The Roman Empire: Difference between revisions

 

'''PFJ member:''' ''Brought peace?''

 

{{quote|''To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace."|'''Tacitus''', Roman historian}}

The Roman Empire succeeded [[The Roman Republic]] in the first century BC, precisely when being a subject for debate. It is generally thought to coincide with Augustus taking control of Rome and declaring himself ''[[Just the First Citizen|Princeps]]'' in 27 B.C.

 

 

Rome, in its own name, continued to exist for quite a long time. By the end of the 3rd century it had gotten so unwieldy that it needed co-emperors to handle everything; in 395, not long after Constantine embraced [[Christianity]], the empire split into the Eastern and Western halves. The Eastern side, which historians re-named the [[Byzantine Empire]] for convenience<ref>the Empire called ''itself'' Roman until its fall, despite being quite Hellenic--and so, for that matter, did almost everybody else</ref>, toiled on almost a thousand years longer, until Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople in 1453. (Despite the power of the Roman legion, evidently their training course did not cover defense against [[Incredibly Lame Pun|flightless furniture]].) The Western empire collapsed in 476, ushering in the [[The Dark Ages]], but the name of "Rome" was taken up again by Charlemagne and his kingdom, the "[[Holy Roman Empire]]," in 800 AD. This nation survived until [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] knocked it over in 1806. The most salient point here is that a "Roman" nation of some sort existed, on paper at least, for [[Long Runners|well over two thousand years]].

In terms of sheer nastiness, little matches crucifixion in the capital punishment field. It was designed to be as painful and humiliating as possible. The Romans themselves considered it so barbaric that Roman citizens usually couldn't be sentenced to crucifixion.

 

 

Quite where the nails went (or if they were even used) and what the person was supposed to die of are debated by historians ([[The Bible]] isn't too clear on the subject either, due to translation issues from the original Greek). The usual theory has been suffocation, but some experiments concluded otherwise- certainly exhaustion and dehydration would have occurred too. Jesus' seven traditional sayings on the cross i.e. "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" ("My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" in Aramaic) would have been very hard, though not impossible, to get out in these circumstances. In order to speed things up, the legs of the condemned might be broken. How long it took to die varied widely and there are cases of people surviving due to a reprieve.

* The double-headed eagle - Dating to the splitting of the empire, though the symbol is much older.

* Eagles in general - As they are associated with Jupiter/Zeus and are a symbol of strength. Their status as "King of the Birds", combined with the special Roman relationship with birds in general (avian activity was the primary form of state omen-reading), gave them particular importance to the Romans.

* The fasces - An axe, handle thrust through a bundle of reeds or sticks, the fasces was a symbol of authority. Originally a republican symbol of strength in unity (one reed or stick breaks, a bundle doesn't). It was resurrected by the fascists, specifically [[Benito Mussolini]]. So not everything was ruined by Hitler.

** Not even Mussolini could ruin this one: the French and American republics, which intentionally attempted to recall Rome, used the fasces in their symbolism long before Mussolini. The French Fifth Republic still uses the fasces with an axe in its [[wikipedia:National Emblem of France|semi-official emblem]], and the fasces are still found in many American symbols: the [[wikipedia:Seal of the United States Senate|Seal of the Senate]] has crossed fasces with axes, while the [[wikipedia:Mace of the United States House of Representatives|Mace of the House]] and the armrests in the [[wikipedia:Lincoln Memorial|Lincoln Memorial]] are axeless fasces.

While the image of [[The Caligula]] may linger in the popular imagination, Roman emperors varied from [[The Ace|good and competent]] to ineffectual to monsters. The early emperors, starting with Augustus, largely kept [[The Roman Republic|republican]] institutions in place, cultivating the image of what we would call a constitutional monarchy. However, all real power lay with the emperor, as he had the personal loyalty of the legions<ref>If he ''didn't'', he wasn't going to remain emperor for long</ref>. Later on, during the third century, the emperors dropped the pretense of being [[Just the First Citizen]] and openly embraced autocratic rule. Their personal force of bodyguards, the [[Praetorian Guard]], had a large role in both selecting and displacing them.

 

* Julio-Claudian Dynasty

** [[Emperor Augustus|Augustus]] (27 BC - AD 14): The first emperor, widely revered for bringing peace to the Empire. Extremely [[The Prince|Machiavellian]] with his political rivals, he was benevolent with the general public.

