History, Political Structure and Legacy of the Roman Empire
By Josh Neuhaus
Game Theory and Democracy
Professor Hubert Bray
Duke University
September 21 2014
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, 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