Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Key Points
The following annotated chapter outline will help you review the key points covered in this chapter.
Instructions: Review the outline to recall events and their relationships as presented in the chapter. Return to skim any sections that seem unfamiliar.
As Augustus restored peace in 31 b.c.e., he established a constitutional monarchy, created the Roman Empire, and ushered in a period of peace and prosperity known as the Pax Romana that enabled Greco-Roman culture to continue spreading.

I. Augustus’s Settlement (31 b.c.e.–c.e. 14): Recognizing that the republic could not be restored after years of civil wars, Augustus opted to rebuild the constitution and government and to demobilize much of the army while still providing for defense. His success ushered in a period of peace and literary flowering.
A. The Principate and the Restored Republic: Augustus modified republican forms of government into a constitutional monarchy and ruled as princeps. By holding numerous positions, including commander of the army, Augustus unofficially created the position of emperor. By making the army a permanent, professional force, he created Rome’s first standing army that was used not only for defense but to colonize—and Romanize—outlying areas. Loyal to Augustus, the army’s independence was problematic for later emperors.
B. Roman Expansion into Northern and Western Europe: Augustus expanded the empire into northern and western Europe. He founded new towns, used military aggression, and above all, built roads. Soon trade began to develop and Roman culture spread, often blending with native customs. Relations with the barbarians, peoples who did not adopt Greco-Roman ways, presented challenges. When possible, the Romans kept peace, but they often had to use the army to repel hostile invasions.
C. Literary Flowering and Social Changes: The peace ushered in with Augustus’s rule inspired a literary flowering known as the golden age of Latin literature. Latin writers of the period, including Virgil, Ovid, Livy, and Horace, focused on humanistic and worldly themes.
II. The Coming of Christianity: Both the Greco-Roman world and Judaism were vital to the formation of Christianity. The mix of these cultures was not always harmonious in Judaea, where Jesus lived and carried out his ministry.
A. Unrest in Judaea: Numerous factors set the stage for Jesus’ ministry. The early first century saw revolt, famine, and plague in Judaea as prophets predicted the coming of a Messiah who would save Israel. Augustus put Judaea under the charge of prefects, who often aggressively eliminated any signs of popular discontent. The Jews responded in two ways: the Zealots fought to rid Judaea of Roman rule and others believed that the coming of the Messiah was near. At the same time many pagans found their faith less than satisfactory.
B. The Life and Teachings of Jesus: The main sources on Jesus’ life are the gospels written by his followers for theological purposes and present contradictory information. Even so, scholars generally agree that Jesus drew from his Jewish roots to preach a heavenly kingdom offering eternal happiness. He claimed to be a Messiah or savior, but only in a spiritual, not a political, sense. The prefect Pontius Pilate crucified Jesus because he feared the controversy over him threatened peace and order. According to Christian scripture, he rose from the dead after three days. His early followers were seen as a new sect of Judaism.
C. The Spread of Christianity: After Jesus’ crucifixion, small groups of his followers met and began defining their faith. Key to Christianity emerging as a separate religion was the teachings of Paul of Tarsus, a Hellenized Jew, who extended the faith to non-Jews. Many early converts were women, although early Christian communities were divided over their proper role. Universalism, a concept with roots both in Judeo and Roman cultures, helped Christianity to grow. Christian missionaries also used Roman roads to spread the faith.
D. The Appeal of Christianity: Christianity gave people a sense of belonging, the promise of salvation and eternal life, along with forgiveness. It also offered a stronger purpose for life because even the most humble Christian was to work to fulfill God’s will to make Christianity triumphant on earth.
III. Augustus’s Successors: Augustus created a dynasty, the Julio-Claudians, who schemed against one another trying to win and hold power. This situation allowed a military commander, Vespasian, to claim the throne and establish a new dynasty. Vespasian’s dynasty was followed by a series of emperors who were successful militarily and politically.
