Roman Empire

“”I came; I saw; I conquered.

— Julius Caesar

Roman Empire, also known as SPQR or Rome, was a very large and influential empire in Europe during the classical period, perhaps the most famous empire in history, laying the foundations for many of the modern Western civilization.

Properly, the Roman Empire existed from 27 BC to 395 AD, though some would argue otherwise as if the Roman Republic and Byzantine Empire were included, it would have been from 509 BC to 1453 AD. At his height, Roman Empire controlled vast territories spanning three continents: Europe, Asia, and Africa, which was very impressive for an empire this old. The Empire's influence extended from the British Isles in the northwest to the deserts of the Middle East, and from the Rhine and Danube rivers in the north to the shores of North Africa.

Rome was admired and feared by his enemies. He had one of the finest, well equipped and most disciplined military forces in antiquity. They protected his borders and kept order in the diverse Roman society; he usually beats the barbarians he encounters and incorporates them into the empire. It was clear that Rome was the uncontested ruler of the Mediterranean Sea and all the surrounding land.

Roman Empire is usually considered the most important and best empire of all time by Western historians due to his remarkable achievements in various fields, including engineering, architecture, law, and governance. Roman engineers built an extensive network of roads, aqueducts, and monumental structures like the Colosseum and the Pantheon, many of which still stand today. The Roman legal system laid the foundation for many modern legal codes, and the concept of Roman citizenship became a unifying element for the diverse peoples within the Empire.

History

Foundation & the Principate

After defeating Mark Antony and Cleopatra, the Roman Empire was formed in 27 BC as Augustus was crowned as emperor by the Roman Senate. Rome destroyed republican values, but boosted his status as the central power in the world (the western world, at least). The 200 years that began with Augustus's rule are traditionally regarded as the Pax Romana ("Roman Peace"). The cohesion of the Empire was furthered by a degree of social stability and economic prosperity that Rome had never before experienced. Uprisings in the provinces were infrequent and put down mercilessly and swiftly, and imperial traditions were instituted that frustrated any attempt to reestablish the Republic.

In 25 BC, Roman Empire annexed Galatia into his clay, and in 6 AD, a big revolt broke up in the province of Pannonia. In 9 AD, Germanic crushed Rome at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.

The success of Augustus in establishing principles of dynastic succession was limited by his outliving a number of talented potential heirs. Four more emperors continued after Augustus under the Julio-Claudian Dynasty: Tiberius (r. 14-37), Caligula (r. 37-41), Claudius (r. 41-54), and Nero (r. 54-68). While Caligula and Nero are usually remembered as dysfunctional emperors especially in popular culture, Augustus and Claudius are remembered as emperors who were successful in politics and military.

Under Nero, Rome sent his general Suetonius Paulinus to invade modern-day Wales where he encountered stiff resistance from the locals. They were independent, tough and resistant to tax collectors and fought Paulinus as he battled his way across from East to West. It took him a long time to reach the North West coast and in 60 AD he finally crossed the Menai Strait to the sacred island of Mona, the last stronghold of the druids. Roman soldiers attacked the island and massacred the druids, men, women and children, destroyed the shrine and the sacred groves and threw many of the sacred standing stones into the sea.

Nero was very evil, he burned down Rome in 64 AD and blamed it on Christians, mobilizing the Roman public to persecute them severely, and as a result many Christians were torn apart by beasts or burned alive as human torches, the most notorious occurring from 64-65 AD. The many people who followed Nero and persecuted Christians soon received retribution as a plague broke out the following autumn in Rome, killing some 30,000 people. A series of revolts broke out against Nero who was forced into suicide in 69 AD, starting the Year of the Four Emperors civil war.

There was no chance of return to the old and traditional Roman Republic, thus a new emperor had to rise in a period of civil strife and power struggles. Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian each claimed the imperial title in rapid succession. Vespasian ultimately emerged victorious, establishing the shirt-lived Flavian Dynasty and bringing some stability back to the empire. During this time, Rome started ambitious construction projects, including the beginning of the Colosseum's construction. Between 66 and 74, there were the first of three major rebellions by the Jews against the Roman Empire fought in Roman-controlled Roman Judaea, resulting in the destruction of Jewish towns, the displacement of Jewish people and the appropriation of land for Roman military use, as well as the destruction of the Jewish Temple and polity. After Vespasian, his sons succeeded him: Titus (r. 79-81) and Domitian (r. 81-96).

