The significance of the great Roman Empire, which once stretched over vast territories from foggy England to hot Syria, in the context of global history is unusually great. One can even say that it was the Roman Empire that was the forerunner of pan-European civilization, largely shaping its appearance, culture, science, law (medieval jurisprudence was based on Roman law), art, and education. And in our today's journey through time, we will go to ancient Rome, the eternal city, which became the center of the most grandiose empire in the history of mankind.
Where was the Roman Empire located?
At the time of its greatest power, the borders of the Roman Empire extended from the territories of modern England and Spain in the West to the territories of modern Iran and Syria in the East. In the south, all of North Africa was under the heel of Rome.
Map of the Roman Empire at its height.
Of course, the borders of the Roman Empire were not constant, and after the Sun of Roman civilization began to set, and the empire itself began to decline, its borders also decreased.
The Birth of the Roman Empire
But where did it all begin, how did the Roman Empire arise? The first settlements on the site of the future Rome appeared in the 1st millennium BC. e.. According to legend, the Romans trace their ancestry to Trojan refugees who, after the destruction of Troy and long wanderings, settled in the valley of the Tiber River, all this is beautifully described by the talented Roman poet Virgil in the epic poem “Aeneid”. And a little later, two brothers Romulus and Remus, descendants of Aeneas, founded the legendary city of Rome. However, the historical authenticity of the events of the Aeneid is a big question; in other words, most likely it is just a beautiful legend, which, however, also has a practical meaning - to give the Romans a heroic origin. Moreover, considering that Virgil himself, in fact, was the court poet of the Roman emperor Octavian Augustus, and with his “Aeneid” he carried out a kind of political order of the emperor.
As for the real history, Rome was, most likely, really founded by a certain Romulus and his brother Remus, but it is unlikely that they were the sons of a vestal (priestess) and the god of war Mars (as the legend says), rather the sons of some local leader. And at the time of the founding of the city, a dispute broke out between the brothers during which Romulus killed Remus. And again, where is the legend and myth, and where is the real history, it is difficult to make out, but be that as it may, ancient Rome was founded in 753 BC. e.
In its political structure, the earlier Roman state was in many ways similar to city-policies. At first, ancient Rome was led by kings, but during the reign of King Tarquin the Proud, a general uprising occurred, royal power was overthrown, and Rome itself turned into an aristocratic republic.
Early History of the Roman Empire – Roman Republic
Surely many science fiction fans will notice the similarity between the Roman Republic, which later transformed into the Roman Empire, with so many beloved Star Wars, where the galactic republic also turned into the galactic empire. Essentially, the creators of Star Wars borrowed their fictional galactic republic/empire from the real history of the real Roman Empire itself.
The structure of the Roman Republic, as we noted earlier, was similar to the Greek city-polises, but there were a number of differences: the entire population of ancient Rome was divided into two large groups:
- patricians, Roman aristocrats who occupied a dominant position,
- plebeians, consisting of ordinary citizens.
The main legislative body of the Roman Republic, the Senate, consisted exclusively of rich and noble patricians. The plebeians did not always like this state of affairs, and several times the young Roman Republic was shaken by plebeian uprisings, with demands for expanded rights for the plebeians.
From the very beginning of its history, the young Roman Republic was forced to fight for its place in the Sun with neighboring Italian tribes. The vanquished were forced to submit to the will of Rome, either as allies or as fully part of the ancient Roman state. Often the conquered population did not receive the rights of Roman citizens, and sometimes even turned into slaves.
The most dangerous opponents of ancient Rome were the Etruscans and Samnites, as well as some Greek colonies in southern Italy. Despite initially some hostile relations with the ancient Greeks, the Romans subsequently almost completely borrowed their culture and religion. The Romans even took the Greek gods for themselves, although they changed them in their own way, making Zeus Jupiter, Ares Mars, Hermes Mercury, Aphrodite Venus, and so on.
Wars of the Roman Empire
Although it would be more correct to call this sub-item “the war of the Roman Republic,” which, although it fought from the very beginning of its history, in addition to minor skirmishes with neighboring tribes, there were also really big wars that shook the then ancient world. Rome's first really big war was the clash with the Greek colonies. The Greek king Pyrrhus intervened in that war, and although he managed to defeat the Romans, his own army nevertheless suffered huge and irreparable losses. Since then, the expression “Pyrrhic victory” has become a common noun, meaning victory at too great a cost, a victory almost equal to defeat.