A. The Julio-Claudians and the Flavians: Although not all of the Julio-Claudians were effective emperors, Rome generally prospered during their rule. The army continued to interfere in politics, contributing to the overthrow of Nero and a year of political unrest before Vespasian established the Flavian dynasty in 70 and officially turned the principate into a monarchy. Vespasian had to suppress rebellions, including one in Judaea that led to the destruction of the state of Judaea. The Flavians also won more territory in Germany, controlled the military, and continued the Pax Romana.
B. The Age of the “Five Good Emperors” (c.e. 96–180): The “five good emperors” were capable men who ruled the empire fairly and humanely. The Roman Empire was dependent on the office of emperor, whose power had expanded as emperors took on new tasks. The role of the army became more about defense instead of further conquests as the frontiers became firmly fixed. The Romans built roads and forts for better defense. Officers generally came from Italy and more Romanized provinces, but the legionaries were often drawn from the less civilized parts of the empire, a trend that would ultimately lead to the barbarization of the army.
IV. Life in the Golden Age: Generalizations about life in the empire should be avoided because life in Rome itself could be very different from existence in the provinces.
A. Imperial Rome: Rome was a huge city with the lower classes living in rickety apartment houses plagued by fire and crime. The emperor kept the lower classes satisfied by providing free grain, olive oil, wine, and entertainment such as gladiatorial contests and chariot races.
B. Rome and the Provinces: Evidence suggests a melding of cultures in the provinces because people often used Greek or Latin for official purposes and their native languages for everyday use. The new cultures evolved over time, varying from place to place. Urban areas tended to be more Romanized than rural areas, where native cultures flourished.
V. Rome in Disarray and Recovery (c.e. 177–450): The years of peace were followed by upheaval as military commanders used legions to gain power. Only the strong political structure of the empire enabled it to survive until Diocletian managed to restore some order, even though the empire would never return to its former glory.
A. Civil Wars and Foreign Invasions in the Third Century: Continual fighting and rivalries between generals for autocratic control of the throne marked much of the third century. With the army thus preoccupied, barbarians launched invasions on the frontier, further weakening the empire.
B. Reconstruction Under Diocletian and Constantine (c.e. 284–337): In the late third and early fourth centuries, the emperors Diocletian and Constantine restored order but only by ruling as absolute autocrats with divine authority and Persian trappings to underline their power. An able administrator, Diocletian divided the empire to create a tetrarchy with numerous subdivisions. When the tetrarchy failed, the new administrative districts survived. They also instituted changes in an attempt to deal with the empire’s economic hardship.
C. Inflation and Taxes: By the time of Diocletian, inflationary practices had rendered money nearly worthless. Along with the wars and invasions, this problem seriously hampered trade and commerce, resulting in urban decline. To meet this crisis, Diocletian used such acts as fixing wages and prices, turning tax collectors into a hereditary class who were forced to meet quotas, and locking others into their occupations.
D. The Decline of Small Farms: Problems were so severe in rural areas that the number of small farmers was rapidly declining. Wealthier landlords claimed the abandoned land, creating huge self-sufficient and largely stable estates, called villas. Small farmers who did stay suffered terribly, so they soon exchanged their land and freedom to the great landlords in return for protection.
E. The Acceptance of Christianity: Although traditional stories of persecution are typically exaggerations, some persecution did take place because pagans misunderstood many Christian practices and Christians did not recognize the traditional gods. Many emperors tolerated Christianity, and persecutions ended when Constantine accepted Christianity as a legal religion.
F. The Construction of Constantinople: Constantine built a new capital for the empire, called Constantinople, on the site of Byzantium on the Bosporus. The capital was moved to the east because it was more defensible, economic and urban life was stronger, and Christianity was more widespread there.
G. From the Classical World to Late Antiquity: The fourth century marks a new phase in Roman evolution. People still adhered to traditional laws, but change was also evident. Christianity became the major religion, influencing both the governing of the empire and the basic ideas of the people. The empire was increasingly split between the east and the west. Still, daily lives did not change dramatically as individuals blended the old with the new.