The Roman Principate (31 BCE-284 CE) refers to the first period of the Roman Empire, when the de facto ruler was termed the princeps, 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).
[1]
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.
[2]
It was during this period that Rome built some of its greatest structures: the Pantheon, the Coliseum, the imperial fora (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’.
[3]
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).
Population and political organization
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.
[4]
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.
[5]
In this period, state revenues were split between the ’public’ treasury (aerarium) and an imperial treasury (fiscus) under the direct control of the emperor.
[6]
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.
[7]
[8]
[9]
The Emperor was assisted by his directly appointed consilium (advisory council), which was often made up of freedmen (manumitted slaves) and personal slaves.
[10]
[11]
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.
[12]
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 (procurator, curator, praefectus, proconsul, etc.) and priests (flamen, etc.).
[13]
[14]
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.
[15]
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.
[16]
[14]
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.
[17]
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.
[18]
[1]: (Boatwright et al. 2012) Mary T. Boatwright, Daniel J. Gargola, Noel Lenski and Richard J. A. Talbert. 2012. The Romans. From Village to Empire: A History of Rome from Earliest Times to the End of the Western Empire. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
[2]: (Bowman and Wilson 2009) Alan K. Bowman and Andrew Wilson. 2009. ’Quantifying the Roman Economy: Integration, Growth, Decline?’, in Quantifying the Roman Economy: Methods and Problems, edited by Alan K. Bowman and Andrew Wilson, 3-86. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[3]: (Gibbon [2003] 1869, 53) Edward Gibbon. [2003] 1869. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, edited by Hans-Friedrich Mueller. New York: Modern Library.
[4]: (Noreña 2010) Carlos Noreña. 2010. ’The Early Imperial Monarchy’, in The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies, edited by A. Barchiesi and W. Scheidel, 533-46. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[5]: (Kehoe 2007) Dennis P. Kehoe. 2007. Law and the Rural Economy in the Roman Empire. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
[6]: (Adkins and Adkins 1998, 45) Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins. 1998. Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[7]: (Duncan-Jones 1994) Richard Duncan-Jones. 1994. Money and Government in the Roman Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[8]: (Scheidel 2015) Walter Scheidel. 2015. ’State Revenue and Expenditure in the Han and Roman Empires’, in State Power in Ancient China and Rome, edited by Walter Scheidel, 150-80. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[9]: (Garnsey and Saller 1987) Peter Garnsey and Richard P. Saller. 1987. The Roman Empire: Economy, Society, and Culture. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
[10]: (Noreña 2010, 538) Carlos Noreña. 2010. ’The Early Imperial Monarchy’, in The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies, edited by A. Barchiesi and W. Scheidel, 533-46. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[11]: (Harries 2010) Jill Harries. 2010. ’Law’, in The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies, edited by Alessandro Barchiesi and Walter Scheidel, 637-50. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[12]: (Harris 2010) W. V. Harris. 2010. ’Power’, in The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies, edited by Alessandro Barchiesi and Walter Scheidel, 564-78. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[13]: (Talbert 1996) Richard J. A. Talbert. 1996. ’The Senate and Senatorial and Equestrian Posts’, in The Cambridge Ancient History, edited by Alan K. Bowman, Edward Champlin and Andrew Lintott, 324-43. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[14]: (Ando 2013) Clifford Ando. 2013. Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
[15]: (Wilson 2011) Andrew Wilson. 2011. ’City Sizes and Urbanization in the Roman Empire’, in Settlement, Urbanization, and Population, edited by Alan K. Bowman and Andrew Wilson, 161-95. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[16]: (Boatwright 2000) Mary Taliaferro Boatwright. 2000. Hadrian and the Cities of the Roman Empire. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
[17]: (Scheidel 2009) Walter Scheidel. 2009. ’Population and Demography’, in A Companion to Ancient History, edited by A. Erskine, 234-45. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
[18]: (Lendon 1997, 3) J. E. Lendon. 1997. Empire of Honour: The Art of Government in the Roman World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
| 33 T |
| Roman Empire - Principate |
| Rome |
| Roman Empire | |
| Roman Principate | |
| Imperium Populi Romani | |
| SPQR | |
| Senatus Populusque Romanus |
| none |
| Greco-Roman |
| Roman Empire - Dominate |
| 17,000,000 km2 |
| cultural assimilation |
| Succeeding: Roman Empire - Dominate (tr_roman_dominate) [continuity] | |
| Preceding: Ptolemaic Kingdom II (eg_ptolemaic_k_2) [cultural assimilation] |
| unitary state |
| [900,000 to 1,100,000] people | 1 CE |
| [1,000,000 to 1,200,000] people | 100 CE |
| 1,000,000 people | 200 CE |
| 4,500,000 km2 | 1 CE |
| 5,800,000 km2 | 100 CE |
| 5,000,000 km2 | 200 CE |
| 4,750,000 km2 | 275 CE |
| 50,000,000 people | 1 CE |
| [50,000,000 to 60,000,000] people | 100 CE |
| [55,000,000 to 70,000,000] people | 200 CE |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| absent |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| absent |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present | |
| absent |
| present |
| absent |
| present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| present |
| absent |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| 119 km |
| present |
| absent |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| absent |
| absent |
| present |
| present |
| absent |
| absent |
| present |
| inferred present |
| absent |
| present |
| absent |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| unknown |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| Year Range | Roman Empire - Principate (it_roman_principate) was in: |
|---|---|
| (31 BCE 283 CE) | Latium Paris Basin Crete Upper Egypt Konya Plain |
nb: Senātus Populusque Rōmānus contains characters that cannot be machine read.
nb: Senātus Populusque Rōmānus contains characters that cannot be machine read.
nb: Senātus Populusque Rōmānus contains characters that cannot be machine read.
nb: Senātus Populusque Rōmānus contains characters that cannot be machine read.
nb: Senātus Populusque Rōmānus contains characters that cannot be machine read.