Then, continuing the wars with the Greek colonies, the Romans encountered another major power in Sicily - Carthage, a former colony. Over the course of many years, Carthage became Rome's main rival, and their rivalry resulted in three Punic Wars, in which Rome was victorious.
The First Punic War was fought over the island of Sicily; after the Roman victory in the naval battle of the Aegatian Islands, during which the Romans completely defeated the Carthaginian fleet, all of Sicily became part of the Roman state.
In an effort to take revenge from the Romans for their defeat in the First Punic War, the talented Carthaginian commander Hannibal Barca, during the Second Punic War, first landed on the Spanish coast, then, together with the allied Iberian and Gallic tribes, made the legendary crossing of the Alps, invading the territory of the Roman state itself. There he inflicted a series of crushing defeats on the Romans, most notably the Battle of Cannae. The fate of Rome hung in the balance, but Hannibal still failed to finish what he started. Hannibal was unable to take the heavily fortified city and was forced to leave the Apennine Peninsula. Since then, military luck changed the Carthaginians; Roman troops under the command of the equally talented commander Scipio Africanus inflicted a crushing defeat on Hannibal's army. The Second Punic War was again won by Rome, which after its victory turned into a real superstate of the ancient world.
And the third Punic War already represented the final crushing of Carthage, defeated and having lost all its possessions, by the all-powerful Rome.
Crisis and fall of the Roman Republic
Having conquered vast territories and defeated serious opponents, the Roman Republic gradually accumulated more and more power and wealth in its hands until it itself entered a period of unrest and crisis caused by several reasons. As a result of the victorious wars of Rome, more and more slaves poured into the country, free plebeians and peasants could not compete with the incoming mass of slaves, and their general discontent grew. The tribunes of the people, the brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, tried to solve the problem by carrying out a land use reform, which, on the one hand, would limit the possessions of rich Romans, and allow their surplus lands to be distributed among the poor plebeians. However, their initiative encountered resistance from conservative circles in the Senate, as a result Tiberius Gracchus was killed by political opponents, and his brother Gaius committed suicide.
All this led to the outbreak of a civil war in Rome, the patricians and plebeians clashed with each other. Order was restored by Lucius Cornelius Sulla, another outstanding Roman commander, who had previously defeated the troops of the Pontic king Mithridias Eupator. To restore order, Sulla established a real dictatorship in Rome, mercilessly dealing with objectionable and dissenting citizens with the help of his proscription lists. (Proscription - in ancient Rome meant being outside the law; a citizen included in Sulla’s proscription list was subject to immediate destruction, and his property was confiscated; for harboring an “outlaw citizen” - also execution and confiscation of property).
In fact, this was the end, the agony of the Roman Republic. Finally, it was destroyed and turned into an empire by the young and ambitious Roman commander Gaius Julius Caesar. In his youth, Caesar almost died during Sulla's reign of terror; only the intercession of influential relatives convinced Sulla not to include Caesar in the proscription lists. After a series of victorious wars in Gaul (modern France) and the conquest of the Gallic tribes, the authority of Caesar, the conqueror of the Gauls, grew, figuratively speaking, “to the skies.” And now he is already entering into battle with his political opponent and once ally Pompey, the troops loyal to him cross the Rubicon (a small river in Italy) and march on Rome. “The die is cast,” Caesar’s legendary phrase, meaning his intention to seize power in Rome. Thus the Roman Republic fell and the Roman Empire began.
Beginning of the Roman Empire
The beginning of the Roman Empire goes through a series of civil wars, first Caesar defeats his opponent Pompey, then he himself dies under the knives of the conspirators, among whom is his friend Brutus. (“And you Brutus?!” – Caesar’s last words).
Assassination of the first Roman emperor Julius Caesar.
The assassination of Caesar marked the beginning of a new civil war between supporters of the restoration of the republic on the one hand and Caesar's supporters Octavian Augustus and Mark Antony on the other. Having won the victory over the Republican conspirators, Octavian and Antony are already entering into a new struggle for power among themselves and civil war begins again.
