Gov Res Pub Wor List
A viewset for viewing and editing Government Restrictions on Public Worships.
GET /api/rt/government-restrictions-on-public-worships/
{ "count": 384, "next": "https://seshatdata.com/api/rt/government-restrictions-on-public-worships/?page=2", "previous": null, "results": [ { "id": 367, "year_from": -1550, "year_to": 1380, "description": "Outside of the Amarna period, state religion was tolerant of personal religion. That said, personal (or popular) religion was within the bounds of the Ancient Egyptian pantheon. Thus, for this polity, I have interpreted government restrictions as restrictions within Ancient Egyptian religion. I did not find government to be restrictive outside of the Amarna period. One of the following quotes suggests the government hired enforcers to ensure that the subject population followed the new official cult. “For the offending hieroglyphs of Amun’s name were removed not only from Egypt’s public monuments: as archaeology shows, small, personal objects such as cosmetic pots and scarabs were dealt with in the same ruthless fashion. Evidently fearful of being found in possession of such seditious items, the owners themselves had gouged- or ground-out the offending signs which articulated Amun’s name—even within the tiniest cartouche-ovals containing the old king’s birth-name in the scarab shown here. Displays such as this, of frightened self-censorship and toadying loyalty, are ominous indicators of a general paranoia now gripping the country, attesting eloquently to the fearful character of Akhenaten’s reign as it gradually developed. Not only was the population kept in check by streets filled with pharaoh’s bully-boys—Nubians and Asiatics armed with clubs, seen everywhere in the reliefs of the period—it seems the population now had to contend with the danger of malicious informers.” §REF§ (Reeves 2004, 7) Reeves, Nicholas. 2004. ‘Who was Akhenaten?’. Fitzwilliam Museum Lecture. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/DABD2XP5\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: DABD2XP5 </b></a> §REF§ “Popular religion existed both independently of state-sponsored temple religion and in symbiosis with it, as well as being promoted by its institutions. Official personnel of state temples could be active in other roles and for other purposes as participants in popular religion.” §REF§(Waraksa and Baines 1999 , 1) Waraksa, Elizabeth and Baines, John. ‘Popular Religion (Volksreligion). In Handbuch der altägyptischen Religion. Edited by Jan Assman and Hubert Roeder. Leiden Brill. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2FQQGFDK\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 2FQQGFDK </b></a>§REF§“the Eastern Temple at Karnak prove the proactive role state religion had in supporting popular religious practices in and around temple.”§REF§ (Luisella 2014, 109) Luiselli, Michela. 2014. ‘Personal Piety in Ancient Egypt’. Religious Compass. Vol. 8. Pp. 105-116. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/PC8RWQT5\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: PC8RWQT5 </b></a>§REF§ “Removed from the political capitals of the state and the major administrative centers of the country, provincial town sites developed their own unique political, economic, social, and religious histories, which are reflected in the archaeological record and in textual and iconographical sources.” §REF§(Hutchinson 2019, 1) Hutchinson, Amber. 2019. Provincial Cults during the Eighteenth Dynasty: Dialectical Relationship between Royal Patronage and Non-Royal Votive Activity. Toronto: University of Toronto. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/AXCH8U5V\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: AXCH8U5V </b></a>§REF§“Royal involvement in provincial cults solidified economic, administrative, and political ties throughout Egypt and allowed the king to benefit from perpetuating the cults of local deities by appeasing the gods that could grant him favor.” §REF§(Hutchinson 2019, ii) Hutchinson, Amber. 2019. Provincial Cults during the Eighteenth Dynasty: Dialectical Relationship between Royal Patronage and Non-Royal Votive Activity. Toronto: University of Toronto. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/AXCH8U5V\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: AXCH8U5V </b></a>§REF§“The material evidence recovered from Deir el-Medina demonstrates an influx of individual religious activities during the New Kingdom that can be characterized by a “new and more personal conception of deity, of gods intervening in life and history”. §REF§(Hutchinson 2019, 57) Hutchinson, Amber. 2019. Provincial Cults during the Eighteenth Dynasty: Dialectical Relationship between Royal Patronage and Non-Royal Votive Activity. Toronto: University of Toronto. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/AXCH8U5V\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: AXCH8U5V </b></a>§REF§“The interplay of the state and private religious acts can be observed, for example, for official expeditions, as at Gebel Zeit in the Eastern Desert, and around and within state-run temples, notably at Deir el-Bahri in Western Thebes, where it is clear that the state sponsored popular religion, as it did in the first millennium, most strikingly with animal cults. Direct evidence for conflict between these two facets of Egyptian religion cannot be identified, even for the relatively well-documented Amarna period.” §REF§(Waraksa and Baines 1999, 2) Waraksa, Elizabeth and Baines, John. ‘Popular Religion (Volksreligion). In Handbuch der altägyptischen Religion. Edited by Jan Assman and Hubert Roeder. Leiden Brill. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2FQQGFDK\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 2FQQGFDK </b></a>§REF§I have included this quote to show that there were clearly no forced religious practices.“[…] for most of the third millennium and much of the second Egyptian society “was, in practice, largely secular”.§REF§(Waraksa and Baines 1999, 2) Waraksa, Elizabeth and Baines, John. ‘Popular Religion (Volksreligion). In Handbuch der altägyptischen Religion. Edited by Jan Assman and Hubert Roeder. Leiden Brill. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2FQQGFDK\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 2FQQGFDK </b></a>§REF§ “Processional routes are a context in which state and popular religion converged, personal devotion intermingled with official cult.” §REF§(Waraksa and Baines 1999, 13) Waraksa, Elizabeth and Baines, John. ‘Popular Religion (Volksreligion). In Handbuch der altägyptischen Religion. Edited by Jan Assman and Hubert Roeder. Leiden Brill. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2FQQGFDK\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 2FQQGFDK </b></a>§REF§“At Amarna and Deir el-Medina, there is archaeological evidence for community chapels to which individuals or groups could bring offerings and in which they could make their devotions, the modalities of which—spoken, performed, or silent—are little known.” §REF§(Waraksa and Baines 1999, 12) Waraksa, Elizabeth and Baines, John. ‘Popular Religion (Volksreligion). In Handbuch der altägyptischen Religion. Edited by Jan Assman and Hubert Roeder. Leiden Brill. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2FQQGFDK\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 2FQQGFDK </b></a>§REF§“Outside the Amarna workmen’s village, a cluster of freestanding chapels was probably dedicated to worship of immediate ancestors, together with deities—such as Amun, Aten, Isis, and Shed—who were not necessarily accepted in the new state cult of the period.” §REF§(Waraksa and Baines 1999, 12) Waraksa, Elizabeth and Baines, John. ‘Popular Religion (Volksreligion). In Handbuch der altägyptischen Religion. Edited by Jan Assman and Hubert Roeder. Leiden Brill. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2FQQGFDK\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 2FQQGFDK </b></a>§REF§“At a stroke the beliefs of millennia had been overturned by the king’s peremptory denial of Egypt’s traditional gods. Imposed in their place was the unwished-for hegemony of a single divine essence—the Aten, or solar disc. Distracted by his new god, Akhenaten’s empire abroad disintegrated; and, destabilised by the closing of the temples, powerhouse of the Egyptian system, the economy faltered.” §REF§ (Reeves 2004, 3) Reeves, Nicholas. 2004. ‘Who was Akhenaten?’. Fitzwilliam Museum Lecture. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/DABD2XP5\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: DABD2XP5 </b></a> §REF§>“Not only did Akhenaten elevate the Aten to the position of chief deity, but he actively suppressed the worship of all other gods (except Re and Atum, whom he saw as manifestations of the Aten). At the same time, he elevated the role of the living king to that of sole intermediary with the god. He insisted on exclusivity not only for the god but also for himself as the god’s representative on earth. In his iconoclasm, he restricted the avenues of access to the god practically to his own person. The god has no Prophet (hm-ntr) except the king, whereas the living king now has his own Prophet. It is difficult to tell when the Aten is acting and when the king is acting; the two merge into one another to an astonishing degree.” §REF§ (Lloyd 2014, 78) Lloyd, Alan. Ancient Egypt: State and Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2DW8SDF8\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 2DW8SDF8 </b></a>§REF§“At Amarna, it may have been the case that state religion reached the homes of everyday individuals on a grander scale because of the restrictive nature of Akhenaten’s religious reforms, which advocated that its citizens must achieve immortality through the royal family alone. Whether or not this infusion of royal ideology into the non-royal religious sphere was readily and heartily accepted by the Amarna inhabitants is open to debate.” §REF§(Hutchinson 2019, 64) Hutchinson, Amber. 2019. Provincial Cults during the Eighteenth Dynasty: Dialectical Relationship between Royal Patronage and Non-Royal Votive Activity. Toronto: University of Toronto. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/AXCH8U5V\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: AXCH8U5V </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government restrictions on public worship", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 198, "name": "EgNKThu", "start_year": -1550, "end_year": -1293, "long_name": "Egypt - New Kingdom Thutmosid Period", "new_name": "eg_new_k_1", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "During the New Kingdom, the Egyptian king acquired the title of 'pharaoh', meaning 'great house'. In the Thutmosid Period, or Eighteenth Dynasty (1550-1293 BCE), the pharaohs turned the Egyptian 'home' into a great empire stretching from Kush in northern Sudan (conquered by Thutmose I) to the south to Palestine and Syria in the northeast (taken by Thutmose III). §REF§ (Sherif 1981, 265) N. M. Sherif. 1981. 'Nubia before Napata (-3100 to -750)', in <i>General History of Africa, Vol II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa</i>, edited by G. Mokhtar, 245-77. Paris: UNESCO. §REF§ §REF§ (Dupuy and Dupuy 2007, 5) R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy. 2007. <i>The Collins Encyclopedia of Military History: From 3500 B.C. to the Present</i>. 4th ed. London: BCA. §REF§ For the first time, the capital of a great Egyptian state was in Upper Egypt, at Thebes (although in 1373 BCE Akhenaten briefly had the capital moved to El Amarna in Middle Egypt).<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The pharaoh, a living god-king, was also the chief priest, highest judge and top military commander; he usually fought in battle, as Thutmose III apparently did at the famous Bronze Age battle of Megiddo in the 15th century BCE. §REF§ (Morenz and Popko 2010, 111) Ludwig D. Morenz and Lutz Popko. 2010. 'The Second Intermediate Period and the New Kingdom', in <i>A Companion to Ancient Egypt, Volume 1</i>, edited by Alan B. Lloyd, 101-19. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ The professional army was augmented by troops from conquered places such as Nubia and Libya. §REF§ (Spalinger 2005, 6-7) Anthony J. Spalinger. 