History, Political Structure and Legacy of the Roman Empire

By Josh Neuhaus

Introduction

The Roman Empire paved the way for modern civilization in a plethora of ways.

In addition to their advanced system of government, which will be the focus of the

following essay, the Romans furthered our knowledge in the fields of medicine,

law and warfare. To this day we use the calendar created by Julius Caesar as

well as public toilets, newspapers and the magnifying glass to name a few of the

miscellaneous advancements pioneered by the Romans. With regards to the

political structure of the Empire, it began as a kingdom however became

increasingly democratic; there was a complex hierarchy of officials that oversaw

the direction of the Republic. Then in 27BC this Republican system of elected

officials was discarded and instead Ancient Rome was to be led by one,

Game Theory and DemocracyProfessor Hubert Bray

Duke University September 21 2014

omnipotent individual known as the Emperor- the first being Gaius Octavius (or

Augustus Caesar) who was the great-nephew of the infamous assassinated

politician Julius Caesar. In the following essay, I will start off by tracking the

growth and demise of the Roman Empire starting from its foundation by Romulus

in 753BC to the end of the Republic in 27BC and briefly onwards to 476CE when

the last emperor of Rome, Romulus Augustus, was defeated by the Germanic

King Odoacer. I will then analyze in detail the political skeleton of the Republic

and the role that particular individuals played in influencing certain policy

decisions. Finally, it is important to realize the relevance of the Roman Empire to

today’s society and our notion of democracy- the US government is based on the

model established by Rome; for this reason the final part of my essay will revolve

around the legacy left behind by the Romans, arguably the greatest ever empire

to grace this earth.

History of the Roman Empire

Where did it all begin? The Etruscans had ruled the Romans for centuries until

509 B.C.E when the Romans overthrew their conquerors and established a form

of government where every citizen could and should play a role in the overall

path taken by the state- this is what we refer to nowadays as a republic. It should

be noted that a republic differs from a democracy in a number of ways. The most

important difference is that in a republic there exist a set of written rules (known

as a constitution) that constrain the government and protect the rights of the

individual. This ensures that the majority cannot overpower individuals, as is the

case in democracies. All republics are arguably democratic however the reverse

is not necessarily true. Back to the narrative, Kings originally governed Rome but

after seven of them, this system was deposed of and replaced by a senate in 509

B.C.E. This governmental system would last 500 years.

The Carthaginians, an impressive people who controlled their own empire in

North Africa, represented the greatest threat to the Roman Republic and the fight

between the two powers was an ongoing feature of this early period. The sides

fought three wars known as the Punic Wars from 264 BC to 146BC over disputes

surrounding trade in the Mediterranean Sea. Tensions reached a climax when

Hannibal crossed the Alps into Italy in 218 BC in what became known as the

Second Punic War. It was a great military achievement as more than 94,000 men

and war elephants navigated treacherous terrain to establish a base of

operations in Italy. Hannibal crushed the Roman army but could not sack the city

itself and after a decade of siege warfare, the Roman general Scipio defeated

Hannibal at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC. In the end Rome was victorious, killing

68,000 troops in the process. The Romans were by now fed up and were ready

to defeat the Carthaginians for good thus they burned the entire city to the

ground and allegedly poured salt into the ground to make the land uninhabitable

in the future. This military defeat was enough to nullify the threat of Carthage for

good and allow the Roman Republic to conquer the known world without a

surrounding challenge to its immense power.

With the unopposed expansion of the empire, the rich continued to get richer and

more powerful while the average citizen suffered more and more. Tiberius and

Gaius, politicians and brothers, attempted to reform the declining system but the

aristocrats vehemently opposed their proposed changes and they were

murdered. Slavery had become an accepted practice and slave revolts were

becoming more commonplace. The most famous revolt was that of Spartacus in

what became known as the Third Servile War. Spartacus led a small band of

escaped slaves in 73 BC by battling his way out using kitchen utensils; slaves

from all across the empire rushed to join his growing rebel army and after it

defeated a significant militia at Mt. Vesuvius the Senate took note and was

sparked into action. There is historical evidence to demonstrate that as many as

120,000 slaves joined the rebellion. It was not until 71 BC, two years later, when

the rebel army had started to unravel due to disputes between different factions,

that Spartacus was defeated; the general Marcus Lucinius Crassus led eight

legions and cornered Spartacus, killing the man himself in battle. 6,000 slaves

were publicly and painfully crucified in the aftermath in a ruthless move to deter

future potential revolters.