Established de facto by Octavian’s victory at Actium in 31 BC and established by law in 27 BC when Octavian took the name Imperator Caesar Augustus and was granted extensive powers (Imperium proconsulare) over the Roman army. This began the legal history of the Principate (after "princeps," or "leading citizen"). The Principate is generally regarded as ending during or just after the crisis of the III century (235-284 CE). The date of 284 CE marks the accession of Diocletian. [1] Turchin and Nefedov also suggest a secular cycle from 30 BCE - 285 CE. [2] [3]
[1]: (Boatwright et al. 2012) Mary T. Boatwright, Daniel J. Gargola, Noel Lenski and Richard J. A. Talbert. 2012. The Romans. From Village to Empire: A History of Rome from Earliest Times to the End of the Western Empire. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
[2]: (Baker 2011)
[3]: (Turchin and Nefedov 2009)
covers entire area of Roman Empire, plus much territory in Britain, northern Europe, central and western Africa, and the Near East and Central Asia
km^2 very rough area of Roman Empire, plus extra territory where Roman ’cultural influence’ felt
The core region of this polity was Egypt.
"Latin was the official language of the army (in official documents and orders) throughout the empire." [1] Latin was the lingua franca of the western half of the empire, Greek of the eastern half. Within each half, some native languages survived in use for some time after Roman rule began (e.g., Egyptian and Aramaic in the east; various Celtic languages in parts of the west, and even Italic languages within Italy itself, such as Etruscan or Oscan). Language map showing East/West split [2] . Map of languages in pre-Roman Italy which shows the then distribution of Etruscan and Oscan languages. [3] "In Africa, Punic was widely spoken as well as Latin, and in a famous passage of The City of God Augustine reminds the reader that the imperious Roman capital had not only placed the yoke of dominion on defeated peoples; it had also imposed Latin as the official language (Augustine, The City of God, 19, 7)." [4]
[1]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 36)
[2]: [1] (Bunson, 2009, 302-303)
[4]: (Triana 2011, 86) Giusto Triana. 2011. 428 AD: An Ordinary Year at the End of the Roman Empire. Princeton University Press.
Inhabitants.
[900,000-1,100,000]: 1 CE; [1,000,000-1,200,000]: 117 CE; 1,000,000: 200 CE
Rome at its peak had a population of 1,200,000.
[1]
Population of Rome was 1,000,000 by 1 CE.
[2]
Alexandria (largest settlement in the Roman province of Egypt) was at most 750,000 people at its height in the mid-second CE.
[3]
Other estimates of Alexandria’s population put it at around 500,000 people for most of the imperial Principate period.
[4]
Peak settlement of Rome generally thought to be c150 CE. By 200 CE about 1 million.
[5]
[1]: (Lo Cascio 2000)
[2]: (Canciello 2005)
[3]: (Rathbone 2007, 699)
[4]: (Bagnall and Frier 1994, 54)
[5]: (Twine 1992 http://msaag.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/26_Twine.pdf)
Inhabitants.
[900,000-1,100,000]: 1 CE; [1,000,000-1,200,000]: 117 CE; 1,000,000: 200 CE
Rome at its peak had a population of 1,200,000.
[1]
Population of Rome was 1,000,000 by 1 CE.
[2]
Alexandria (largest settlement in the Roman province of Egypt) was at most 750,000 people at its height in the mid-second CE.
[3]
Other estimates of Alexandria’s population put it at around 500,000 people for most of the imperial Principate period.
[4]
Peak settlement of Rome generally thought to be c150 CE. By 200 CE about 1 million.
[5]
[1]: (Lo Cascio 2000)
[2]: (Canciello 2005)
[3]: (Rathbone 2007, 699)
[4]: (Bagnall and Frier 1994, 54)
[5]: (Twine 1992 http://msaag.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/26_Twine.pdf)
Inhabitants.
[900,000-1,100,000]: 1 CE; [1,000,000-1,200,000]: 117 CE; 1,000,000: 200 CE
Rome at its peak had a population of 1,200,000.
[1]
Population of Rome was 1,000,000 by 1 CE.
[2]
Alexandria (largest settlement in the Roman province of Egypt) was at most 750,000 people at its height in the mid-second CE.
[3]
Other estimates of Alexandria’s population put it at around 500,000 people for most of the imperial Principate period.
[4]
Peak settlement of Rome generally thought to be c150 CE. By 200 CE about 1 million.
[5]
[1]: (Lo Cascio 2000)
[2]: (Canciello 2005)
[3]: (Rathbone 2007, 699)
[4]: (Bagnall and Frier 1994, 54)
[5]: (Twine 1992 http://msaag.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/26_Twine.pdf)
KM2. Data coded to make it easier for scraper to read.
Actual: 4,500,000: 14 CE; 5,800,000: 117 CE; 4,750,000: 274 CE
Maximum Area: 5.0 Mm^2.
[1]
5m km^2.
Estimates:
14 CE 4476051 km2
[2]
117 CE 5819328 km2
[2]
211 CE 5039845 km2
274 CE 4750000
[1]: (Turchin et. al. 2006, [3])
[2]: (Stockton 2001 152-153)
KM2. Data coded to make it easier for scraper to read.
Actual: 4,500,000: 14 CE; 5,800,000: 117 CE; 4,750,000: 274 CE
Maximum Area: 5.0 Mm^2.
[1]
5m km^2.
