, favour of its university, the nursery of they soon turned to uncontrollable pil- officials (law of 370). But beginning in laging. Their numbers continually 369, under the influence of Maximin, the increased by the addition of new bands, prefect of Gaul, he initiated a period of until finally they threatened Constanti­ terror, which struck the great senatorial nople itself. Valens sent for aid from the families. Meanwhile, religious peace West, but without waiting for it to arrive reigned in the West, tolerance was pro- he joined battle and was killed in the claimed, and after some difficulty, Rome Adrianople disaster of 378, which to some found a great in Damasus, who, critics foreshadowed the approaching fall beginning in 373, actively supported the of the Roman Empire. new bishop of Milan, St. Ambrose, an The Goths, who were also stirring up ardent defender of orthodoxy. Thrace and Macedonia, could no longer In the East, Valens, who was incapable be driven out. The provinces subject to and suspicious, had fallen under the influ- their pillaging soon included Pannonia ence of legists, such as the praetorian farther up the Danube, where Gratian prefect Modestus. The beginning of agreed with a cluster of three tribal Valens’ reign was shadowed by the armies to settle them as a unit under their attempted usurpation of (365– own chiefs on vacant lands (380). By a far 366), a pagan relative of Julian’s who more significant arrangement of the failed and was killed by the army, which same sort two years later, Theodosius remained faithful to Valens. Modestus assigned to the Goths a large area of instituted harsh persecutions in Antioch Thrace along the Danube as, in effect, of the educated pagan elite. Valens was a their own kingdom. There they enjoyed fanatic Arian, who exiled even moderate autonomy as well as a handsome subsidy Nicaean bishops and granted to Arians from the emperor, exactly as tribes 186 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion beyond the empire had done in previous On Jan. 19, 379, before the army, treaties. They were expected to respond Gratian proclaimed Theodosius, the son to calls on their manpower if the Roman of the recently executed general, as East­ army needed supplementing, as it rou- ern emperor. Theodosius was chosen for tinely did. Although the Goths considered his military ability and for his orthodoxy this treaty ended with Theodosius’s death (Gratian, extremely pious, had come under and resumed their lawless wanderings for the influence of Damasus and Ambrose). a while, it nevertheless represented the The East was enlarged by the dioceses of model for subsequent ones, again struck Dacia and Macedonia, taken from with the Goths under their king Alaric Valentinian II. Gratian and Theodosius (from 395) and with later barbarian tribes. agreed to admit the Goths into the empire, The capture of the empire had begun. and Gratian applied the policy also to the Salian Franks in Germany. Theodosius The Reign of Gratian soon dominated his weak colleague and and Theodosius I entered the battle for the triumph of ortho- doxy. In 380 the Arians were relieved of Following Valentinian’s sudden death in their churches in Constantinople, and in 375, the West was governed by his son 381 the Nicaean faith was universally Gratian, then 16 years old, who had been imposed by a council whose canons given the title of Augustus as early as established the authority of the metropol- 367. The Pannonian army, rife with itan bishops over their dioceses and gave intrigue, quickly proclaimed Gratian’s the bishop of the capital a primacy simi- half-brother, Valentinian II, only four lar to that of the bishop of Rome. years old. The latter received Illyricum In ecclesiastical affairs, the separation under his older brother’s guardianship, between East and West was codified. The and this arrangement satisfied every- Westerners bowed to this policy, satisfied body. Valentinian’s advisers were with the triumph of orthodoxy. Gratian executed; Maximian was sacrificed to then permitted Ambrose and Damasus to the spite of the Senate and Theodosius the deal harshly with the Arians, with the Elder became the victim of personal support of the state. Paganism also was jealousies. Gratian announced a liberal hounded: following Theodosius’s lead, principate, supported in Gaul by the Gratian refused the chief priesthood, wealthy family of the poet removed the altar of Victory from the hall and in Rome by the Symmachi of the Roman Senate, and deprived the and the Nicomachi Flaviani, representa- pagan priests and the Vestal Virgins of tives of the pagan aristocracy. His their subsidies and privileges. The pagan generals defeated the Alemanni and the senators were outraged, but their protests Goths on the Danube but arrived too late were futile because Gratian was watched to save Valens. over by Ambrose. The Later Roman Empire | 187

This militantly orthodox policy Nov. 8, 392, proscribed the pagan reli- aroused the displeasure of the pagans gion. Then Arbogast, after Valentinian and of the Western Arians: thus, when II’s death in 392 under shadowy circum- Gratian left Trier for Milan, the army of stances, proclaimed as emperor the Gaul and Britain proclaimed its leader, rhetorician . When Theodosius Maximus, in 383. He conquered Gaul refused to recognize him, Eugenius was without difficulty, and Gratian was killed thrown into the arms of the pagans of in . Maximus, who, like Theodosius, Rome. But this last “pagan reaction” was was Spanish and extremely orthodox, was short-lived. In 394, with his victory at recognized by the latter. In the meantime, the Frigidus (modern Vipacco) River, the third Augustus, Valentinian II, had between Aquileia and , Theodosius taken refuge in Milan after suffering put an end to the hopes of Eugenius defeat in Pannonia. He was effectively and his followers. His intention was to under the domination of his mother, place his son , proclaimed Justina, an Arian who sought support for Augustus in 393, over the West, while her son among the Arians and pagans of returning his eldest son, , to the Rome and even among the African East. But Theodosius’s sudden death in Donatists (a Christian heresy). In 388 January 395 precipitated the division of Maximus, after arriving in Italy, first the empire. expelled Valentinian and then prepared Theodosius had successfully dealt to attack Theodosius. The latter, accept- with the danger of the Goths, although ing the inevitability of war, strengthened not without taking risks, and had both his resolve and gained several victories. established a dynasty and imposed the Maximus was killed at Aquileia in 388, strictest orthodoxy. A compromise peace and thenceforth Theodosius ruled both with the Persians had given Rome, in 387, West and East; he was represented in the a small section of Armenia, where he East by his son Arcadius, an Augustus had founded Theodosiopolis (Erzurum). since 383. Valentinian II was sent to Trier, He had survived two in the accompanied by the Frankish general West. These military successes were, Arbogast to control him. however, won with armies in which bar- After a few years’ respite, during the barians were in the majority, which was prefectureships of Nicomachus Flavianus not a good sign. The barbarian presence in Rome and in the East, paganism is reflected in the names of his com- waged its last fight: Theodosius, influ- manding officers, including such Franks enced by Ambrose, who had dared to as Richomer, Merovech, and Arbogast, inflict public penance on him in 390 after and the half-Vandal , who the massacre at Thessalonica, had deter- through his marriage to Serena, mined to eliminate the pagans completely. Theodosius’s niece, had entered the After a few hostile clashes, the law of imperial family. 188 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Social and Economic currency was not money but favours and Conditions services. Such a code was swept away by the rapid increase in the size of govern- During the fourth century the emperor’s ment in the later third century and the power was theoretically absolute, the tra- rise to high civil and military posts by ditions of the principate having given men recruited from the ranks rather than way to the necessities of defense. from the upper classes. As they had The emperor was both heir to the bought their own promotions or appoint- Hellenistic basileus (absolute king) and ments, so they expected to recoup their the anointed of the deity. Pagans and Chris­ expenses (and more besides) by such tians alike considered him “emperor by means as selling exemptions and extor- the of God,” which, strictly speaking, tion. The more intrusive and demanding rendered the imperial cult unnecessary. the military tax collection or the state’s Indeed, he hardly needed the ceremonies control of the rosters of city senates, the and parade of god-awfulness with which more profit there was for a pervasively Diocletian and his successors were sur- corrupt administration. Those close to rounded. Yet imperial authority had the emperor could, for a price, generally actually lost much of its effectiveness screen him from knowledge of what was due to the growth and nature of late going on. Constantine, for example, com- Roman government. Its ranks can be esti- plained quite in vain—and the complaint mated at more than 30,000 men—perhaps was endlessly repeated by his successors— an insignificant number compared with that the city senates were being “emptied that of modern governments but gigantic of persons obligated to them by birth, when set against the total of only a few who yet are asking for a government post hundred a century earlier. The problem, by petition to the emperor, running off to however, lay not in numbers but in the the legions or various civil offices.” Such assumption, held throughout both posts could easily be bought. A great deal bureaucracy and army, that a position of of imperial planning was thus vitiated by power ex officio entitled the holder to a sale. Many of the profiteers started life in rake-off of some sort, to be extracted both the urban upper classes, but, as nouveaux from the citizenry with whom he came in riches, they joined the older landed nobility contact and from fellow members of the after a term in the emperor’s service. service in ranks below his own. In a few areas where measurement is This ethos was not new, but during possible, one can see that a process of the principate it had been restrained by consolidation of landownership had been higher officers and officials, who oper- going on for a long time, bringing the ated according to a different, essentially rural population increasingly into depen- aristocratic, code expressed in patron- dence on the larger property holders. dependent relations and mutuality. Its Diocletian’s new system of property The Later Roman Empire | 189 assessment accelerated this process. It central Gaul. Italy of the third and fourth was more thorough and thus exposed the centuries was not perceptibly worse off poor and ignorant to exploitation by local than before, though wealth in the Po officialdom. In response, they sought the region was more concentrated in the cit- protection of some influential man to ies north of the river. Northern Africa ward off unfair assessments, selling their seems to have maintained nearly the land to him and becoming his tenants. In same level of prosperity as in earlier cen- areas disturbed by lawlessness, a large turies, if proper weight is given to landowner offered them safety as well. ecclesiastical building after Constantine. The strength of rural magnates in their For Egypt, no clear picture emerges, but formidable, even fortified, dwellings, with all the other Eastern provinces enjoyed in a dependent peasantry of 100 or even the later empire the same level of eco- 1,000 around them made much trouble nomic well-being as before or a still for tax collectors, and landowners thus higher one, with more disposable wealth became the target of many laws. and an increasing population. These con- Consolidation of ownership, however, ditions continued into the fifth century. was not apparent in northern Africa, and The vast differences between the the reverse process has been established European and the Eastern provinces are for a carefully researched area of Syria. best explained by the shifting focus of Regional differences cannot be disre- imperial energies. It can be traced in the garded. They were responsible for guiding locus of heaviest military recruitment, in the development of the later empire along the lower Danube, as the third century quite varied paths. The archaeological progressed; in the consequent concentra- data, which reflect these developments tion of military expenditure there; and most clearly, register such changes as the in the siting of the emperors’ residence degree of wealth in public buildings and as it was moved from Rome to Milan in the use and elegance of carved sarcophagi the 260s, then to the lower Danube later or of in private houses. Broadly in the third century (where much fight- speaking, a decline is noticeable through- ing occurred), and subsequently to out the European provinces; it tends to Nicomedia (Diocletian’s capital). None of affect the cities earlier than the rural areas the Tetrarchs chose Rome—its days as the and is detectable sometimes by 350, gen- imperial centre were over—and when, erally by 375. In the Danube provinces, the from among various Eastern cities he evidence fits neatly with political history considered, Constantine decided on following the in 378, Byzantium as his permanent residence, after which their condition was continually he simply made permanent a very long- disturbed by the Visigothic immigrants. term development. There is, however, no such obvious Meanwhile the Rhine frontier and the explanation for areas such as Spain or upper Danube were repeatedly overrun. 190 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

As can be inferred from the signs of forti- villages, and the smaller towns also fication in Pannonia, Gaul, Britain, and reverted to villages. Only the larger Spain, internal policing was neglected. towns, such as Bordeaux, Arles, or Commercial intercourse, which had been Cartagena, maintained their vitality. the key to raising the economy and the Although there was considerable level of urbanization, became less safe inflation (culminating under Theodosius), and easy. Villas turned into self-sufficient in spite of a deflationary fiscal policy, com- mercial transactions ignored and were based instead on currency throughout the empire at the end of the cen- tury. The economy was partially under state direction, which was applied to agricul- ture through bias toward the settler system on imperial estates and to industry through the requisitioning of corpora- tions (artisans, merchants, carriers) and the creation of state workshops (especially for manufacturing military goods). Opinions differ on the inten- sity of trade, but there was certainly clear progress in comparison with that of the third century.

