Chapter 6: Rome and the Barbarians

Chapter 6: Rome and the Barbarians • At height, 2nd century C.E., Roman Empire contained 70-100 million people in an empire reaching 2,700 miles east to west and 2,500 miles north to south • Rome enforced Pax Romana across empire • Contemporaries praised it for promoting peace and prosperity while critics claimed Pax Romana was brute military conquest

From Hill Town to Empire • The Founding of the Roman Republic • Founded in 753 B.C.E. [in legend] • Ruled for 250 years by Etrurians [Etruscans] • Republic created in 509 B.C.E. when upper-class Romans drove Etruscans out of city • New republican government had two consuls and a Senate using a system of checks and balances

From Hill Town to Empire • The Conquest of Italy • Army established on Greek model of phalanx • Drove Etruscans out of central Italy, 396 B.C.E. • Controlled all Italy south of Po Valley, 264 B.C.E. • Offered opponents the choice of alliance or conquest • Republic was a society geared for war

From Hill Town to Empire • Conquest of Carthage and Western Mediterranean • Carthage controlled North Africa and was a rival to Rome in commerce • Rome and Carthage fought three Punic Wars from 264 to 146 B.C.E. • Wars included invasion of Rome by Hannibal using elephants • Romans destroyed Carthage and sold citizens into slavery at end of war

From Hill Town to Empire • Subsequent Expansion • Annexed Spain, 197 B.C.E. • Series of wars led to annexation of Gaul (France) by 49 B.C.E. • Moved into successor states of Alexander’s empire at invitation of the Greeks • Rome applied “new wisdom” of harsh treatment to conquered areas

From Hill Town to Empire • Institutions of Empire • Support of conquered people achieved by • Selective offers of full citizenship to non-Romans • Others could get partial citizenship, right to marry Roman citizens, and freedom from arbitrary arrest • Citizenship offer directed toward upper classes

From Hill Town to Empire • Patrons and Clients • An ancient form of relationship where strong protected weak and received obedience and support in return • Patrons were patricians; clients were plebeians who helped pay patron expenses and showed submission by ritual visit to patron’s house • Relationship present in Republic and Empire

From Hill Town to Empire • Patrons and Clients [cont.] • The Roman Family • Paterfamilias (father) had life and death control • Control of daughters did not pass to husbands • Women had no formal rights but some control in practice • Marriages were arranged • Restrictions did not apply to lower classes

From Hill Town to Empire • Patrons and Clients • Class and Class Conflict • Existed despite patron-client relationship • Plebeians and patricians forbidden to intermarry under Etruscans • Plebeians not allowed to be army officers in early Republic • Etruscan king had protected plebeians from patricians; Republic meant loss of protection

From Hill Town to Empire • Patrons and Clients • The Struggle of the Orders • Term applies to plebeians’ long struggle for rights • Boycotts of Rome provided leverage in struggle • Plebeians had no economic rights • First plebeian consul was 360 B.C.E. • Fruits of imperial expansion went to patricians • Plebeian soldiers would return home to find their land confiscated for debts

From Hill Town to Empire • Patrons and Clients • Urban Splendor and Squalor • Rome was most extreme example of wealth and poverty • Newly wealthy patricians relocated to Rome and built stunning mansions • Poor flocked to Rome in search of work and food and lived in hovels

From Hill Town to Empire • Patrons and Clients • Attempts at Reform • Tiberius Gracchus clubbed to death by Senate for his support of the poor (133 B.C.E.) • Gaius Gracchus (consul, 123 B.C.E.) redistributed land, subsidized grain sales, resettled some poor in lands won in Punic Wars (assassinated in 121 B.C.E.) • Tax farming proposal unpopular • Reforms fail but lay groundwork for later permanent reform

From Hill Town to Empire • Patrons and Clients • “Bread and Circuses” • New solution was to bribe poor in form of free daily bread ration • Also presented many free public entertainments to fill idle hours of the poor • Threat of revolt by poor continued throughout life of Roman Empire

From Hill Town to Empire • Slaves and Slave Revolts • Conquests led to agricultural and mineral wealth that required an enlarged labor force • Millions of slaves acquired in wars • Rebellions included Great Slave War (134-131 B.C.E.) in Sicily and Spartacus-led gladiator revolt of 73-71 B.C.E.

From Hill Town to Empire • Military Power • Roman armies were central to the state • Willing to innovate: Greek phalanx, small maneuverable units, cavalry, sophisticated warships, walled camps • Service in army made men free but involved lengthy enlistment: 16-25 years under Augustus • Conquered people served in army

From Hill Town to Empire • Generals in Politics • Military experience basis of political power • Control by Senate and Assembly weakens • Julius Caesar a model of how military success leads to political power • Augustus Caesar (Octavian) completed process with creation of Empire with central power coupled with promotion of traditional family values

From Hill Town to Empire • The End of the Republic • Augustus created imperial monarchy • Military expansion continued into Switzerland, Britain, Mesopotamia • Gains consolidated by Trajan (117-138 C.E.) • Citizenship for conquered peoples now limited • Created international law (jus gentium) to deal with diverse people of empire

From Hill Town to Empire • Economic Policies of the Empire • Romans worked with local elites in provinces • Cost of empire to subjects included taxes and military service • Prosperity caused some to worry they had lost the simple virtues of Republican life before the rise of military leadership, or even before the overthrow of the Etruscans

From Hill Town to Empire • Economic Policies of the Empire • Supplying Rome • Feeding Rome, a city of one million under Augustus, was major task • Empire moved a large variety of products by ship within empire • Trade included exotic animals and gladiators for public entertainment

From Hill Town to Empire • Economic Policies of the Empire • Building Cities • Empire was largely agricultural but managed by potent urban civilization • Built administrative cities around empire including ones that became core of London, Paris, and Lyons • Empire contained over 5,000 civic bodies (cities and towns)

From Hill Town to Empire • Economic Policies of the Empire • Luxury Trades • Included goods transported over great distances including Chinese silks • Payment for luxuries was in metal (gold/silver) • Overland routes also vital (“all roads lead to Rome”) • Upper classes publicly scorned but privately participated in commercial activity • End of Pax Romana sharply reduced luxury trade in the late 2nd century, C.E.

