What Enabled the Romans to Build Their Empire - Case Study Example

Emergence of the Roman Empire Discussions on the Roman Empire have a tendency to leap forward to what is considered by many to be the most exciting time in the history of the empire; the years under the dictator Julius Caesar. While the life and times of Julius Caesar is inarguably dramatic and dynamic, such that his life has served as the basis for the artistic works of romantic writers and, more recently, filmmakers, as are the life stories of Augustus and Nero; it is not with Julius Caesar that the story of the rise of the Roman Empire begins. Relics found in the Praeneste and dating back to the Fourth and Fifth Centuries B.C. provide insight into the Roman state that even then existed as a military state, and which would rise to become the most powerful Empire in the history of the world1. Italy’s neighbor, Greece, had not been able to maintain a cohesive alliance within their own realm, which made them vulnerable to the Roman forces who had achieved unity amongst themselves by bringing together separate tribal groups into a single unified group2. Italy, with Rome as its capital, was able to expel the Etruscans, the dynasty which had held power in Italy from 405 to 396 B.C3. The expulsion of the Etruscans was the first real military success for the Romans, and while it did not alter the state’s constitution, it was a turning point in that it established a decision making body plebs (multitudes) who had served the Etruscans4. Rome became increasingly important as a center of trade and commerce, which made it an attractive prize to be claimed by invading forces5. Gallic invading forces were slowly claiming small parts of the Roman Empire, and this brought about the realization amongst the Plebeians that political changes were needed if Rome was going to be successful in defending itself against the Gallic forces6. While the Romans were not successful in defending themselves against the Gallic invasion, the invasion succeeded in uniting Rome with Latium7. The Gallic wars also caused the Romans to consider a new design for its city that would afford it better protection against future invading forces8. United, the Latin and Roman forces were successful in preventing further invasions of Rome9. The Roman War Machine The Roman army was the first paid and professional military force in the history of the world10. Legions were made up of forces of six thousand men, each well trained in the art of battle fought for personal glory11. Surgeons, engineers, surveyors, architects and craftsmen were counted in the ranks of the legions, and the skills these highly trained individuals helped ensure the expansion of the Empire as their contributions often caught opposing armies poorly prepared to face the sophistication of a professional fighting machine12. Each Legionary carried up to “fourteen days of rations, a saw, a wicker basket, a piece of rope or leather, a shovel, a water-skin, a sickle and a pickaxe13. While they normally wore military tunics, belted around the waist, over linen undergarments, they were allowed to wear wool pants during cold and harsh winter weather14. They wore leather military sandals made with hob-nails as treads15. They wore bronze protective helmets with iron trim, and side plates that extended to the side of each side of their face to protect their face16. They wore plate armor and carried eighteen inch double-edged swords, and carried a large scutum, or shield17. The Legionary had fields weapons that were giant cross-bows, these weapons were used against advancing forces, to stave off a siege18. The onager, or catapult, was a large field weapon that could fire rocks weighing as much as 150 pounds against the advancing forces, and while it’s range was shorter than that of the giant cross-bow, it was nonetheless a powerful weapon19. In the battle against Carthage, the Romans proved themselves technologically superior on the water, surprising the Carthaginians with both the size of their fleet and the bridges constructed specifically to allow the Romans to access enemy ships20. The Romans had been successful in adopting the technology of the people they conquered and incorporating both the people and technology into their own commands. The Romans also proved tactically astute by quickly converting conquered regions to Roman use, especially sea port areas21. Romans as a Force Records of Rome prior to the third century B.C. are scarce. A bronze lid handle from the fourth century B.C., pictured in the opening pages of Professor M. Rostovtzeff’s A History of the Ancient World; upon which stand two stout and strong soldiers wearing helmets and dressed in military gear carrying the body of a fallen soldier22. The two soldiers carry tall spears in one hand, and each supporting the body of the fallen soldier with one hand, depicting the great physical strength of the soldiers23. The fallen soldier is clean shaven and wearing no helmet, while his two