The Remnants of Pagan Culture

The spread of Christianity in no way harmed the flourishing of pagan literature. Instruction in the universities (Rome, Milan, from the . Archaeologists Carthage, Bordeaux, Athens, have noted a decline in such household and public Constantinople, Antioch, and building refinements in the later days of the empire. DEA/G.Dagli Orti/Getty Images Alex­andria) was still based on rhetoric, and literature received The Later Roman Empire | 191 the support of senatorial circles, especially destruction, especially in the East. It is, in Rome (for example, those of the nonetheless, likely that a majority of the Symmachi and the Nicomachi Flaviani). population was still non-Christian in 400, Latin literature was represented by although less so in the cities and in the Symmachus and the poet Ausonius. The East and more so in rural and mountain- last great historian of Rome was ous areas and the West. Efforts by the Ammianus Marcellinus, a Greek who church to reach them were intermittent wrote in Latin for the Roman aristocracy; and lacked energy. Bishops generally of his Res gestae, the most completely expected rural magnates to do their job preserved part describes the period from for them; and the church leadership was, 353 to 378. The works of Sextus Aurelius in any case, of a that viewed Victor and , who ably abridged the peasantry from a great distance and earlier historical works, are fairly accu- wanted to keep it that way. Except by rate and more reliable than the Scriptores such unusual figures as historiae Augustae, a collection of imperial or Marcellus of Apamea, little effort was biographies of unequal value, undoubtedly made to convert people who were hard to composed under Theodosius but for an reach. As always in antiquity, it was in the unknown purpose. Erudition was greatly cities where changes occurred—with prized in aristocratic circles, which, the exception of monasticism. enamoured of the past, studied and com- Only in the reign of Constantine, mented on the authors (Virgil) or and about simultaneously in Egypt and the ancestral rites (the of Palestine, had monasticism, a religious ). Greek literature is repre- movement whose followers lived as her- sented by the works of philosophers or mits and pursued a life of extreme sophists: , a political theoreti- asceticism, become more than the little- cian who advocated absolutism; Himerius regarded choice of rare zealots. Near of Prusias; and above all of Gaza and in the desert along the eastern Antioch, whose correspondence and side of Jerusalem a number of tiny clus- political discourses from the Theodosian ters of cells had been made from caves period bear witness to his perspicacity and taken as residence by ascetics, from and, often, to his courage. whose fame and example that way of life later spread to many other corners of The Christian Church the . The bishop of Jerusalem, Cyril, by mid-century could speak of In the last decade of the fourth century “regiments of monks.” But it was in the the harsh laws against the perpetuation desert on both sides of the that of the old pieties promulgated by similar ascetic experiments of much Theodosius gave impetus and justifica- greater importance were made, by the tion to waves of icon and temple hero of the movement, St. Anthony, and 192 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion others. True monasticism, tempered only St. Pachomius around 330, vigorously by weekly communal worship and orga- directed and diffused by him until mid- nizing, established itself on Anthony’s century, when both he and Anthony model and under his inspiration in the died. was to establish first decade of the fourth century. It took monastic communities in Cappadocia root above all in the desert of Scete, just under the influence of what he saw in west of the base of the Nile delta. Egypt on his visit there in the year of Coenobitism, joint life in enclosed Anthony’s death; and Athanasius was communities, was the model preferred by shortly to write a biography of that of enormous influence and to carry word of his life to Italy and Gaul during his own exile there. The biography was soon translated into Latin and inspired a scattering of experiments in asceticism or coenobitism in the West—in Vercellae in Italy, for example, by 330, and at Tours in the 370s under Martin’s direction. Tours became the first monastery in the West comparable to those in the East, but development subsequently was slow com- pared to the 10,000 or more monasteries founded in Egypt by AD 400. The most distinct and well- reported phenomenon during the century after the conver- sion of Constantine was the continued religious rioting and harrying in the cities, both in all the major ones and in dozens of minor ones. The death toll exceeded the toll St. in His Study by Albrecht Dürer. St. Jerome among Christians at the hands was a central figure in the rise of Christian literature in late Rome. Rafa Rivas/AFP/Getty Images of pagans in earlier persecu- tions. It was rarely of Jews or The Later Roman Empire | 193 pagans at the hands of Christians or of Chrysostom of Antioch, the greatest Christians at the hands of pagans, but preacher of his time. The Westerners, too, ordinarily of Christians at each others’ had great scholars and brilliant writers: hands in the course of sectarian strife. For St. Hilary of Poitiers, enemy of the Arians a time, no one sect enjoyed a majority and of Constantius; St. Ambrose, admin- among Homoousians, Arians, Donatists, istrator and pastor, whose excessive Meletians, and many others. Bishoprics authority was imposed on Gratian and were fiercely contested and appeals often even on Theodosius; and St. Jerome, a made to armed coercion. The emperors desert monk and confessor of upper-class had assumed the right to interfere and Roman ladies. St. Jerome was a formidable often did so. But under Theodosius, Pope polemicist who knew Greek and Hebrew Damasus and St. Ambrose reacted. The and made the first faithful translation of state was to restrict itself to furnishing the the Old and New Testaments (the “secular arm,” while the church, in the name ) as well as of a chronicle of world of evangelical ethics, claimed the right history, which was a translation and con- to judge the emperors, a policy that had tinuation of the work of Eusebius. Finally, grave implications for the future. The St. Augustine, the bishop of , was a “caesaro-papism” of Constantius later great pastor, a vigorous controversialist, gained adherents under the Byzantine a sensitive and passionate writer (the emperors. In the meantime, the Goths ), and the powerful theologian had been converted to by of . The century that Ulfilas during the period of Constantius developed these great minds cannot be and Valens, thus presaging conflicts that considered decadent. were to come after the great invasions. Orthodox missionaries had converted The eclipse of the Roman Osroëne, Armenia, and even some coun- Empire in the West tries on the Red Sea. (c. 395–500) and the The Christian literature of the fourth German migrations century is remarkable. Its first represen- tative is Eusebius of Caesarea, a friend After the death of Theodosius, the and panegyrist of Constantine and a Western empire was governed by young church historian whose creation of a “polit- Honorius. Stilicho, an experienced states- ical theology” sealed the union between man and general, was charged with the Christian emperor and the church. assisting him and maintaining unity St. Athanasius wrote apologetic works with the East, which had been entrusted and a life of St. Anthony. Also prominent to Arcadius. The Eastern leaders soon were the great Cappadocians: St. Basil rejected Stilicho’s tutelage. An anti­ of Caesarea, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, barbarian reaction had developed in St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. John Constantinople, which impeded the 194 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion objectives of the half-Vandal Stilicho. He great many of these barbarians arrived in wanted to intervene on several occasions Spain and settled in Lusitania () in the internal affairs at Constantinople and in Baetica (Vandals, whence the but was prevented from doing so by a name ). As soon as Gaul had threat from the Visigoth chieftain Alaric, become slightly more peaceful, Athaulf’s whom he checked at in 402, Visigoths arrived, establishing themselves then by the Ostrogoth Radagaisus’s raid in Narbonensis and Aquitania. After rec- in 406, and finally by the great invasion ognizing them as “federates,” Honorius of the Gauls in 407. The following year he asked them to go to Spain to fight the hoped to restore unity by installing a new Vandals. emperor in Constantinople, Theodosius Meanwhile, the Roman general II, the son of Arcadius, who had died pre- Constantius eliminated several usurpers maturely; but he succumbed to a political in Gaul, confined the Goths in Aquitania, and military plot in 408. The divi- and reorganized the administration (the sion of the two partes imperii was now a Gallic assembly of 418). But he was unable permanent one. to expel the Franks, the Alemanni, and Honorius, seated in Ravenna, a city the Burgundians, who had occupied the easier to defend than Milan, had only northern part of the country, nor to elimi- incompetent surrounding him, nate the brigandage of the Bagaudae. He themselves animated by a violent hatred was associated with the empire and was of the barbarians. Alaric soon reappeared, proclaimed Augustus in 421, but he died at the head of his Visigoths, demanding shortly afterward. His son, Valentinian land and money. Tired of the Romans’ III, succeeded Honorius in 423 and double-dealing, he descended on Rome reigned until 455. itself. The city was taken and pillaged for three days, thus putting an end to an era The Beginning of Germanic of Western history (August 410). An Hegemony in the West Arian, Alaric spared the churches. He died shortly thereafter in the south; his During the first half of the fifth century, successor, Athaulf, left the peninsula to the barbarians gradually installed them- march against the Gauls. selves, in spite of the efforts of the Roman Fleeing from the terrifying advance General Aetius, at the head of a small army of the Huns, on Dec. 31, 406, the Vandals, of mercenaries and of Huns. Aetius took Suebi, and Alani, immediately followed back Arles and Narbonne from the Visi­ by the Burgundians and bands of goths in 436, either pushed back the Salian Alemanni, crossed the frozen Rhine and and Ripuarian Franks beyond the Rhine swept through Gaul, effortlessly throwing or incorporated them as federates, settled back the federated Franks and Alemanni the defeated Burgundians in Sapaudia from the frontiers. Between 409 and 415 a (Savoy), and established the Alani in The Later Roman Empire | 195