Estimates:
14 CE 4476051 km2
[2]
117 CE 5819328 km2
[2]
211 CE 5039845 km2
274 CE 4750000
[1]: (Turchin et. al. 2006, [3])
[2]: (Stockton 2001 152-153)
KM2. Data coded to make it easier for scraper to read.
Actual: 4,500,000: 14 CE; 5,800,000: 117 CE; 4,750,000: 274 CE
Maximum Area: 5.0 Mm^2.
[1]
5m km^2.
Estimates:
14 CE 4476051 km2
[2]
117 CE 5819328 km2
[2]
211 CE 5039845 km2
274 CE 4750000
[1]: (Turchin et. al. 2006, [3])
[2]: (Stockton 2001 152-153)
KM2. Data coded to make it easier for scraper to read.
Actual: 4,500,000: 14 CE; 5,800,000: 117 CE; 4,750,000: 274 CE
Maximum Area: 5.0 Mm^2.
[1]
5m km^2.
Estimates:
14 CE 4476051 km2
[2]
117 CE 5819328 km2
[2]
211 CE 5039845 km2
274 CE 4750000
[1]: (Turchin et. al. 2006, [3])
[2]: (Stockton 2001 152-153)
Inhabitants. Data coded to make it easier for scraper to read.
The standard population is estimated at 50 to 60 million in 117 CE. The most common estimate for the empire population is around 60 million, but a figure of 150 million is also conceivable, though highly unlikely.
[1]
Another estimate is 50 million people (i.e. 5000 administrative units) at height.
[2]
14 CE and 164 CE estimate based on: Frier, Bruce W. "Demography", in Alan K. Bowman, Peter Garnsey, and Dominic Rathbone, eds., The Cambridge Ancient History XI: The High Empire, A.D. 70-192, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 827-54.
Imperial censuses 28 BCE - 48 CE
[3]
(These numbers (million) refer only to Roman citizens, who were a small proportion of the population):
4,063,000: 28 BCE
4,233,000: 8 BCE
4,937,000: 14 CE
5,894,000: 48 CE
Roman population, by region 14 CE
[4]
[5]
Italy: 6,000,000
Sicily: 600,000
Sardinia-Corsica: 500,000
Iberia: 6,000,000
Narbonensis: 1,500,000
Gaul: 3,400,000
Danube: 2,000,000
Greece: 3,000,000
Asia (province): 6,000,000
Asia Minor: 7,000,000
Syria: 6,000,000
Cyprus: 500,000
Egypt: 5,000,000
Cyrenaica: 500,000
Africa: 6,000,000Total: 54,000,000
Late Roman Empire: 74.9 million c.200 CE. coded as 55,000,000-70,000,000. DH says 75,000,000 too high.
"The Late Roman Empire covered vast amounts of territory (estimated at 3.8 million km2; Issawi 1981: 377) and enjoyed a prolonged period of economic prosperity and demographic expansion between the death of Augustus (14 CE) and the second century. During this phase population density was situated in the upper possible margins of pre-modern times (at roughly 20 inhabitants per km2) with a total population in the magnitude of 74.9 million (Issawi 1981: 377). The anarchy and general economic disarray of the third century will have taken its toll on the population, but we can safely assume that at the beginning of the Byzantine period, in the early fourth century, the demographic state of the empire was similar to that in the second century."
[6]
[1]: (Scheidel 2004: 2-9)
[2]: (Black 2008, 181))
[3]: (Brunt 1971, 1987)
[4]: (Beloch (1886) Die Bevolkerung de griechnisch-romischen welt)
[5]: (Russell 1958)
[6]: (Stathakopoulos 2008, 310) Jeffreys E, Haldon J and Cormack R eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
Inhabitants. Data coded to make it easier for scraper to read.
The standard population is estimated at 50 to 60 million in 117 CE. The most common estimate for the empire population is around 60 million, but a figure of 150 million is also conceivable, though highly unlikely.
[1]
Another estimate is 50 million people (i.e. 5000 administrative units) at height.
[2]
14 CE and 164 CE estimate based on: Frier, Bruce W. "Demography", in Alan K. Bowman, Peter Garnsey, and Dominic Rathbone, eds., The Cambridge Ancient History XI: The High Empire, A.D. 70-192, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 827-54.
Imperial censuses 28 BCE - 48 CE
[3]
(These numbers (million) refer only to Roman citizens, who were a small proportion of the population):
4,063,000: 28 BCE
4,233,000: 8 BCE
4,937,000: 14 CE
5,894,000: 48 CE
Roman population, by region 14 CE
[4]
[5]
Italy: 6,000,000
Sicily: 600,000
Sardinia-Corsica: 500,000
Iberia: 6,000,000
Narbonensis: 1,500,000
Gaul: 3,400,000
Danube: 2,000,000
Greece: 3,000,000
Asia (province): 6,000,000
Asia Minor: 7,000,000
Syria: 6,000,000
Cyprus: 500,000
Egypt: 5,000,000
Cyrenaica: 500,000
Africa: 6,000,000Total: 54,000,000
Late Roman Empire: 74.9 million c.200 CE. coded as 55,000,000-70,000,000. DH says 75,000,000 too high.
"The Late Roman Empire covered vast amounts of territory (estimated at 3.8 million km2; Issawi 1981: 377) and enjoyed a prolonged period of economic prosperity and demographic expansion between the death of Augustus (14 CE) and the second century. During this phase population density was situated in the upper possible margins of pre-modern times (at roughly 20 inhabitants per km2) with a total population in the magnitude of 74.9 million (Issawi 1981: 377). The anarchy and general economic disarray of the third century will have taken its toll on the population, but we can safely assume that at the beginning of the Byzantine period, in the early fourth century, the demographic state of the empire was similar to that in the second century."