* Flavian Dynasty (includes Vespasian)

** Titus (79 - 81): Vespasian's first son who waged a successful war against Judea early in his life, which would have long-lasting consequences for Christianity and Judaism. He finished the Colosseum and dealt with several disasters during his short reign (a fire in Rome and the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius).

 

* Nerva-Antonine Dynasty or the Adoptive Emperors

** Caracalla (198 - 217): Expanded Roman citizenship to all free people throughout the empire. Whatever ruling ability he may have had was utterly overwhelmed by his extreme paranoia, which counted among its victims his brother and co-ruler Geta and the citizens of Alexandria. Assasinated by a soldier.

** Macrinus (217 - 218): First non-senator to become emperor, had Caracalla killed [[Properly Paranoid|before the other way round would've happened.]]

** Alexander Severus (222 - 235): Elagabalus' cousin. Did his best, but was somewhat [[Momma's Boy|dominated by his]] [[My Beloved Smother|mother]]. Also assassinated, which meanwhile had become common in Rome.

 

* Theodosian Dynasty

** Theodosius (379 - 395): Last emperor to rule over east and west. Split the Empire after his death, the west going to Honorius and the east going to Arcadius.

* Romulus Augustulus (475 - 476): A kid who was the puppet of his father Flavius Orestes, who himself had violently supplanted the previous emperor Julius Nepos. When Orestes denied the barbarian troops that had helped him to dethrone Nepos the promised rewards -- specifically to grant them a third of Italy for settlement -- he was in turn overthrown by the German(ic) general Odoacer, who deposed the puppet Romulus and assumed the title "commander of Italy". Romulus is usually identified as the last emperor in the west, although some insist that Julius Nepos, who ruled in Dalmatia until 480, was the last one.<ref>Romulus' prominency in the history books is somewhat boosted by his name, which ironically recalls Romulus the mythic founder of Rome.</ref>

* Justinian (527 - 565): Emperor in Constantinople, he reconquered much of what had been the western Empire. Also known for compiling Roman law in the Corpus Juris Civilis, which became the basis for law in civil law jurisdictions.

* Manuel I Komnenos (1143 - 1180): Pursued an aggressive foreign policy and expanded the Empire, but his conquests didn't last long.

* Constantine XI Palaiologos (1449 - 1453): The last emperor in the east, he led Constantinople in a heroic [[Last Stand]] against the Turks. [[Never Found the Body|His body was never found]], elevating him to [[King in the Mountain|legendary status]].

* [[The Emperor]] (from ''imperator'', a military title literally meaning "commander" and usually bestowed upon victorious generals)

* [[The Empire]] (and in the western tradition at least, also the [[Trope Codifier]])

* [[The Republic]] (from ''res publica'', "[government is a] public affair")

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Thermae Romae]]'', set in the reign of the emperor Hadrian (and in 21st century Japan).

== Comic Books ==

* ''[[Murena]]''

 

== Film ==

* ''[[Ben-Hur]]'' (based on a novel by Lew Wallace)

* ''[[The Robe]]'' (based on a novel by Lloyd C. Douglas)

* ''The Sign of the Cross'', based on a play by Wilson Barrett

* Fellini's ''Satyricon'', loosely based on a work by the Ancient Roman author Petronius.

 

== Literature ==

* ''The Last Days of Pompeii'' (1834) by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Adapted to film many times.

* ''[[Detectives in Togas]]'' (1953) by Henry Winterfeld, set in the reign of Emperor Tiberius.

* ''[[The Eagle of the Ninth]]'' (1954) by [[Rosemary Sutcliff]]. Set in the Empire times in Britain.

* ''[[Cambridge Latin Course]]'', the UK's counterpart to ''Ecce Romani''.

 

* ''[[I, Claudius]]'', based on the novel by Robert Graves.

* ''[[The Roman Mysteries (TV series)|The Roman Mysteries]]'': The TV adaptation of the book series.

* The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episodes "The Romans", "The Fires of Pompeii" and "The Pandorica Opens".

 

* A few plays by [[William Shakespeare]]:

** ''[[Cymbeline]]'': Set in Britain, but during the reign of [[Emperor Augustus]].

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Ancient Rome]]

[[Category:Historical Domain Character]]

[[Category:Useful Notes/Italy]]