What followed was the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty, with the so-called "Five Good Emperors": Nerva (r. 96-98), Trajan (r. 98-117), Hadrian (r. 117-138), Antoninus Pius (r. 138-161), and Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-180). Under Trajan. Rome reached the territorial peak. Roman Empire conquered Dacia in 106, and campaigned heavily against Parthian Empire, capturing many of his important cities. However, the Mesopotamian province established by Trajan in 116 did not last long and ended in 117 as the province was heavily contested between 2 great powers and hard to properly manage. Trajan also died in 117, after suffering a stroke. Hadrian decided to reverse Trajan's gains and instead, assume a defensive stance against the enemies of Rome. He was particularly known for touring the empire and constructing great defensive fortifications, the most notable of this defences was the Hadrian's wall which began in 122, in modern-day Britain.

In 132, there was a major uprising by the Jews of Roman Judaea against the Roman Empire, marking the final and most devastating of the Jewish-Roman wars. The Bar Kokhba revolt lasted until 136, and the Romans near-depopulated the region through large-scale killings, mass enslavement, and displacement.

Crisis of the Third Century

The reign of idiot emperor Commodus beginning in 161 is often said to be the start of Roman Empire's decline, a descent "from a kingdom of gold to one of rust and iron". After he was assassinated in 192, Rome fell into a year of civil war where five different emperors claimed the throne at the same time in 193. Septimius Severus came out victorious and came along the rule of the Severan Dynasty.

In 212, Roman citizenship was granted to all freeborn inhabitants of the empire. The Roman Empire had become tumultuous; an emperor's reign was ended routinely by his murder or execution and, following Severan's collapse, Rome became engulfed by the Crisis of the Third Century, a period of invasions, civil strife, economic disorder, and plague. The Empire even split into three competing states in 260: the Gallic Empire in the west, the Palmyrene Empire in the east, and the central Roman rump state, who had been ruled by a succession of more than 20 emperors in a span of 50 years, some lasting just a month before getting deposed.

Roman Empire was reunified by Aurelian, who defeated both the Palmyrene and Gallic empires in quick succession, in 273 and 274 respectively. However, Rome was still in chaos and in 275 Aurelian was assassinated by his own officers.

Tetrarchy & the Christian Empire

In 284, Diocletian seized power and enacted sweeping reforms to stabilize the crumbling Rome. Diocletian restructured Roman Empire by introducing the Tetrarchy in 293, a system where four co-rulers (two senior Augusti and two junior Caesars) divided administrative and military responsibilities across the vast territory. This brought much-needed order, but at the cost of further centralizing power and increasing taxation on the population. Diocletian also unleashed the last and most brutal wave of Christian persecution, the Great Persecution beginning in 303, which saw churches demolished, scriptures burned, and thousands executed.

After Diocletian's voluntary retirement (a rare occurrence in Roman history) in 305, the Tetrarchy collapsed into yet another civil war. In 306, one of the Tetrarchy's Caesars, Constantine, was proclaimed emperor by his troops in Roman Britain. A series of civil wars followed as rival emperors competed for supremacy. In 312, Constantine defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, seeing a luminous cross above the Sun in the sky before battle. Therefore in 313, he and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan, granting tolerance to Christianity. This marked a turning point: the once-persecuted faith now enjoyed imperial protection.

Fall of Rome

Roman Empire was divided more permanently after the death of Emperor Theodosius I in 395, split between his two sons into the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. The west, already weakened by economic strain, depopulation, and constant pressure from migrating Germanic peoples, descended into rapid decline. The Visigoths, once settled within Roman borders as foederati, sacked the city Rome himself in 410, an event that shocked the Roman world to the core.