[6]
[1]: (Scheidel 2004: 2-9)
[2]: (Black 2008, 181))
[3]: (Brunt 1971, 1987)
[4]: (Beloch (1886) Die Bevolkerung de griechnisch-romischen welt)
[5]: (Russell 1958)
[6]: (Stathakopoulos 2008, 310) Jeffreys E, Haldon J and Cormack R eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
Inhabitants. Data coded to make it easier for scraper to read.
The standard population is estimated at 50 to 60 million in 117 CE. The most common estimate for the empire population is around 60 million, but a figure of 150 million is also conceivable, though highly unlikely.
[1]
Another estimate is 50 million people (i.e. 5000 administrative units) at height.
[2]
14 CE and 164 CE estimate based on: Frier, Bruce W. "Demography", in Alan K. Bowman, Peter Garnsey, and Dominic Rathbone, eds., The Cambridge Ancient History XI: The High Empire, A.D. 70-192, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 827-54.
Imperial censuses 28 BCE - 48 CE
[3]
(These numbers (million) refer only to Roman citizens, who were a small proportion of the population):
4,063,000: 28 BCE
4,233,000: 8 BCE
4,937,000: 14 CE
5,894,000: 48 CE
Roman population, by region 14 CE
[4]
[5]
Italy: 6,000,000
Sicily: 600,000
Sardinia-Corsica: 500,000
Iberia: 6,000,000
Narbonensis: 1,500,000
Gaul: 3,400,000
Danube: 2,000,000
Greece: 3,000,000
Asia (province): 6,000,000
Asia Minor: 7,000,000
Syria: 6,000,000
Cyprus: 500,000
Egypt: 5,000,000
Cyrenaica: 500,000
Africa: 6,000,000Total: 54,000,000
Late Roman Empire: 74.9 million c.200 CE. coded as 55,000,000-70,000,000. DH says 75,000,000 too high.
"The Late Roman Empire covered vast amounts of territory (estimated at 3.8 million km2; Issawi 1981: 377) and enjoyed a prolonged period of economic prosperity and demographic expansion between the death of Augustus (14 CE) and the second century. During this phase population density was situated in the upper possible margins of pre-modern times (at roughly 20 inhabitants per km2) with a total population in the magnitude of 74.9 million (Issawi 1981: 377). The anarchy and general economic disarray of the third century will have taken its toll on the population, but we can safely assume that at the beginning of the Byzantine period, in the early fourth century, the demographic state of the empire was similar to that in the second century."
[6]
[1]: (Scheidel 2004: 2-9)
[2]: (Black 2008, 181))
[3]: (Brunt 1971, 1987)
[4]: (Beloch (1886) Die Bevolkerung de griechnisch-romischen welt)
[5]: (Russell 1958)
[6]: (Stathakopoulos 2008, 310) Jeffreys E, Haldon J and Cormack R eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
1. The capital (Rome)
2. Provincial capitals (Ephesus, Lugdunum)3. Client States/Kingdoms (Cappadocia, Egypt, Numidia)4. Colonies/coloniae (Pompeii in Italy, Cremna in Anatolia, Camulodunum in England) and Municipia (Volubilis in Mauretania)5. Tributary communities, not necessarily urbanized6. Village/vici7. Pagi (rural settlements)
In lower population density regions there could be no difference between vici and pagi. There could also be some overlap between provincial capitals and coloniae/municipia. As a result, the code ’6 levels’ corresponds to more populous regions, whilst in sparser populated regions the code ’4 levels’ should be used.
[1]
[2]
[1]: (Edmondson 2006)
[2]: (Gleason 2006)
1. Pontifex maximus
2. Colleges (flamines, augurs, pontifices, vestals)Three colleges of religious officials. 1. augurs 2. decemviri sacris faciundis 3. pontifices
3. high priests of imperial cult in provinces This level is present for the Middle Roman Republic. Is this not true of the Late Roman Republic? Principate?
4. priests for a deity (running a specific temple or sanctuary)
"Freelance" religious officials (soothsayers, oracles, seers, etc).
_Mithraism_
Cult of Mithra spread from the Parthian Empire to Rome (originated in India? bronze age?). "Contrary to other religions of the same type, such as the cults of Isis and Osiris, Serapis, Dionysus (all well-known examples), Mithraicism eschewed any external manifestations and depended only on its initiatory nature to recruit its followers. ... it gradually became a common faith for soldiers, civil servants, merchants ... The members joined a spirituality of an initiatory type ... shared with a large group of solar faiths ... that promised both a life near to the deity and a personal redemption."
[1]
"From the end of the first century B.C.E. we have evidence of a cult coming from the East and gradually and discretely conquering the Roman army and administration (Daniels). This god, previously unknown to the Romans, was called Mithra. Some historians believe (see Plutarch, Pomp. 24.7) that the notorius Cilician pirates defeated by Pompeius propagated this cult when deported in Calabria. We now believe that it was a late transformation of the god Mithra, the friendly protector of contracts .... and defender of true and just causes."
[2]
"We must also stress that this god retained, in his manifestation in the Roman Empire, his essential characteristics of friend and guardian of contracts."
[3]
"Mithra probably won over even the imperial house. We are wary about the well-known initiation of the emperor Nero to the mysteries of the Magi through Tiridates (see Turcan 1989:237). However, it seems that the emperor Commodus (192) was an unworthy adept of the mysteries, because he was suspected of having killed a fellow-adept during a ceremony simulating a ritual sacrifice. The imperial house had a much worthier adept in Diocletian and his colleagues of the Tetrarchy: Galerius and Licinius. The god is then called the fautor imperii sui, the "protector of the imperial power" (Inscription of Carnuntum in 307)."
