Roman Empire Books
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W. W. Norton & Company (01 April 1999)Price: $12.21 -
Penguin (Non-Classics) (28 January 2003)Price: $10.40 -
Anchor (01 February 1996)Price: $10.20 -
W. W. Norton & Company (17 March 2007)Price: $19.77 -
Princeton University Press (28 September 2009)Price: $19.77
Definition
The Roman Republic, which preceded it, had been weakened and subverted through several civil wars. Several events are commonly proposed to mark the transition from Republic to Empire, including Julius Caesar's appointment as perpetual dictator (44 BC), the Battle of Actium (2 September 31 BC), and the Roman Senate's granting to Octavian the honorific Augustus (4 January 27 BC). Roman expansion began in the days of the Republic, but reached its zenith under Emperor Trajan. At this territorial peak, the Roman Empire controlled approximately 6.5 million km² of land surface. Because of the Empire's vast extent and long endurance, Roman influence upon the language, religion, architecture, philosophy, law, and government of nations around the world lasts to this day.
In the late 3rd century AD, Diocletian established the practice of dividing authority between four co-emperors, in order to better secure the vast territory. During the following decades the empire was often divided along an East/West axis. After the death of Theodosius I in 395 it was divided for the last time.
The Western Roman Empire collapsed in 476 as Romulus Augustus was forced to abdicate by Odoacer. The Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire endured until 1453 with the death of Constantine XI and the capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks led by Mehmed II.
Articles
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On August 24, 79 AD, a small town in the Roman province of Campania, on the western shore of Italy, was stopped dead in her tracks by the violent eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. The city, Pompeii, along with her sister city Herculaneum, were buried beneath several feet of ash and mud, forever memorializing the towns and their people. It wasn't until Pompeii was again discovered in the mid 18th century that the world was able to discover this town, and it inner workings. Not only did the discovery and subsequent excavations at Pompeii uncover a city frozen in time, but it also provided a wealth of information for scholars about the various aspects of Roman life, politics, art, and society. Pompeii was literally an open book to be studied.
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Augustus is well known for being the first Emperor of Rome, but even more than that, for being a self-proclaimed “Restorer of the Republic.” He believed in ancestral values such as monogamy, chastity, and piety (virtue). Thus, he introduced a number of moral and political reforms in order to improve Roman society and formulate a new Roman government and lifestyle. The basis of each of these reforms was to revive traditional Roman religion in the state.
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Illustrations