Although Antony is supported by the Egyptian princess, the beautiful Cleopatra (by the way, Caesar's former mistress), he suffers a crushing defeat, and Octavian Augustus becomes the new emperor of the Roman Empire. From this moment on, the high imperial period of the history of the Roman Empire begins, emperors replace each other, imperial dynasties change, and the Roman Empire itself wages constant wars of conquest and reaches the pinnacle of its power.
Fall of the Roman Empire
Unfortunately, we cannot describe the activities of all Roman emperors and all the vicissitudes of their reign, otherwise our article would greatly risk becoming vast. Let us only note that after the death of the outstanding Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher-emperor, the empire itself began to decline. A whole series of so-called “soldier emperors”, former generals who, relying on their authority among the troops, usurped power, reigned on the Roman throne.
In the empire itself, there was a decline in morals, a kind of barbarization of Roman society was actively taking place - more and more barbarians penetrated the Roman army and occupied important government posts in the Roman state. There was also a demographic and economic crisis, all of which slowly led to the death of the once great Roman power.
Under Emperor Diocletian, the Roman Empire was divided into Western and Eastern. As we know, the Eastern Roman Empire over time transformed into. The Western Roman Empire was never able to survive the rapid invasion of barbarians, and the struggle with the ferocious nomads who came from the eastern steppes completely undermined the power of Rome. Soon Rome was sacked by the barbarian tribes of the Vandals, whose name also became a household name, for the senseless destruction that the Vandals caused to the “eternal city.”
Reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire:
- External enemies are, perhaps, one of the main reasons, if not for the “” and the powerful barbarian onslaught, the Roman Empire could well have existed for a couple of centuries.
- Lack of a strong leader: the last talented Roman general Aetius, who stopped the advance of the Huns and won the Battle of the Catalunian Fields, was treacherously killed by the Roman Emperor Valentinian III, who feared rivalry from the outstanding general. Emperor Valentinian himself was a man of very dubious moral qualities; of course, with such a “leader” the fate of Rome was sealed.
- Barbarization, in fact, at the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the barbarians had already enslaved it from the inside, since many government posts were occupied by them.
- The economic crisis that in the late Roman Empire was caused by the global crisis of the slave system. The slaves no longer wanted to work meekly from dawn to dusk for the benefit of the owner, here and there slave uprisings broke out, this led to military expenses, and to a rise in prices for agricultural items and a general decline in the economy.
- Demographic crisis, one of the big problems of the Roman Empire was high infant mortality and low birth rates.
Culture of Ancient Rome
The culture of the Roman Empire is an important and essential part of global culture, its integral part. We still use many of its fruits to this day, for example, sewerage and water supply, which came to us from ancient Rome. It was the Romans who first invented concrete and actively developed the art of urban planning. All European stone architecture has its origins in ancient Rome. It was the Romans who were the first to build stone multi-story buildings (so-called insula), sometimes reaching up to 5-6 floors (however, the first elevators were invented only 20 centuries later).
Also, the architecture of Christian churches is slightly more than completely borrowed from the architecture of the Roman basilica - places for public gatherings of the ancient Romans.
In the field of European jurisprudence, Roman law dominated for centuries - a code of law formed back in the days of the Roman Republic. Roman law was the legal system of both the Roman Empire and Byzantium, as well as many other medieval states based on the fragments of the Roman Empire already in the Middle Ages.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the Latin language of the Roman Empire would be the language of scientists, teachers and students.
The city of Rome itself turned into the greatest cultural, economic and political center of the ancient world, it was not for nothing that there was a proverb “all roads lead to Rome.” Goods, people, customs, traditions, ideas from all over the then ecumene (known part of the world) flocked to Rome. Even silk from distant China reached the rich Romans through merchant caravans.
Of course, not all the fun of the ancient Romans will be acceptable in our time. The same gladiator fights, which were held in the arena of the Colosseum to the applause of thousands of Roman crowds, were very popular among the Romans. It is curious that the enlightened emperor Marcus Aurelius even completely banned gladiator fights for a time, but after his death, gladiator fights resumed with the same force.
Gladiator fights.
Chariot racing, which was very dangerous and often accompanied by the death of unsuccessful charioteers, was also very popular among ordinary Romans.