Orléans. The other provinces were lost: who maintained real power through pup- Britain, having been abandoned in 407 emperors. In 457–461 the energetic and already invaded by the Picts and reestablished imperial author- Scots, fell to the Angles, , and Jutes; ity in southern Gaul until he was defeated a great Suebi kingdom, officially federated by and assassinated shortly but in fact independent, was organized in afterward. Finally, in 476, Spain after the departure of the Vandals, deposed the last emperor, Romulus and it allied itself to the Visigoths of Augustulus, had himself proclaimed king Theodoric I, who were settled in the in the barbaric fashion, and governed country around the Garonne. Italy with moderation, being de jure In 428 the Vandal Gaiseric led his under the emperor of the East. The end of people (80,000 persons, including the Roman Empire of the West passed 15,000 warriors) to Africa. St. Augustine almost unperceived. died in 430 in besieged Hippo, Carthage fell in 435, and in 442 a treaty gave Barbarian Kingdoms Gaiseric the rich provinces of and Numidia. From there he was able to Several barbarian kingdoms were then starve Rome, threaten Sicily, and close off set up: in Africa, Gaiseric’s kingdom of the western basin of the Mediterranean the Vandals; in Spain and in Gaul as far to the Byzantines. as the , the Visigothic kingdom; and Shortly afterward, in 450, ’s farther to the north, the kingdoms of the Huns invaded the West—first Gaul, where, Salian Franks and the Alemanni. The bar- after having been kept out of , they barians were everywhere a small minority. were defeated by Aetius on the Campus They established themselves on the great Mauriacus (near ), then Italy, estates and divided the land to the bene- which they evacuated soon after having fit of the federates without doing much received tribute from the pope, St. . harm to the lower classes or disturbing Attila died shortly afterward; and this the economy. The old inhabitants lived invasion, which indeed left more legend- under Roman law, while the barbarians ary memories than actual ruins, had kept their own “personality of laws,” of shown that a solidarity had been created which the best-known is the judicial between the Gallo-Romans and their composition, the Wergild. Romans and barbarian occupiers, for the Franks, the barbarians coexisted but uneasily. Alemanni, and even Theodoric’s Among the obstacles to reconciliation Visigoths had come to Aetius’s aid. were differences in mores; social and After the death of Aetius, in 454, and political institutions (personal monar- of Valentinian III, in 455, the West became chies, fidelity of man to man), language the stake in the intrigues of the German (although Latin was still used in adminis- chiefs Ricimer, , and Odoacer, tration), and, above all, religion. The 196 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Arianism of the barbarians permitted the urgency, among historians of the West, Roman Catholic bishops to retain their for it has been natural for them to see or hold over their flocks. The only persecu- seek parallels between Rome’s fate and tion, however, was under the Vandals, that of their own times. In any choice of whose domination was the harshest. explanations there is likely to be a hidden Two great kingdoms marked the end sense of priorities determining the defi- of the fifth century. In Gaul, Clovis, the nition of “civilization,” or specifically the king of the Salian Franks (reigned civilization of “Rome” or of “the classical 481/482–511), expelled Syagrius, the last world.” If, for example, classical civiliza- Roman, from , took and tion is identified with the literature of the the Palatinate from the Alemanni (496), ancients at what one conceives to be its and killed Alaric II, king of the Visigoths, best, then “the end” of this civilization at Vouillé (507). His conversion to has to be set at some point of decline and Catholicism assured him the support of explanations for its coming to be sought the bishops, and Frankish domination in the preexisting conditions. If not on was established in Gaul. At the same literature but on political domination, time, Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, then some other point in time must be reigned in Italy. He had been charged by chosen and explained in terms of what the emperor to take back Italy from seems to have led up to it. Odoacer in 488, and in 494 he had him- There have been endless variations self proclaimed king at Ravenna. His on this search, and there will continue to Goths, few in number, were established in be more, no doubt, since it is agreed that the north. Elsewhere he preserved the old literature did, in fact, diminish in quality, imperial administration, with senators as did , although at a differ- as prefects. Externally, he kept Clovis ent date, and oratory, and vigorous from reaching the Mediterranean and political debate in the capital, and power- extended his state up to the valley of the fully innovative philosophy, and sculpture, Rhône. Theodoric died in 526. Ten years and civic patriotism, and the willingness to later Justinian charged his general die for one’s country. “Civilization” turns Belisarius with the reconquest of Italy, a out to be not one single entity but a web costly, devastating, and temporary opera- of many strands, each of its own length. tion that lasted from 535 to 540. Perhaps the view attracting the most adherents, however, has focused on the Analysis of the ability of the empire to maintain its polit- Decline and Fall ical and military integrity—that being the strand apparently most central and sig- The causes of the fall of the empire have nificant—and the juncture at which that been sought in a great many directions ability is most dramatically challenged and with a great deal of interest, even and found wanting—the period of “the The Later Roman Empire | 197 barbarian invasions,” meaning 407 and administration of the cities no longer roughly the ensuing decade. If this junc- enjoyed the efforts of the urban elites, ture in turn is examined and the who by 407 had long since fled from antecedents of the empire’s weakness active service to some exempt govern- sought in internal developments, they ment post or title. can only be found in the government. For the same reason, finally, correc- Belief in and obedience to the monarch tive measures needed against these was not lacking, nor military technology systemic weaknesses could not be devel- at least matching that of the invaders, nor oped by enlightened men at the centre a population large enough to field a large because they were screened from the force, nor the force itself (on paper, at truth of things, were at the mercy of least), nor the economic potential ade- incompetent or venal agents, or were quate to the arming of it. unable to maintain themselves in power Particular defeats described by con- against the plotters around them. The temporaries in reasonable detail are details of all these charges that can be almost uniformly attributable to the rot- made against late Roman government tenness of government, rendering are writ large in the great collection of soldiers undisciplined, untrained, fre- imperial edicts published in 438, the quently on indefinite leave, and without Theodosian Code, as well as in the works good morale or proper equipment. of roughly contemporary writers from Soldiers were unpaid because of various East and West, such as Synesius, abuses in the collection and delivery of Augustine, Libanius, Themistius, supplies and money from taxpayers, and Chrysostom, Symmachus, Bishop they were distracted from their proper Maximus of Turin, and, above all, duties by their own and their officers’ Ammianus Marcellinus. An empire that extortionate habits in contact with their could not deliver to a point of need all the civilian hosts. For the same basic reason— defensive force it still possessed could that is, abuse of power wielded through not well stand against the enemy service in the army or bureaucracy—the outside. Appendix A: Table of Roman Emperors from 27 BC through AD 476

Roman Emperors Augustus (Augustus Caesar) 27 BC–AD 14 Tiberius (Tiberius Caesar Augustus) 14–37 Caligula (Gaius Caesar Germanicus) 37–41 Claudius (Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) 41–54 Nero (Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) 54–68 Galba (Servius Galba Caesar Augustus) 68–69 Otho (Marcus Otho Caesar Augustus) 69 Vitellius (Aulus Vitellius) 69 Vespasian (Caesar Vespasianus Augustus) 69–79 Titus (Titus Vespasianus Augustus) 79–81 Domitian (Caesar Domitianus Augustus) 81–96 Nerva (Nerva Caesar Augustus) 96–98 Trajan (Caesar Divi Nervae Filius Nerva Traianus Optimus Augustus) 98–117 Hadrian (Caesar Traianus Hadrianus Augustus) 117–138 Antoninus Pius (Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus 138–161 Augustus Pius) Marcus Aurelius (Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus) 161–180 Lucius Verus (Lucius Aurelius Verus) 161–169 Commodus (Caesar Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus) 177–192 Pertinax (Publius Helvius Pertinax) 193 Didius Severus Julianus (Marcus Didius Severus Julianus) 193 Septimius Severus ( Severus Pertinax) 193–211 Caracalla (Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Augustus) 198–217 Septimius Geta (Publius Septimius Geta) 209–212 Macrinus (Caesar Marcus Opellius Severus Macrinus Augustus) 217–218 Appendix A: Table of Roman Emperors from 27 BC through AD 476 | 199

Roman Emperors Elagabalus (Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus) 218–222 Alexander Severus (Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander) 222–235 Maximinus (Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus) 235–238 Gordian I (Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus) 238 Gordian II (Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus 238 Africanus) Pupienus Maximus (Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus) 238 Balbinus (Decius Caelius Calvinus Balbinus) 238 Gordian III (Marcus Antonius Gordianus) 238–244 Philip (Marcus Julius Philippus) 244–249 Decius (Gaius Messius Quintus Trianus Decius) 249–251 (Gaius Valens Hostilianus Messius Quintus) 251 Gallus (Gaius Vibius ) 251–253 Aemilian (Marcus Aemilius Aemilianus) 253 Valerian (Publius Licinius Valerianus) 253–260 Gallienus (Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus) 253–268 Claudius (II) Gothicus (Marcus Aurelius Claudius Gothicus) 268–270 (Marcus Aurelius Claudius Quintillus) 269–270 Aurelian (Lucius Domitius Aurelianus) 270–275 Tacitus (Marcus Claudius Tacitus) 275–276 Florian (Marcus Annius ) 276 Probus (Marcus Aurelius Probus) 276–282 Carus (Marcus Aurelius Carus) 282–283 Carinus (Marcus Aurelius Carinus) 283–285 Numerian (Marcus Aurelius Numerius Numerianus) 283–284 Diocletian (Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus) East only 284–305 286–305 Maximian (Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus) West only 306–308 Galerius (Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus) East only 305–311 Constantius I Chlorus (Marcus Flavius Valerius Constantius) West only 305–306 200 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Roman Emperors Severus (Flavius Valerius Severus) West only 306–307 Maxentius (Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius) West only 306–312 Licinius (Valerius Licinianus Licinius) East only 308–324 Constantine I (Flavius Valerius Constantinus) 312–337 Constantine II (Flavius Claudius Constantinus) 337–340 Constans I (Flavius Julius Constans) 337–350 Constantius II (Flavius Julius Constantius) 337–361 Magnentius (Flavius Magnentius) 350–353 Julian (Flavius Claudius Julianus) 361–363 Jovian (Flavius Jovianus) 363–364 (Flavius Valentinianus) West only 364–375 Valens (Flavius Valens) East only 364–378 Procopius East only 365–366 Gratian (Flavius Gratianus Augustus) West only 375–383 Valentinian II (Flavius Valentinianus) West only 375–392 Theodosius I (Flavius Theodosius) 379–395 Arcadius (Flavius Arcadius) East only 395–408 Honorius (Flavius Honorius) West only 395–423 Theodosius II East only 408–450 Constantius III West only 421 Valentinian III (Flavius Placidius Valentinianus) West only 425–455 (Marcianus) East only 450–457 Petronius Maximus (Flavius Ancius Petronius Maximus) West only 455 (Flavius Maccilius Eparchius Avitus) West only 455–456 (Leo Thrax Magnus) East only 457–474 Majorian (Julius Valerius Majorianus) West only 457–461 Libius Severus (Libius Severianus Severus) West only 461–467 (Procopius Anthemius) West only 467–472 (Anicius Olybrius) West only 472 West only 473–474 Appendix A: Table of Roman Emperors from 27 BC through AD 476 | 201

Roman Emperors Julius Nepos West only 474–475 Leo II East only 474 Zeno East only 474–491 (Flavius Momyllus Romulus Augustulus) 475–476 West only Appendix B: Ancient Italic Peoples

he following is a select list of the Romanization of that people. The Tpeoples—diverse in origin, language, Volscians (see page 212) were their con- traditions, and territorial extension—who stant allies. inhabited pre-, a region heav- ily influenced by neighbouring Greece, Apulians with its well-defined national characteris- tics, expansive vigour, and aesthetic and The Apulians (Apuli) inhabited the intellectual maturity. Italy attained a uni- southeastern extremity of the Italian pen- fied ethnolinguistic, political, and cultural . The ancients often called this physiognomy only after the Roman con- group of tribes Iapyges (and their terri- quest, yet its most ancient peoples remain tory Iapygia, in which “Apulia” [modern anchored in the names of the regions of Puglia] may be recognized). Roman Italy—Latium, Campania, Apulia, The territory of Apulia included the Bruttium, Lucania, Samnium, Picenum, Salentinians and Messapians peoples in Umbria, Etruria, Venetia, and Liguria. the Salentine Peninsula (Calabria) and the Peucetians (Peucetii) and Aequians (Dauni) farther north. Ancient tradition insists upon an overseas origin for these The Aequians () originally inhabited tribes, held to be Cretan or Illyrian. the region watered by the tributaries of the Sometimes the designations Iapyges and Avens River (modern Velino River). Long Messapians are used interchangeably. hostile to Rome, they became especially The Iapygian or, more commonly, menacing in the fifth century BC, advanc- Messapic language is known from a con- ing to the . Although repulsed siderable series of public funerary, votive, by the Romans in 431, the Aequians were monetary, and other inscriptions written not completely subdued by Rome until in the and found in the the end of the Second Samnite War (304 Apulian area, especially in the Salentine BC), when they received civitas sine Peninsula, from words reported by the suffragio (“citizenship without voting ancient writers, and from toponomastic rights”). The establishment of the Latin (local place-name) data. Messapic is with- colony of Carsioli (302 BC) and the exten- out doubt an Indo-European language, sion of the through the distinct from Latin and from the Umbro- territory of the Aequians aided the rapid Sabellic dialects, with Balkan and central Appendix B: Ancient Italic Peoples | 203

