Augustus and How He Changed The Roman Empire Two problems facing the late Roman Empire was the instability and non unification caused by inner family civil wars. Rome's rapid expansion, after the Punic Wars, resulted in changes that permanently divided the state. Both Aristocrats and Plebeians wanted total control of Rome and tried to destroy each other. Civil war was the the only way to solve problems in politics. Consequently, the power of the military became strong. Control of Rome's armies changed from the government to the generals because the soldiers began to listen to their generals rather than to the Government. On dismissal from military service, the soldiers had no farms to return to, and they …show more content…
Also, Augustus recruited soldiers from the Roman provinces. These auxiliary troops were granted Roman citizenship upon completion of military service, and they became important agents of Romanization because the provinces now had a share in the defense of the Empire. In addition, Augustus raised a new military force, the 9,000-strong Praetorian Guard, to act as personal bodyguards of the Emperor and to specifically protect the city of Rome from all enemies, foreign or domestic. He also created a police force for the city, which then had a population of more than 1,000,000. This measure greatly reduced the crime rate and the frequency of public riots, both of which were constant problems. (2) Another problem plaguing the late Roman Republic was the constant revolt of the provinces because of corruption and mismanagement. Under the early Republic, the appointed provincial governors served short terms. Many of these politically appointed governors were either inexperienced or incompetent, so corruption and mismanagement were common practices.(1) The greed of these governors was so intolerable that the population of one province forced the imperial tax collectors to drink molten gold. Augustus reformed the provincial administrative system by creating an imperial civil service
The Excessive Military spending to defend the empire was basically getting an army to defend the borders of the empire from barbarian attacks. It was also for Military spending few resources for their important activities such as providing education and maintaining roads. In the last years of the empire the frustrated romans lost their desire to defend the empire, because of that the government relied on their hired soldiers (mercenaries) for defense.
Civil War turned the empire into chaos and more than 20 men took the throne in a span in 75 years. According to History.com, because of the constant change in leaders Roman citizens lost trust in their leaderships. Tribunesandtriumphs.org also says that the power of the Praetorian Guard which is a group that made up the bodyguard of the emperor, leading to political corruption, grew to such an extent that the huge group decided on who should become the new emperor and who should be disposed of. They had to much corrupt power. This was a big cause for the fall of the Roman Empire because leadership was inconsistent and was constantly changing which caused a lot of Roman Citizens to get angry and lose trust because things weren’t staying the same, and they always had to adapt to new things and rules place by the new emperor. This caused feud between citizens and also weakened the government's
There were frequent civil wars over the succession to the throne. This meant battles in the streets of Rome every few years which discouraged people to stay in Rome. Rival armies battled to have a commander chosen as emperor. Also, Rome had dealt with internal problems before but it had never dealt with so many problems at once. This is exactly what happened during the fall of Rome and the emperor and government didn't have the time or means to fix these issues.
Augustus and his successors built a system of imperial government to administer the empire’s vast territories and link them to the capital. This system, which allowed the provinces some measure of independence while being subject to Roman taxation and military control—functions crucial for the maintenance of the empire—proved quite efficient. Augustus settled former soldiers in the provinces, thus spreading Roman political and cultural influence and securing his power in distant lands. In addition the Senate was okay with their emperor spreading his influence in the second century AD at least half of the Senate members were non-romans.The period of peace and prosperity inaugurated by Augustus persisted until the end of the second century, the
The era dominated by Roman empire is one the most well-known and influential periods of history, home to famous names from Julius Caesar to Jesus Christ. At its height, Rome’s territory stretched from the Atlantic coastline to the Middle East, reigning over 60 million people, one-fifth of the population of the ancient world. However, the Roman empire’s treatment of their conquered people’s and their own citizens ultimately led to the permanent downfall of Rome.