[4]
Mithraism: "on the social level people learned, in the ’Persic Cavern’, to respect the contract linking the human being to the cosmos and to the gods, and then, at least in an implicit way, to respect the emperors, who were divine beings, as intermediaries between the sky and the earth. The faithfulness to a vivifying cosmic order was thus accompanied by faithfulness to the one representing this order on earth. It is not surprising, then, that Mithra was invoked as Jupiter Dolichenus for the salvation of the emperor. In time, a cult ascribed to the enemies gets mixed up with the worship of the protecting gods of Rome!"
[4]
[1]: (Decharneux (2004, 94) Decharneux, Baudouin. Mithra’s Cult: An Example of Religious Colonialism in Roman Times. Draper, Jonathan A. ed. 2004. Orality, Literacy, and Colonialism in Antiquity. BRILL.
[2]: (Decharneux 2004, 93) Decharneux, Baudouin. Mithra’s Cult: An Example of Religious Colonialism in Roman Times. Draper, Jonathan A. ed. 2004. Orality, Literacy, and Colonialism in Antiquity. BRILL.
[3]: (Decharneux 2004, 93-94) Decharneux, Baudouin. Mithra’s Cult: An Example of Religious Colonialism in Roman Times. Draper, Jonathan A. ed. 2004. Orality, Literacy, and Colonialism in Antiquity. BRILL.
[4]: (Decharneux 2004, 100) Decharneux, Baudouin. Mithra’s Cult: An Example of Religious Colonialism in Roman Times. Draper, Jonathan A. ed. 2004. Orality, Literacy, and Colonialism in Antiquity. BRILL.
1. Emperor (commander-in-chief) / Imperator
Augustus: "To ensure that he could not be overthrown in another round of civil war, he established himself as commander-in-chief of the army, with imperium (the power to raise and command armies) greater than that of the senators who typically governed the provinces and commanded armies in the field.
[1]
"At the top of the hierarchy was the emperor himself, commander-in-chief of the Roman army by virtue of his possession of imperium maius, a power to raise and command armies that out-ranked that of anyone else."
[2]
2. legatus Augusti (controlled a military province)"provinces with a legionary garrison were governed by a legatus Augusti pro praetore, or ’imperial legate with praetor’s powers’. He was drawn from the Senate as a personal appointee of the emperor, governing and commanding in the name of the emperor."
[3]
"The governors of a few provinces (notably Egypt, but also Mesopotamia) were equites (’knights’), members of the next wealthiest group in Roman society after the senators, the equestrian order."
[3]
3. legatus legionis (commanded a legion)"If there were multiple legions in a province, they were commanded by men with powers delegated to them by the provincial governors, and each legionary commander was known as a legatus legionis (’legionary legate’)."
[3]
"Broadly speaking, paper organization of imperial legions was very similar to that of the late Republican period and remained so until the 3rd century AD. A legion was still organized in ten cohorts, each typically made up of six centuries of 80 men each."
[4]
4. tribunus militum (lead a cohort)"Cohorts, centuries and contubernia were the regular subunits of the legion".
[5]
"Tribunes, like the legionary legate (commander), were drawn from Rome’s social and political elite, the senatorial and equestrian orders, and were not professional soldiers."
[6]
"Josephus (Jewish War 6.131) mentions 1,000 men assigned to each tribune during combat in Jerusalem in AD 70."
[6]
4. dux, praepositus or legate (lead a vexillation)"Cohorts, centuries and contubernia were the regular subunits of the legion, but it could also be broken down into vexillations, temporary (in theory, at least) detachments named after the vexillum (flag) standard they carried in place of the legion’s eagle. Using vexillations, typically 1,000 or 2,000 men drawn from a particular legion, was common practice to avoid moving the whole legion far from its post when troops were needed to deal with a crisis or mount a campaign in another province. This was particularly common from the 2nd century AD, when legions tended to settle into long-term locations and permanent fortresses, but we find evidence of their vexillations across the empire, for example in the Jewish Revolt of AD 66-70."
[5]
"Large legionary vexillations, with attached auxiliaries, were typically commanded by senatorial commanders with titles such as dux, praepositus or legate, or sometimes by very senior centurions. Smaller detachments for policing or construction duties might be commanded by centurions."
[5]
5. praefectus castrorum (prefect of the camp)"The praefectus castrorum (’prefect of the camp’) was effectively third-in-command of the legion (after the senatorial legate and senatorial tribune) and had special responsibility for fortifications, sieges and artillery."
[6]
6. primus pilus"... the five centurions of the first cohort, the primi ordines (’men of the first rank’) were of higher rank than any other centurion and there was progression within that cohort." "The primus pilus was the highest-ranking centurion in the legion, followed by the princeps prior, hastatus prior, princeps posterior and finally hastatus posterior."
[6]
7. princeps prior are some of these ranks at same level of command. could a spearman at the front really give orders to an officer at the back?8. hastatus prior possibly more likely order: 6. primus pilus; 7. pilus prior & other higher-ranking centuriones; 8. ordinary centuriones; 9. milites9. princeps posterior10. hastatus posterior11. Uncommissioned legionary
6. Centurio"Each of the ten cohorts in a legion, except for the first, had six centurions ... Most scholars believe that the titles of centurions in the second to tenth cohorts did not denote any particular rank or seniority.
[6]
"The centuries were subdivided into contubernia (singular, contubernium) of eight men. This much is relatively clear, and implies a legion of 4,800 at full strength."