European analogies. This confirms the independence, tenaciously defended overseas provenance of the Iapyges from against the Greeks, until the age of the the Balkans, the more so because there Roman conquest. existed in Illyria a tribe called the Iapodes and because a people known as the Auruncians Iapuzkus lived farther north, on the Adri­ atic coast of Italy. Rather than a true The Auruncians (, or ) , however, there was a gradual were an ancient tribe of Campania. They prehistoric penetration of trans-Adriatic were exterminated by the Romans in 314 elements. The expansion of the Iapyges BC as the culmination of 50 years of must have brought them to Lucania and Roman military campaigns against them. even to what is now Calabria, as would be They occupied a strip of coast situated deduced from traditional and archaeo- between the and Liris ( logical indications. and Liri) rivers in what is now the prov- The Apulian civilization, which was ince of , with their capital at considerably influenced by that of the Suessa Aurunca (modern ). nearby Greek colonies, developed from No written record of their language sur- the ninth to the third century BC. In the vives, but the frequency of the use of the most ancient period there were pit graves, “-co” suffix in that part of the coast sug- sometimes in large stone tumuli. In the gests that the Auruncians spoke Volscian, Siponto area, near what is now the same Italic dialect as their northern , the graves were accompa- neighbours, the Volscians. The name nied by anthropomorphic stelae with Ausones, the Greek form from which the geometric bas-reliefs. Geometrically Latin Aurunci was derived, was applied painted ceramics in linear motifs per- by the Greeks to various Italic tribes, but sisted to the threshold of the Hellenistic the name came to denote in particular the Age. Later graves took the form of large tribe that the great Roman historian Livy trunks and of catacombs with paintings called Aurunci. The name was later on the sides. Burial was the disposition applied to all Italians, and Ausonia exclusively used. became a poetic term, in Greek and Latin, Beginning in Archaic times, large for Italy. cities developed, linked to each other by bonds of confederation. These included Herdonea (now Ordona), Canusium (), Rubi (Ruvo di Puglia), This group inhabited what is now south- Gnathia, Brundisium (), Uria western Italy, occupying an area (), Lupiae (), Rudiae, and coextensive with modern Calabria, an Manduria. They preserved their area sometimes referred to as the “toe of 204 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion the boot.” This area was separated from right of coinage even after their final Lucania (corresponding to modern subjugation by the Romans. The influ- ) on the north, and it was to the ence of Hellenism over the Bruttians can whole or to a part of this peninsula that be seen in finds in and their use of the name Italia was first applied. the in addition to their In alliance with the Lucanians, the own. The mountainous country, ill suited Bruttians (Bruttii) made war on the Greek for agricultural purposes, was well colonies of the coast and seized on Vibo adapted for these hardy warriors, whose in 356 BC. Though for a time overcome training was Spartan in its simplicity and by the Greeks who were aided by severity. Alexander of Epirus and Agathocles, The Bruttians first confronted the tyrant of Syracuse, they reasserted their Romans during the war with Pyrrhus, to mastery of the town from about the whom they sent auxiliaries. After his defeat, beginning of the third century BC and they submitted and were deprived of half held it until it became a Latin colony at their territory in the Sila forest, which was the end of the same century. declared state property. In the war with At this time the Bruttians were speak- Hannibal, they were among the first to ing Oscan as well as Greek, and two of declare in his favour after the battle of three Oscan inscriptions in a Greek Cannae, and it was in their country that alphabet still testify to the language Hannibal held his ground during the last spoken in Vibo in the third century BC. stage of the war (at Castrum Hannibalis Despite their use of the Oscan language, on the Gulf of Scylacium). The Bruttians the Bruttians were not actually akin to the entirely lost their freedom at the end of the Samnite tribe of the Lucanians, who also Hannibalic war; in 194 BC colonies of spoke Oscan. The name Bruttii was used Roman citizens were founded at Tempsa by the Lucanians to mean “runaway and Croton, and a colony with Latin slaves,” but it is considerably more likely rights at Hipponium called thereafter Vibo that this signification was attached to the Valentia. In 132 BC the great inland road tribal name of the Bruttians from the his- from Capua through Vibo and Consentia torical fact that they had been conquered to Rhegium (Reggio di Calabria) was and expelled by the Samnite invaders. built, but neither in the Social War nor in The Bruttians were at the height of the rising of Spartacus, who held out a long their power during the third century BC. time in the Sila (71 BC), do the Bruttians Their chief towns were Consentia (modern play a further part as a distinct group. ), (near Strongoli), and Clampetia (Amantea). To this period Etruscans (about the time of the Pyrrhic War) is assigned the series of coins they struck, The Etruscans (Etrusci) were an ancient and they appear to have retained the people of Etruria (between the Tiber and Appendix B: Ancient Italic Peoples | 205

Arno rivers west and south of the River by the strong Italic Umbrian people Apennines), whose urban civilization settled beyond it on the south and the reached its height in the sixth century Picenes on the east. To the northeast no BC. Many features of Etruscan culture such united power opposed their expan- were adopted by the Romans. sion, since the in The origin of the Etruscans has been Aemilia (modern Emilia) and a subject of debate since antiquity. The were held by scattered Italic tribes. Greek historian , for example, Through these the Etruscans were able, argued that the Etruscans descended in the middle of the sixth century, to push from a people who invaded Etruria from into the Po River valley. Anatolia (what is now Turkey) before 800 As capital of this northward region BC and established themselves over the they established the old Villanovan cen- native inhabitants of the region, tre at (the Etruscan city of whereas Dionysius of Halicarnassus, also Felsina) and on the banks of the Reno a Greek historian, believed that the founded . On the Adriatic Etruscans were of local Italian origin. coast to the east, Ravenna, Ariminum Both theories, as well as a third 19th- (modern ), and Spina traded with century theory, have turned out to be Istra (modern ) and the Greek problematic, and today scholarly discus- Dalmatian colonies. From the Po valley, sion has shifted its focus from the contacts were made with the central discussion of provenance to that of the for- European La Tène cultures. Etruscan con- mation of the Etruscan people. quests in the northeast extended to In any event, by the middle of the sev- include what are now the modern cities of enth century BC the chief Etruscan towns , Modena, , and Mantua. had been founded. Before reaching the To the south they were drawn into Latium Arno River in the north and incorporat- and Campania from the end of the sev- ing all Tuscany in their dominion, the enth century, and in the sixth century Etruscans embarked upon a series of con- they had a decisive impact on the history quests initially probably not coordinated of Rome, where the Etruscan dynasty of but undertaken by individual cities. The the Tarquins is said to have ruled from pressing motive for expansion was that 616 to 510/509 BC. It is possible that the by the middle of this century the Greeks Roman Tarquins were connected with a not only had obtained a grip on Corsica family called Tarchu, which is known and expanded their hold on Sicily and from inscriptions. southern Italy but also had settled on the Rome before the Etruscan advent was Ligurian coast (northwestern Italy) and a small conglomeration of villages. It in southern France. was under the new masters that, accord- Etruscan expansion to the south and ing to tradition, the first public works east was confined at the line of the Tiber such as the walls of the 206 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion and the (a sewer) were Spoletium (modern ) in the north constructed. Considerable evidence of and Fossombrone in Liguria their power the Etruscan period in Rome’s history has was not, however, to last long; Cumae felt come to light in the region of the Capitol. the first of sharp waves of resistance That there were rich tombs in Rome itself coming from Greeks, Samnites, Romans, cannot be doubted—tombs similar to and Gauls. In 509 BC the Etruscans were those in the Latin town of Praeneste chased from Rome, as reflected in the (modern Palestrina). story of the expulsion of Tarquinius Meanwhile, by the beginning of the Superbus, the intervention of Lars sixth century the Etruscans had included Porsena of Clusium, and the Latin victory Faesulae (modern ) and Volaterrae over Aruns Porsena’s son at Aricia. When (modern ) in their northern limits Latium was lost, relations between Etruria and at the same time began to push and its Campanian possessions were southward into Campania. Capua became broken with disastrous effect. A series the chief Etruscan foundation in this of piecemeal feuds between Etruscan cit- region and Nola a second; a ies and Rome led to the incorporation has been found in the region of the former into the Roman sphere— and Etruscan objects in low levels at first the nearby town of Veii in 396 BC, Herculaneum and Pompeii. The coastal after which Capena, , and Nepet region was still, however, in Greek hands. (modern ) fell in turn, thus begin- When the Etruscans attacked the Greek ning the end of the first of many foundation of Cumae in 524 BC, their unsuccessful attempts at unifying Italy. advance was finally checked by their Nevertheless, the Etruscans had defeat at the hands of Aristodemus of established a thriving commercial and that city. agricultural civilization. Characteristic of The rivalry between Greek trade in their artistic achievements are the wall the western Mediterranean and that car- frescoes and realistic terra-cotta portraits ried on between the Etruscans and found in their tombs. Their religion Carthage had already come to a head at employed elaborately organized cults and the battle of Alalia in 535 BC, a battle rituals, including the extensive practice which the Greeks claimed to have won of divination. but which so upset them that they deter- mined to abandon Corsica to Etruscan Hernicians and Carthaginian influence. In the last quarter of the sixth cen- The territory of the Hernicians () tury, when Etruscan power was at its was in Latium between the height from the Po to Salerno, small (modern Fucino) and the Trerus (modern settlements of Etruscans might have ) River, bounded by the Volscians been planted beyond these limits. At on the south and by the Aequians and the Appendix B: Ancient Italic Peoples | 207