Theater had great development in ancient Rome; moreover, one of the Roman emperors, Nero, had a very strong passion for theatrical art, which he himself often played on stage and recited poetry. Moreover, according to the description of the Roman historian Suetonius, he did this very skillfully, so that special people even watched the audience so that they under no circumstances slept or left the theater during the emperor’s speech.
Rich patricians taught their children literacy and various sciences (rhetoric, grammar, mathematics, oratory) either with special teachers (often the teacher could be some enlightened slave) or in special schools. The Roman mob, the poor plebeians, were, as a rule, illiterate.
Art of Ancient Rome
Many wonderful works of art left by talented Roman artists, sculptors, and architects have reached us.
The Romans achieved the greatest mastery in the art of sculpture, which was greatly facilitated by the so-called Roman “cult of emperors”, according to which the Roman emperors were the viceroys of the gods, and it was simply necessary to make a first-class sculpture for each emperor.
Roman frescoes have also entered the history of art for centuries, many of which are clearly erotic in nature, such as this image of lovers.
Many works of art of the Roman Empire have come down to us in the form of grandiose architectural structures, such as the Colosseum, Emperor Hadrian's Villa, etc.
Villa of the Roman Emperor Hadrian.
Religion of ancient Rome
The state religion of the Roman Empire can be divided into two periods, pagan and Christian. That is, initially the Romans borrowed the pagan religion of ancient Greece, taking for themselves their mythology and gods, who were only named in their own way. Along with this, in the Roman Empire there was a “cult of emperors”, according to which the Roman emperors were to be given “divine honors”.
And since the territory of the Roman Empire was truly gigantic in size, a variety of cults and religions were concentrated in it: from beliefs to Jews professing Judaism. But everything changed with the advent of a new religion - Christianity, which had a very difficult relationship with the Roman Empire.
Christianity in the Roman Empire
At first, the Romans considered Christians to be one of the many Jewish sects, but when the new religion began to gain more and more popularity, and Christians themselves appeared in Rome itself, the Roman emperors were somewhat concerned about this. The Romans (especially the Roman nobility) were especially outraged by the categorical refusal of Christians to render divine honors to the emperor, which, according to Christian teaching, was idolatry.
As a result, the Roman Emperor Nero, already mentioned by us, in addition to his passion for acting, acquired another passion - for persecuting Christians and feeding them to hungry lions in the arena of the Colosseum. The formal reason for the persecution of the carriers of the new faith was a grandiose fire in Rome, which was allegedly started by Christians (in fact, the fire was most likely started on the orders of Nero himself).
Subsequently, periods of persecution of Christians were followed by periods of relative calm; some Roman emperors treated Christians quite favorably. For example, the emperor sympathized with Christians, and some historians even suspect that he was a secret Christian, although during his reign the Roman Empire was not yet ready to become Christian.
The last great persecution of Christians in the Roman state occurred during the reign of Emperor Diocletian, and what is interesting is that for the first time during his reign he treated Christians quite tolerantly, moreover, even some close relatives of the emperor himself accepted Christianity and the priests were already thinking about converting to Christianity and the emperor himself. But suddenly the emperor seemed to have been replaced, and in Christians he saw his worst enemies. Throughout the empire, Christians were ordered to be persecuted, forced to renounce through torture, and, if they refused, killed. What caused such a drastic change and such sudden hatred of the emperor towards Christians, unfortunately, is not known.
The darkest night before the heyday, so it became with Christians, the most severe persecution of Emperor Diocletian also became the last, subsequently Emperor Constantine reigned on the throne, not only abolished all persecution of Christians, but also made Christianity the new state religion of the Roman Empire.
Roman Empire, video
And in conclusion, a small educational film about ancient Rome.