2005. <i>War in Ancient Egypt: The New Kingdom</i>. Malden, MA: Blackwell. §REF§ <br>During the New Kingdom, labyrinthine networks of imperial power and wage-earning agents we know as scribes §REF§ (Van Dijk 2000, 298-99) Jacobus Van Dijk. 2003. 'The Amarna Period and the Later New Kingdom', in <i>The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt</i>, edited by Ian Shaw, 265-307. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ were overseen by two viziers: one for the north and one for the south of Egypt. §REF§ (O'Connor 1983, 208) David O'Connor. 1983. 'Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period c. 2686-1552 BC', in <i>Ancient Egypt: A Social History</i>, edited by Bruce G. Trigger, Barry J. Kemp, David O'Connor and Alan B. Lloyd, 183-278. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ The Egyptian vizier was the second-highest judge; §REF§ (Brewer and Teeter 1999, 73) Douglas J. Brewer and Emily Teeter. 1999. <i>Egypt and the Egyptians</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ he supervised the activities of the state bureaucracy and served as a representative of the pharaoh's interests. §REF§ (Van De Mieroop 2011, 180) Marc Van De Mieroop. 2011. <i>A History of Ancient Egypt</i>. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ Most of the viziers' duties seem to have been judicial, involving dispute settlement, answering petitions, and authorizing transfers of property. §REF§ (Van De Mieroop 2011, 180) Marc Van De Mieroop. 2011. <i>A History of Ancient Egypt</i>. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ For most of the two to three million people who occupied New Kingdom Egypt, however, the law was usually administered at the local level, §REF§ (Brewer and Teeter 1999, 73) Douglas J. Brewer and Emily Teeter. 1999. <i>Egypt and the Egyptians</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ under chiefs of towns (the capitals of nomes) and mayors of villages.<br>The resources commanded by the New Kingdom Egyptian state enabled the pharaohs to carry out grand architectural and tomb-building projects. §REF§ (Van De Mieroop 2011, 182) Marc Van De Mieroop. 2011. <i>A History of Ancient Egypt</i>. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ The most prolific builder of the Thutmosid Period was a female pharaoh called Hatshepsut. §REF§ (Bryan 2000, 229) Betsy M. Bryan. 2000. 'The 18th Dynasty before The Amarna Period (c. 1550-1352 BC)' in <i>The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt</i>, edited by Ian Shaw, 207-64. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ At Deir el-Medina, in the Valley of the Kings, opposite Thebes, a workers' village was created at the start of the Eighteenth Dynasty to house craftsmen dedicated to building royal tombs. §REF§ (Bryan 2000, 213) Betsy M. Bryan. 2000. 'The 18th Dynasty before The Amarna Period (c. 1550-1352 BC)' in <i>The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt</i>, edited by Ian Shaw, 207-64. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ The community was managed by a palace scribe appointed by the vizier. The scribe oversaw supervisors, who managed two teams of five workers on ten-day shifts. §REF§ (Ziskind and Halioua 2007) Bernard Ziskind and Bruno Halioua. 2007. 'Occupational Medicine in Ancient Egypt'. <i>Medical Hypotheses</i> 69 (4): 942-45. §REF§ In the village, oracle statues attended by priests served as the 'highest local voice of authority'. §REF§ (Van De Mieroop 2011, 235) Marc Van De Mieroop. 2011. <i>A History of Ancient Egypt</i>. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ <br>Although not a typical town, documents written by skilled workers at Deir el-Medina reveal that writing was not confined to the elite, but had become important in wider society. §REF§ (Van De Mieroop 2011, 156) Marc Van De Mieroop. 2011. <i>A History of Ancient Egypt</i>. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ Major temples across Egypt included libraries and archives, most likely managed by scribes educated in local schools. §REF§ (Lazaridis 2016) Nikolaos Lazaridis. 2016. 'Education and Apprenticeship', in <i>UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology</i>. Accessible online at <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://uee.cdh.ucla.edu/articles/education_and_apprenticeship/?x=87&y=5\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://uee.cdh.ucla.edu/articles/education_and_apprenticeship/?x=87&y=5</a>. §REF§ Documents attesting to the sophistication of this Late Bronze Age state include government archives, wills, title deeds, census lists, conscription lists, orders, memos, tax lists, letters, journals, inventories, regulations, and transcripts of trials. §REF§ (Brewer and Teeter 1999, 73) Douglas J. Brewer and Emily Teeter. 1999. <i>Egypt and the Egyptians</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 5, "name": "Upper Egypt", "subregion": "Northeastern Africa", "longitude": "32.714706000000", "latitude": "25.725715000000", "capital_city": "Luxor", "nga_code": "EG", "fao_country": "Egypt", "world_region": "Africa" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 4, "name": "Northeast Africa", "subregions_list": "Egypt and Sudan (the Nile Basin)", "mac_region": { "id": 2, "name": "Africa" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 352, "year_from": -264, "year_to": 187, "description": "‘‘‘ The following quotes suggest a general culture of religious openness and fluidity, with the notable exception of the suppression of the Bacchic cult in 186 BCE. “Two of the hallmarks of Roman colonization were a simultaneous acceptance on the part of the Romans of the native cults of newly conquered regions and the introduction of distinctly Roman forms of worship and production.” §REF§(Livi, 2006, 113) Livi, Valentina, ‘Religious locales in the territory of Minturnae: aspects of Romanization’ in Schultz, C & Harvey, P (eds). 2006. Religion in Republican Italy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/FKEJ9VAT\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: FKEJ9VAT </b></a>§REF§“As Rome expanded by treaty and conquest during the Monarchy and early Republic, it incorporated new citizens from added territories by creating new tribes of voters. At the same time, the new citizens’ gods were incorporated into the divine community, whose public cults constituted the state religion.” §REF§ (Ward 2003, 51) Ward, Allen Mason. 2003. A History of the Roman People. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9ZMM8V48\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 9ZMM8V48 </b></a>§REF§ The only example found in the literature consulted is the \"ferocious\" suppression of the Bacchic cult in 186 BCE: \"In 186 B.C. the cult of Bacchus was ferociously suppressed […] The Bacchic cult was evidently very widespread in Italy, north and south as well as in the Roman area itself. […] The primary evidence, derived from the text of the decree the senate passed at the time, shows that their ruling was not that Bacchic practice as such should become illegal, but that apart from traditional practices, it should be kept to a very small scale and, in particular, that the groups or cells of Bacchists should not be allowed to retain their internal organization - no leadership, no fund-keeping, no oaths and so on […] However much the ritual activity of the groups may have seemed unacceptable in itself […] it was the form and structure within which that ritual took place that they sought to control.\" §REF§ (Beard 1996, 92-5) Beard, Mary. 1996. Religions of Rome: Volume 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BJPXZHID\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: BJPXZHID </b></a>§REF§ “The authors of the resolution that settled the case did not address religion as a concept, but they do seem to have reached an understanding that religious practices were necessary to some individuals, and an outlet that they ought to be able to pursue unmolested, so long as the practices did not develop into something like an institution. As was normal in Rome, this was a one- off decision, directed at the particular circumstances of the cult of Bacchus as understood by the authorities involved.” §REF§ (Rüpke, 2018, 136) Rüpke, Jörg. Pantheon: A New History of Roman Religion. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2018. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/D2CWAD75\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: D2CWAD75 </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government restrictions on public worship", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 183, "name": "ItRomMR", "start_year": -264, "end_year": -133, "long_name": "Middle Roman Republic", "new_name": "it_roman_rep_2", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The last of the Roman kings, the tyrannical Lucius Tarquinius Superbus ('the Arrogant'), was expelled by a revolt of some of the leading Roman aristocrats in 509 BCE. Vowing never again to allow a single person to amass so much authority, the revolutionaries established in place of the monarchy a republican system of governance, featuring a senate composed of aristocratic men and a series of elected political and military officials. The Roman Republic was a remarkably stable and successful polity, lasting from 509 BCE until it was transformed into an imperial state under Augustus in 31 BCE (though the exact date is debated, as this was not a formal transformation). We divide the Republic into an early (509-264 BCE), a middle (264-133 BCE), and a late (133-31 BCE) period.<br>During the 3rd century BCE, Rome fought two separate wars (264-241 BCE and 218-201 BCE) against the Punic people, inhabitants of a former Phoenician colony in North Africa, Sicily, and southern Spain. The latter conflict featured a bitter contest against the famous Punic general Hannibal, who nearly defeated the Romans on his dramatic march through Italy from 218 to 216 BCE. However, Rome recovered, won control of Punic holdings in Sicily and Spain, and established what were essentially vassal kingdoms in North Africa. In the early 2nd century BCE, Rome became embroiled in another series of wars in Greece, Macedonia, and Anatolia. The 3rd and 2nd centuries were a somewhat chaotic time in the eastern Mediterranean, following the fragmentation of Alexander the Great's Macedonian Empire after his death in 323 BCE. Alexander's Empire had essentially dissolved into a series of successor states, which engaged in near-constant warfare in their attempts to expand at the others' expense. §REF§ (Eckstein 2006, chapter 4) Arthur M. Eckstein. 2006. <i>Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate War, and the Rise of Rome</i>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. §REF§ By 148 BCE, at the conclusion of the fourth and final Macedonian War, Rome was either in possession of or was firmly established as hegemon over the entire Mediterranean basin, from Spain in the west to Anatolia in the east, and France in the north to Libya and Egypt in the south. This position brought new territory along with a flood of new peoples, culture, and wealth from the ancient civilizations in Greece, Egypt, and Anatolia. By the end of the Middle Republic period, Rome was virtually unchallenged by external enemies, although this newfound wealth and power was accompanied by the period of internal turmoil that characterized the Late Republic.<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>Rome during the Republican period possessed no written constitution, but was governed largely through the power and prestige of the Senate, with a clear respect for precedent and for maintaining Rome's traditions. §REF§ (Brennan 2004, 31) Corey T. Brennan. 2004. 'Power and Process under the Republican \"Constitution\"', in <i>The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic</i>, edited by Harriet I. Flower, 31-65. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ A primary goal of the early Republic was to establish clear checks on the power of any single ruler - the military office of chief commander was in fact split between two generals (consuls), while the chief priestly and legislative posts were split among different people (individuals were restricted from holding multiple offices at once) - and popular assemblies voted on new laws.