Marsians on the north. In 486 BC they their dead and deposited their ashes in were still strong enough to conclude a urns of Villanovan type—a biconical, or treaty with the Romans on equal terms. two-storied, form covered with a bowl—as They broke away from Rome in 362–358. well as in hut-shaped urns that were faith- In 306 their chief town, Anagnia (modern ful imitations of the huts of the living. ), was taken by the Romans and The decoration of these funerary contain- deprived of its independence and their ers is of a simple geometric type, similar league was broken up. By 195 their terri- to that engraved on bronze objects found tory was not distinguished from Latium in these tombs, such as razors, spindles, and they were regarded as Latins, both weapons, and brooches. The material politically and in language. Their original used for the tombs in the Alban Hills language is unknown. resembles the material found in contem- porary tombs in Rome but is occasionally Latins rougher and coarser in appearance. In approximately 600 BC, when the The Latins (Latini) inhabited Latium in Etruscans occupied Latium and settled in west-central Italy. Originally this territory Rome, the influence of Etruscan civiliza- was limited to a region around the Alban tion and art made itself felt as much in Hills, but by about 500 BC it extended the other Latin towns as in Rome itself. south of the Tiber River as far as the But Rome soon became a large city, simi- promontory of Mount Circeo. It was lar to the powerful cities of southern bounded on the northwest by Etruria, on Etruria, and it took precedence over its the southeast by Campania, on the east neighbours. According to the annalistic by Samnium, and on the northeast by the tradition, it was a specifically Roman territory of the Sabines, Aequians, and uprising that drove the Etruscans from Marsians. Rome in 509. In fact it was a coalition of The Latins were sprung from those Latins and Greeks that led to the Indo-European tribes that, during the Etruscans’ withdrawal from Latium in second millennium BC, came to settle in 475 BC. the Italian peninsula. By the first centu- After the departure of the Etruscans ries of the first millennium BC, the Latins the fortunes of Latium changed; it had developed as a separate people, orig- became impoverished. Rome lost its pre- inally established on the mass of the eminence over the neighbouring cities Alban Hills, which was isolated and easy and took a long time to recover it. to defend. The Latin tribes that settled Throughout the fifth century BC the there were influenced both by the civili- Latin League imposed its policy on Rome. zation of the Iron Age of southern Italy Every year the delegates of the Latin cit- and by the Villanovan civilization of ies elected a dictator who commanded a southern Etruria. The Latins cremated federal army, which included Roman 208 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion troops. In this league Tusculum seemed coast from the mouth of the Ebro River to exercise the leadership that Rome had in Spain to the mouth of the Arno River in held in the Etruscan period. The territory Italy in the first millennium BC. of Rome did not extend beyond the sixth No ancient texts speak of Ligurians mile from the city. in southern Gaul as nations or attribute The Latin people were threatened by definite ethnic characteristics to them. the proximity of turbulent peoples: the Vol­ They were apparently an indigenous col- scians, who dwelt in Antium, and the lection of peoples living in Aequians, who ruled Praeneste and Tibur. village settlements in remote places, and The legendary story of shows it was probably to loose political group- how, in the early fifth century BC, Rome ings of these people that ancient authors began to extend its territory toward the attached the name. Such authors as the south by fighting on the side of Ardea and Greek geographer and historian Strabo Aricia against the Volscians. At the end and Greek historian of the fifth century Roman colonies were described them as a rough and strong established in the Lepini. In the people whose piracy the Romans fourth century BC Rome began to take deplored. These views, however, appear precedence among the sister cities of in late texts and refer to the Celticized Latium, weakened by their dissensions. In Ligurians (Celtoligures) between the 358 BC, however, Rome and the Latin con- Rhône and Arno rivers. Strabo declared federacy concluded a treaty of alliance on that they were a different race from the a basis of equality. They nominated in turn Gauls or , and Diodorus mentioned the dictator of the league. But the strength that they lived in villages and made a dif- of Rome grew, and it established two tribes ficult living from the rocky, mountainous in Volscian territory. In 340 war broke out soil. In any event, their reputed boldness between Rome and the Latins. It ended in caused them to be in great demand as 338 in the defeat of the Latins and the mercenaries. They served the dissolution of their league. The Latin cities Carthaginian commander Hamilcar in were given political statutes that limited 480 BC and the Sicilian Greek colonies in or abolished their autonomy. Thereafter the time of Agathocles and openly sided Roman hegemony in Latium was an accom- with Carthage in the Second Punic War plished fact, and the life of the Latin country (218–201 BC). Steps were not taken for was soon modeled on that of the city. their final reduction by Rome until 180 BC, when 40,000 Ligurians were deported Ligurians to Samnium and settled near Beneventum (). The Ligurians () constituted a The name Ligurian, or Ligures, has collection of ancient peoples who inhab- been used by modern archaeologists to ited the northwestern Mediterranean designate a stratum of Neolithic remains Appendix B: Ancient Italic Peoples | 209 in the region from northeastern Spain to extinct Illyrian languages that were northwestern Italy. spoken on the east side of the Adriatic.) They frequently fought the Greeks of the Marsians nearby Spartan colony of Tarentum (modern Taranto), but they supported The Marsians () inhabited the east- Tarentum and in their ern shore of Lake Fucinus (now drained) wars against Rome (280–275 BC). In 266 in the modern province of L’. In the Messapians were conquered by 304 BC they and their allies, the Vestinians, Rome, and they rarely appeared in his- Paelignians, and Marrucinians, made an tory after that. alliance with Rome that lasted until the Social War, sometimes called the Marsic Picenes War (90–89 BC). This war ended when the allies were finally given Roman The Early Iron Age inhabitants of the Adri­ citizenship. atic coast of Italy from Rimini to the The earliest pure Latin inscriptions Sangro River were known as Picenes of the Marsians are dated to about 150 (Piceni, or ). Men and women BC, whereas the earliest inscriptions in dressed in ; men wore armour, the local dialect date from about 300 to weapons, and ornaments of bronze or 150 BC. The Marsians were among those iron; women had numerous fibulae, who worshipped , a goddess of torques, bracelets, girdles, and ornamental healing, and, because they practiced a pendants. They had two main centres, medicine based on , their one at Novilara in the north, and another country was held by the Romans to be the around Belmonte and farther home of . The name of the tribe south. The Picenes traded with the is derived from the god Mars. Greeks as early as the seventh century BC, but there is little evidence of trade Messapians with Etruria, except at the inland site of Fabriano. The evidence suggests that The Messapians (Messapii) lived in the Picenes were warlike, with little artistic southeastern part of the Italian peninsula ability of their own, but wealthy enough (Calabria and Apulia) and with the closely to sustain a flourishing trade. In 268 BC related Apulians they probably pene- their territory was annexed by Rome. trated Italy from the other side of the Adriatic Sea about 1000 BC. They spoke Sabines Messapic (Messapian), an Indo-European language. (Messapic inscriptions date The Sabines (Sabini) were located in the from the sixth to the first century BC. The mountainous country east of the Tiber language is believed to be related to the River. They were known for their religious 210 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion practices and beliefs, and several Roman and . The league probably had no institutions were said to have derived federal assembly, but a war leader could from them. The story recounted by the be chosen to lead a campaign. Although Greek biographer and author Plutarch allied with Rome against the Gauls in that Romulus, the founder of Rome, 354 BC, the Samnites were soon involved invited the Sabines to a feast and then in a series of three wars (343–341, 327– carried off (raped) their women, is leg- 304, and 298–290) against the Romans. endary. Though there was a considerable Despite a spectacular victory over the Sabine infiltration into Rome, the view Romans at the Battle of the Caudine that the Sabines conquered the city in the Forks (321), where a Roman army was first half of the fifth century BC is improb- forced to march under the yoke, the able; rather, the Romans had many Samnites were eventually subjugated. skirmishes with the Sabines before their The Romans surrounded Samnite land victory in 449. Nothing is known thereaf- with colonies and then split it with colonies ter until in 290 the Sabines were at Beneventum (268) and Aesernia (263). conquered and granted civitas sine suf- Although reduced and depopulated, fragio; in 268 they received full Roman the Samnites later helped Pyrrhus and citizenship. Hannibal against Rome. They also fought The Sabines probably spoke Oscan. from 90 BC in the Social War and later in No inscription has survived of their - the civil war against Lucius Cornelius lect, but a large number of single words Sulla, who defeated them at the Battle of are attributed to them by Latin writers. the Colline Gate (82 BC). The tradition that the Sabines were the The longest and most important parent stock of the Samnite tribes is prob- inscription of the Samnite dialect is the ably correct. small bronze Tabula Agnonensis, which is engraved in full Oscan alphabet. In Samnites June 2004, archaeologists in Pompeii discovered the remains of a wall from a The Samnites were a collection of warlike temple built by Samnites. tribes inhabiting the mountainous centre of southern Italy. These tribes, who spoke Sicans Oscan and were probably an offshoot of the Sabines, apparently referred to them- According to ancient Greek writers, the selves not as Samnite but by the Oscan Sicans () were the aboriginal inhab- form of the word, which appears in Latin itants of central Sicily, as distinguished as Sabine. from the (Siculi) of eastern Sicily Four cantons formed a Samnite con- and the Elymi of western Sicily. Archaeol­ federation: , , , ogically there is no substantial difference Appendix B: Ancient Italic Peoples | 211 between Sicans and Sicels in historical this area spoke an Indo-European dialect times; but the Greek historian Thucydides closely related to Oscan (Umbrian). It is believed the Sicans to be from best known from the ritual texts called Spain who were driven by the invading the Iguvine Tables. The Umbrians never Sicels into the central parts of the island. fought any important wars against the Romans; in the Social War (90–89 BC), for Sicels instance, they joined the rebel allies tar- dily and were among the first to make Sicels (Siculi) were an ancient people that peace with Rome. Ancient authors occupied the eastern part of Sicily. Old described the Umbrians as closely resem- tales related that they once lived in central bling their Etruscan enemies in their Italy but were driven out and finally habits, and the Umbrian alphabet was crossed to Sicily, leaving remnants undoubtedly of Etruscan origin. behind—e.g., at Locri. They are hard to identify archaeologically, although some Venetians words of their Indo-European language are known. Phases of the Italic Apennine An ancient people of northeastern Italy, culture have been identified on the Eolie the Venetians () arrived about 1000 (Aeolian) Islands off the northeast coast of BC and occupied country stretching Sicily and in northeastern Sicily, which south to the Po and west to the neigh- may indicate emigration from Italy during bourhood of Verona. They left more than the late . The Sicels lived in 400 inscriptions from the last four cen- independent towns; thus, they were easily turies BC, some in the , displaced by the Greek colonists who others in a native script. migrated to Sicily, and they did not react The chief Venetic settlement was en masse until the 450s BC under . Este (later the Roman colony of ), Their most important gods were the , which was also the cult centre of their protectors of agriculture and sailors; important divinity Reitia, possibly a god- , perhaps the father of the Palici; dess of childbirth. The horses bred in and the goddess Hybla, or Hyblaea. Venetia were famous in the Greek world, and there was other commerce both with Umbrians Greek lands and with the Alps and north- ern Europe, including some control of The Umbrians () were an Etruscan the amber route from the Baltic. The people who gradually concentrated in Venetians were friendly to Rome through- Umbria (in what is now central Italy) out and assisted Rome against the Gauls, in response to Etruscan and Gallic pres- especially in the war of 225 BC. The col- sure. By about 400 BC the inhabitants of ony of Aquileia, founded in 181 BC, 212 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion protected Venetia from raids by its moun- They belonged to the Osco-Sabellian tain neighbours, and a century of peace group of tribes and lived (c. 600 BC) in and Romanization followed, though prob- the valley of the upper Liris River. Later ably much land was bought up by Roman events, however, drove them first west- settlers. The towns were given Latin ward and then south to the fertile land of rights in 89 BC and full citizen status in southern Latium. 49 BC. Knowledge of the Volscians depends largely upon Roman accounts of their Vestinians mutual wars. To increase their pressure against Rome and the Latins, the Vol­ The Vestinians () were an ancient scians allied themselves with the Sabine tribe, which occupied the eastern Aequians. Rome and the Latins in turn and northern bank of the Aternus (mod- joined in alliance with the Hernicians, ern Aterno) River in central Italy. They who lived between the Aequians and the entered into the Roman alliance in 302 Volscians. For about 200 years cam- BC and remained loyal until they joined paigns dragged on intermittently the Social War (90–89 BC), by which they between these opponents. The Volscians won Roman citizenship. are said to have made peace with Rome The Vestinian local dialect, belonging in 396 but profited by Rome’s weakness to the Northern Oscan group, probably after the Gauls sacked the city in 390 to survived until this time. The oldest renew their warfare. In the course of known Latin inscriptions of the district these struggles the Romans established are not earlier than 100 BC, and they indi- several colonies in the fifth and fourth cate that the Latin first spoken by the centuries to stem the advance of the Vestinians was not that of Rome but that Volscians. In 340 the Volscians joined of their neighbours, the Marsians and the the Latin revolt but were defeated (338), Aequians. and they had finally submitted to Rome by 304. Thereafter they became Volscians Romanized so quickly and completely that it is difficult to ascertain their origi- The people known as Volscians () nal culture. Their language is known were prominent in the history of Roman from an inscription (early third cen- expansion during the fifth century BC. tury) from Velitrae. Glossary aedile A magistrate of ancient Rome didrachm Ancient Greek currency. who originally had charge of the ethos The distinguishing character, temple and cult of . sentiment, moral nature, or guiding anachronistic A person or thing that beliefs of a person, group, or is chronologically out of place, institution. especially as it pertains to one item exigency A state of affairs that makes from a former age that is incongruous urgent demands. in the present. hegemony A preponderant influence or annalistic Relating to the writing of authority over others. historical events. homogeneity The quality of being of aphorism A concise expression of uniform structure or composition doctrine or principle or any throughout; having equal parts that generally accepted truth conveyed are similar or the same. in a pithy, memorable statement. imperium The supreme executive apostasy The renunciation of reli- power in the Roman state, involving gious faith. both military and judicial authority. ascetic One who practices strict self- manumission Formal emancipation denial as a measure of personal or from slavery. spiritual discipline. megalomaniacal Having delusions of capricious Impulsive and unpredictable. personal omnipotence. censor In ancient Rome, a magistrate meretricious Tawdrily and falsely whose original function of register- attractive. ing citizens and their property was oligarchy Government by the few, expanded to include supervision of especially despotic power exercised senatorial rolls and moral conduct. by a small and privileged group for collegium A group in which each corrupt or selfish purposes. member has approximately equal Eulogistic oration or laudatory power and authority. discourse that originally was a speech deification To glorify as if a god; to delivered at an ancient Greek general make someone or something an assembly (panegyris), such as the object of worship. Olympic and Panathenaic festivals. demagogue A leader who makes use of philhellenism Admiration for Greece popular prejudices or false claims in and the Greeks. order to gain power; in ancient polemicist One who stages an aggres- times, one who championed the sive attack or refutation of another’s cause of the common people. opinions or principles. 214 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion pomerium A sacred, open space located of mind and certainty of moral just inside the wall surrounding the worth; when capitalized, a school of four hills of early ancient Rome. thought that flourished in Greek and praetor A judicial officer who had broad Roman antiquity. authority in cases of equity, was tetrarchy A collegium of emperors responsible for the production of comprising two groups: two Augusti, the public games, and, in the older men who made the decisions, absence of consuls, exercised and two younger Caesars with a extensive authority in the more executive role government. tribune Any of various military and sacrosanct Treated as if holy. civil officials in ancient Rome. sarcophagus A stone coffin. triumvir One of three officers that mutu- stoicism The belief that the goal of all ally share the same administrative role. inquiry is to provide a mode of usurpation To seize or hold office or conduct characterized by tranquillity powers by force or without right. Bibliography