The Roman Empire (ancient Rome) left an imperishable mark on all European lands wherever its victorious legions set foot. The stone ligature of Roman architecture has been preserved to this day: walls that protected citizens, along which troops moved, aqueducts that delivered fresh water to citizens, and bridges thrown over stormy rivers. As if all this were not enough, the legionnaires erected more and more structures - even as the borders of the empire began to recede. During the era of Hadrian, when Rome was much more concerned with consolidating the lands than with new conquests, the unclaimed combat prowess of soldiers, long separated from home and family, was wisely directed in another creative direction. In a sense, everything European owes its birth to the Roman builders who introduced many innovations both in Rome itself and beyond. The most important achievements of urban planning, which had the goal of public benefit, were sewerage and water supply systems, which created healthy living conditions and contributed to the increase in population and the growth of the cities themselves. But all this would have been impossible if the Romans had not invented concrete and did not begin to use the arch as the main architectural element. It was these two innovations that the Roman army spread throughout the empire.
Since stone arches could withstand enormous weight and could be built very high - sometimes two or three tiers - engineers working in the provinces easily crossed any rivers and gorges and reached the farthest edges, leaving behind strong bridges and powerful water pipelines (aqueducts). Like many other structures built with the help of Roman troops, the bridge in the Spanish city of Segovia, which carries a water supply, has gigantic dimensions: 27.5 m in height and about 823 m in length. Unusually tall and slender pillars, made of roughly hewn and unfastened granite blocks, and 128 graceful arches leave the impression of not only unprecedented power, but also imperial self-confidence. This is a miracle of engineering, built about 100 thousand years ago. e., has stood the test of time: until recently, the bridge served the water supply system of Segovia.
How it all began?
Early settlements on the site of the future city of Rome arose on the Apennine Peninsula, in the valley of the Tiber River, at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. According to legend, the Romans descend from Trojan refugees who founded the city of Alba Longa in Italy. Rome itself, according to legend, was founded by Romulus, the grandson of the king of Alba Longa, in 753 BC. e. As in the Greek city-states, in the early period of the history of Rome it was ruled by kings who enjoyed virtually the same power as the Greek ones. Under the tyrant king Tarquinius Proud, a popular uprising took place, during which the royal power was destroyed and Rome turned into an aristocratic republic. Its population was clearly divided into two groups - the privileged class of patricians and the class of plebeians, which had significantly fewer rights. A patrician was considered a member of the most ancient Roman family; only the senate (the main government body) was elected from the patricians. A significant part of its early history is the struggle of the plebeians to expand their rights and transform members of their class into full Roman citizens.
Ancient Rome differed from the Greek city-states because it was located in completely different geographical conditions - a single Apennine peninsula with vast plains. Therefore, from the earliest period of its history, its citizens were forced to compete and fight with neighboring Italic tribes. The conquered peoples submitted to this great empire either as allies, or were simply included in the republic, and the conquered population did not receive the rights of Roman citizens, often turning into slaves. The most powerful opponents of Rome in the 4th century. BC e. there were Etruscans and Samnites, as well as separate Greek colonies in southern Italy (Magna Graecia). And yet, despite the fact that the Romans were often at odds with the Greek colonists, the more developed Hellenic culture had a noticeable impact on the culture of the Romans. It got to the point that the ancient Roman deities began to be identified with their Greek counterparts: Jupiter with Zeus, Mars with Ares, Venus with Aphrodite, etc.
Wars of the Roman Empire
The most tense moment in the confrontation between the Romans and the southern Italians and Greeks was the war of 280-272. BC e., when Pyrrhus, the king of the state of Epirus, located in the Balkans, intervened in the course of hostilities. In the end, Pyrrhus and his allies were defeated, and by 265 BC. e. The Roman Republic united all of Central and Southern Italy under its rule.
Continuing the war with the Greek colonists, the Romans clashed with the Carthaginian (Punic) power in Sicily. In 265 BC. e. the so-called Punic Wars began, lasting until 146 BC. e., almost 120 years. Initially, the Romans fought against the Greek colonies in eastern Sicily, primarily against the largest of them, the city of Syracuse. Then the seizure of Carthaginian lands in the east of the island began, which led to the fact that the Carthaginians, who had a strong fleet, attacked the Romans. After the first defeats, the Romans managed to create their own fleet and defeat the Carthaginian ships in the battle of the Aegatian Islands. A peace was signed, according to which in 241 BC. e. all of Sicily, considered the breadbasket of the Western Mediterranean, became the property of the Roman Republic.