[4]
7. Contubernia (e.g. Optio)Among ranked men of a legion there was a distinction between principales and immunes. principales: "the title optio (’orderly’, typically assisting a centurion), tesserarius (bearer of the password), standard-bearers (aquilifer, signifer, imaginifer) and senior clerical officials." Activity of the immunes "includes medical orderlies, surveyors, metalworkers, clerks, musicians and others."
[7]
8. legionary (noncommissioned)"The ordinary soldiers of the legions were known as milites (’soldiers’, singular miles)"
[8]
[1]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 34)
[2]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 37-38)
[3]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 38)
[4]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 36)
[5]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 37)
[6]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 39)
[7]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 40-41)
[8]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 40)
Before the Roman Principate there was no formal bureaucracy. The state treasury of the Roman Republic was kept in the custody of the priesthood inside the temple of Saturn, and was managed by elected aristocratic officials called quaestors.
[1]
In the period of the Roman Principate state revenues were stored in an imperial treasury (fiscus) under the direct control of an Emperor.
[2]
The fiscus, created by Augustus, brought to power a new class of officials whom, like the Emperor’s chief financial official the rationibus, were typically freedmen. The Emperor was assisted by his directly appointed consilium (advisory councils) that were often made up of freedmen and personal slaves.
1. Emperor
"... in 30 BC, Octavian was left in sole control of the Roman empire. As the first Roman emperor, he created a new system of government, taking the name Augustus (’Revered One’)."
[3]
"Augustus, like all wealthy Romans, employed procurators, agents of the freedman class, in the administration of his private fortune."
[4]
The “imperial” power under Augustus emerges as a sum of various offices from the tradition of the Republic combined in the hand of one man, who became the “princeps”
[5]
"The rise of the freedman class is one of the most striking social phenomena of the first century of the Empire. higher degree of the freedmen of the Emperor."
[6]
2. Imperial Chamberlain
_ Central government_
2. Imperial Bureau (scrinia) e.g. financial chief (a rationibus)"The power of the imperial freedmen centred in the first century round the great imperial bureaux (scrinia), the ’ab epistulis/’ a libellis,’ ’a studiis,’ and the great financial post of ’a rationibus.’"
[7]
old State treasury (aerarium Saturni), new imperial treasury (fiscus). the fiscus created a "new class of officials" "’a rationibus’ down to Hadrian’s time was normally a freedman"
[8]
3. Salaried officials and scribes (ab epistulis, a libellis, a studiis)"The main items of expenditure were the maintenance of the army, the expenses of provincial government, the salaries of officials, the corn-supply and police of Rome, the maintenance of religion, the building of temples and other public works, and the public roads and aqueducts."
[9]
4. Financial officials ’praefecti classis,’ ’procurators hereditatium,’ ’patrimonii’"Freedmen occur in the first century as ’praefecti classis,’ ’procurators hereditatium,’ ’patrimonii,’ etc., whereas after Hadrian knights take their place."
[10]
5. lower administrators and assistants and servile workers"The class on which the Emperors mainly depended for the supply of their financial officials was that of the knights ... "after Hadrian, they practically monopolized all but those of subordinate importance" however before Hadrian imperial freedman had a more influence and could aspire to the top posts.
[11]
2. Official related to aerarium militarespecial military chest founded by Augustus (aerarium militare)
[12]
2. Official related to patrimoniumthe Emperor’s purse (patrimonium)
[13]
_Provincial government_
2. Provincial governors
[14]
of Senatorial provinces (quaestors)Senatorial and Imperial provinces. In 27 BCE provinces divided between Emperor and Senate. "The old system of quaestors might be continued in the senatorial provinces; but in the imperial, the financial officer must be no magistrate, but a deputy, depending on the Emperor and on him alone."
[15]
"Whilst in the senatorial provinces we still find quaestors, working under the supervision of the proconsuls, in the imperial there appear procurators of the Emperor, subordinate to, yet not directly dependent on, the legates."
[16]
2. Provincial governors
[14]
of Imperial provinces (procurator Augusti)"Whilst in the senatorial provinces we still find quaestors, working under the supervision of the proconsuls, in the imperial there appear procurators of the Emperor, subordinate to, yet not directly dependent on, the legates."
[17]
Senatorial and Imperial provinces. In 27 BCE provinces divided between Emperor and Senate. "The old system of quaestors might be continued in the senatorial provinces; but in the imperial, the financial officer must be no magistrate, but a deputy, depending on the Emperor and on him alone."
[18]
"The procuratorships of provinces were posts of high trust and importance, and Augustus must have seen that they could not well be entrusted to freedmen. He therefore limited the latter to the subordinate positions, and entrusted the head posts to men of equestrian rank, whose superior position was reflected in the title of ’procurator Augusti,’ in contrast to the purely private ’procurator.’ The fact of this change is certain, but some details of its institution remain obscure." However, freedman "occasionally" attained the procuratorship of a province.
[19]
3.. Decurions, local magistratesin 1 CE Decurions were required to be at least 25 years old and meet a property qualification of ’HS 100,000’. There was also an entrance fee.
[20]
.
4. vici magistri (village headmen)
2. Client Kingdoms
_Egyptian government_
2. PrefectAppointed by Rome
[21]
3. ProcuratorsAppointed by Rome
[21]
Includes finance officer dioiketes (and other department heads)
4. EpistrategoiAppointed by Rome
[21]
Regional administrator, 4 in total
5. StrategosAppointed by Greco-Egyptians
[21]
30 in total
5. AccountantAppointed by Greco-Egyptians
[21]
auditor of the nome
6. District scribeAppointed by Greco-Egyptians
[21]
7. Village scribeAppointed by Greco-Egyptians
[21]
8. Village EldersElected or co-opted
[21]
9. LiturgistsCompulsory public service
[21]
[1]: (Adkins and Adkins 1998, 42) Adkins, Lesley. Adkins, Roy A. 1998. Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome. Oxford University Press. New York.