To begin with, one of the main problems of the Roman Empire was their economic problems and corruption. For example, in an excerpt of a historical text written by Priscus, which was a Roman ambassador to the Huns in 449 C.E, he reported a conversation he had with a former citizen whose land had been conquered by the Huns. In their conversation the former Roman citizen stated, “ The conditions of [Roman] subjects in time of peace [is worse than war]...taxes are very severe, and unprincipled men inflict injuries on others… A [wealthy lawbreaker] … is not punished for his injustice, while a poor man … undergoes the legal penalty… The climax of misery is to have to pay in order to obtain justice…” This supports that one main problem that ended the Roman empire was economic problems and corruption because it shows that if rich people in Rome committed a crime they would only have to bribe their way out of trouble while on the other hand poor people will have to face their consequences which is unfair so when they got invaded by the Huns they decided that it was best if they conquered than to join the military to help their empire. In addition another economic problem is that the the Roman Emperors had to pay their own soldiers to stay loyal which lead to emperors having to mint more coins which is further supported by BrainPop which states, “Roman emperors often bribed their soldiers with money to make sure they remained loyal. And when emperors didn’t have enough to pay their troops, they would mint cheaper coins. This caused the value of Roman money to plummet.” This also supports that one important cause that caused the Roman Empire to decline was the corruption and economic problems because in order for a empire or a civilization to function efficiently, they need to respect all people
Rome's military now has no armor. They were getting lazy, making them the underdogs. Without protection, they are easy to beat making it simple for outsiders/ invaders to come in. Without the military, Rome will have no way of protecting itself.
Rome's army became lazy and didn't want to train right and do other things like they abandoned their armor since they were too lazy to wear it. This was said by a roman historian Vegetius in document B. Also said by Vegetius the roman army abandoned their ground drills which made them an easy target. This problem was created because of the army's laziness and the army didn't care about training. Rome also had to draft soldiers but their was a major fluad in the system and certain groups can avoid or escaped being drafted like cooks, bakers, and slaves. This was written by Michael Grant a reappraisal and since different groups of people can escape the draft the military didn't get as many soldiers. If you want a huge empire you need good leadership but that what rome lacked the
This was also explained in document B, “The ancient book concerning military matters by the Roman historian Vegetius.” The Roman army is bordered all around the empire. If one army helps another fight a battle a gap is open and invaders can easily access an entrance into the Roman empire. At this time Rome’s leadership and army are not doing
As Rome was facing attacks from the outside there was an even deeper problem happening from within and it was their economy. Rome’s constant war and overspending in building its empire was becoming costly. As their treasury depleted they decided to impose hard taxation to account for the new expense they were generating. Which actually caused many people who were apart of the upper class to move to the countryside to avoid the oppressive taxes(Andrews) . Another economic problem is that inflation began to occur. Marcus Aurelius increased the copper content of the silver coins and then after that there was even more severe inflation on it way(Starr 144-145). A third problem with the economy, also politically, was that there was an ever growing expansion of bureaucracy. The expansion of their government caused more and more officials to have to be paid. Not to mentions cities already were having a hard
Augustus received the tribuncian power for life and assumed the role of protector of the Roman people. He also received the right to intervene in those provinces administered by the Senate. The backbone of Augustus’ power came from being Imperium of the military. It was of great importantance
Augustus, during his reign as emperor proved effective in ruling through the ideas he implemented to solidify his country. Tacitus stated “nullo adversante” which translates into English “Wholly unopposed” (http://janusquirinus.org/Quotes/QuotesHome.html) this identifies the effectiveness of his reign and the strength he had politically over Rome. Important actions such as the creation of religious and moral reforms, the constitutional agreement and the implementation of the building programme all succeeded in creating stability within the Roman Empire.
Then there were the accusations that he took advantage of the people he helped by taking money from them and also profiting by accepting donations from individual philanthropists and charitable organizations (Lindner, 2007). In refuting the allegations that he personally benefited from helping people, Augustus noted that those he helped seldom offered him any remuneration. Despite the efforts of researchers to find that he was involved in any wrongdoing, nothing of the nature has ever been revealed (Lindner, 2007).
On the 23rd of September 63BC a baby boy was born. Little did his family know that this amazing child was going to be one of the greatest politicians in Rome, he was also going to touch the lives of many Roman Citizens and to be remembered by thousands of people many years after his death. He was to rule an empire that stretched from Spain to Judea. Turn the Mediterranean Sea into a peaceful Roman Lake and was eventually to be worshipped as a god. The future Emperor of Rome was called Gaius Julius Octavious, whom we all know now as Augustus.
The Romans were on one of the greatest people of all. They had power, wealth, and even a half of the world. They built one of the strongest and vast empire that world has ever seen. They came from nothing to something awesome. It started of as a city and ended up being one of the greatest empire of all. This essay is going to focus on the Roman Empire from the rise to the fall and the government, architecture, mythology, Family Structure, and Food of the Romans.