Carthaginian dissatisfaction with the results First Punic War, as well as the gradual penetration of the Romans into the territory of the Iberian Peninsula, which was owned by Carthage, led to a second military clash between the powers. In 219 BC. e. The Carthaginian commander Hannibal Barki captured the Spanish city of Saguntum, an ally of the Romans, then passed through southern Gaul and, having overcome the Alps, invaded the territory of the Roman Republic itself. Hannibal was supported by part of the Italian tribes who were dissatisfied with the rule of Rome. In 216 BC. e. in Apulia, in the bloody battle of Cannae, Hannibal surrounded and almost completely destroyed the Roman army, commanded by Gaius Terentius Varro and Aemilius Paulus. However, Hannibal was unable to take the heavily fortified city and was eventually forced to leave the Apennine Peninsula.
The war was moved to northern Africa, where Carthage and other Punic settlements were located. In 202 BC. e. The Roman commander Scipio defeated Hannibal's army near the town of Zama, south of Carthage, after which peace was signed on terms dictated by the Romans. The Carthaginians were deprived of all their possessions outside Africa and were obliged to transfer all warships and war elephants to the Romans. Having won the Second Punic War, the Roman Republic became the most powerful state in the Western Mediterranean. The Third Punic War, which took place from 149 to 146 BC. e., came down to finishing off an already defeated enemy. In the spring of 14b BC. e. Carthage was taken and destroyed, and its inhabitants.
Defensive walls of the Roman Empire
The relief from Trajan's Column depicts a scene (see left) from the Dacian Wars; Legionnaires (they are without helmets) are constructing a camp camp from rectangular pieces of turf. When Roman soldiers found themselves in enemy lands, the construction of such fortifications was common.
“Fear gave birth to beauty, and ancient Rome was miraculously transformed, changing its previous - peaceful - policy and began hastily erecting towers, so that soon all seven of its hills sparkled with the armor of a continuous wall.”- this is what one Roman wrote about the powerful fortifications built around Rome in 275 for protection against the Goths. Following the example of the capital, large cities throughout the Roman Empire, many of which had long since “stepped over” the boundaries of their former walls, hastened to strengthen their defensive lines.
The construction of the city walls was extremely labor-intensive work. Usually two deep ditches were dug around the settlement, and a high earthen rampart was piled between them. It served as a kind of layer between two concentric walls. External the wall went 9 m into the ground so that the enemy could not make a tunnel, and at the top it was equipped with a wide road for sentinels. The inner wall rose a few more meters to make it more difficult to shell the city. Such fortifications were almost indestructible: their thickness reached 6 m, and the stone blocks were fitted to each other with metal brackets - for greater strength.
When the walls were completed, construction of the gates could begin. A temporary wooden arch - formwork - was built over the opening in the wall. On top of it, skilled masons, moving from both sides to the middle, laid wedge-shaped slabs, forming a bend in the arch. When the last - the castle, or key - stone was installed, the formwork was removed, and next to the first arch they began to build a second one. And so on until the entire passage to the city was under a semicircular roof - the Korobov vault.
The guard posts at the gates that guarded the peace of the city often looked like real small fortresses: there were military barracks, stocks of weapons and food. In Germany, the so-called one is perfectly preserved (see below). On its lower beams there were loopholes instead of windows, and on both sides there were round towers - to make it more convenient to fire at the enemy. During the siege, a powerful grate was lowered onto the gate.
The wall, built in the 3rd century around Rome (19 km long, 3.5 m thick and 18 m high), had 381 towers and 18 gates with lowering portcullis. The wall was constantly renewed and strengthened, so that it served the City until the 19th century, that is, until artillery was improved. Two thirds of this wall still stands today.
The majestic Porta Nigra (that is, the Black Gate), rising 30 m in height, personifies the power of imperial Rome. The fortified gate is flanked by two towers, one of which is significantly damaged. The gate once served as an entrance to the city walls of the 2nd century AD. e. to Augusta Trevirorum (later Trier), the northern capital of the empire.
Aqueducts of the Roman Empire. The road of life of the imperial city
The famous three-tier aqueduct in Southern France (see above), spanning the Gard River and its low-lying valley - the so-called Gard Bridge - is as beautiful as it is functional. This structure, stretching 244 m in length, supplies about 22 tons of water daily from a distance of 48 km to the city of Nemaus (now Nimes). The Garda Bridge still remains one of the most wonderful works of Roman engineering art.
