The Pax Romana: A Prosperous Time in Roman History Essay

With Augustus Caesar began the two centuries of the Pax Romana. During this time all of Rome became a collection of states rather than conquered provinces. The only threats that ever came were from the unorganized barbarian tribes who's conquest brought nothing to the Empire. (Mahoney, 2001)

A golden age is a period of cultural accomplishments brought on by economic prosperity and relative peace. The Roman empire experienced a golden age after the fall of the Roman Republic, arguably one of the greatest golden ages in history. The Pax Romana began in 27 B.C. and it reigned for 200 years before falling. The Pax Romana was a time of great prosperity with many accomplishments. The Pax Romana was not only significant because of the amount of wealth and power it wielded at the time, but it also contributed an enormous amount to society today. These contributions can be seen in many things like literature, currency, religion, medicine, etc. These accomplishments is what made them thrive during their golden age and help us thrive today. Their advanced society is one of the many things that shapes us today .Some of their greatest accomplishments were the architecture and their strong military and government. There were some important accomplishments in architecture and political and military structure that greatly influenced us today. The most important and influential of these achievements was the peace and stability they achieved.

The Pax Romana was characterized by political stability, an increase of commerce, as well as cultural diffusion. Augustus was the emperor during this period, he got rid of the declining Senate and introduced the Principate; allowing an effective bureaucratic government to be introduced to Rome. Overtime Rome also granted the conquered populations the opportunity to become citizens. With the help of Rome’s technical innovations like roads, concretes, and arches the amount of trade that went on increased drastically. With military posts on these roads people felt safe traveling to other regions to trade. Because of this Rome’s culture and religion was able to diffuse, especially to the west. All these things were able to create a period of prosperity in Rome.

The great Roman Empire expanded across all of Europe and into the Middle East. Its military was one of the finest. With major trading in Africa and Britain, the economy flourished with brining many citizens a healthy income. With amazing advancements in culture and technology, Roman society was at its finest. During the Pax Romana, the Romans had 200 years of peace and good ruling by level headed dictators and emperors. Despite Rome’s greatness in all of these areas, Rome would eventually fall. Surprisingly all of these qualities that led up to a flourishing empire were the same ones that led to its demise. As Germanic tribes invaded, the military weakened and the government became unstable.

As well as the Roman Army and the Roman roads, the Pax Romana was another factor that led to the empire’s great success. Pax Romana, Latin for “Roman Peace”, was the peace established by the Romans in their empire, where the inhabitants benefitted from the law and order that was enforced by the Romans, and no more land was to be conquered. The Pax Romana was one of the most stable periods of the empire. This brought relative civilisation across the empire and kept the peasants happy, which was essential to keeping the empire under control.

Between approximately 509 BCE and the third century CE the Roman empire continually expanded and became one of the largest in history. While this expansion was due to many reasons, not the least of which was greed, to a great extent it was made possible because of Rome's overwhelming military and its combination of a democratic and republic government. (Lee) (Ferril)

Even in the century before the official replacement of the Roman republic by the empire, Rome expanded immensely as a result of the Punic wars. Rome fought the Punic Wars between 264 and 146 BCE against the nearby trade empire Carthage over the nearby island of Sicily, a

By 200 BC, Rome was quickly becoming one of the world’s greatest empires with their excellent military conquering territory from modern day Scotland to Spain. After the Punic Wars and the defeat of Carthage, Rome had full control of the Mediterranean region, establishing colonies in North Africa, Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia Minor. Julius Caesar became Rome’s first emperor using his military influence. Under his reign, Rome shifted from a republic to an empire under the rule of an emperor and the military. Rome steadily increased in stability, power, and wealth, reaching Pax Romana (the time of Roman peace) under Emperor Augustus Caesar. Rome was forced to discover, as many other

Rome was a very large and powerful city by the first BC but the reign of Augustus transformed it into an imperial city. In 31 BCE, Augustus became the supreme commander of the Roman Republic. During the Augustan Revolution, art and architecture pushed a political agenda. Art portraying Augustus remains common throughout his reign. The art and architecture helped reinforce Augustus’ political message that he was the restorer of Rome.

Octavian Augustus is one of the fiercest leaders in the history of the Roman Empire because of his successful military expansion, his Control of Finance, and his political leadership.

Who/What: Polis was the ordinary structure of a group in the old Greek world. A polis consisted of an urban focus, regularly fortified and with a consecrated

Pax Romana is Latin for Roman peace. The Pax Romana lasted approaching two centuries beginning toward the end of the BC period and extending almost halfway into the second century AD. For the Roman Empire, this was a period of peace and saw little military action or expansion. Caesar Augustus, previously known as Julius Caesar commenced the Pax Romana after Rome was no longer considered a republic and the civil wars within Rome ceased. Yet another event that marks the commencement of Pax Romana was the defeat of Marc Antony by Octavian Augustus at the famous battle of Actium. The Pax Romana, like any form of social change, was not immediate, but a feat that was accomplished over time. While there may have been peace in Rome, battles continued in the Alps and areas that are now known as Spain. There were many benefits to the Pax Romana and the paper puts focus on those, which are economic. The paper also references Plutarch, a prominent figure during this period, indicating a relationship between the Pax Romana and social mobility.

Ancient Rome consisted of two main forms of government, the Republic and the Empire, each of which lasted about five centuries. At first, Rome was a republic, governed by members of wealthy classes. As the Republican form of government continued, a series of civil wars led to the breakdown of the system, and a new form of government, the Empire, was established in its place. The Empire began with a prolonged period of peace, the Pax Romana. However, like the Republic, the Empire also turned foul and collapsed after the Pax Romana. Still, a citizen of the Empire was better off than a citizen of the Republic. Health problems were less severe in the Empire than in the Republic. Moreover, the Empire was more peaceful and better able to provide necessities for average citizens than the Republic was. The political situation was also better in the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire generally provided a healthier and higher quality of civic life than the Roman Republic.

Julius Caesar's reign was an unfavorable and chaotic period for Rome, and after his death, a large portion of the empire was handed down to his adopted son, Gaius Octavian. From the ashes of his father, Octavian was able to build an Empire unparalleled. Later, the name Augustus was given to him by Senate. Augustus ostensibly maintained the form of the Roman Republic while in actuality creating the Roman Empire. He introduced the administrative reforms that led to the Pax Romana with its flourishing of trade and the arts. Although Augustus's ascension to power could have not been without it bequested by Julius, it was his use of art and propaganda that reinforced the legitimacy his position.

Rome became a powerful empire engulfing much of Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia and what seemed like this great entity called the Romans were always in the search of more territory and land to conquer and assimilate into their ever growing vast empire. However, this was not always the case, before Rome became one of the greatest empires in all of history, Rome was a republic. They were government consisted of a Senate who much like our country today represented certain classes of the citizens of the Republic. During the growth and rise of the Roman republic conquering neighboring territories and competing for land grabs was not Romans primary objectives. Romans