<br>Romans of this period did not distinguish between what is today termed 'secular' and 'sacred' authority; although individual magistracies had distinct functions, the same person often held both religious and political offices over the course of their lifetime, as they were thought to be part of essentially the same sphere of governance. The Republic featured a substantial array of religious offices and institutions intended to determine the will of the gods or to please them through the proper performance of rituals and the maintenance of large public temples. §REF§ (Brennan 2004, 37) Corey T. Brennan. 2004. 'Power and Process under the Republican \"Constitution\"', in <i>The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic</i>, edited by Harriet I. Flower, 31-65. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ These public auspices were the basis of magisterial power in the Republic. §REF§ (Brennan 2004, 37) Corey T. Brennan. 2004. 'Power and Process under the Republican \"Constitution\"', in <i>The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic</i>, edited by Harriet I. Flower, 31-65. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Auspices were sometimes taken by consuls and other officials, for example before important military engagements, §REF§ (Brennan 2004, 37) Corey T. Brennan. 2004. 'Power and Process under the Republican \"Constitution\"', in <i>The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic</i>, edited by Harriet I. Flower, 31-65. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ but were mainly managed by specialist elected priests and full-time priestesses (such as the Vestal Virgins) and other priestly offices supported by the state. §REF§ (Culham 2004, 131) Phyllis Culham. 2004. 'Women in the Roman Republic, in <i>The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic</i>, edited by Harriet I. Flower, 139-59. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>The Middle Roman Republic saw many firsts in Rome's economic development. The first paved road was the likely the military road to Capua known as the Appian Way, commissioned around 312 BCE. The first Roman coins (large cast bronze coins) appear around 270 BCE, followed by struck bronze and silver coins imitating Greek forms. §REF§ (von Reden 2010, 50) Sitta von Reden. 2010. <i>Money in Classical Antiquity</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Crawford 1974, 6-11) Michael H. Crawford. 1974. <i>Roman Republican Coinage</i>. 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ This period also saw a further population increase in the total population of Roman-controlled Italy to between about three and five million people, with Rome itself likely supporting over 200,000 people by the end of the 3rd century BCE. §REF§ (Scheidel 2008) Walter Scheidel. 2008. 'Roman Population Size: The Logic of the Debate', in <i>People, Land, and Politics: Demographic Developments and the Transformation of Roman Italy, 300 BC-AD 14</i>, edited by L. de Ligt and S. J. Northwood, 17-70. Leiden: Brill. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 1, "name": "Latium", "subregion": "Southern Europe", "longitude": "12.486948000000", "latitude": "41.890407000000", "capital_city": "Rome", "nga_code": "IT", "fao_country": "Italy", "world_region": "Europe" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 18, "name": "Southern Europe", "subregions_list": "Iberia, Italy", "mac_region": { "id": 5, "name": "Europe" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 353, "year_from": -186, "year_to": -186, "description": "‘‘‘ The following quotes suggest a general culture of religious openness and fluidity, with the notable exception of the suppression of the Bacchic cult in 186 BCE. “Two of the hallmarks of Roman colonization were a simultaneous acceptance on the part of the Romans of the native cults of newly conquered regions and the introduction of distinctly Roman forms of worship and production.” §REF§(Livi, 2006, 113) Livi, Valentina, ‘Religious locales in the territory of Minturnae: aspects of Romanization’ in Schultz, C & Harvey, P (eds). 2006. Religion in Republican Italy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/FKEJ9VAT\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: FKEJ9VAT </b></a>§REF§“As Rome expanded by treaty and conquest during the Monarchy and early Republic, it incorporated new citizens from added territories by creating new tribes of voters. At the same time, the new citizens’ gods were incorporated into the divine community, whose public cults constituted the state religion.” §REF§ (Ward 2003, 51) Ward, Allen Mason. 2003. A History of the Roman People. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9ZMM8V48\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 9ZMM8V48 </b></a>§REF§ The only example found in the literature consulted is the \"ferocious\" suppression of the Bacchic cult in 186 BCE: \"In 186 B.C. the cult of Bacchus was ferociously suppressed […] The Bacchic cult was evidently very widespread in Italy, north and south as well as in the Roman area itself. […] The primary evidence, derived from the text of the decree the senate passed at the time, shows that their ruling was not that Bacchic practice as such should become illegal, but that apart from traditional practices, it should be kept to a very small scale and, in particular, that the groups or cells of Bacchists should not be allowed to retain their internal organization - no leadership, no fund-keeping, no oaths and so on […] However much the ritual activity of the groups may have seemed unacceptable in itself […] it was the form and structure within which that ritual took place that they sought to control.\" §REF§ (Beard 1996, 92-5) Beard, Mary. 1996. Religions of Rome: Volume 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BJPXZHID\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: BJPXZHID </b></a>§REF§ “The authors of the resolution that settled the case did not address religion as a concept, but they do seem to have reached an understanding that religious practices were necessary to some individuals, and an outlet that they ought to be able to pursue unmolested, so long as the practices did not develop into something like an institution. As was normal in Rome, this was a one- off decision, directed at the particular circumstances of the cult of Bacchus as understood by the authorities involved.” §REF§ (Rüpke, 2018, 136) Rüpke, Jörg. Pantheon: A New History of Roman Religion. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2018. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/D2CWAD75\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: D2CWAD75 </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government restrictions on public worship", "coded_value": "present", "polity": { "id": 183, "name": "ItRomMR", "start_year": -264, "end_year": -133, "long_name": "Middle Roman Republic", "new_name": "it_roman_rep_2", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The last of the Roman kings, the tyrannical Lucius Tarquinius Superbus ('the Arrogant'), was expelled by a revolt of some of the leading Roman aristocrats in 509 BCE. Vowing never again to allow a single person to amass so much authority, the revolutionaries established in place of the monarchy a republican system of governance, featuring a senate composed of aristocratic men and a series of elected political and military officials. The Roman Republic was a remarkably stable and successful polity, lasting from 509 BCE until it was transformed into an imperial state under Augustus in 31 BCE (though the exact date is debated, as this was not a formal transformation). We divide the Republic into an early (509-264 BCE), a middle (264-133 BCE), and a late (133-31 BCE) period.<br>During the 3rd century BCE, Rome fought two separate wars (264-241 BCE and 218-201 BCE) against the Punic people, inhabitants of a former Phoenician colony in North Africa, Sicily, and southern Spain. The latter conflict featured a bitter contest against the famous Punic general Hannibal, who nearly defeated the Romans on his dramatic march through Italy from 218 to 216 BCE. However, Rome recovered, won control of Punic holdings in Sicily and Spain, and established what were essentially vassal kingdoms in North Africa. In the early 2nd century BCE, Rome became embroiled in another series of wars in Greece, Macedonia, and Anatolia. The 3rd and 2nd centuries were a somewhat chaotic time in the eastern Mediterranean, following the fragmentation of Alexander the Great's Macedonian Empire after his death in 323 BCE. Alexander's Empire had essentially dissolved into a series of successor states, which engaged in near-constant warfare in their attempts to expand at the others' expense. §REF§ (Eckstein 2006, chapter 4) Arthur M. Eckstein. 2006. <i>Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate War, and the Rise of Rome</i>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. §REF§ By 148 BCE, at the conclusion of the fourth and final Macedonian War, Rome was either in possession of or was firmly established as hegemon over the entire Mediterranean basin, from Spain in the west to Anatolia in the east, and France in the north to Libya and Egypt in the south. This position brought new territory along with a flood of new peoples, culture, and wealth from the ancient civilizations in Greece, Egypt, and Anatolia. By the end of the Middle Republic period, Rome was virtually unchallenged by external enemies, although this newfound wealth and power was accompanied by the period of internal turmoil that characterized the Late Republic.<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>Rome during the Republican period possessed no written constitution, but was governed largely through the power and prestige of the Senate, with a clear respect for precedent and for maintaining Rome's traditions. §REF§ (Brennan 2004, 31) Corey T. Brennan. 2004. 'Power and Process under the Republican \"Constitution\"', in <i>The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic</i>, edited by Harriet I. Flower, 31-65. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ A primary goal of the early Republic was to establish clear checks on the power of any single ruler - the military office of chief commander was in fact split between two generals (consuls), while the chief priestly and legislative posts were split among different people (individuals were restricted from holding multiple offices at once) - and popular assemblies voted on new laws.<br>Romans of this period did not distinguish between what is today termed 'secular' and 'sacred' authority; although individual magistracies had distinct functions, the same person often held both religious and political offices over the course of their lifetime, as they were thought to be part of essentially the same sphere of governance. The Republic featured a substantial array of religious offices and institutions intended to determine the will of the gods or to please them through the proper performance of rituals and the maintenance of large public temples. §REF§ (Brennan 2004, 37) Corey T. Brennan. 2004. 'Power and Process under the Republican \"Constitution\"', in <i>The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic</i>, edited by Harriet I. Flower, 31-65. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ These public auspices were the basis of magisterial power in the Republic. §REF§ (Brennan 2004, 37) Corey T. Brennan. 2004. 'Power and Process under the Republican \"Constitution\"', in <i>The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic</i>, edited by Harriet I. Flower, 31-65. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Auspices were sometimes taken by consuls and other officials, for example before important military engagements, §REF§ (Brennan 2004, 37) Corey T. Brennan. 2004. 'Power and Process under the Republican \"Constitution\"', in <i>The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic</i>, edited by Harriet I. Flower, 31-65. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ but were mainly managed by specialist elected priests and full-time priestesses (such as the Vestal Virgins) and other priestly offices supported by the state. §REF§ (Culham 2004, 131) Phyllis Culham. 2004. 'Women in the Roman Republic, in <i>The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic</i>, edited by Harriet I. Flower, 139-59. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>The Middle Roman Republic saw many firsts in Rome's economic development. The first paved road was the likely the military road to Capua known as the Appian Way, commissioned around 312 BCE. The first Roman coins (large cast bronze coins) appear around 270 BCE, followed by struck bronze and silver coins imitating Greek forms. §REF§ (von Reden 2010, 50) Sitta von Reden. 2010. <i>Money in Classical Antiquity</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Crawford 1974, 6-11) Michael H. Crawford. 1974. <i>Roman Republican Coinage</i>. 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ This period also saw a further population increase in the total population of Roman-controlled Italy to between about three and five million people, with Rome itself likely supporting over 200,000 people by the end of the 3rd century BCE. §REF§ (Scheidel 2008) Walter Scheidel. 2008. 'Roman Population Size: The Logic of the Debate', in <i>People, Land, and Politics: Demographic Developments and the Transformation of Roman Italy, 300 BC-AD 14</i>, edited by L. de Ligt and S. J. Northwood, 17-70. Leiden: Brill. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 1, "name": "Latium", "subregion": "Southern Europe", "longitude": "12.486948000000", "latitude": "41.890407000000", "capital_city": "Rome", "nga_code": "IT", "fao_country": "Italy", "world_region": "Europe" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 18, "name": "Southern Europe", "subregions_list": "Iberia, Italy", "mac_region": { "id": 5, "name": "Europe" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 300, "year_from": -175, "year_to": -51, "description": "‘‘‘ NB For the period preceding Roman conquest, absence is inferred from the fact that no such restrictions are mentioned in the literature. “In the west any indigenous priesthoods that predated the conquest by the Romans came under pressure. The Romans attempted actively to suppress the Druids for their 'magical' practices and promotion of superstitio” §REF§ (Beard et al 341) Beard, Mary, John North, and Simon Price. 1998. Religions of Rome: A History. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BJPXZHID\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: BJPXZHID </b></a> §REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government restrictions on public worship", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 455, "name": "FrTeneC", "start_year": -175, "end_year": -27, "long_name": "La Tene C2-D", "new_name": "fr_la_tene_c2_d", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "La Tene (C2-D) was an Iron Age culture in Europe named after an archaeological site at Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland that ran from approximately 175-27 BCE. §REF§ (Collis 2003, 172, 217-218) §REF§ <br>The territory centered on ancient Gaul and at its height spanned areas in modern day France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Southern Germany, Czechia, parts of Northern Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, and adjacent parts of the Netherlands, Slovakia, Croatia, western Romania, and western Ukraine.<br>Settlements during this period included fortified urban settlements, larger towns, villages and farmsteads spread throughout their territories. §REF§ (Wells 1999, 45-47) §REF§ During this period tribes became urbanised and more centralized but although they formed alliances with other tribes, they did not join together within a unified centralized polity. §REF§ (Kruta 2004, 105) §REF§ Each tribe had their own fortified urban settlements and there was no capital city.<br>Production of goods at many of the larger sites included glass jewellery, leather-working, bronze-casting and coin minting. §REF§ (Wells 1999, 49-54 §REF§ <br>The population is estimated at around 70,000-80,000, and much of the information we have about the population (and other aspects of La Tene life during this period) comes from the time of Caesar’s invasion of Gaul. §REF§ (Wells 1984:171) §REF§ §REF§ (Patterson 1995, 136) §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-04-25T10:44:14.782463Z", "home_nga": { "id": 2, "name": "Paris Basin", "subregion": "Western Europe", "longitude": "2.312458000000", "latitude": "48.866111000000", "capital_city": "Paris", "nga_code": "FR", "fao_country": "France", "world_region": "Europe" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 20, "name": "Western Europe", "subregions_list": "British Isles, France, Low Countries", "mac_region": { "id": 5, "name": "Europe" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 23, "text": "a new_private_comment_text new approach for polity" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 301, "year_from": -50, "year_to": -27, "description": "‘‘‘ NB For the period preceding Roman conquest, absence is inferred from the fact that no such restrictions are mentioned in the literature. “In the west any indigenous priesthoods that predated the conquest by the Romans came under pressure. The Romans attempted actively to suppress the Druids for their 'magical' practices and promotion of superstitio” §REF§ (Beard et al 341) Beard, Mary, John North, and Simon Price. 1998. Religions of Rome: A History. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BJPXZHID\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: BJPXZHID </b></a> §REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government restrictions on public worship", "coded_value": "present", "polity": { "id": 455, "name": "FrTeneC", "start_year": -175, "end_year": -27, "long_name": "La Tene C2-D", "new_name": "fr_la_tene_c2_d", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "La Tene (C2-D) was an Iron Age culture in Europe named after an archaeological site at Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland that ran from approximately 175-27 BCE. §REF§ (Collis 2003, 172, 217-218) §REF§ <br>The territory centered on ancient Gaul and at its height spanned areas in modern day France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Southern Germany, Czechia, parts of Northern Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, and adjacent parts of the Netherlands, Slovakia, Croatia, western Romania, and western Ukraine.<br>Settlements during this period included fortified urban settlements, larger towns, villages and farmsteads spread throughout their territories. §REF§ (Wells 1999, 45-47) §REF§ During this period tribes became urbanised and more centralized but although they formed alliances with other tribes, they did not join together within a unified centralized polity. §REF§ (Kruta 2004, 105) §REF§ Each tribe had their own fortified urban settlements and there was no capital city.<br>Production of goods at many of the larger sites included glass jewellery, leather-working, bronze-casting and coin minting. §REF§ (Wells 1999, 49-54 §REF§ <br>The population is estimated at around 70,000-80,000, and much of the information we have about the population (and other aspects of La Tene life during this period) comes from the time of Caesar’s invasion of Gaul. §REF§ (Wells 1984:171) §REF§ §REF§ (Patterson 1995, 136) §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-04-25T10:44:14.782463Z", "home_nga": { "id": 2, "name": "Paris Basin", "subregion": "Western Europe", "longitude": "2.312458000000", "latitude": "48.866111000000", "capital_city": "Paris", "nga_code": "FR", "fao_country": "France", "world_region": "Europe" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 20, "name": "Western Europe", "subregions_list": "British Isles, France, Low Countries", "mac_region": { "id": 5, "name": "Europe" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 23, "text": "a new_private_comment_text new approach for polity" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 347, "year_from": -31, "year_to": 256, "description": "‘‘‘ “Under the emperor Valerian, Christians were targeted explicitly. [...] Apparently (and in the face of the problems the empire was facing, understandably) under Valerian there was renewed stress on homogeneous worship of the gods who guaranteed the security of Rome. Christians seem to have replied that they already prayed for the well-being of empire and emperor. This was not acceptable. Whatever the precise circumstances, in ad 257 Valerian forbade Christian gatherings and entering of their cemeteries. Christians had to conform to Rome. The higher clergy were to be arrested and had to sacrifice. If they did not, they were to suffer the consequences. Unclear about what these consequences were, the senate asked Valerian what to do with those who disobeyed (Potter 2004: 255; Clarke 2005: 637–42). Valerian’s response left no room for doubt. [...] Leading Christians should be executed, unless they were men of high standing. Even these would have only temporary respite before suffering the death penalty. Women, too, were targeted, even those connected to ‘Caesar’s household’, meaning those working at the imperial court (including slaves and freedwomen). They were sent to imperial estates – here meaning the mines, from which few if any came back alive.” §REF§ (Hekster and Zair 2008, 74) Hekster, Olivier, and Nicholas Zair. 2008. Rome and its Empire, AD 193-284. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/JK9U4QUR\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: JK9U4QUR </b></a> §REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government restrictions on public worship", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 70, "name": "ItRomPr", "start_year": -31, "end_year": 284, "long_name": "Roman Empire - Principate", "new_name": "it_roman_principate", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Roman Principate (31 BCE-284 CE) refers to the first period of the Roman Empire, when the de facto ruler was termed the <i>princeps</i>, or 'leading citizen'. The period begins with the victory of the first emperor, Augustus (then Octavian) over his rival Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE and ends with the accession of Diocletian after the 'crisis' of the 3rd century CE (235-284 CE). §REF§ (Boatwright et al. 2012) Mary T. Boatwright, Daniel J. Gargola, Noel Lenski and Richard J. A. Talbert. 2012. <i>The Romans. From Village to Empire: A History of Rome from Earliest Times to the End of the Western Empire</i>. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. §REF§ <br>Retaining and solidifying many of the institutions, cultural forms, and economic base that had led to Rome's hegemonic position during the Republican period, the Empire became one of the largest, most long-lived, and most prosperous imperial states the world has ever known. Augustus established a dynasty lasting until the death of the Emperor Nero in 68 CE, after which followed a brief civil war between different potential successors. Despite repeated bouts of similar warfare during succession crises following the various dynasties that ruled the Principate, the Empire remained remarkably stable throughout this period. Rome was able to unite - and keep together - a huge swathe of territory encompassing all of western Europe, North Africa, Egypt, the eastern Mediterranean, most of Anatolia, and parts of the Near East. Integrating diverse regions into this single empire facilitated the spread of Roman institutions - notably its legal system, urban infrastructure, cultural forms, and political structure. It also promoted economic development by enabling the safe transport of goods and people to every corner of the empire. §REF§ (Bowman and Wilson 2009) Alan K. Bowman and Andrew Wilson. 2009. 'Quantifying the Roman Economy: Integration, Growth, Decline?', in <i>Quantifying the Roman Economy: Methods and Problems</i>, edited by Alan K. Bowman and Andrew Wilson, 3-86. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ It was during this period that Rome built some of its greatest structures: the Pantheon, the Coliseum, the imperial <i>fora</i> (market squares) in the heart of Rome, and many others. The Principate overall produced so much wealth and so many cultural achievements that the great 18th-century English historian Edward Gibbon proclaimed the Empire at its peak in the 2nd century CE to be 'the period in the history of the world, during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous'. §REF§ (Gibbon [2003] 1869, 53) Edward Gibbon. [2003] 1869. <i>The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire</i>, edited by Hans-Friedrich Mueller. New York: Modern Library. §REF§ <br>In the late 3rd century CE, beginning after the end of the Severan Dynasty, the Principate nearly collapsed in the face of internal warfare and pressure from external foes, including the Sassanid Persian Empire and nomadic tribes from Germany and eastern Europe. Rome briefly lost control over parts of France, Britain, and southern Spain and suffered several significant losses in battle to the Sassanids. Under first the Emperor Aurelian (r. 270-275 CE) then Diocletian (r. 284-305), however, all territory was recovered and a series of administrative and economic reforms inaugurated a second phase of the Roman Empire, which we refer to as the Dominate (denoting the increasing centralization of authority and the development of a large bureaucratic apparatus).<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>Nominally, there was no change in political organization between the Republican period and the Principate. The first princeps, Augustus, kept all Republican institutions and offices, including the Senate, intact. There was clear practical change in the power structure, however, as Augustus, and all emperors after him, asserted personal control over almost the entire Roman army and were granted unprecedented legislative, religious, and judicial powers to shape politics and Roman society at large. Whereas a defining principle of Republican governance was that no individual should be able to hold multiple offices simultaneously, amassing power in several domains (military, legislative, religious, and so on), emperors broke this tradition and drew their authority from numerous offices, titles, and the authority they carried. §REF§ (Noreña 2010) Carlos Noreña. 2010. 'The Early Imperial Monarchy', in <i>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies</i>, edited by A. Barchiesi and W. Scheidel, 533-46. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ <br>The Roman emperor was also generally one of the wealthiest people in the Principate, controlling huge agriculturally productive estates throughout the Empire, particularly in North Africa and Egypt. §REF§ (Kehoe 2007) Dennis P. Kehoe. 2007. <i>Law and the Rural Economy in the Roman Empire</i>. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. §REF§ In this period, state revenues were split between the 'public' treasury (<i>aerarium</i>) and an imperial treasury (<i>fiscus</i>) under the direct control of the emperor. §REF§ (Adkins and Adkins 1998, 45) Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins. 1998. <i>Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ The Principate had a fairly limited reach, particularly outside of Italy, but the state did have some significant expenses which it met by collecting tax from the Empire's vast territory and large population, taking in rents from the imperial estates. In addition to paying the salaries of imperial officials - a relatively small expense as only limited central authority was exerted in the provinces (mainly the provincial governors and their retinue) - the emperor was responsible for financing a professional citizen army, the major state expense along with public works projects such as roads, aqueducts, and temples. The costs of these public works, though, were split between the personal fortune of the emperors who acted as patrons, particularly in Italy, and that of wealthy patrons in the provinces, who financed much of the urban growth in these regions. Further, beginning in the later Republican period and continuing throughout the Empire, the imperial state provided grain at reduced prices to citizens living in Rome; another considerable expense. §REF§ (Duncan-Jones 1994) Richard Duncan-Jones. 1994. <i>Money and Government in the Roman Empire</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Scheidel 2015) Walter Scheidel. 2015. 'State Revenue and Expenditure in the Han and Roman Empires', in <i>State Power in Ancient China and Rome</i>, edited by Walter Scheidel, 150-80. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Garnsey and Saller 1987) Peter Garnsey and Richard P. Saller. 1987. <i>The Roman Empire: Economy, Society, and Culture</i>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. §REF§ <br>The Emperor was assisted by his directly appointed <i>consilium</i> (advisory council), which was often made up of freedmen (manumitted slaves) and personal slaves. §REF§ (Noreña 2010, 538) Carlos Noreña. 2010. 'The Early Imperial Monarchy', in <i>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies</i>, edited by A. Barchiesi and W. Scheidel, 533-46. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Harries 2010) Jill Harries. 2010. 'Law', in <i>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies</i>, edited by Alessandro Barchiesi and Walter Scheidel, 637-50. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ The Senate, not the emperor, formally retained ultimate executive power and could override or critique the emperor's actions, but in practice this was quite rare and could be dangerous to the critic. §REF§ (Harris 2010) W. V. Harris. 2010. 'Power', in <i>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies</i>, edited by Alessandro Barchiesi and Walter Scheidel, 564-78. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ This centralized exercise of power by the Emperor, though, did not extend to the provinces, where the focus of imperial administration was squarely on securing revenue (cash and in-kind tax and rents on imperial properties) and maintaining peace, both internally and against potential external enemies, notably the powerful Persian Empires to the East. Roman provinces were governed by fairly autonomous officials (<i>procurator</i>, <i>curator</i>, <i>praefectus</i>, <i>proconsul</i>, etc.) and priests (<i>flamen</i>, etc.). §REF§ (Talbert 1996) Richard J. A. Talbert. 1996. 'The Senate and Senatorial and Equestrian Posts', in <i>The Cambridge Ancient History</i>, edited by Alan K. Bowman, Edward Champlin and Andrew Lintott, 324-43. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Ando 2013) Clifford Ando. 2013. <i>Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire</i>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. §REF§ Urbanization was also encouraged throughout the Empire; provincial cities were administered as 'mini-Rome's, with local urban equivalents of the Senate and most administrative, judicial, and religious magistracies. Roman cultural and infrastructural achievements were widely mimicked, with aqueducts, temples, theatres, bathhouses, and material culture (for example, particular ceramic forms, a culture of communal feasting, and the habit of publicizing achievements with inscribed stone tablets) adapted by numerous provincial towns and cities. §REF§ (Wilson 2011) Andrew Wilson. 2011. 'City Sizes and Urbanization in the Roman Empire', in <i>Settlement, Urbanization, and Population</i>, edited by Alan K. Bowman and Andrew Wilson, 161-95. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ This was true across the Empire, though particularly salient in the west, whereas Roman settlements in the East tended to retain many of their pre-Roman urban forms and cultural traditions. §REF§ (Boatwright 2000) Mary Taliaferro Boatwright. 2000. <i>Hadrian and the Cities of the Roman Empire</i>. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Ando 2013) Clifford Ando. 2013. <i>Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire</i>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. §REF§ <br>By the mid-2nd century CE, the city of Rome had reached over one million inhabitants, a significant feat for an ancient urban settlement. The population of the entire Empire is estimated at between 50 to over 60 million. §REF§ (Scheidel 2009) Walter Scheidel. 2009. 'Population and Demography', in <i>A Companion to Ancient History</i>, edited by A. Erskine, 234-45. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ Estimating the number of state employees is an extremely difficult task, but one scholar has supposed that if the imperial government at its largest extent in the 4th century CE 'had somewhat over thirty thousand functionaries', then before this time a figure of 10,000-12,000 might be reasonable. §REF§ (Lendon 1997, 3) J. E. Lendon. 1997. <i>Empire of Honour: The Art of Government in the Roman World</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 1, "name": "Latium", "subregion": "Southern Europe", "longitude": "12.486948000000", "latitude": "41.890407000000", "capital_city": "Rome", "nga_code": "IT", "fao_country": "Italy", "world_region": "Europe" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 18, "name": "Southern Europe", "subregions_list": "Iberia, Italy", "mac_region": { "id": 5, "name": "Europe" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 199, "year_from": 25, "year_to": 164, "description": "‘‘‘ “In the fourth month of 165 an edict was issued ordering the abolition of all local shrines (房祀 fangsi) throughout the empire. In context, it is clear that private tombs and memorials were not affected, but the prohibition was aimed not only at deities of nature and legendary heroes, some of whose cults might compete with that of the dynasty itself, but also ceremonies which honoured worthy men of the recent past. Two were exempted: that of Wang Huan, a celebrated Prefect of Luoyang whose worship was maintained at the capital; and that of Zhuo Mao, former Grand Tutor to Guangwu, who had a temple in Nanyang, in present-day Honan. Wang Huan’s cult was presumably spared on account of his popularity as an ideal official at the capital, Zhuo Mao’s because he had been guardian to the founder of the dynasty.” §REF§ (De Crespigny 2016, 340-341) De Crespigny, Rafe. 2016. Fire over Luoyang: A History of the Later Han Dynasty 23–220 AD. Leiden and Boston: Brill. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/DURXH2XM\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: DURXH2XM </b></a> §REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government restrictions on public worship", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 253, "name": "CnEHan*", "start_year": 25, "end_year": 220, "long_name": "Eastern Han Empire", "new_name": "cn_eastern_han_dyn", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "China’s Han dynasty is divided into two periods: Western Han or Former Han (202 BCE-9 CE), and Eastern Han or Later Han (25-220 CE). The period between the two Han dynasties was an interregnum ruled by Wang Mang who overthrow the Han and founded the short-lived Xin dynasty.§REF§ (San 2014, 98) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)</a> §REF§ Rulers of the Western and Eastern Han are descended from Han founder Liu Bang.§REF§ (San 2014, 98) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)</a> §REF§ The Han dynasty was reinstated when military troops revolted against Wang Mang and attacked the capital of Chang’an in 23 CE.§REF§ (San 2014, 100) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)</a> §REF§ The first recognized Eastern Han emperor Emperor Guangwudi moved the capital to Luoyang in 25 CE.§REF§ (San 2014, 100) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)</a> §REF§<br>Buddhism spread into China during the Eastern Han period. The religion soon began to influence Chinese morals and ethics.§REF§ (San 2014, 103) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)</a> §REF§ Han innovation continued into the Eastern Han period. The eunuch Cai Lun invented paper made from mulberry bark in 105 CE.§REF§ (Theobald, 2010b) Theobald, Ulrich, 2010. “Han Period Science, Technology, and Inventions.” Chinaknowledge.de. <a href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/han-tech.html\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/han-tech.html</a> Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/RU33Q6WJ/\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/RU33Q6WJ/</a> §REF§<br>The decline of the Eastern Han was marked by series of natural disasters including floods and plagues beginning in 168 CE.§REF§ (Roberts 1999, 38) Roberts, John A.G. 1999. A History of China. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/H9D8H5E9\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/H9D8H5E9</a> §REF§ The disasters were accompanied by two large peasant uprisings: the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Five Pecks of Rice rebellion.§REF§ -- “Han Dynasty.” Ancient History Encyclopedia.