The Structure of The Roman Empire Essay

Gibbon begins his work by idolizing the Empire under Augustus and the subsequent rulers who followed in his footsteps. “The frontiers of that extensive monarchy were guarded by ancient renown and disciplined valour... During a happy period (A.D. 98-180) of more than fourscore years, the public administration was conducted by the virtue and abilities of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the two Antonines. It is the design of this … to describe the prosperous condition of their empire…” From the onset of the book, Gibbon sets out on a path to explain the virtuous characteristics of the empires. These emperors, the “good” emperors, were the last before the start of the

In 27 BCE, Octavian appointed himself as the first Roman Emperor. After being a republic for approximately 700 years, Rome was now an empire. The Roman Empire grew to be one of the greatest empires in history, conquering the majority of Europe, the Asia Minor, and much of North Africa. Rome went through a time of peace called Pax Roma. During Pax Roma many contributions were made such as arts and architecture. The Roman Empire declined because of its weakened military. The military began to weaken due to laziness, the land was easy to invade, and there we many different leaders throughout the empire.

The Roman Empire was one of the largest empires the world has ever seen. The power and size they managed to obtain has been a constant subject of interest for historians and all those who are interested in history. Julius Caesar’s ascension to power marked the time from where the Romans steadily expanded their territory and by the time the Roman Republic dissolved and the Roman Empire emerged, the Empire had become so big that the Romans had then to face the problem of maintaining their empire. The Roman Empire maintained its power by

Civilians could obtain government jobs by taking examinations. Loyal followers were also rewarded government posts by their emperor. Now what would The Han Dynasty and The Roman Empire do without their great and strong emperors? The emperors are pretty much the building foundations of the empire. Rome had the one and only Octavian who later took the title of Augustus. Augustus was Julius Caesar’s grandnephew and adopted son. He became the Roman Empire’s first emperor after defeating the combined forces of Mark Anthony and Queen Cleopatra. He brought the empire to a long and peaceful period which is known as Pax Romana. He also glorified Rome and created a form of government which is known as a bureaucracy that survived for centuries. There were other great emperors of Rome like: Nerva, Hadrian, Trajan, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelias. Nerva began the custom of adopting heir. Hadrian consolidated earlier conquests and reorganized the bureaucracy. Trajan help the empire reach its greatest extent; he undertook vast bulding programs and enlarged social welfare. Antoninus Pius reign largely a period of peace and prosperity similar to Pax Romana. Marcus Aurelias brought the Roman Empire to its height of economic prosperity, defeated invaders, and wrote a philospy. The Han Dynasty had the great emperor Wudi who reigned for 141 to 87 B.C; he was the emperor who ruled the longest. He was a courageous emperor; he expanded the Chinese empire through war. When

In the Roman government, the emperor stood at the top of the administrative system, not a President. He served as military commander in chief, high priest, court of appeal, and source of law. The soldiers under the emperor did not swear their oath to a constitution or flag, they swore their oath to the emperor. The emperors took over the Senate's political and legislative power, but they needed the help of senators who had experience in diplomacy, government, and military command.

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)

Unfortunately for the Roman Empire, most of the emperors were not favored by the people of Rome in their years of decline. According to Document A, about 22 emperors ruled Rome in a span of 50 years without including the time of 260 to 268 BCE which there is no recorded information about. Out of the 22 emperors, about 90% of the emperors were assassinated. Another factor that contributed were suicides. As The Roman Empire weakened, there were many invaders aiming to assassinate the emperor. Therefore certain emperors chose to take their own lives before anybody else could. Now with the confusion and violence from the poor leadership in Rome, the once-prosperous-empire was coming to it’s