From Hill Town to Empire • Cultural Policies of the Empire • Greco-Roman Culture • Incorporated Greek ideas and language through conquest and spread them across empire • Greek was the language of high culture; Latin was the language of administration • Sense of Roman triumph a key element of Roman sense of self and others

From Hill Town to Empire • Cultural Policies of the Empire • Stoicism • From Zeno, a Greek philosopher (c. 300 C.E.) • World is rational, well-ordered system • People should accept events without joy or grief • Treat all people with decency as brothers and sisters • Stoics sought more humane treatment of slaves • Height of influence under Emperor Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-180 C.E.)

From Hill Town to Empire • Cultural Policies of the Empire • Religion in the Empire • Accepted religious diversity and divinity of emperor • Mithraism and cult of Cybele attracted women • Monotheism of Judaism led to Jewish revolts and Roman suppression • Christianity seen as atheistic (Christians rejected divinity of emperor) and treasonous (refused to participate in public religious festivals)

From Hill Town to Empire • Cultural Policies of the Empire • Christianity Triumphant • Christians gained by time of Marcus Aurelius • Stoic idea of orderly world and concern for social welfare paralleled Christian ideals • Initially attracted poor and women • Acceptance in Edict of Milan (313 C.E.) culminates in Christianity being named official religion of empire in 394 C.E. when polytheistic cults are banned

Barbarians and Fall of Roman Empire • Invaders at the Gates • Celts sacked Rome in 390 B.C.E.; fomented revolt in 61 C.E. led by Boudicca, a woman • Goths (Germanic) on northern border from 50 B.C.E. move west into Empire (under pressure from Huns) and form states within empire • Huns pressure late Empire, topple dynasty in China and invade India

Barbarians and Fall of Roman Empire • Decline/Dismemberment of Roman Empire • Roman vulnerability to invasion increased by plague that killed one-quarter of Roman population (165-180 C.E.) • Marcus Aurelius recognized invaders could be assimilated • Some invaders took citizenship, others wanted plunder, others wanted to set up separate states

Barbarians and Fall of Roman Empire • Decline/Dismemberment of Empire [cont.] • Crisis of the 3rd Century • Repeated invasions along Danube and Rhine rivers • Invasion of Italy thwarted in 253-268 C.E. • Loss of territory beyond Danube • Persian revolts unsuccessfully threaten Roman control of the east

Barbarians and Fall of Roman Empire • Decline/Dismemberment of Empire [cont.] • The Fragmentation of Authority • Warfare required decentralization of power to regional capitals, including use of Constantinople as home to a second, eastern center of Roman power • Valentinian (r. 364-375 C.E.) last emperor able to defeat invaders • Administration moved to Milan and Ravenna [c. 400 C.E.] • Vandals and Huns extended power into west • Control of west into barbarian hands

Barbarians and Fall of Roman Empire • Causes of the Decline and Fall • Structural problems • Class conflict continued • Cost of armies drained treasury • People more impoverished over time • Yeoman-farmer class, backbone of the Republic, was ruined although wealthy still prospered • Support of idea of empire faded

Barbarians and Fall of Roman Empire • Causes of Decline and Fall [cont.] • Quality of emperors declined • Couldn’t defeat enemies or assimilate them • Christianity critical of pursuit of earthly power • Climate change and epidemics • Traditional list includes overextension, military and financial exhaustion, leadership failure, new values systems, infiltration of outsiders, new states that rejected Roman leadership

Barbarians and Fall of Roman Empire • The Empire in the East • Focus on Constantinople, the “New Rome” • Combined Greek culture, Roman law, and Christian faith • Constantinople, later called Byzantium, lasts to 1453 C.E.

Barbarians and Fall of Roman Empire • The Empire in the East [cont.] • Resurgence under Justinian • Constantinople impervious to Germanic attacks • Justinian recaptured lost portions of western empire [r. 527-565 C.E.] • Created legal codes known as Justinian Code • Suppressed Monophysite understanding of Christianity, the basis for ongoing religious conflict in the east and amenability to Islam

Barbarians and Fall of Roman Empire • The Empire in the East [cont.] • Religious struggles • Armies of Islam launch invasions after 632 C.E. • Divisive iconoclastic controversy: is there a place for icons within Christian religion and practice? • Ability to resist invaders declines • Byzantine emperor asks Pope [western Christian leader] for help • Result is start of the Crusades

Barbarians and Fall of Roman Empire • The Empire in the East [cont.] • A Millennium of Byzantine Strength • Ruling classes not as separated from rest of people as in Rome • Less geographical overextension • Longstanding urban tradition

The Legacy of the Roman Empire • What Difference Does It Make? • Language was basis of many European languages and survived in liturgy to 20th century • Law a basis of and inspiration for modern law • Roman towns survive to present day • Roman Catholic church was organized along Roman imperial lines • Remains a model for modern empires

Chapter 6: Rome and the Barbarians