<a href=\"http://www.ancient.eu/Han_Dynasty/\">http://www.ancient.eu/Han_Dynasty/</a> Accessed June 12, 2017. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KVCUTKIW\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KVCUTKIW</a> §REF§ The Eastern Han also faced constant rebellions from Qiang ethnic minorities.§REF§ (San 2014, 108) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)</a> §REF§ Provincial warlords aided the central government in suppressing these major rebellions. These warlords eventually became rulers of the provinces.§REF§ (Theobald, 2010a) Theobald, Ulrich. 2010. “Han Dynasty 206 BCE-220 CE.” Chinaknowledge.de. <a href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/han.html\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/han.html</a> Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GJNWHHCH\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GJNWHHCH</a> §REF§ Warlord Dong Zhou seized Luoyang in 190 CE but was defeated by the warlord Cao Cao.§REF§ (Theobald, 2010a) Theobald, Ulrich. 2010. “Han Dynasty 206 BCE-220 CE.” Chinaknowledge.de. <a href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/han.html\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/han.html</a> Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GJNWHHCH\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GJNWHHCH</a> §REF§ Eastern Han emperors stayed on the throne but the Han empire was split between three generals, ushering in the Three Kingdoms period.§REF§ (Roberts 1999, 39) Roberts, John A.G. 1999. A History of China. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/H9D8H5E9\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/H9D8H5E9</a> §REF§<br>Eastern Han territory covered 6.5 million square kilometers in 100 CE, but only 2.5 million square kilometers by 200 CE.§REF§(Chase-Dunn Spreadsheet)§REF§ At its peak, the Han dynasty encompassed modern China, northern Vietnam, Inner Mongolia, southern Manchuria, and parts of modern Korea.§REF§ -- “Han Dynasty.” Ancient History Encyclopedia.<a href=\"http://www.ancient.eu/Han_Dynasty/\">http://www.ancient.eu/Han_Dynasty/</a> Accessed June 12, 2017. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KVCUTKIW\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KVCUTKIW</a> §REF§<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The Eastern Han continued many of the administrative practices of the Western Han.§REF§ (Roberts 1999, 37) Roberts, John A.G. 1999. A History of China. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/H9D8H5E9\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/H9D8H5E9</a> §REF§ However, the dynasty was marked by bloody political infighting including succession conflicts, and attempts to grab power by consort clans and eunuch cliques.§REF§ (Theobald, 2010a) Theobald, Ulrich. 2010. “Han Dynasty 206 BCE-220 CE.” Chinaknowledge.de. <a href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/han.html\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/han.html</a> Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GJNWHHCH\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GJNWHHCH</a> §REF§ Eunuchs had a strong influence in the Eastern Han government and competed with Confucian officials and the imperial clan. §REF§ (San 2014, 117) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)</a> §REF§ The decline of the Eastern Han was marked by the rise of strong provincial rulers with independent armies, or warlords, and a weakening of the corrupt central government.<br>The population of the Eastern Han was between 48 and 50 million people in 140 CE.§REF§(Roberts 2003, 56-60) Roberts, J A G (2003) The Complete History of China, Sutton Publishing, Stroud. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZZV3ITUI\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZZV3ITUI</a> §REF§. Luoyang was home to 420,000 people in 100 CE, but only 100,000 by 200 CE.§REF§(Modelski 2003, 44) Modelski, G. 2003. World Cities -3000 to 2000. FAROS 2000. Washington D.C. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IVFNX9HJ\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IVFNX9HJ</a> §REF§§REF§(Chase-Dunn Spreadsheet)§REF§", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-01-04T15:41:22.175902Z", "home_nga": { "id": 20, "name": "Middle Yellow River Valley", "subregion": "North China", "longitude": "112.517587000000", "latitude": "34.701825000000", "capital_city": "Luoyang", "nga_code": "CN", "fao_country": "China", "world_region": "East Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 58, "name": "North China", "subregions_list": "North China without Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang", "mac_region": { "id": 4, "name": "East Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 200, "year_from": 165, "year_to": 220, "description": "‘‘‘ “In the fourth month of 165 an edict was issued ordering the abolition of all local shrines (房祀 fangsi) throughout the empire. In context, it is clear that private tombs and memorials were not affected, but the prohibition was aimed not only at deities of nature and legendary heroes, some of whose cults might compete with that of the dynasty itself, but also ceremonies which honoured worthy men of the recent past. Two were exempted: that of Wang Huan, a celebrated Prefect of Luoyang whose worship was maintained at the capital; and that of Zhuo Mao, former Grand Tutor to Guangwu, who had a temple in Nanyang, in present-day Honan. Wang Huan’s cult was presumably spared on account of his popularity as an ideal official at the capital, Zhuo Mao’s because he had been guardian to the founder of the dynasty.” §REF§ (De Crespigny 2016, 340-341) De Crespigny, Rafe. 2016. Fire over Luoyang: A History of the Later Han Dynasty 23–220 AD. Leiden and Boston: Brill. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/DURXH2XM\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: DURXH2XM </b></a> §REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government restrictions on public worship", "coded_value": "present", "polity": { "id": 253, "name": "CnEHan*", "start_year": 25, "end_year": 220, "long_name": "Eastern Han Empire", "new_name": "cn_eastern_han_dyn", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "China’s Han dynasty is divided into two periods: Western Han or Former Han (202 BCE-9 CE), and Eastern Han or Later Han (25-220 CE). The period between the two Han dynasties was an interregnum ruled by Wang Mang who overthrow the Han and founded the short-lived Xin dynasty.§REF§ (San 2014, 98) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)</a> §REF§ Rulers of the Western and Eastern Han are descended from Han founder Liu Bang.§REF§ (San 2014, 98) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)</a> §REF§ The Han dynasty was reinstated when military troops revolted against Wang Mang and attacked the capital of Chang’an in 23 CE.§REF§ (San 2014, 100) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)</a> §REF§ The first recognized Eastern Han emperor Emperor Guangwudi moved the capital to Luoyang in 25 CE.§REF§ (San 2014, 100) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)</a> §REF§<br>Buddhism spread into China during the Eastern Han period. The religion soon began to influence Chinese morals and ethics.§REF§ (San 2014, 103) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)</a> §REF§ Han innovation continued into the Eastern Han period. The eunuch Cai Lun invented paper made from mulberry bark in 105 CE.§REF§ (Theobald, 2010b) Theobald, Ulrich, 2010. “Han Period Science, Technology, and Inventions.” Chinaknowledge.de. <a href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/han-tech.html\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/han-tech.html</a> Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/RU33Q6WJ/\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/RU33Q6WJ/</a> §REF§<br>The decline of the Eastern Han was marked by series of natural disasters including floods and plagues beginning in 168 CE.§REF§ (Roberts 1999, 38) Roberts, John A.G. 1999. A History of China. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/H9D8H5E9\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/H9D8H5E9</a> §REF§ The disasters were accompanied by two large peasant uprisings: the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Five Pecks of Rice rebellion.§REF§ -- “Han Dynasty.” Ancient History Encyclopedia.<a href=\"http://www.ancient.eu/Han_Dynasty/\">http://www.ancient.eu/Han_Dynasty/</a> Accessed June 12, 2017. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KVCUTKIW\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KVCUTKIW</a> §REF§ The Eastern Han also faced constant rebellions from Qiang ethnic minorities.§REF§ (San 2014, 108) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)</a> §REF§ Provincial warlords aided the central government in suppressing these major rebellions. These warlords eventually became rulers of the provinces.§REF§ (Theobald, 2010a) Theobald, Ulrich. 2010. “Han Dynasty 206 BCE-220 CE.” Chinaknowledge.de. <a href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/han.html\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/han.html</a> Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GJNWHHCH\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GJNWHHCH</a> §REF§ Warlord Dong Zhou seized Luoyang in 190 CE but was defeated by the warlord Cao Cao.§REF§ (Theobald, 2010a) Theobald, Ulrich. 2010. “Han Dynasty 206 BCE-220 CE.” Chinaknowledge.de. <a href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/han.html\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/han.html</a> Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GJNWHHCH\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GJNWHHCH</a> §REF§ Eastern Han emperors stayed on the throne but the Han empire was split between three generals, ushering in the Three Kingdoms period.§REF§ (Roberts 1999, 39) Roberts, John A.G. 1999. A History of China. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/H9D8H5E9\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/H9D8H5E9</a> §REF§<br>Eastern Han territory covered 6.5 million square kilometers in 100 CE, but only 2.5 million square kilometers by 200 CE.§REF§(Chase-Dunn Spreadsheet)§REF§ At its peak, the Han dynasty encompassed modern China, northern Vietnam, Inner Mongolia, southern Manchuria, and parts of modern Korea.§REF§ -- “Han Dynasty.” Ancient History Encyclopedia.<a href=\"http://www.ancient.eu/Han_Dynasty/\">http://www.ancient.eu/Han_Dynasty/</a> Accessed June 12, 2017. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KVCUTKIW\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KVCUTKIW</a> §REF§<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The Eastern Han continued many of the administrative practices of the Western Han.§REF§ (Roberts 1999, 37) Roberts, John A.G. 1999. A History of China. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/H9D8H5E9\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/H9D8H5E9</a> §REF§ However, the dynasty was marked by bloody political infighting including succession conflicts, and attempts to grab power by consort clans and eunuch cliques.§REF§ (Theobald, 2010a) Theobald, Ulrich. 2010. “Han Dynasty 206 BCE-220 CE.” Chinaknowledge.de. <a href=\"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/han.html\">http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/han.html</a> Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GJNWHHCH\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GJNWHHCH</a> §REF§ Eunuchs had a strong influence in the Eastern Han government and competed with Confucian officials and the imperial clan. §REF§ (San 2014, 117) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F)</a> §REF§ The decline of the Eastern Han was marked by the rise of strong provincial rulers with independent armies, or warlords, and a weakening of the corrupt central government.<br>The population of the Eastern Han was between 48 and 50 million people in 140 CE.§REF§(Roberts 2003, 56-60) Roberts, J A G (2003) The Complete History of China, Sutton Publishing, Stroud. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZZV3ITUI\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZZV3ITUI</a> §REF§. Luoyang was home to 420,000 people in 100 CE, but only 100,000 by 200 CE.§REF§(Modelski 2003, 44) Modelski, G. 2003. World Cities -3000 to 2000. FAROS 2000. Washington D.C. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IVFNX9HJ\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IVFNX9HJ</a> §REF§§REF§(Chase-Dunn Spreadsheet)§REF§", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-01-04T15:41:22.175902Z", "home_nga": { "id": 20, "name": "Middle Yellow River Valley", "subregion": "North China", "longitude": "112.517587000000", "latitude": "34.701825000000", "capital_city": "Luoyang", "nga_code": "CN", "fao_country": "China", "world_region": "East Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 58, "name": "North China", "subregions_list": "North China without Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang", "mac_region": { "id": 4, "name": "East Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 354, "year_from": 185, "year_to": -133, "description": "‘‘‘ The following quotes suggest a general culture of religious openness and fluidity, with the notable exception of the suppression of the Bacchic cult in 186 BCE. “Two of the hallmarks of Roman colonization were a simultaneous acceptance on the part of the Romans of the native cults of newly conquered regions and the introduction of distinctly Roman forms of worship and production.” §REF§(Livi, 2006, 113) Livi, Valentina, ‘Religious locales in the territory of Minturnae: aspects of Romanization’ in Schultz, C & Harvey, P (eds). 2006. Religion in Republican Italy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/FKEJ9VAT\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: FKEJ9VAT </b></a>§REF§“As Rome expanded by treaty and conquest during the Monarchy and early Republic, it incorporated new citizens from added territories by creating new tribes of voters. At the same time, the new citizens’ gods were incorporated into the divine community, whose public cults constituted the state religion.” §REF§ (Ward 2003, 51) Ward, Allen Mason. 2003. A History of the Roman People. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9ZMM8V48\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 9ZMM8V48 </b></a>§REF§ The only example found in the literature consulted is the \"ferocious\" suppression of the Bacchic cult in 186 BCE: \"In 186 B.C. the cult of Bacchus was ferociously suppressed […] The Bacchic cult was evidently very widespread in Italy, north and south as well as in the Roman area itself. […] The primary evidence, derived from the text of the decree the senate passed at the time, shows that their ruling was not that Bacchic practice as such should become illegal, but that apart from traditional practices, it should be kept to a very small scale and, in particular, that the groups or cells of Bacchists should not be allowed to retain their internal organization - no leadership, no fund-keeping, no oaths and so on […] However much the ritual activity of the groups may have seemed unacceptable in itself […] it was the form and structure within which that ritual took place that they sought to control.\" §REF§ (Beard 1996, 92-5) Beard, Mary. 1996. Religions of Rome: Volume 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BJPXZHID\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: BJPXZHID </b></a>§REF§ “The authors of the resolution that settled the case did not address religion as a concept, but they do seem to have reached an understanding that religious practices were necessary to some individuals, and an outlet that they ought to be able to pursue unmolested, so long as the practices did not develop into something like an institution. As was normal in Rome, this was a one- off decision, directed at the particular circumstances of the cult of Bacchus as understood by the authorities involved.” §REF§ (Rüpke, 2018, 136) Rüpke, Jörg. Pantheon: A New History of Roman Religion. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2018. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/D2CWAD75\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: D2CWAD75 </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government restrictions on public worship", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 183, "name": "ItRomMR", "start_year": -264, "end_year": -133, "long_name": "Middle Roman Republic", "new_name": "it_roman_rep_2", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The last of the Roman kings, the tyrannical Lucius Tarquinius Superbus ('the Arrogant'), was expelled by a revolt of some of the leading Roman aristocrats in 509 BCE. Vowing never again to allow a single person to amass so much authority, the revolutionaries established in place of the monarchy a republican system of governance, featuring a senate composed of aristocratic men and a series of elected political and military officials. The Roman Republic was a remarkably stable and successful polity, lasting from 509 BCE until it was transformed into an imperial state under Augustus in 31 BCE (though the exact date is debated, as this was not a formal transformation). We divide the Republic into an early (509-264 BCE), a middle (264-133 BCE), and a late (133-31 BCE) period.<br>During the 3rd century BCE, Rome fought two separate wars (264-241 BCE and 218-201 BCE) against the Punic people, inhabitants of a former Phoenician colony in North Africa, Sicily, and southern Spain. The latter conflict featured a bitter contest against the famous Punic general Hannibal, who nearly defeated the Romans on his dramatic march through Italy from 218 to 216 BCE. However, Rome recovered, won control of Punic holdings in Sicily and Spain, and established what were essentially vassal kingdoms in North Africa. In the early 2nd century BCE, Rome became embroiled in another series of wars in Greece, Macedonia, and Anatolia. The 3rd and 2nd centuries were a somewhat chaotic time in the eastern Mediterranean, following the fragmentation of Alexander the Great's Macedonian Empire after his death in 323 BCE. Alexander's Empire had essentially dissolved into a series of successor states, which engaged in near-constant warfare in their attempts to expand at the others' expense. §REF§ (Eckstein 2006, chapter 4) Arthur M. Eckstein. 2006. <i>Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate War, and the Rise of Rome</i>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. §REF§ By 148 BCE, at the conclusion of the fourth and final Macedonian War, Rome was either in possession of or was firmly established as hegemon over the entire Mediterranean basin, from Spain in the west to Anatolia in the east, and France in the north to Libya and Egypt in the south. This position brought new territory along with a flood of new peoples, culture, and wealth from the ancient civilizations in Greece, Egypt, and Anatolia. By the end of the Middle Republic period, Rome was virtually unchallenged by external enemies, although this newfound wealth and power was accompanied by the period of internal turmoil that characterized the Late Republic.<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>Rome during the Republican period possessed no written constitution, but was governed largely through the power and prestige of the Senate, with a clear respect for precedent and for maintaining Rome's traditions. §REF§ (Brennan 2004, 31) Corey T. Brennan. 2004. 'Power and Process under the Republican \"Constitution\"', in <i>The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic</i>, edited by Harriet I. Flower, 31-65. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ A primary goal of the early Republic was to establish clear checks on the power of any single ruler - the military office of chief commander was in fact split between two generals (consuls), while the chief priestly and legislative posts were split among different people (individuals were restricted from holding multiple offices at once) - and popular assemblies voted on new laws.<br>Romans of this period did not distinguish between what is today termed 'secular' and 'sacred' authority; although individual magistracies had distinct functions, the same person often held both religious and political offices over the course of their lifetime, as they were thought to be part of essentially the same sphere of governance. The Republic featured a substantial array of religious offices and institutions intended to determine the will of the gods or to please them through the proper performance of rituals and the maintenance of large public temples. §REF§ (Brennan 2004, 37) Corey T. Brennan. 2004. 'Power and Process under the Republican \"Constitution\"', in <i>The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic</i>, edited by Harriet I. Flower, 31-65. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ These public auspices were the basis of magisterial power in the Republic. §REF§ (Brennan 2004, 37) Corey T. Brennan. 2004. 'Power and Process under the Republican \"Constitution\"', in <i>The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic</i>, edited by Harriet I. Flower, 31-65. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Auspices were sometimes taken by consuls and other officials, for example before important military engagements, §REF§ (Brennan 2004, 37) Corey T. Brennan. 2004. 'Power and Process under the Republican \"Constitution\"', in <i>The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic</i>, edited by Harriet I. Flower, 31-65. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ but were mainly managed by specialist elected priests and full-time priestesses (such as the Vestal Virgins) and other priestly offices supported by the state. §REF§ (Culham 2004, 131) Phyllis Culham. 2004. 'Women in the Roman Republic, in <i>The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic</i>, edited by Harriet I. Flower, 139-59. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>The Middle Roman Republic saw many firsts in Rome's economic development. The first paved road was the likely the military road to Capua known as the Appian Way, commissioned around 312 BCE. The first Roman coins (large cast bronze coins) appear around 270 BCE, followed by struck bronze and silver coins imitating Greek forms. §REF§ (von Reden 2010, 50) Sitta von Reden. 2010. <i>Money in Classical Antiquity</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Crawford 1974, 6-11) Michael H. Crawford. 1974. <i>Roman Republican Coinage</i>. 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ This period also saw a further population increase in the total population of Roman-controlled Italy to between about three and five million people, with Rome itself likely supporting over 200,000 people by the end of the 3rd century BCE. §REF§ (Scheidel 2008) Walter Scheidel. 2008. 'Roman Population Size: The Logic of the Debate', in <i>People, Land, and Politics: Demographic Developments and the Transformation of Roman Italy, 300 BC-AD 14</i>, edited by L. de Ligt and S. J. Northwood, 17-70. Leiden: Brill. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 1, "name": "Latium", "subregion": "Southern Europe", "longitude": "12.486948000000", "latitude": "41.890407000000", "capital_city": "Rome", "nga_code": "IT", "fao_country": "Italy", "world_region": "Europe" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 18, "name": "Southern Europe", "subregions_list": "Iberia, Italy", "mac_region": { "id": 5, "name": "Europe" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 348, "year_from": 257, "year_to": 284, "description": "‘‘‘ “Under the emperor Valerian, Christians were targeted explicitly. [...] Apparently (and in the face of the problems the empire was facing, understandably) under Valerian there was renewed stress on homogeneous worship of the gods who guaranteed the security of Rome. Christians seem to have replied that they already prayed for the well-being of empire and emperor. This was not acceptable. Whatever the precise circumstances, in ad 257 Valerian forbade Christian gatherings and entering of their cemeteries. Christians had to conform to Rome. The higher clergy were to be arrested and had to sacrifice. If they did not, they were to suffer the consequences. Unclear about what these consequences were, the senate asked Valerian what to do with those who disobeyed (Potter 2004: 255; Clarke 2005: 637–42). Valerian’s response left no room for doubt. [...] Leading Christians should be executed, unless they were men of high standing. Even these would have only temporary respite before suffering the death penalty. Women, too, were targeted, even those connected to ‘Caesar’s household’, meaning those working at the imperial court (including slaves and freedwomen). They were sent to imperial estates – here meaning the mines, from which few if any came back alive.” §REF§ (Hekster and Zair 2008, 74) Hekster, Olivier, and Nicholas Zair. 2008. Rome and its Empire, AD 193-284. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/JK9U4QUR\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: JK9U4QUR </b></a> §REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government restrictions on public worship", "coded_value": "present", "polity": { "id": 70, "name": "ItRomPr", "start_year": -31, "end_year": 284, "long_name": "Roman Empire - Principate", "new_name": "it_roman_principate", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Roman Principate (31 BCE-284 CE) refers to the first period of the Roman Empire, when the de facto ruler was termed the <i>princeps</i>, or 'leading citizen'. The period begins with the victory of the first emperor, Augustus (then Octavian) over his rival Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE and ends with the accession of Diocletian after the 'crisis' of the 3rd century CE (235-284 CE). §REF§ (Boatwright et al. 2012) Mary T. Boatwright, Daniel J. Gargola, Noel Lenski and Richard J. A. Talbert. 2012. <i>The Romans. From Village to Empire: A History of Rome from Earliest Times to the End of the Western Empire</i>. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. §REF§ <br>Retaining and solidifying many of the institutions, cultural forms, and economic base that had led to Rome's hegemonic position during the Republican period, the Empire became one of the largest, most long-lived, and most prosperous imperial states the world has ever known. Augustus established a dynasty lasting until the death of the Emperor Nero in 68 CE, after which followed a brief civil war between different potential successors. Despite repeated bouts of similar warfare during succession crises following the various dynasties that ruled the Principate, the Empire remained remarkably stable throughout this period. Rome was able to unite - and keep together - a huge swathe of territory encompassing all of western Europe, North Africa, Egypt, the eastern Mediterranean, most of Anatolia, and parts of the Near East. Integrating diverse regions into this single empire facilitated the spread of Roman institutions - notably its legal system, urban infrastructure, cultural forms, and political structure. It also promoted economic development by enabling the safe transport of goods and people to every corner of the empire. §REF§ (Bowman and Wilson 2009) Alan K. Bowman and Andrew Wilson. 2009. 'Quantifying the Roman Economy: Integration, Growth, Decline?', in <i>Quantifying the Roman Economy: Methods and Problems</i>, edited by Alan K. Bowman and Andrew Wilson, 3-86. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ It was during this period that Rome built some of its greatest structures: the Pantheon, the Coliseum, the imperial <i>fora</i> (market squares) in the heart of Rome, and many others. The Principate overall produced so much wealth and so many cultural achievements that the great 18th-century English historian Edward Gibbon proclaimed the Empire at its peak in the 2nd century CE to be 'the period in the history of the world, during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous'. §REF§ (Gibbon [2003] 1869, 53) Edward Gibbon. [2003] 1869. <i>The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire</i>, edited by Hans-Friedrich Mueller. New York: Modern Library. §REF§ <br>In the late 3rd century CE, beginning after the end of the Severan Dynasty, the Principate nearly collapsed in the face of internal warfare and pressure from external foes, including the Sassanid Persian Empire and nomadic tribes from Germany and eastern Europe. Rome briefly lost control over parts of France, Britain, and southern Spain and suffered several significant losses in battle to the Sassanids. Under first the Emperor Aurelian (r. 270-275 CE) then Diocletian (r. 284-305), however, all territory was recovered and a series of administrative and economic reforms inaugurated a second phase of the Roman Empire, which we refer to as the Dominate (denoting the increasing centralization of authority and the development of a large bureaucratic apparatus).<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>Nominally, there was no change in political organization between the Republican period and the Principate. The first princeps, Augustus, kept all Republican institutions and offices, including the Senate, intact. There was clear practical change in the power structure, however, as Augustus, and all emperors after him, asserted personal control over almost the entire Roman army and were granted unprecedented legislative, religious, and judicial powers to shape politics and Roman society at large. Whereas a defining principle of Republican governance was that no individual should be able to hold multiple offices simultaneously, amassing power in several domains (military, legislative, religious, and so on), emperors broke this tradition and drew their authority from numerous offices, titles, and the authority they carried. §REF§ (Noreña 2010) Carlos Noreña. 2010. 'The Early Imperial Monarchy', in <i>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies</i>, edited by A. Barchiesi and W. Scheidel, 533-46. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ <br>The Roman emperor was also generally one of the wealthiest people in the Principate, controlling huge agriculturally productive estates throughout the Empire, particularly in North Africa and Egypt. §REF§ (Kehoe 2007) Dennis P. Kehoe. 2007. <i>Law and the Rural Economy in the Roman Empire</i>. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. §REF§ In this period, state revenues were split between the 'public' treasury (<i>aerarium</i>) and an imperial treasury (<i>fiscus</i>) under the direct control of the emperor. §REF§ (Adkins and Adkins 1998, 45) Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins. 1998. <i>Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ The Principate had a fairly limited reach, particularly outside of Italy, but the state did have some significant expenses which it met by collecting tax from the Empire's vast territory and large population, taking in rents from the imperial estates. In addition to paying the salaries of imperial officials - a relatively small expense as only limited central authority was exerted in the provinces (mainly the provincial governors and their retinue) - the emperor was responsible for financing a professional citizen army, the major state expense along with public works projects such as roads, aqueducts, and temples. The costs of these public works, though, were split between the personal fortune of the emperors who acted as patrons, particularly in Italy, and that of wealthy patrons in the provinces, who financed much of the urban growth in these regions. Further, beginning in the later Republican period and continuing throughout the Empire, the imperial state provided grain at reduced prices to citizens living in Rome; another considerable expense. §REF§ (Duncan-Jones 1994) Richard Duncan-Jones. 1994. <i>Money and Government in the Roman Empire</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Scheidel 2015) Walter Scheidel. 2015. 'State Revenue and Expenditure in the Han and Roman Empires', in <i>State Power in Ancient China and Rome</i>, edited by Walter Scheidel, 150-80. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Garnsey and Saller 1987) Peter Garnsey and Richard P. Saller. 1987. <i>The Roman Empire: Economy, Society, and Culture</i>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. §REF§ <br>The Emperor was assisted by his directly appointed <i>consilium</i> (advisory council), which was often made up of freedmen (manumitted slaves) and personal slaves. §REF§ (Noreña 2010, 538) Carlos Noreña. 2010. 'The Early Imperial Monarchy', in <i>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies</i>, edited by A. Barchiesi and W. Scheidel, 533-46. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Harries 2010) Jill Harries. 2010. 'Law', in <i>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies</i>, edited by Alessandro Barchiesi and Walter Scheidel, 637-50. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ The Senate, not the emperor, formally retained ultimate executive power and could override or critique the emperor's actions, but in practice this was quite rare and could be dangerous to the critic. §REF§ (Harris 2010) W. V. Harris. 2010. 'Power', in <i>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies</i>, edited by Alessandro Barchiesi and Walter Scheidel, 564-78. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ This centralized exercise of power by the Emperor, though, did not extend to the provinces, where the focus of imperial administration was squarely on securing revenue (cash and in-kind tax and rents on imperial properties) and maintaining peace, both internally and against potential external enemies, notably the powerful Persian Empires to the East. Roman provinces were governed by fairly autonomous officials (<i>procurator</i>, <i>curator</i>, <i>praefectus</i>, <i>proconsul</i>, etc.) and priests (<i>flamen</i>, etc.). §REF§ (Talbert 1996) Richard J. A. Talbert. 1996. 'The Senate and Senatorial and Equestrian Posts', in <i>The Cambridge Ancient History</i>, edited by Alan K. Bowman, Edward Champlin and Andrew Lintott, 324-43. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Ando 2013) Clifford Ando. 2013. <i>Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire</i>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. §REF§ Urbanization was also encouraged throughout the Empire; provincial cities were administered as 'mini-Rome's, with local urban equivalents of the Senate and most administrative, judicial, and religious magistracies. Roman cultural and infrastructural achievements were widely mimicked, with aqueducts, temples, theatres, bathhouses, and material culture (for example, particular ceramic forms, a culture of communal feasting, and the habit of publicizing achievements with inscribed stone tablets) adapted by numerous provincial towns and cities. §REF§ (Wilson 2011) Andrew Wilson. 2011. 'City Sizes and Urbanization in the Roman Empire', in <i>Settlement, Urbanization, and Population</i>, edited by Alan K. Bowman and Andrew Wilson, 161-95. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ This was true across the Empire, though particularly salient in the west, whereas Roman settlements in the East tended to retain many of their pre-Roman urban forms and cultural traditions. §REF§ (Boatwright 2000) Mary Taliaferro Boatwright. 2000. <i>Hadrian and the Cities of the Roman Empire</i>. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Ando 2013) Clifford Ando. 2013. <i>Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire</i>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. §REF§ <br>By the mid-2nd century CE, the city of Rome had reached over one million inhabitants, a significant feat for an ancient urban settlement. The population of the entire Empire is estimated at between 50 to over 60 million. §REF§ (Scheidel 2009) Walter Scheidel. 2009. 'Population and Demography', in <i>A Companion to Ancient History</i>, edited by A. Erskine, 234-45. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ Estimating the number of state employees is an extremely difficult task, but one scholar has supposed that if the imperial government at its largest extent in the 4th century CE 'had somewhat over thirty thousand functionaries', then before this time a figure of 10,000-12,000 might be reasonable. §REF§ (Lendon 1997, 3) J. E. Lendon. 1997. <i>Empire of Honour: The Art of Government in the Roman World</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 1, "name": "Latium", "subregion": "Southern Europe", "longitude": "12.486948000000", "latitude": "41.890407000000", "capital_city": "Rome", "nga_code": "IT", "fao_country": "Italy", "world_region": "Europe" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 18, "name": "Southern Europe", "subregions_list": "Iberia, Italy", "mac_region": { "id": 5, "name": "Europe" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] } ] }