The Roman Empire: Difference between revisions

{{Useful Notes}}

 

{{quote|'''Reg (leader of the People's Front of Judea):''' ''All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us? ''

'''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.

 

* Now imagine this happening to 6,000 people at the same time, on the same road.

 

* 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.

** 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.

** Honorius (395 - 423): Emperor of the Western empire. Most notable moment of his reign was the Sack of Rome in 410 by the Visigoths, lead by Alaric.

* 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.

* ''[[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.

* ''[[The Roman Mysteries]]'' by Caroline Lawrence. Started in 2001.

 

* ''[[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]]

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