Background

Historians divide the history of the Roman state into three periods. The city of Rome was built along the River Tiber in modern-day Italy. It was a favorable location with farmland nearby.

Rome became an independent kingdom around 753 BCE. This first period lasted until around 509 BCE, when it became a republic. It had a senate and was somewhat democratic.

Rome entered its third period in 27 BCE. Caesar Augustus (Gaius Octavius) became Rome’s first emperor. The Roman Republic was replaced by the Roman Empire. Rome had been an empire even when it was the republic. It held land all around the Mediterranean Sea for centuries. It controlled many cultures and peoples.

Formation

Augustus kept many of the traditions of the Roman Republic when he took power. However, he ruled the Roman Empire with total control. He changed Roman politics. He began an age of peace that lasted 200 years. This is known as the Pax Romana (Roman Peace).

Augustus was followed by other emperors who seized more power over the empire. The figure of the emperor was at the center of Roman political life. His image was minted on coins. He was said to be related to the gods.

Administration: Human resources

The Roman Empire grew larger through wars. Men could gain power and wealth through military service. The wars brought many enslaved people into the empire. They worked on plantations for wealthy Romans. Enslaved people could be freed or purchase their own freedom. Their children were born Roman citizens.

The Roman Empire controlled 2 million square miles. It ruled over 45 million people. Only 4 million were citizens. Advanced technology was needed to govern the large empire. The Romans built hundreds of miles of roads.

Religion and culture: Beliefs that travel

The Romans did not force their religion on the people they conquered. Some Romans took religious beliefs from other parts of the empire.

Early Christians faced oppression in the empire. This changed in 313 CE, when Emperor Constantine recognized Christianity. By 380, Christianity was the empire’s state religion.

Trade networks: Silk and more silk

Wealthy Romans were able to buy luxuries from far away. The goods traveled along a series of trade networks. Chinese silk was very popular in Rome. The silk was often brought to India, where Roman merchants could buy it. Archaeologists have found many Roman coins in India. The Romans also enjoyed spices from around the Indian Ocean.

These trade networks also carried diseases. Several plagues traveled along these trade routes.

Women in society

Rome was a patriarchal society. This means that men controlled public life. Augustus passed laws encouraging women to marry and have children. Women in the Roman Empire lacked full legal rights. They could not vote or hold political office.

Many women were still able to use political power. Wealthy women often acted as advisors to their sons and husbands. Women of lower classes entered public life through work.

Decline and fall: Sort of

The Roman Empire is often said to have fallen in 476 after an invasion of Germanic tribes. This is not really true.

The Roman Empire had been divided into two halves. The half that fell was the Western Roman Empire. It was still based in Rome. There was also an Eastern Roman Empire. It was based in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey), a city founded in 324 by Emperor Constantine.

The Eastern Roman Empire grew very powerful. It lasted another 1,000 years. Some historians now call it the “Byzantine Empire.” But the people who lived under it still called themselves Romans and believed themselves to be part of the Roman Empire. These Romans continued to be the most powerful state in the Mediterranean world long after the “fall of Rome.”