For the Romans, famous for their achievements in engineering, the subject of special pride was aqueducts. They supplied ancient Rome with about 250 million gallons of fresh water every day. In 97 AD e. Sextus Julius Frontinus, superintendent of Rome’s water supply system, rhetorically asked: “Who dares to compare our water pipelines, these great structures without which human life is unthinkable, with the idle pyramids or some worthless - albeit famous - creations of the Greeks?” Towards the end of its greatness, the city acquired eleven aqueducts through which water ran from the southern and eastern hills. Engineering has turned into real art: it seemed that the graceful arches easily jumped over obstacles, besides decorating the landscape. The Romans quickly “shared” their achievements with the rest of the Roman Empire, and remnants can still be seen today numerous aqueducts in France, Spain, Greece, North Africa and Asia Minor.
To provide water to provincial cities, whose population had already exhausted local supplies, and to build baths and fountains there, Roman engineers laid canals to rivers and springs, often tens of miles away. Flowing at a slight slope (Vitruvius recommended a minimum slope of 1:200), the precious moisture ran through stone pipes that ran through the countryside (and were mostly hidden into underground tunnels or ditches that followed the contours of the landscape) and eventually reached the city limits. There, water flowed safely into public reservoirs. When the pipeline encountered rivers or gorges, the builders threw arches over them, allowing them to maintain the same gentle slope and maintain a continuous flow of water.
To ensure that the angle of incidence of water remained constant, surveyors again resorted to thunder and horobath, as well as a diopter that measured horizontal angles. Again, the main burden of work fell on the shoulders of the troops. In the middle of the 2nd century AD. one military engineer was asked to understand the difficulties encountered during the construction of the aqueduct in Salda (in present-day Algeria). Two groups of workers began to dig a tunnel in the hill, moving towards each other from opposite sides. The engineer soon realized what was going on. “I measured both tunnels,” he later wrote, “and found that the sum of their lengths exceeded the width of the hill.” The tunnels simply did not meet. He found a way out of the situation by drilling a well between the tunnels and connecting them, so that the water began to flow as it should. The city honored the engineer with a monument.
Internal situation of the Roman Empire
The further strengthening of the external power of the Roman Republic was simultaneously accompanied by a deep internal crisis. Such a significant territory could no longer be governed in the old way, that is, with the organization of power characteristic of a city-state. In the ranks of the Roman military leaders, commanders emerged who claimed to have full power, like the ancient Greek tyrants or the Hellenic rulers in the Middle East. The first of these rulers was Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who captured in 82 BC. e. Rome and became an absolute dictator. Sulla's enemies were mercilessly killed according to lists (proscriptions) prepared by the dictator himself. In 79 BC. e. Sulla voluntarily renounced power, but this could no longer return him to his previous control. A long period of civil wars began in the Roman Republic.
External situation of the Roman Empire
Meanwhile, the stable development of the empire was threatened not only by external enemies and ambitious politicians fighting for power. Periodically, slave uprisings broke out on the territory of the republic. The largest such rebellion was the performance led by the Thracian Spartacus, which lasted almost three years (from 73 to 71 BC). The rebels were defeated only by the combined efforts of the three most skilled commanders of Rome at that time - Marcus Licinius Crassus, Marcus Licinius Lucullus and Gnaeus Pompey.
Later, Pompey, famous for his victories in the East over the Armenians and the Pontic king Mithridates VI, entered into a battle for supreme power in the republic with another famous military leader, Gaius Julius Caesar. Caesar from 58 to 49 BC. e. managed to capture the territories of the northern neighbors of the Roman Republic, the Gauls, and even carried out the first invasion of the British Isles. In 49 BC. e. Caesar entered Rome, where he was declared a dictator - a military ruler with unlimited rights. In 46 BC. e. in the battle of Pharsalus (Greece) he defeated Pompey, his main rival. And in 45 BC. e. in Spain, under Munda, he crushed the last obvious political opponents - the sons of Pompey, Gnaeus the Younger and Sextus. At the same time, Caesar managed to enter into an alliance with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, effectively subordinating her huge country to power.