comrades who support his body have full beards and mustaches and are dressed in full battle attire, suggesting that perhaps the fallen soldier’s body has been prepared for the afterlife and the ceremony of honoring the fallen soldiers24. The act of honoring the sacrifice of one’s own life for the greater glory and goals of the state would have been an integral element in the state’s efforts to mobilize its citizenry and to establish a proud and unified conquering force. The Greek historian Polybius described Rome’s second century victories as leadership combined with the “political and philosophical ideas current at the time25.” Polybius posed that the Romans, who adopted existing Greek policies and philosophies, were able to exceed the Greeks’ ambitions and military strength because of the “moral qualities” of its leaders and citizens, and a sound state constitution which built upon the experiences, traditions and philosophies handed down by leaders and philosophers since the time of Plato26. Polybius’ description of the Roman state is, Rostovtzeff writes, overly idealistic and simplified and Rostovtzeff rightly suggests a much more complex explanation than Polybius has described, although the two elements suggested by Polybius are integral to the overall analysis of the expansion of the Roman Empire27. Still, the role of the Roman people and their perception of self within the world around them cannot be minimized. By the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., the Romans, recovering from the Gallic wars, the Romans redesigned their military and political systems, as well as redesigned and rebuilt the city amongst the ruins left in the wake of the Gallic invaders28. The city was divided into four tribes, electing Tribunes from each, which eventually became ten29. Out of the Tribunal came a code of civil law, and a national army was created30. By the third century B.C., Rome had instituted yet another constitution, one which afforded its citizens greater rights31. The Republic was in its infancy, and with a government now elected by the people of the people, citizens felt “responsible for the state and its prosperity32.” Expansion of the Empire United with the Romans against the Galls and Volscians to protect their own terrorities, the Latins became bold after the withdrawal of the Galls, and attempted to gain independence from the Romans33. They failed, and the Romans annexed most of the Latin cities, but it was not a bad situation for the Latins in that they were afforded the same rights under Rome’s constitution as the Roman citizens34. Rome continued a policy of expansion, annexing cities that were previously under Greek control, and in response to Rome’s expansionism, in 298 B.C., a coalition was formed to halt the Roman aggression35. As a result, the Etruscans, Sabines and the Samnites were brought into the Roman fold, and the Sabines were made Roman citizens36 In order to protect her newly acquired interests, Rome quickly put into the territories it had acquired “at the most important points where there were good harbors on important points, where military roads crossed inside the country, fortresses were built and garrisoned with Roman citizens, and a considerable extent of public land was assigned to them for cultivation,” securing those citizen’s desire and need to protect it against any attempts to regain control by the communities that had been conquered37. These holdings beyond the city itself were referred to as colonies38. By 281 B.C., Rome had moved south to the inevitable face-off with the Greeks who held the southern region of Italy39. The Greeks, in consultation with their neighboring Lucanians, Bruttians, and Messapians elected to defend their lands; a fatal decision40. By 279 B.C., Rome had reunited Italy with Rome as its capitol41. Gaining territories from the Gauls in the north, Greeks and others in the south, the Roman Empire now occupied 50,000 square miles of Italy, and was the “largest and most compact state in the western world42.” One of the most significant moves in expanding the empire was the Roman endeavor to take Carthage, an effort that would take twenty-three years43. While the Spanish and their allies would prove the greatest challenge of the Empire’s expansion, by the time peace was made, Carthage was forced to destroy her naval vessels, and, once a great center of commerce and trade was reduced to a state in the Roman Empire44. Meanwhile the Empire continued its expansion throughout Africa45. Roman Economy Contrary to what might be expected of an expanding military state, the Roman Empire never achieved a great economic position in the world. While Rome was a center for commerce and culture, the Empire was a largely agrarian one, which fed the massive military machine46. Importers did a robust business, and became quite wealthy47. Farmers were allowed to trade crops for taxes owed, and this was an allowance that found favor with the farmers48. Julius Caesar By 59 B.C., the