General works of Greece and Rome; and in Naphtali Lewis and Meyer Reinhold (eds.), Roman A wealth of information on ancient Civilization: Selected Readings, 3rd ed., Roman civilization is provided by the vol- 2 vol. (1990). umes in The Cambridge (1923– ), some in newer 2nd and 3rd edi- Rome from its tions; by N.G.L. Hammond and H.H. Origins to 264 BC Scullard (eds.), The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd ed. (1970, reprinted 1984); Archaeological evidence on early Rome and by John Boardman, Jasper Griffin, is discussed and analyzed by Raymond and Oswyn Murray (eds.), The Oxford Bloch, The Origins of Rome, rev. ed. (1963; History of the Classical World (1986). originally published in French, 1946); T.J. Michael Grant and Rachel Kitzinger Cornell, “Rome and Latium Vetus,” (eds.), Civilization of the Ancient Archaeological Reports, 26:71–88 (1979– Mediterranean: Greece and Rome, 3 vol. 80); and Robert Drews, “The Coming of (1988), discusses the geography, inhabit- the City to Central Italy,” American ants, arts, language, religion, politics, Journal of Ancient History, 6:133–165 technology, and economy of the area (1981). The archaeology of early Italy in from the early BC to the general is covered in Trump, late 5th century AD. Broad coverage of Central and Southern Italy Before Rome the physical and cultural settings and (1966). Livy’s work on early Rome is care- of archaeological discoveries is also fully annotated and commented on in provided by Tim Cornell and John part by R.M. Ogilvie, A Commentary on Matthews, Atlas of the Roman World Livy, Books 1–5 (1965, reissued 1984). A (1982); and Nicholas G.L. Hammond (ed.), good survey of Livy’s annalistic prede- Atlas of the Greek and Roman World in cessors is E. Badian, “The Early Antiquity (1981). Overviews of the histo- Historians,” in T.A. Dorey (ed.), Latin ries of Roman civilization include M. Historians (1966), pp. 1–38. The single Cary and H.H. Scullard, A History of best modern treatment of the regal period Rome Down to the Reign of Constantine, and the early republic is Jacques 3rd ed. (1975); and Michael Vickers, The Heurgon, The Rise of Rome to 264 B.C. Roman World (1977, reissued 1989). Many (1973; originally published in French, ancient historical sources are available in 1969). A complete chronological listing The series, with of all known magistrates of the Roman original text and parallel English transla- Republic with full ancient citations can tion; in the series Translated Documents be found in T. Robert S. Broughton, The 216 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Magistrates of the Roman Republic, 2 vol. Constitution of the Roman Republic and a supplement (1951–60, reprinted 1940–1954,” Historia, 5:74–122 (1956), sur- 1984–86). A collection and modern analy- veys modern scholarship on a number of sis of ancient sources concerning Rome’s important constitutional problems of economic development is early Roman history. Staveley has dis- (ed.), An Economic Survey of Ancient cussed the problem of the distinction Rome, 6 vol. (1933–40, reprinted 1975). between patricians and plebians in “The The legal evidence from early Rome is Nature and Aims of the Patriciate,” treated by Alan Watson, Rome of the XII Historia, 32:24–57 (1983). A collection of Tables: Persons and Property (1975). essays by different scholars addressing The evolution of Rome’s foundation this same problem is Kurt A. Raaflaub myth is discussed by E.J. Bickerman, (ed.), Social Struggles in Archaic Rome: “Origines Gentium,” Classical Philology, New Perspectives on the Conflict of the 47(2):65–81 (April 1952). Bickerman treats Orders (1986), which contains an excel- a number of important methodological lent bibliography on early Rome. A questions on early Rome in “Some detailed and novel approach to the prob- Reflections on Early Roman History,” lem of patricians and plebeians is Richard Rivista di Filologia e di Istruzione E. Mitchell, Patricians and Plebeians: The Classica, 97:393–408 (1969). Richard I. Origin of the Roman State (1990). The Ridley, “Fastenkritik: A Stocktaking,” single best treatment of the military tri- Athenaeum, 58(3–4):264–298 (1980), sur- bunes with consular power and related veys various modern views on the questions is Kurt von Fritz, “The reliability of the consular fasti. The single Reorganization of the Roman Government best treatment of the Roman ruling class in 366 B.C. and the So-called Licinio- is Matthias Gelzer, The Roman Nobility Sextian Laws,” Historia, 1:3–44 (1950). (1969; originally published in German, The best modern discussion of 1912). The Roman assemblies and voting Roman imperialism is William V. Harris, procedures are thoroughly examined by War and Imperialism in Republican George Willis Botsford, The Roman Rome, 327–70 B.C. (1979). Harris’s Rome Assemblies from Their Origin to the End in Etruria and Umbria (1971), examines of the Republic (1909, reprinted 1968); Rome’s relations with those two regions. and Lily Ross Taylor, Roman Voting Other informative works on Roman Assemblies from the Hannibalic War to expansion include R.M. Errington, The the Dictatorship of Caesar (1966). Taylor Dawn of Empire: Rome’s Rise to World has also carefully studied the origin and Power (1971); Erich S. Gruen, The development of the 35 urban and rural Hellenistic World and the Coming of voting tribes in The Voting Districts of Rome, 2 vol. (1984); and E. Badian, Foreign the Roman Republic (1960). E. Stuart Clientelae, 264–70 B.C. (1958). E.T. Staveley, “Forschungsbericht: The Salmon, Roman Colonization Under the Bibliography | 217

Republic (1969), surveys the methods, reissued 1988); G.H. Stevenson, Roman aims, and consequences of Roman Provincial Administration till the Age of colonization. the Antonines (1939, reprinted 1975); and C.H.V. Sutherland, The Romans in Spain, The Middle Republic 217 B.C.–A.D. 117 (1939, reprinted 1982). (264–133 BC) The Transformation of H.H. Scullard, A History of the Roman Rome and Italy During World: 753–146 BC, 4th ed. (1980), pro- the Middle Republic vides a reliable narrative. Gaetano de Sanctis, Storia dei Romani, 4 vol. (1907– Citizenship, constitution, and politics 65), is more detailed. The standard are discussed in Theodor Mommsen, reference work on Polybius is F.W. Römisches Staatsrecht, 3rd ed., 3 vol. in 5 Walbank, A Historical Commentary on (1887–88, reprinted 1969); A.N. Sherwin- Polybius, 3 vol. (1957–79). On the wars White, The Roman Citizenship, 2nd ed. with Carthage, Ulrich Kahrstedt, (1973, reissued 1987); and C. Nicolet, The Geschichte der Karthager von 218–146 World of the Citizen in Republican Rome (1913, reprinted 1975), provides source (1980; originally published in French, criticism. Military aspects of this period 1976). Arnold J. Toynbee, Hannibal’s are presented in Johannes Kromayer and Legacy: The Hannibalic War’s Effects on Georg Veith, Antike Schlachtfelder, vol. 3 Roman Life, 2 vols. (1965); P.A. Brunt, in 2 parts (1912); Johannes Kromayer and Italian Manpower, 225 B.C.–A.D. 14 (1971, Georg Veith (eds.), Schlachten-Atlas zur reprinted 1987); and Keith Hopkins, antiken Kriegsgeschichte, 5 parts (1922– Conquerors and Slaves (1977), explore the 29); J.H. Thiel, A History of Roman social and economic consequences of Sea-power Before the Second Punic War Rome’s victories. P.A. Brunt, Social (1954), and Studies on the History of Conflicts in the Roman Republic (1971, Roman Sea-power in Republican Times reissued 1986), presents an excellent (1946); J.F. Lazenby, Hannibal’s War: A brief account. Many important aspects of of the Second Punic War second-century politics and culture are (1978); and H.H. Scullard, Scipio covered in Alan E. Astin, Scipio Africanus: Soldier and Politician (1970). Aemilianus (1967). Stéphane Gsell, Histoire ancienne de l’Afrique du Nord, 3rd ed., 8 vol. (1928); The Late Republic and B.H. Warmington, Carthage, rev. ed. (133–31 BC) (1969), deal with Carthage. Works on the provinces include David Magie, Roman The best outline in English for the late Rule in Asia Minor to the End of the Third republic is the first half of H.H. Scullard, Century After Christ, 2 vol. (1950, From the Gracchi to Nero, 5th ed. (1982), 218 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion with excellent notes and bibliography. Continuity and Change in Roman The classic reference work is W. Drumann, Religion (1979); Bruce W. Frier, The Rise Geschichte Roms in seinem Übergange of the Roman Jurists (1985); and George von der republikanischen zur monar- Kennedy, The Art of Rhetoric in the Roman chischen Verfassung, 2nd ed. edited by World, 300 B.C.–A.D. 300 (1972). P. Groebe, 6 vol. (1899–1929), giving biog- raphies (with full source material) of all The Early Roman Empire prominent figures of the period, arranged (31 BC–ad 193) by families. Classic interpretations of the fall of the republic are , The Colin Wells, The Roman Empire (1984), is Roman Revolution (1939, reissued 1987); an intelligent short history up through P.A. Brunt, The Fall of the Roman Republic the Severi. The history is carried further and Related Essays (1988); Lily Ross by Michael Grant, The Climax of Rome: Taylor, Party Politics in the Age of Caesar The Final Achievements of the Ancient (1949, reissued 1975); Erich S. Gruen, The World, A.D. 161–337 (1968). Donald Earl, Last Generation of the Roman Republic The Age of Augustus (1968, reissued (1974); and Matthias Gelzer, Caesar: 1980), is useful in providing a little more Politician and Statesman (1968; origi- depth. As to governmental institutions, nally published in German, 1940). The Fergus Millar, The Emperor in the Roman army and expansion are analyzed in World, 31 BC–AD 337 (1977), offers a mon- Emilio Gabba, Republican Rome, the Army, umentally detailed study of the ruler in and the Allies (1976; originally published his capacity as civil governor up through in Italian, 1973); and E. Badian, Roman Constantine; and Richard J.A. Talbert, Imperialism in the Late Republic, 2nd ed. The Senate of Imperial Rome (1984), (1968). Aspects of public and social life describes the role and actions of the are dealt with in T.P. Wiseman, New Men ruler’s partner. On provincial govern- in the Roman Senate, 139 B.C.–A.D. 14 ment, as well as much else, Fergus Millar (1971); Israël Shatzman, Senatorial (ed.), The Roman Empire and Its Neigh­ Wealth and Roman Politics (1975); Susan bours, 2nd ed. (1981; originally published Treggiari, Roman Freedmen During the in German, 1966), is informative and Late Republic (1969); A.W. Lintott, readable. Commentary on the economy Violence in Republican Rome (1968); and is supplied by Kevin Greene, The E. Badian, Publicans and Sinners: Private Archaeology of the Enterprise in the Service of the Roman (1986). Géza Alföldy, The Social History Republic (1972, reissued 1983). On cultural of Rome (1985), on the structure of society; development, the standard work is and Ramsay MacMullen, Roman Social , Intellectual Life in the Relations, 50 B.C. to A.D. 284 (1974), on Late Roman Republic (1985); it may be the feelings uniting or dividing groups supplemented by J.H.W.G. Liebeschuetz, or strata, are complementary works. Bibliography | 219