The Roman Empire is still known today as one of history’s most powerful period. Rome government had stick rules and policies. The Roman government at this point was known as the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic was controlled by the roar Rome. Bureaucracy was ran throughout the region, but Rome did not want this nor could they afford it. However, they did allow small cities to run a lower level of government. The exercise of indirect rule thus became a basic principle of imperial government. The business of local administration and jurisdiction was delegated to the existing communities of city or tribe. This type of structure was deemed to be a weakness to some historians because of the consequences. Consequences that allow a third level government to enforce the emperor’s rules. Because of the expansion of the territory, this was the only reasonable way for it to function normally. The empire was a "commonwealth of cities" which acted as economic and cultural of the Roman world and were integrated into the administrative system as local foci of government. This imperial ruling was first implemented by Rome. It came about because of social trends and not the Roman strategic policies that was often changed by Romanized upper class citizens. These upper classman brought about firmness throughout the land with their strategic and educated planning.

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.

Due to the mass amounts of civil war taken place on Roman land, farming and agriculture greatly suffered. Land was over worked and overused causing the land to become infertile. Soon food shortages and diseases caused the population to decrease. From the cumulations of lost money to war and farming the economy weakened and inflation became high. The gap between the rich and poor gradually increased and the economy weakened. Between civil wars, high taxation, and food shortages, citizens lost a sense patriotism that once flourished throughout society.

They were typically from aristocratic families. The consuls were the head of Republic and they commanded the army, governed over the Senate and assemblies,and represented the Republic in foreign affairs. The two consuls had different power over one another.After serving their one-year term , they could not be elected for ten years and were appointed to the Senate. There were different state offices created to handle the administrative business of the Republic: the hight priest handled religious affairs ,the censor oversaw public works, served as registrar,controlled finance and guarded public morality. The praetor served as a legal officer and the aedile supervised public works markets and temples. He also and organized

The Roman Empire was a very successful civilization that had many accomplishments that are a part of the modern world. Textbooks and primary sources were studied to be able to come to these conclusions. The Roman Empire lasted 500 years throughout the BC and AD times without having too many major problems. The Romans were able to last so long because of the military strength and the amount of land that the Empire had. The Romans were located in Rome, Italy and ended up expanding to take over most of the Mediterranean world. However, all good things must come to an end. Starting in the 200s, other civilizations started to slowly take over Rome. Eventually, the Empire collapsed. The causes of the collapse of Rome were that the land area was too large to sustain, there were many political problems in Rome, and there were too many invasions happening for Rome to handle.

Only the highly educated and wealthy class made up the Senate. The Concilium Plebis only consisted of representatives for the Plebeians, and the Comitia Centuriata represented most of the landowning class. Both the popular assemblies were given pre-discussed debates, and any disagreements with the Senate were rare. Furthermore, the Consuls, who were the most prestigious magistrates and “the military and political heads of state” were also advised by the Senate (Gwynn, 20).

Many anthropologists and historians have speculated about the different causes and effects of the fall of the Roman Empire. Some have even stated that Rome did not fall but instead, was merely transformed. However, there were many causes that did end this prodigious empire. Many seemingly small decisions made by powerful emperors over the course of just over a century lead to its destruction. In this paper it will be established that the Roman emperors, in an effort to save their political power, made adjustments to warfare/treaty practices and made political changes which over time lead to the inevitable collapse of the realm, this caused a drastic regression in the living standards of the Roman citizens, implying that the Empire did indeed collapse and not transform.

The Roman empire is considered one of the most powerful and longest lasting empire of all time by most historians. At its peak the Roman empire managed to take control and rule nearly the whole inhabited world at the time. Though their military achievements were outstanding the Romans also excelled at legislature. The Romans ran a governmental system which was most like a republic which the power was in the hand of the senators and patricians. The senators and patricians were mostly extremely rich elders of the community who linked themselves to gods. Though the people were the ones who voted for the senators the rich always voted who they wanted because they were the first to vote which made the senate corrupt since the lower classes barely got a say. Although the Roman empire was extremely successful historians are always doing research to figure out what elements led to its collapse. However, the Roman legislature, use of propaganda to sway public opinion, military power to conquer lands, and philosophy were essential reasons for the extended survival of the Roman empire.