However, in 44 BC. e. Gaius Julius Caesar was killed by a group of Republican conspirators, led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. Civil wars in the republic continued. Now their main participants were Caesar's closest associates - Mark Antony and Gaius Octavian. First, they destroyed Caesar’s killers together, and later they began to fight each other. Antony was supported by the Egyptian queen Cleopatra during this last stage of the civil wars in Rome. However, in 31 BC. e. In the Battle of Cape Actium, the fleet of Antony and Cleopatra was defeated by the ships of Octavian. The Queen of Egypt and her ally committed suicide, and Octavian, finally to the Roman Republic, became the unlimited ruler of a giant power that united almost the entire Mediterranean under his rule.
Octavian, in 27 BC. e. who took the name Augustus “blessed”, is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, although this title itself at that time meant only the supreme commander in chief who won a significant victory. Officially, no one abolished the Roman Republic, and Augustus preferred to be called princeps, that is, the first among senators. And yet, under Octavian’s successors, the republic began to more and more acquire the features of a monarchy, closer in its organization to the eastern despotic states.
The empire reached its highest foreign policy power under Emperor Trajan, who in 117 AD. e. conquered part of the lands of Rome's most powerful enemy in the east - the Parthian state. However, after the death of Trajan, the Parthians managed to return the captured territories and soon went on the offensive. Already under Trajan's successor, Emperor Hadrian, the empire was forced to switch to defensive tactics, building powerful defensive ramparts on its borders.
It was not only the Parthians who worried the Roman Empire; Incursions by barbarian tribes from the north and east became more and more frequent, in battles with which the Roman army often suffered severe defeats. Later, Roman emperors even allowed certain groups of barbarians to settle on the territory of the empire, provided that they guarded the borders from other hostile tribes.
In 284, the Roman Emperor Diocletian carried out an important reform that finally transformed the former Roman Republic into an imperial state. From now on, even the emperor began to be called differently - “dominus” (“lord”), and a complex ritual, borrowed from the eastern rulers, was introduced at court. At the same time, the empire was divided into two parts - Eastern and Western, at the head of each of which was a special ruler who received title of Augustus. He was assisted by a deputy called Caesar. After some time, Augustus had to transfer power to Caesar, and he himself would retire. This more flexible system, along with improvements in provincial government, meant that this great state continued to exist for another 200 years.
In the 4th century. Christianity became the dominant religion in the empire, which also contributed to strengthening the internal unity of the state. Since 394, Christianity is already the only permitted religion in the empire. However, if the Eastern Roman Empire remained a fairly strong state, the Western Empire weakened under the blows of the barbarians. Several times (410 and 455) barbarian tribes captured and ravaged Rome, and in 476 the leader of the German mercenaries, Odoacer, overthrew the last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, and declared himself ruler of Italy.
And although the Eastern Roman Empire survived as a single country, and in 553 even annexed the entire territory of Italy, it was still a completely different state. It is no coincidence that historians prefer to call him and consider his fate separately from history of ancient Rome.
What kind of enthusiastic epithets were awarded to this empire at different times. She was called “sacred” and “great” and there was every reason for this. The empire included vast territories in Europe and the Mediterranean. The existence of the Roman Empire was very long and dates back to the period from 27 BC. e. to 476. However, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, its eastern part, the Byzantine Empire, whose capital was Constantinople, continued to exist for more than 1000 years.
The article presents two different maps of the Roman Empire, compiled on the basis of modern interactive maps, which represent all the territories that the empire ever owned.
The first map not only shows the territorial possessions of the Roman Empire, but also allows you to find the exact location of numerous buildings and artifacts of those times, as well as find out more detailed information about each object. Also, the map has a search function.
You can view a slideshow of some of the top attractions featured on the map. In addition, anyone can make changes to the map (similar to Wikipedia). The map can be found on the website http://vici.org/.
The following map allows you to plan your route using the roads and shipping routes available to the ancient Romans. It is based on an ancient Roman map known as the "Tabula Peutingeriana". The routes generated by the map include a list of cities and are displayed in the sidebar. The route is also displayed on Google Map.
More details on the map can be found on the website http://www.omnesviae.org/.
P.S. A wonderful film by Tikhon Shevkunov about the heiress of the Roman Empire - Byzantium.