Provincial history broadly interpreted and for the other half of the empire, by may be sampled in Sheppard Frere, S.R.F. Price, Rituals and Power: The : A History of Roman Britain, Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor 3rd ed. rev. (1987); Paul MacKendrick, The (1984). Ramsay MacMullen, Paganism in North African Stones Speak (1980); and the Roman Empire (1981), provides a A.H.M. Jones, The Greek City from comprehensive view. Military history is Alexander to Justinian (1940, reissued made accessible through G.R. Watson, 1979), still useful, since archaeology has The Roman Soldier (1969, reissued 1985). little touched the eastern end of the An explication of a major aspect of cul- Mediterranean world. Bernard Andreae, ture may be found in the latter half of a The Art of Rome (1977; originally pub- work by a notable historian, H.I. Marrou, lished in German, 1973), a large, A in Antiquity (1956, luxuriously illustrated work with an reprinted 1982; originally published in equally rich scholarly text; and Niels French, 1948). Albin Lesky, A History of Hannestad, Roman Art and Imperial Greek Literature (1966; originally pub- Policy (1986; originally published in lished in German, 2nd ed., 1963), may be Danish, 1976), deal with their material paired with H.J. Rose, A Handbook of in quite different ways: the former is Latin Literature, from the Earliest Times conventionally art-historical, the latter to the Death of St. Augustine, 3rd ed. uses his material to illuminate its context. (1966); and with the more elegant study Architecture is best approached through by Gordon Williams, Change and W.L. MacDonald, The Architecture of the Decline: Roman Literature in the Early Roman Empire, rev. ed., 2 vol. (1982–86), a Empire (1978). On the church, W.H.C. well-written, imaginative account; and Frend, The Rise of Christianity (1984), is through such specialized studies as John readable and comprehensive up through Percival, The : An Historical the 6th century. Introduction (1976, reissued 1988). Philippe Ariès and Georges Duby (eds.), The Later Roman Empire A History of Private Life, vol. 1, From Pagan Rome to Byzantium, ed. by Paul André Piganiol, L’Empire chrétien (325– Veyne (1987; originally published in 395), 2nd ed. updated by André French, 1985), is a social history in an old- Chastagnol (1972), offers an exception- fashioned sense by a master of the most ally rich and informative narrative up-to-date approaches. The importance among modern works. Diana Bowder, of emperor worship is well argued in the The Age of Constantine and Julian detailed work by Duncan Fishwick, The (1978), is good on those two reigns. Imperial Cult in the Latin West, vol. 1 in 2 A.H.M. Jones, The Later Roman Empire, vol. (1987); and, with more interpretation 284–602: A Social Economic and 220 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Administrative Survey, 2 vol. (1964, (1988), includes an up-to-date survey of reprinted 1986), is extraordinarily clear evidence for decline, and also argues a and detailed on these . On a major thesis. Herwig Wolfram, History of the development, monasticism, Derwas J. Goths (1988; originally published in Chitty, The Desert a City: An Introduction German, 2nd ed., 1980), is a superb study to the Study of Egyptian and Palestinian of a crucial player in the 4th to 6th cen- Monasticism Under the Christian turies. Walter Goffart, Barbarians and Empire (1966, reissued 1977), is highly Romans, A.D. 418–584: The Techniques of readable. Ramsay MacMullen, Accommodation (1980), carries the Corruption and the Decline of Rome account further. Index

A B Achaean League, 50, 51, 52–53 Bacchic worship, 66 aedile, 59, 60 Balbinus, 164 Aelian and Fufian law, 61 barbarian invasions, 166–167, 169, 185–186, Aemilia, Via, 75 193–197 Aeneas, 20, 62 Britain, 116, 122, 123, 126, 129, 131, 147, 149, 153, Aequi, 33, 34 154, 167, 169, 172, 177, 184, 187, 190, 195 Africa, 17, 40, 41, 42, 45, 46, 47–48, 56, 57, 63, Brutus, Marcus Junius, 98, 99, 100, 145 72, 82, 83, 84, 85, 90, 97, 111, 112, 115, 136, 140, 142, 143, 144, 147, 150, 155, 160, 163, C 164, 172, 174, 176, 177, 179, 181, 182, 184, 189, 195 Caesar, Julius, 27, 52, 83, 84, 93, 94–98, 99, 101, Agrippa, Marcus Vipsanius, 105, 110, 116, 121 102, 104, 106, 112, 113, 120, 121, 144, 162 Albinus, Clodius, 153, 154 Caesar, Lucius, 87 Alexander the Great, 140, 144, 157 calendar, history of, 18, 32, 98 amicitia, 76 Caligula (Gaius Caesar), 122 Antiochus III, 49, 50 Campania, 35–36, 43, 44, 45, 67, 69, 76, 88, 89 Antonine emperors, 127–132, 133, 134, 135, 147, Capua, 35, 44, 45, 46, 74 148, 150, 151, 155, 164, 169, 184 Caracalla, 143, 156, 157, 158, 180 Antoninus Pius, 130–131, 133, 136, 156 Carneades, 63 Antony, Mark, 97, 99, 100, 104, 116 Carthage, 33, 35, 37, 38, 39–41, 42, 43, 44, Apamea, Treaty of, 50 45–48, 53, 55–56, 77, 78, 81, 195 Appia, Via, 36, 74, 128 Cassian law, 61 Armenia, 93, 116, 123, 127, 129, 157, 167, 174, Cassius, Avidius, 131, 132 184, 187, 193 Cassius Longinus, Gaius, 98, 99, 100 Asia, 17, 50, 53, 57, 81, 85–86, 87, 88, 91, 93, 98, Catiline, 94 111, 116, 123, 127 Cato the Censor, 52, 54, 63, 64, 65, 69, 70, 102 Attila, 195 Catullus, 103 auctoritas, 86, 92, 107 Catulus, Quintus, 83, 90 Augustan military, 113–115 censor, 27, 31, 58, 64, 71, 86, 89, 92, 101, 107, Augustine, Saint, 193, 195, 197 122, 125, 126, 133 Augustus (Octavian), 20, 99–100, 103, centuriate assembly, 26, 27–28, 31, 32, 34, 49, 104–107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 115, 59, 105, 133 116, 117, 118, 120–121, 122, 125, 130, 132, Christianity, 122–123, 137, 140, 144, 149, 161–163, 133, 134, 135, 136, 144, 145, 147, 148, 149, 164, 165, 166, 167, 176–177, 178, 179, 183–184, 150, 155, 162, 184 186, 187, 188, 190, 191–193, 196 Aurelian, 170–171, 172 Cicero, Marcus Tullius, 77, 92, 93, 94, 96, 98, auxiliaries, 113, 114, 126, 129, 130, 149, 155 99, 100–101, 102, 139, 144 222 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Cimbri people, 83, 86 divorce, 74 Cinna, Lucius, 88, 89, 90 dominate, establishment of the, 171 Civil War, 84, 97–98 Domitian, 125–127, 128, 130, 133, 137, 163, 164 Claudian law of 218, 69 Drusus, Marcus Livius, 87, 88, 89 Claudius I, 109, 116, 122, 125, 134, 148 Duilius, Gaius, 40 Claudius II, 164, 166, 170 Cleopatra, 97, 100, 104 E clientela, 93 early republic of Rome, 24–38 Clodia, Via, 74 early Roman empire, 104–152 Clodius, Publius, 96, 97 edictum perpetuum, 130, 133 Clovis, 196 Egypt, 52, 97, 100, 104, 105, 109, 111, 115, 124, Commodus, 132, 134, 137, 148, 153, 163 129, 131, 143, 144, 148, 153, 156, 162, 168, Constantine, 177–181, 182, 183, 189, 192, 193 169, 170, 174, 175, 177, 189, 191, 192 Constantinople, 175, 179, 180, 183, 185, 186, Elagabulus, 158, 159, 172 190, 193, 194 emperor worship, 98, 112, 113, 120, 125, Constantius, 172, 173, 174, 177, 181–183, 193 129, 130, 131, 133, 137, 144–146, 159, constitutions principum, 134 171, 172, 188 consulship, 26, 30, 31, 34, 59, 60, 82, 83, 85, 88, Ennius, Quintus, 62–63 89, 92, 94, 95, 96, 97, 105, 106, 107, 108, 111, equestrian order (equites), 81, 82, 83, 85, 87, 126, 134 89, 93, 108, 109, 110, 111, 114, 115, 118, 122, Corinth, 53, 77 126, 130, 135, 139, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, Council of Nicaea, 179 166, 170, 173, 180 Crassus, Marcus, 91–92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 98, 116 Esquiline Hill, 23 Critolaus, 63 Etruria, 34–35, 37, 43, 45, 67, 74, 76, 87, 160 Crocus the Alaman, 180 Etruscan people, 18, 23, 24, 33, 34, 36 cursus honorum, 59, 60 F D Fabius Maximus, Quintus, 43, 44 damnatio memoriae, 124, 132 Fabius Pictor, Quintus, 19, 20, 62 Danube region, 17, 116, 124, 125, 126–127, 128, 129, Fannian law, 64 131, 132, 143, 148, 153, 155, 157, 160, 165, 166, farming, 67, 68–70 169, 170, 172, 174, 177, 180, 182, 185, 186, 189 fasces, 18, 57 De Agricultura, 64, 69, 102 fetial, 34 Decebalus, 126 Fidenae, 34, 35 Decius, 165 Flaccus, Marcus Fulvius, 81, 82 Demetrius, 50–51 Flaminia, Via, 74 dictator, history of office of, 26–27 Flamininus, Titus Quinctius, 49, 50, 59, 62 Didian law, 64 Flavian emperors, 124–127, 132, 133, 134, 135, Diocletian, 149, 172–177, 179, 184, 188 148, 150, 162 Diogenes, 63 free marriage, 73–74 Index | 223 G Herculaneum, 125 Hieron II, 39, 40, 46 Gabinian law, 61 Hieronymus, 46 Galba, 124 Honorius, Flavius, 193, 194 Galerius, 170, 172, 173, 174, 176, 177 Horace, 103, 118 Gallienus, 165–166, 167, 170, 173 Horatius Cocles, 24 Gallus, Aelius, 115 Hortensian law, 32–33, 61 Gaul, 18, 42, 45, 72, 75, 85, 90, 93, 95, 96, 97, Hortensius, Lucius, 51 100, 105, 116, 136, 143, 147, 148, 149, 151, hospitium, 76 154, 160, 163, 167, 168, 169, 171, 172, 174, 176, 177, 178, 180, 182, 184, 185, 186, 187, 189, 190, 192, 194, 195, 196 I Gaul, people of, 34, 35, 37, 43, 45, 53, 116, 165, Italy, 17, 18, 19, 20, 28, 32, 35, 36, 39, 42, 43, 44, 167, 177, 194 45, 46, 47, 48, 52, 53, 54, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, Geta, Publius Septimius, 156, 157 68, 70, 71, 74–76, 81, 86–87, 88, 90, 91, 94, Glabrio, Manius Acilius, 49 97, 99, 100, 106, 109, 110, 111, 117, 124, 130, Glaucia, Gaius, 85 131, 132, 136–137, 138, 139, 140, 147, 149, Gordian III, 164–165 156, 172, 173, 176, 177, 180, 189, 192, 196 Goths, 131, 165, 166–167, 172, 180, 182, 185, 186, 187, 189, 193, 194, 195, 196 J Gracchi reform movement, 78–85, 86, 89 Jerome, Saint, 193, 195 Gracchus, Gaius, 81–83, 86, 89 Jews, 66, 116, 122, 124, 125, 129, 159, 161, 162, Gracchus, Tiberius Sempronius, 54, 63, 79–81 163, 167, 174, 192 grammar, 101–102 Judaea, 111, 116, 122, 123, 124, 125, 127, 129, 151 grammatici, 101 jugatio-capitatio system, 174 Gratian, 186, 187, 193 Jugurtha, war with, 82, 83 Greece, 17, 18, 20, 23, 37–38, 44, 45, 49, 50, 51, Julian, 182, 183–184 53, 56, 74, 88, 100, 118, 130, 144, 149, 152, Julio-Claudian emperors, 104–124, 126, 132, 161, 162, 166 133, 134 culture of, 61–63, 65, 101, 102, 118, 140, 144, Juvenal, 150, 163 147, 150, 152, 160, 163, 166, 191 grid plan, 141–142 L late empire of Rome, 153–197 H late republic of Rome, 25, 26, 27, 33, 74, 77–103 Hadrian (Publius Aelius Hadrianus), 112, latifundia, 69, 70 129–130, 131, 133, 134, 136, 148, 149, 150, Latinization, 142–143, 150 151, 163, 167 Latin League, 33, 36 Hadrian’s Wall, 129, 154–155 Latin War, 36 , 42 Latium, 18, 24, 33, 35, 36, 62, 67 Hannibal, 42–43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 53, 56, 67, 68 legionaries, 113, 114, 126, 127, 129, 130, 149 Hasdrubal, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47 Lepidus, Marcus, 89–90, 100, 107 224 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Lex de Imperio Vespasiani, 124, 133 Numantia, 55 lex provinciae, 57, 58 Numidia, 82, 86, 115, 147, 149 lex Villia annalis, 59 , 64 O Licinio-Sextian Rogations, 31 obnuntiatio, 61 Licinius, 177, 178, 180 Octavia, 100 Livius Andronicus, Lucius, 62 Octavius, Marcus, 79, 88 Livy, 19–20, 21, 25, 31, 32, 33, 66, 118 Odenathus, 168 Lucius Verus, 130 Odyssey, the, 62 Lucretia, 24, 30 Ogulnian law, 32 Lucullus, Lucius, 91, 93 Oppian law, 64 Orchian law, 64 M Otho, Salvius, 124 Macedonia, 45, 49, 50–51, 52, 77, 78, 85 Ovid, 118, 150 , 45, 49, 50–51, 56, 85 Macrinus, Marcus Opellius, 157–158 P manipular battle formation, 36 Palatine Hill, 20, 23 Marcellus, Marcus Claudius, 44, 46 Parthia, 86, 93, 96, 98, 100, 116, 123, 127, 129, Marcus Aurelius, 130, 131, 132, 136, 137, 144, 131, 154, 155, 158, 162, 167 148, 151, 155, 163, 164, 166, 170 patria potestas, 73 Marius, Gaius, 76, 82, 83–85, 86, 87, 92, 94, patricians, 24–25, 26, 27, 31, 122 132, 134 Pax Romana, 146, 148, 160, 169 Masinissa, 46, 47, 55 Perseus, 51 Maximian, 172, 173, 174, 177, 186 Pertinax, Helvius, 153 Maximinus, 158, 164, 170 Petronius, Gaius, 115 Maximus, 187 Philip the Arabian, 165 Metelli family, 82, 83, 92 Philip V, king of Macedon, 45–46, 48, 49, 50, Metellus, Quintus, 82, 83, 85, 89, 91 51, 58, 59 middle republic of Rome, 25, 26, 39–76 Philopoemen, 50 military tribunes, 30–31, 35 philosophy, 63–64, 101, 102–103, 144, 151, 160, Mithridates VI, 85–86, 87, 88, 91, 93, 101 162, 163–164, 166, 183, 191, 196 mos majorum, 80, 92 plague, 169 Plautus, Titus Maccius, 62–63 N plebeians, 24–25, 26, 27, 28–29, 31, 32, 60–61, 135 Naevius, Gnaeus, 62 plebeian tribunes, 28–30, 31, 60, 61, 79, 80, 82, Nero, Gaius Claudius, 45, 116, 122–124, 132, 83, 84, 106, 108 134, 135, 148, 162 Pliny the Younger, 128, 139, 151, 163 Nerva, Marcus Cocceius, 127, 128 poetry, 102 Nicomedes IV, 91 Polybius, 33, 41, 48, 50, 51, 52, 55, 56, 57, 58, Niger, Pescennius, 153, 154 65, 74 Index | 225