The Western Empire's final decades were marked by a string of weak, puppet emperors manipulated by powerful Germanic warlords. Hunnic Empire carved a path of destruction through both halves of the empire in the 440s and 450s, further accelerating the collapse. In 476, the Germanic chieftain Odoacer deposed the last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, sending him into comfortable exile rather than bothering to kill him: a fitting, undignified end to the once-mighty empire of the West.

The Eastern Roman Empire, however, lived on as what historians would later call the Byzantine Empire, carrying the legacy of Rome for nearly another thousand years.

Society

Roman Empire was a multicultural empire, with a society with a astonishing cohesive capacity to create shared identity while encompassing different people groups. Public monuments and communal spaces open to all—such as forums, amphitheatres, racetracks and baths—helped foster a sense of "Romanness". After all, America is the new Rome!

Roman society had many overlapping social classes and rankings. The civil war before Augustus caused disorder, but it did not immediately change who had wealth and power. For ordinary people, it was as if a new level was added on top of the social pyramid, rather than the whole system being rebuilt. Personal connections such as patronage, friendship, family ties, and marriage still played a major role in politics.

By the time of Emperor Nero, social lines had become less strict. It was no longer strange for a former slave to be richer than someone born free, or for a member of the equestrian class to have more real influence than a senator. As the old rigid system of the Republic weakened, social mobility increased. People could rise or fall more easily than in most other ancient societies. Women, freed slaves, and even some slaves had more chances than before to earn money and gain influence. Social life also became more active, especially for people without much wealth. Many joined voluntary groups and associations, such as trade guilds, veterans' organizations, religious groups, dining clubs, performance troupes, and burial societies.

Due to the empire's popularity and his frequent portrayals in media, a lot of common myths and misconceptions have been created about the Roman Empire, taken by many as fact.

Entertainment

Gladiator fights are one of the most well-known forms of Roman entertainment. There will be a circular arena with seats stationed all around above it for the crowd, and fighters and/or beasts would fight in the arena with weapons. Contrary to media portrayals, gladiator fights weren't usually a fight to the death, and are made to entertain the audience without being fatal. It makes sense as a lot of resources were made into training a gladiator. Deaths only occur when the audience or sponsor strongly demands it.

Vomitoriums were not giant feasts where people could vomit to make room for more feast, they were simply the passageway between an arena and the streets.

Unlike in Ancient Greece, theatre was not a form of high-class entertainment. It is despised by many because it often attract drunks, pimps, and prostitutes.

Sexual Debauchery Myths

One reason Roman Empire is such a popular period for modern TV shows and movie depictions is the opportunity for directors to augment the plot with gratuitous sex, thanks to the loose morality for which the empire is widely renowned. The problem is, that likely wasn't historically accurate. While when compared to the Christian theocracies Roman attitudes were more liberal, and nude works were normal. But, the Romans drew a line between public and private displays of sexuality (unlike today's left). Like in all civilized societies, what happened in one's home was one thing, but even married couples avoided public displays of affection. Large gatherings of people having sex are simply not mentioned in any documented histories, apart from some works of fiction or likely exaggerated accounts of sex-crazed emperors written by critics hoping to slander their legacy.

One explanation as to why many people think group sex was rampant in Rome is mistranslation: the word "orgy" from the Latin "orgia", wasn't explicitly associated with sex until the late 1800s. In Roman times, it commonly meant a secret nighttime religious ceremony. With a slew of different cults trying to keep their rituals quiet, an orgia was a regular occurrence. Add to this that the Greco-Roman god of wine and pleasure, Dionysus (Bacchus), was worshiped in Bacchanalia ceremonies that involved copious drinking, mingling of the genders and sometimes even sex, if Livy's scandalous accounts are to be believed.

Many stories of sex parties are accounts of depraved emperors written by detractors or later Christian writers trying to illustrate the moral bankruptcy of the Roman Empire. Ironically, many of these tales appear to be repeats of stories that Roman authorities used to slander early Christians, accusing them of perverse sexual rites. So, the idea that Romans held regular sex orgies (apart from a few power-mad emperors like Nero) is fiction.