The final stage of the story of the Republic is where we first meet Julius Caesar,

the most famous Roman of all time. Soldiers were no longer fighting for the good

of the Republic but instead for the gold and land that was promised them with

each military victory. This meant that these soldiers felt a greater sense of loyalty

to the generals that commanded them instead of towards their representatives in

the senate or other political figures. It was this devotion to the general that Julius

Caesar masterfully exploited to accumulate power. He was born wealthy into the

class of aristocrats known as patricians and possessed all the skills necessary

for a great leader; beyond being a military genius, Caesar was sharp, strong-

willed, charming and above everything loyal to those who helped him rise in the

system. In 60BC Caesar allied himself with arguably the second greatest Roman

general of all time Pompey and the wealthiest man in Rome Crassus. This period

of Rome is now known as the First Triumvirate and it is in this atmosphere of

political domination that power began to concentrate itself in the hands of a few

individuals. Fate, skill, a potent combination of the two…however one looks at

the events that followed, Julius Caesar was able to manipulate circumstances to

rise to the very top. Pompey became power hungry after the death of Crassus

and moved to gather power for himself while Caesar was off fighting the Gauls.

The senate, under orders of Pompey, commanded Caesar to return without his

army however he defied them and marched his entire army back with him. On

the 9th of August 48BC an epic battle known as the Battle of Pharsalus took place

in which Caesar and his allies lined up against the army of the republic

commanded by Pompey the Great. Pompey had the backing of the majority of

the senate and a far superior army; Caesar on the other hand commanded a

mere 22,000 men to Pompey’s 50,000. Pompey knew he could outlast the men

across the river as their supplies and will power dwindled and advocated for

waiting it out in a war of attrition. Pompey jumped the gun. He was under

pressure from senators and officers to engage in battle and that is exactly what

he did. Caesar had no right to defeat his opponent but he highlighted the futility

of defeat to his loyal men and instilled in them the mentality that they had

everything to lose and therefore nothing to lose. I will not go into the specifics of

the battle but Caesar inspired the most impressive of victories, relying on his

military knowledge and cunning. Pompey lost 6,000 men and eventually fled to

Egypt where was assassinated; his head was sent to Caesar on a silver platter

by the Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII. Julius Caesar advanced his triumphant army into

Rome in 46BC and made himself autonomous, absolute ruler of the Roman

Empire. The Senate resisted his orders to make him a lifelong dictator, as it was

customary for a dictator to serve only six months before giving up the office. His

actions were seen as a threat to the Republic and he was famously murdered by

a group of senators including Brutus and Cassius in a series of events known as

the Ides of March. While the senators tried to save the Republic of Rome, in

killing Caesar they killed the republic and Rome would now become an empire.

Gaius Octavian Thurinius was Caesar’s nephew and took the name of Augustus

Caesar. He was the first emperor of Rome (as his uncle never officially held the

title) and was granted the unlimited power that his uncle had desired as a result

of his military prowess and the stability he brought the empire. Augustus, in his

own words, ‘found Rome a city of clay but left it a city of marble’. Caligula,

Claudius and Nero succeeded him after his death. The five good emperors and

then the Severan Dynasty followed this early period of the Ancient Roman

Empire. The next major shift in the course of the empire came with Constantine

and the shift to Christianity in 312CE. The Edict of Milan in 313 CE stipulated

religious tolerance and Constantine helped collect manuscripts which would

come together to form the most famous book that has ever existed and that will

ever exist- the bible. Finally, in 476CE the Germanic King Odoacer defeated

Emperor Romulus Augustus and the Roman Empire was no more. Some

historians argue it continued on as the Byzantine Empire or even later as The

Holy Roman Empire but in reality these were unrecognizable dynasties

compared to the great Ancient Roman Empire.

Although the above is only a brief overview of the rise and fall of the Romans, it

is the events and individuals described that forged the destiny of the empire,

making it a fascinating and enticing topic for discussion in a variety of academic

realms. I will now look at the political structure of Rome during the republic period

so we can understand how decisions were made and why it remains so important

today, serving as a template for democracies for centuries and millennia in the

future.

Political Structure

To begin with, the constitution of the Roman republic was never codified, never

formally recognized as a solid, material set of guidelines through which the

principles of governing were laid out. Instead it was allowed to grow organically

and develop into something by which one had to adhere to climb the political

rungs and govern effectively. The nature of the constitution eventually led to the

emergence of aristocrats who depended on the structure of society to thrive

instead of strictly the law. The most powerful body was the senate, which

inevitably made decisions favoring the wealthy due to its composition; to become

a senator one had to have been born a patrician as well as having a worth of at

least 100,000 denarii which was a significant enough sum to disqualify many

members of the middle class who may have harbored any political aspirations.