Pompeii, 125, 136, 140 Res Rustica, 102 Pompey (Gnaeus Pompeius), 84, 90–92, rhetoric, 101, 102, 144, 162, 163, 164 93–94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 101, 120 Rhodes, 50, 52, 163 pontifex maximus, 86, 94, 95, 107, 179 Roman annalistic tradition, 19–21, 24, 28, Porticus Aemilia, 71–72 29–30, 31, 32, 33, 62 Postumia, Via, 75 Roman Forum, 30, 32, 71, 144, 151 Postumus, Marcus Cassianius, 165, 167 Roman state, the, praesides, 173 citizenry in, organization of, 58–59, praetor, 27, 31, 34, 51, 52, 54, 57, 59, 60, 66, 76, 139–152, 188–189 78, 83, 85, 89, 90, 94, 95, 108, 111, 122, 124, colonial conquests by, 17, 34–41, 42–57, 75, 125, 130, 133, 134, 153, 173, 180 85–86, 87–89, 115–117, 122, 129, 174 praetorian cohorts, 113, 155, 158 culture of, 61–65, 100–103, 118–120, 149–152, principate, establishment of the, 105–107, 163–164, 191 132–133 early history of, 18–23 principes, 87, 89, 94 economy of, 66–72, 78, 110, 117, 146–148, Probus, 171–172 168–169, 171–172, 174–175, 190 prorogation, 78 family life in, 73–74 provinicial administration, 57–58, 78, 89, 93, housing in, 73, 135 106, 110, 111–113, 128, 137–140, 173, 175, 184 law of, 31–32, 34, 102, 111, 120, 133–134, 138, publicani, 58, 81, 86, 135 174–175 Punic Wars, 57, 68 politics of, 58–61, 78, 92–93, 94–97, 110, 120, First, 39–41, 74 134–135, 168–169, 188 Second, 19, 26, 39, 42–48, 49, 53, 55, 59, 62, religion of, 65–66, 111, 112, 137, 144–146, 158, 63, 64, 67, 68, 70, 74, 75, 143 159–163, 171, 172, 176–177, 178–179, 181–184, Third, 55 186, 191–193 Pupienus, 164 Romulus and Remus, 20 Pydna, Battle of, 51 Rutilius Rufus, Publius, 83, 84, 86 Pyrrhic War, 19, 20, 32, 37–38 Pyrrhus, 38 S Pythagoras, 63 Sack of Rome, 35, 36 Q Sagunto, 42 salutation, 72 quaestio repetundarum, 78, 82 Samnite people, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 quaestor, 28, 31, 57, 59, 60, 79, 83, 108, 111, 122, Samnite Wars, 32, 35–37 134, 180 Saturninus, Lucius, 84, 85, 86, 126 Quirinal Hill, 23 Scaevola, Publius Mucius, 24 Scaevola, Quintus Mucius, 86, 102 R Scipio, Gnaeus Cornelius, 46 regal period of Rome, 21–23 Scipio, Lucius Cornelius, 49–50, 59 Regulus, Marcus Atilius, 41 Scipio, Publius Cornelius, 46–47 226 | Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion

Scipio Aemilianus, Publius Cornelius, 55–56, Theodosius I, 186, 187, 190, 191, 193 60, 61, 63, 79, 81, 83 Tiberius, 116, 121–122, 161 Scipio Africanus, 50, 60, 62, 67, 79, 82 Tiber River, 17, 18, 24, 33, 71, 107, 159, 175 Second Parthica, 155 Titus, 125, 134 Secular Games, 118 Traiana, Via, 128 Senate, 17, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28–29, 30, 31, 34, 38, Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Trajanus), 127–129, 44, 50, 51, 52, 53, 55, 58, 59, 61, 62, 65, 66, 133, 137, 148, 149, 163, 164, 184 72, 78, 79, 81–82, 83, 84, 86, 87, 89, 91, 92, tribal assembly, 28, 29, 31, 32 93, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99, 101, 102, 103, 105, tribunicia potestas, 106, 107 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 114, 120, Triumvirs, 100, 120 122, 124, 125, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, Troy, 20 133, 134–135, 138, 139, 144, 153, 156, 157, Twelve Tables, 30, 32, 32 158, 164, 169, 171, 180, 185 Sertorius, Quintus, 90–91 U Severi dynasty, 153–159 Severus Alexander, 158, 159, 160, 164 Umbria, 37, 74, 87 Severus, Septimius, 136, 153, 153–157, 158, urban centres in the empire, overview of, 163, 174 140–142 Sextus, Pompeius, 100 slavery, 68, 69, 70, 74, 76, 79, 91–92, 101, 109, V 111, 139–140 Vaballathus, 168 Social War, the, 84, 87, 88, 90 Valens, 184–185, 186 Spain, 42, 45, 46, 47, 53, 54, 55, 57, 77, 88, 90, Valentinian, 184–185, 186, 187 94, 95, 96, 98, 99, 100, 105, 116, 136, 137, Valerian, 165 144, 147, 150, 167, 189, 190, 194, 195 Varro, Marcus Terrentius, 101, 102 Sparta, 50, 53 Veii, 31, 34–35 Spartacus, 91 Verres, Gaius, 92, 93 Stilicho, Flavius, 193–194 Verus, Lucius, 130, 131, 132 Sulla, Lucius, 27, 77, 83, 85, 86, 88–89, 90, 91, Vespasian, 124–125, 126, 127, 130, 134, 155, 163 92, 94, 98, 120 Virgil, 103, 118, 150, 191 Sulpicius, Publius, 88 Vitellius, 124 Syphax, king of Numidia, 47, 55 Volscians, 33, 34 Syracuse, 39–40, 46 Syria, 105, 116, 127, 131, 142, 143, 147, 148, 153, 155, 162 Y year of the four emperors, 124 T Z Tacitus, 126, 128, 149, 150, 163, 171 tetrarchy, origin of the, 172 Zama, Battle of, 47, 55 Theodoric, 196 Zenobia, 168