Roman Empire had waged successful war campaigns and expanded its provinces throughout the known world, and a young Roman democrat emerged, having proved himself in battle, he would prove himself an astute politician49. Circumventing the political hierarchy, Julius Caesar was appointed Consul, and Caesar departed to Gaul where he spent the next nine years to achieve the annexation of Gaul50. By the time Caesar returned to Rome, he had proven his acumen as a military strategist and tacticians, but his years away had been years of political unrest and upheaval in Rome51. Once back in Rome, Caesar began an active campaign to win over the people, and he was successful to that end52. With the frontiers of the Empire revolting, and with the political turmoil in Rome, Caesar took on the role of dictator, surrounding himself with close supporters whom he believed he could trust53. Caesar enjoyed re-election to consul annually, and by 48 B.C. he had gained the right from the people to create new forms of power54. The Roman Senate and elite, who had refused the rule of Etruscan kings and invading foreign royalty, did not react well to Caesar’s new powers and role as dictator55. It was not long before Caesar’s enemies were plotting to murder him, amongst them, Marcus and Decimus Brutus, members of Caesar’s inner circle who Caesar believed to be his trusted friends56. Caesar, having no children, adopted his great nephew, Gaius Octavius, and left his power and fortune to the nineteen-year-old, who, against his mother’s consul, returned to Rome and accepted the responsibility left to him by his uncle57. The Senate, motivated by the civil war that raged within the Empire and by the unrest of the people who had loved Caesar, accepted Octavius, with the plotting belief that the young man would prove himself inept as a politician, and that he would in fact be short-term in Rome58. The Senators and, for that matter, Mark Antony, who wanted both Caesar’s power and revenge for Caesar’s death, certainly had to be surprised to discover that the young Octavius was both a skilled politician and a ruthless adversary in the game of political maneuvering and wits59. Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus not only skillfully switched sides and befriended supporters who would help him acquire, secure and maintain his political power60. It was inevitable that Octavius would have to one day deal with Mark Antony, and that day came when, with Cleopatra at his side, Mark Antony faced Octavius in a bid for power on the sea, supported by Cleopatra’s Egyptian fleet and backed by Romans loyal to him61. Antony was defeated, and Cleopatra escaped to Egypt where she committed suicide, and Egypt was brought into the Octavian Roman Empire62. In a final move proving further his political and strategic acumen, Octavius returned to Rome and offered to restore Rome as a republic, under the auspices of the Senate; in a move that probably still confounds historians today, the Senate declined Octavian’s offer, and Octavian took on the full title of Roman Emperor63. Under Octavian’s rule the empire continue to expand, but it was the end of civil war in Rome, and Octavian has been credited with, if not restoring Rome to a republic, restoring the peace64. In order to secure his reign without threat of plotting against him, Octavian created a system of public and public servant rewards65. He gave top political figures positions of power and authority in the provinces, as well as financial bonuses; and he created a system of public works projects that brought jobs and better living conditions to the people of Rome66. He lived out his life loved by the Romans, and with his wife at his side, died at the age of seventy-six, just before his seventy-seventh birthday67. With no male heirs to succeed him, Octavius’ powers were passed on to his step-son, Tiberius68. Octavius died at the height of the Roman Empire’s greatness. Works Cited A&E, Hail Caesar, (VHS 1998). Barnes and Noble.com Julius Caesar (Good Times Video, DVD 2004). [on-line] found at http://video.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=43396096554&z=y&frm=0&itm=1. Barnes and Noble.com Augustus (Sony Pictures, DVD 2003). [on-line] found at http://video.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=43396096554&z=y&frm=0&itm=1. Barnes and Noble.com. Nero (Sony Pictures, DVD 1992). [on-line] found at http://video.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=43396096554&z=y&frm=0&itm=1 (24 February 2006). Mills, D. The Book of the Ancient Romans, (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York 1927). Rostovtzeff, M. A History of the Ancient World (Greenwood Press Publishers, Connecticut 1973). Shakespear, W., Durand, A., ed. Julius Caesar (Baron’s Shakespear Made Easy), (Baron’s Educational Series, Incorporated, (1985)). UNRV History, UNRV.com (2006). Roman Empire, [on-line] found at http://www.unrv.com/fall-republic/first-triumvirate.php (24 February 2006). Read More