[2]: (Adkins and Adkins 1998, 45) Adkins, Lesley. Adkins, Roy A. 1998. Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome. Oxford University Press. New York.
[3]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 34)
[5]: (Preiser-Kapeller, Johannes. Personal Communication to Jill Levine, Dan Hoyer, and Peter Turchin. April 2020. Email.)
[14]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 38)
[20]: (Donahue, 2004, 93 [18])
[21]: (Peacock 2000, 416)
Professional soldiers were present from the beginning of the Roman Principate. "Augustus’ main military reforms had the effect of turning the army into a standing force of long-service professionals, instead of the part-time citizen force of the Republic." "Augustus’ professionalization of the army entailed creating regular, empire-wide terms of service. In theory, at least, soldiers signed up for a fixed length of service, received regular pay at standard rates set by the state and retired with a bonus provided by the state." [1] Becoming a legionary involved a choice for a professional career. There were professional auxiliaries and ’fleet personnel’. [2]
[1]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 34)
[2]: (Fields, 2006, 35)
Early Roman cults were funded by regular public offerings, large individual donations, and payment for services. The hierarchy could also profit from land ownership. Professionalism of the priesthood likely pre-dates the Roman era as similar patterns are evident in Greek and Egyptian civilization. When the state provided gifts, it was often in the form of a lavish construction, such as a new temple. Examples: priests of Isis were "full-time religious professionals" [1] ; Vestals were "supported by the state and were full-time professional clergy, along with the Priestess of Ceres and Proserpina." [2] The Flamen Dialis (the chief priest of Jupiter) was also a professional. He had to follow so many restrictive rules that he was effectively restricted to priestly duties. He could for example not touch horses, iron, etc, and he was not allowed to stand for election. Some priests, however, were not professional. These included the pontifices.
[1]: (Grant and Kitzinger, 1988, 938)
[2]: (Flower ed. 2004, 143)
The highest officers in the Roman military system were usually senators not professionals. There were, however, professional junior officers at least from the Roman Principate.
"Typically the men who commanded armies and legions were senators. There were no military specialists in Roman government and no imperial high command. All senators alternated brief periods of military command with administrative posts, participation in domestic politics and careers as legal advocates. As military commanders they were, to a great extent, amateurs, even though most did a brief spell as a junior officer (tribune) in a legion. They would have depended on the professional junior officers (tribunes and centurions) as well as the training and discipline of the legionaries themselves to win battles.""
[1]
"Tribunes, like the legionary legate (commander), were drawn from Rome’s social and political elite, the senatorial and equestrian orders, and were not professional soldiers. They alternated military service with political, judicial and administrative duties."
[2]
[1]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 38)
[2]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 39)
The first senate building, the Curia Hostilia, existed from about 600 BCE.
[1]
The first paving of the Roman Forum occurred around 575-625 BCE.
[2]
The first coin minted in Rome occurred about 269 BCE (one in Neapolis produced coins slightly earlier, around 281 BCE) and the first state archives was created in 78 BCE. Other buildings include: granaries and storehouses.
Buildings of the imperial bureaucracy, such as the Curia Julia. The Curia Julia was one of the main meeting places of the Roman Senate (later rebuilt under Diocletian after a fire in 283 CE).
[3]
The Senate also often met in appropriate temples.
[4]
The old Roman treasury - the aerarium Saturni - was for a time housed in the basement of the Temple of Saturn. There were lots of multi-purpose government buildings: basilicas, imperial fora, and porticos, which were utilized for government functions, such as official meetings or court hearings.Offices of local magistrates and town council buildings were housed in separate buildings. There were market buildings (the Markets of Trajan in Rome). Bathhouses proliferated. Other buildings include: granaries and storehouses, mints and state archives.
[1]: (Cornell 1995, 94)
[2]: (Cornell 1995, 100)
[3]: (http://dlib.etc.ucla.edu/projects/Forum/reconstructions/CuriaIulia_1)
Roman administration was typically formed out of a class of hereditary aristocrats. Distinctions between classes of legionary and distinctions between age and experience within the army had been eliminated by Marius in 105 BCE [1] and the Illyrian emperors demonstrate that "low born" individuals could make it to the top of the administrative hierarchy. Since there was no general policy of merit promotion in the Roman bureaucracy - and the promotion of low-born individuals to position of power might be considered a matter of "politics" among aristocrats - the code is inferred absent.
[1]: (Dupuy and Dupuy 2007)
Before the Roman Principate there was no formal bureaucracy. The old Roman treasury - the aerarium Saturni - was housed in the basement of the Temple of Saturn
[1]
In the period of the Roman Principate state revenues were stored in an imperial treasury (fiscus) under the direct control of an Emperor.
[2]
The fiscus, created by Augustus, brought to power a new class of officials whom, like the Emperor’s chief financial official the rationibus, were typically freedmen. The Emperor was assisted by his directly appointed consilium (advisory councils) that were often made up of freedmen and personal slaves.
[3]
There were salaried officials who worked in the Imperial Bureaux (scrinia)
[4]
Salaries of officials were part of government expenditure: "The main items of expenditure were the maintenance of the army, the expenses of provincial government, the salaries of officials, the corn-supply and police of Rome, the maintenance of religion, the building of temples and other public works, and the public roads and aqueducts."
[5]
Estimating the number of state employees is an extremely difficult task but one scholar has supposed that if the imperial government at its largest in the 4th CE ’had somewhat over thirty thousand functionaries’ before this time a figure of 10,000-12,000 (as R. F. Tannenbaum suggests for Rome and Italy) might be reasonable.