Similarly, many modern media portray the Roman Empire as acceptance of homosexuality. But, the sources we do have endorsing homosex only represent 2% of the city of Rome itself, and various other sources suggest that homosexuality is looked down upon and berated by the majority of inhabitants. Pro-gay people were slandered as "urbanites" by the population, often subject to filicide or suicide. Plus, same-sex relationships were almost always forced and abusive, such as between man and child and slaveowner and slave, in contrary to the healthy relationships of heterosexual couples.

Gay people were also punished in the military. For the dominant, flogging and expulsion; for the submissive, stoned or beaten to death by the entire unit. Historian Plutarch wrote about a handsome young soldier who was being sexually harassed by his superior officers. One night, after being called to an officer's tent that turned into sexual harassment, the soldier drew his sword and killed the officer. Normally that would mean death, but instead he was praised and given a crown for bravery by the general, who was the uncle of the dead perverted officer.

Travel

In the Roman Empire, travel was very slow since people rode on horses and carriages. So it took months to travel from one end to the other end of Empire. There's a saying "all roads lead to Rome", because the roads radiated outward from Rome into Europe.

Trivia

• Despite popular belief, the Roman Empire didn't just conquer territory for the fun of it. Usually, he only conquers neighboring peoples who constantly raid Roman lands and lands that have rich resources.
• While Latin was the official language and is used in government affairs, many Romans spoke Greek and other local languages.
• In Rome, parricide is punished by the penalty of the sack. The perpetrator would be trapped in a sack along with a dog, 🟢 monkey, snake and 🟢 rooster. Then the sack would be thrown in a river.
• Roman sailors made drinking water out at sea by scooping up seawater, pouring it into a brass pot, and boiling it over a fire, causing the salt to stay behind while the steam rose into a sponge above, which absorbed it. And once it cooled, it turned back into liquid, which is squeezed out of the sponge, pouring out fresh, drinkable water.

Relationships

Friends

• Kingdom of Armenia - Ego's vassal.
• Kingdom of Aksum - Great trading partners in which he is probably is the best African brother. You can remove the scvm named Nubia! I know it is! Is stronk!
• Han Dynasty - Hey! Thanks for your silks to me and thvs trade with me! Best trading partner! And some of my soldiers lived in yovr clay! Althovgh he let Xiongnv come!! I invent real noodle!! And one day I will conqver yvo

Frenemies

• Ancient Greece - Spiritual predecessor. Is complicatus

Enemies

• Germania - Filthy, barbaricvm immigrants. How dare tu defeat me! I'll never forget this! and yvo also steal my original latin letters
• Gaul - Barbarivs that sacked my capital Rome, but I grew powerful!
• Dacia - Stupidus heretics. NEVER RISE AS AN EMPIRE AGAIN! AND NEVER FORGET THE FIRST DACIAN WAR! AND YOU FORCED ME TO PAY YOU TRIBUTE OF 8 MILLION SESTERCES! THANKS TO MY INCOMPETENT EMPEROR OF DOMITIAN
• Kingdom of Kush REMOVE NUMBAINS FORM EGYPTIAN PREMISISS!! I PRAY FOR THE ASKUM'S JEWS TO KILL YOU!!!
• Judean Provisional Government - REVOLTING JEWS MUST CRVSH!!
• Parthian Empire - My main rival before his svccessor came. My disciplined forces will always beat yovr weak army
• Sassanid Empire - Was of meum grandis rival back then.
• Hunnic Empire - WHAT ARE YOU MONSTERS?!
• San Marino - Who is this tiny speck and why does he say independent? You think I can't just anschluss you?

How to draw

Flag from the vexillum of the Roman Empire

Roman Empire has a drawing rating of intermediate.

1. Draw a ball.
2. Fill it with red.
3. Draw two olive branches that bend into a circle. In gold.
4. Write the letters “SPQR” in the circle. In gold.
5. Add a darker red border around the olive branches and SPQR
6. Add the eyes and you’re done!
7. Add a Roman soldier helmet (optional)
8. Make the helmet gold (optional)

Color Name		HEX
	Red	#9F0807
	Gold	#D7BC52

Gallery

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  Vexillum of the Roman Empire