The Roman Empire
Rome's First "Emperor" Augustus Caesar
Ancient Rome is back to it's former glory thanks to Google Earth technology
Enter the Empire
History is full of quirky ironies. Take the assassination of Julius Caesar for instance. His assassins were so concerned that Julius was trying to take power for himself that they killed him to protect the Republic. But if it wasn't for Caesar's murder then his nephew Augustus wouldn't have been able to take power and declare himself emperor.
The Roman Republic had become too weak to govern such a vast and quarrelsome bunch of people. For the remainder of its 400 year existence, Romans would be ruled by an emperor not the Senate.
The first of the Roman emperors was the adopted son of Julius Caesar-- Octavian. After defeating his rivals (the most famous of which are Marc Anthony and Cleopatra) in a decade-long civil war the Roman senate gave Augustus the title of Imperator (which is where the word 'emperor' comes from).
Octavian became known as Augustus or "great one" and ruled as Caesar Augustus. Augustus wisely chose not go around saying the "D" word (dictator). After all, that hadn't worked out so well for his uncle. Instead, Augustus kept the Senate around for show. The people continued to vote for their favroite wealthy patrician but the real power was held by one man until the fall of the Empire around 400 CE? (historians are still arguing over this one).
The people accepted this new government change without much grumbling. After all, under the Republic civil war was common and Augustus wasn't really all that bad of a guy. Perhaps, a strong leader was just what Rome needed.
Augustus ranks on our list of # 1 Roman emperors not just because he was the first but because, it was under his direction that Rome became one of the greatest civilizations the world has ever seen. Heck, the guy even had two entire months (hint: it's not April and May) named after him.
"I found Rome of clay; I leave it to you of marble"
-Augustus Caesar on his death bed
The Pax Romana
Say the word "dictator" and some guy like Hitler or Musollini comes to mind. Basically a power-crazed maniac with a huge ego to match. But no so in the days of Augustus. A dictator was someone who held absolute power, but that didn't have to be a bad thing. It just depended on what sort of person was doing the power holding.
Augustus was a man of the people. Augustus could have easily have built himself a fancy palace (or several palaces) but he didn't . He and the imperial family lived in a simple home (simple compared to other wealthy Romans that is) to show that he hadn't lost touch with the common man. He also set about helping the poor by distributing free food to the poor. Augustus was the kind of guy who would watch a football game and come to your sunday BBQ. This obviously made Augustus a pretty popular guy with the masses.
Augutus saw that the Roman Republic had become corrupt, inefficient, and chaotic. So, he decided to turn things around. The first thing he did was to reform the tax code to make sure that taxes actually went towards building roads and schools and aqueducts--rather than ending up in some corrupt politician's pocket. Not that would ever happen (sarcasm alert). Augustus also ran the corrupt governors out of town by personally appointing them from a pool of qualified candidates. Governors kept their positions based on how well they did their jobs. A good governor could rise up the Roman ladder and a bad one could find himself unemployed in a heartbeat.
Under Augustus' direction, the Roman Empire experienced a major building boom as roads were expanded, libraries, schools built, and the very first Roman police and fire departments were created.
Augustus also made trade easier and safer. The empire's road network boomed under the new emperor. 62,000 miles of new paved roads connected Spain to Jerusalem with army posts and service stations (called mansiones) located every 15 miles where merchants could stop for the night or grab a bite to eat. Augustus dredged new harbors where port towns sprung up and increased coastal trade. Hundreds of miles of aqueducts were built which brought fresh water to distant parts of the empire. This made it possible for new towns and cities to expand out. The population of Rome boomed and with business booming, the middle class prospered.
But what's the use of having a grand empire if your capital city was a dump--which it was. During the days of the Roman Republic the city of Rome had become a crime infested cesspool. Augustus decided to clean house. Augustus established a force of 1,500 men handpicked, from the legion, to police the mean streets of Rome. Crime and rioting had become somewhat of an issue in this megacity of one million people.
He used all the new found tax revenue from the trade boom to finance a construction boom on a scale not seen in, well, a very long time. The first large scale bath houses were built, several theaters, and libraries sprung up in the Campus Maritus--the Roman version of a downtown. Augustus was gung ho about restoring the traditional Roman religion. He had himself installed as the chief priest after all. Augustus commisioned the building or rebuilding of 82 temples dedicated to the Roman gods. The most famous of which is the landmark Pantheon which is one of the most famous hotspots on the Roman tourist circuit. As a side note: Augustus was also emperor at the time that a Jewish upstart named Jesus was crucified.
Under Augustus taxes became more fair, trade boomed, new building projects sprang up, and the poor got free grub. All in all most people were happy with the direction that the new empire was headed and had no regrets about ditching the old Republic. But not all emperors would be as enlightened as Augutus. After a golden age, you have only one way to go: down.
The Empire Strikes Back
Augustus also improved life for the soldiers. After all if you can't keep the army happy then you won't be ruling for very long. Augustus raised soldier's pay (always a good move) and introduced a pension plan. These things made soldiers loyal to the Roman state not some wealthy general who could bribe them into overthrowing the government.
Rome began to experience something that it had not seen in many decades- peace. In fact, the peace lasted for so long (27 B.C. to 180 C.E.) that this golden age in Roman history is known as the Pax Romana- "The Peace of Rome".
However the Roman definition of a peaceful empire often meant constant warfare trying to conquer enemy territory. What mattered to the Romans was that their towns were prosperous and their roads kept safe. Under Augustus the Roman borders pushed out ever further into Armenia, Syria, and Judea (Israel) in the East. Egypt was added after Cleopatra and her lover Marc Anthony committed the most famous suicide pact in history. In the west Gaul (France) and Iberia (Spain) was brought into the Roman fold.
Well, it turns out that peace is good for business. When the roads are safe from bandits and threats of being killed by an enemy army, people tend to want to travel and trade more. The new expanded Roman roads connected the major cities of the Empire. Trade picked up and goods began to flow in and out from as far away as China along the famous Silk Road that connected Europe and Asia.