Another barrier was the fact that any new senators had to be approved by the

existing ones thus power was maintained in tight circles. Climbing the rungs of

the political hierarchy was difficult in the Ancient Roman republic however it was

by no means impossible. The senate was composed of the mightiest, most

powerful men in the empire and passed ‘senatus consultum’ onto the

magistrates. Although this ‘senatus consultum’ was officially just advice passed

down to the magistrates, the magistrates in practice had to obey it. The senate

oversaw any issues relating to foreign policy and although they were not

technically in charge of military affairs, the senate had the final say over military

operations too. Senators passed laws in a building in the Roman Forum known

as the ‘curia’. From the senators, two consuls were elected together on the same

ballot and served for a year before stepping down. Holding imperium (basically

having autonomous power) alternated between the consuls every month. War

was the only extraneous circumstance in which the power of the senate was

transferred to one individual, or dictator, so that leadership could take a more

precise direction and the issue could be revolved. The dictator did not have to be

a Roman senator- Cincinnatus was a farmer well versed in the art of war who

was called up by the senate to resolve an issue before stepping down 15 days

later.

Moving away from the senate, magistrates of the state were elected by citizens

who were divided into 193 voting blocks. It is these magistrates who elected

censors (responsible for supervising public morality and government finances)

and praetors (chief officers and overseers of the law courts). There was a

popular assembly or ‘comitia tributa’ that was elected by both patricians and

plebs and voted for measures called ‘leges’ that applied to all citizens. This was a

civilian assembly that met within the city walls unlike the army assembly, which

met outside the walls of Rome. Finally the Plebeian Assembly or ‘concilium

plebis’ consisted of ten tribunes who were only voted into office by the plebs and

had limited scope in their ability to implement effective legislation in reality. They

usually dealt with more local, mundane issues and could veto senate legislation.

Legacy

While it is easy and fascinating to look at the specific details of the political

structure of the Roman Republic, I will now highlight some of the overarching

principles that the Romans helped formulize. The notion of the citizen, which

remains crucial to Western societies today, was first developed by the Romans.

All males over 15 descended from Roman tribes were granted citizenship and

automatic rights. Any full citizen could marry freeborn people, vote, and buy and

sell goods in the local market. There were some citizens who could trade

commerce and vote, however, were not able to marry freely or hold public office.

Slaves were not granted any of these rights and it was only until late in the days

of the republic that slaves that had been granted their freedom could become full

citizens. Another important concept was equality under the law; although I

previously stated the Roman constitution was largely codified, this was not the

case in this instance. The first Roman laws actually put into writing were the

Twelve Tables and guaranteed the rights of citizens; it should be noted that

compared to todays accepted norms they appear harsh and dogmatic however at

the time they were incredibly progressive. Among the Twelve Tables included the

right to gather fruit falling down on another man’s farm and the law to quickly and

painlessly kill a deformed child. There was a set of specifically Roman personal

virtues by which citizens aspired to uphold and which ultimately gave the Roman

Republic the moral strength to match its military strength and conquer the

civilized world. These were matched by a set of public virtues which all of society

shared in common and aimed to share with the rest of the known world. A few of

my favorite personal virtues are ‘firmitas’ (having strength of mind and sticking to

your purpose) and ‘honestas’ (presenting a respectable image to society). With

regards to public virtues, ‘genius’ (the acknowledgement of the spirit of Rome

and its people) and ‘aequitas’ (fairly dealing with government and the people)

rank among my favorites. It is this recognition of the morality of humanity that

allowed Rome to grow and expand to the extent that it did; if every Roman citizen

lived trying to uphold these noble virtues then Rome itself was destined for

greatness.

Summary

The Romans conquered the known world and did so in style. It is true that Rome

was a war-obsessed state hungry on expansion and military prowess however it

was also an inherently moral state that set the precedent with regards to

democracy in the political system, the rights of individuals and the importance of

the law. Many of the most important building blocks of today’s societies we stole

from the ancient Romans. In their 500 years of dominance the Romans

experimented with the notion of a Republic where all citizens had a say in the

political experience before transitioning to the Roman Empire where power

ultimately resided in the hands of a single emperor. Rome gave us countless

battles and countless entertainment as well as epic figures like Julius Caesar and

Constantine the Great. King Odoacer’s defeat of Romulus Augustus marked the

end of the Roman Empire however the legacy of Rome lives on today. The

history, political structure and legacy of Rome discussed in this essay are only

three very small pieces to the puzzle that make Rome the entity it was.

Bibliography

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/how_was_rome_governed.htm

http://www.ancient.eu/Roman_Empire/

http://pages.uoregon.edu/klio/maps/rr/const_system.jpg

http://www.ushistory.org/civ/6c.asp

http://www.novaroma.org/nr/Roman_virtues

http://www.ancient.eu/Roman_Republic/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_censor