[6]
"At its largest extent, in the fourth century, the imperial government had somewhat over thirty thousand functionaries ... in the earlier centuries, when the empire was at the height of its power and glory, it employed only a fraction of that number." ... "Fourth cent., A. H. M. Jones (1964), 1057 n.44. The size of the administration in earlier centuries is harder to estimate: Eck (1980: 16) counts some 10,000 in the provinces under Trajan, mostly seconded soldiers ...; independently R. F. Tannenbaum (private communication) estimates a total of some 10,000-12,000 including Rome and Italy, but excluding the central and local adinistration of Egypt."
[6]
[1]: Garrett Fagan. Personal Communication.
[2]: (Adkins and Adkins 1998, 45) Adkins, Lesley. Adkins, Roy A. 1998. Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome. Oxford University Press. New York.
[6]: (Lendon 1997, 3) Lendon, J. E. 1997. Empire of Honour: The Art of Government in the Roman World. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
There was no examination system for the Roman bureaucracy.
Law specialists first existed during the Principate when they commanded fees for their expertise. We know this because Emperor Claudius attempted to "limit the fees of advocates, which had become intolerably heavy" to protect "women and other helpless litigants from the rapacity of their lawyers." [1] The first law school in Rome, for persons who wished to pursue career in the Imperial civil service, was established late second century CE. "Professional" lawyers replaced orators during the Roman Dominate period. [2]
[1]: (Allcroft and Haydon 1902, 121 [23])
[2]: (Mousourakis 2007, 163)
Professional judges did not exist until the Roman Dominate although at that time their precise role vis-a-vis that of Imperial officials is a matter of debate. [1] Before this time there were no judges as a distinct profession in the Roman system of law. Local magistrates dealt with local matters, provincial governors dealt with provincial matters, and the praetors often dealt with cases in Rome. The Roman people could be duly convened as a final court of appeal in cases involving citizens.
[1]: (Mousourakis 2007, 163)
A formal legal code was first founded in the Twelve Tables of 450-449 BCE. Law thereafter was based on precedent. Our sources of knowledge of Roman law include the forensic speeches of Cicero; the Institutes of Gaius textbook (from 160 CE); and, much later, the sixth century CE Corpus Ius Civilis of Justinian. Wax tablets and papyri (contracts and wills etc.) also provide information on Roman law.
[1]
However, before this time restrictions on funerary extravagance, from the start of the 6th century, may suggest the Twelve Tables laws (of the Early Republic) codified an existing body of law and legal practices.
[2]
The constitutio Antoniniana of 212 CE brought an end to the distinction between civis and peregrius.
[3]
Social and legal distinctions were redrawn between honestiores (those with dignitas, public standing) and humiliores (those without). "Mandata" were directions from Emperor to provincial governors and state official.
[4]
The range of legal sanctions consisted was determined by social standing: aggravated execution, forced labour, beatings, and torture were reserved for slaves and humiliore), whereas fines and exile were more common for honestiores. The exception were for conspirators against an emperor who, despite their high standing, were often brutally tortured and executed. Long-term custodial imprisonment was unknown as a punishment.
Writing c200 CE "Papinian, perhaps the authority on law most respected in late antiquity, listed the sources of the ius civile as statutes (leges), popular resolutions (plebiscita), senatorial enactments (senatusconsulta), decrees of emperors (decreta principum) and the authoritative pronouncements of men learned in law, the jurists (auctoritas prudentium). To these was added the ius honorarium, the law contained in the Edict of the praetor, who, under the Republic and Early Empire administered law in Rome; this form of law derived its name from the praetor’s magistracy (honos) and was held to ’assist, supplement or amend’ the ius civile.".
[5]
[1]: (Tellegen-Couperus, 2002, 66)
[2]: (Cornell 1995, 106)
[3]: (Mousourakis 2007)
[4]: (Mousourakis 2007, 161)
[5]: (Harries 2001, 11) Harries, Jill. 2001. Law and Empire in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
"The criminal law owed much to the reforms of two past lawgivers, the proto-emperor, L. Cornelius Sulla (dictator and consul, 81-80 BC), and the emperor Augustus. Sulla established a number of courts (quaestiones) to try various criminal offences, such as murder and poisoning (or use of charms), or forgery; in the statutes he would have defined the crime and the penalty. In other areas of criminal law, the framework supplied for later developments by the Leges Iuliae, the legislation of Augustus, predominates, with whole sections of the imperial law-codes devoted to imperial enactments relevant to the Julian laws on adulteries, corrupt solicitation (ambitus), extortion (repetundae), treason (maiestas) and on violence)."
[1]
"As jury-courts fell out of use under the Early Empire, to be replaced by hearings before a single magistrate or judge, the courts established by the criminal statutes ceased to operate, but the statues themselves remained, as they specified offence and punishment. People prosecuted for murder, poisoning, or other relevant offences were still prosecuted under Sulla’s law and liable to its penalties."
[1]
Note (DH): the quaestiones were a sort of ad-hoc special tribunal - it refers to the section of law that the case was under, not an actual building, so ’court’ is a bit of a stretch on the translation in the quote. Trials were still held basically wherever there was space -- bassilicae, fora, etc.
During the Roman Dominate administration of justice was "thoroughly bureaucratized" and "regular courts, special courts were established to deal with particular matters and categories of persons."
[2]
Before this time there was no specialised court building. Courts could be held in the basilicas
[3]
(introduced by the 3rd Century BCE
[4]
) where a provincial governor could an hold audience or in the Roman forum. Basilicas were multi-purpose buildings a place for banking and money-changing and town hall activities. The forum was a multi-purpose building which had existed since the Roman Kingdom.
[1]: (Harries 2001, 12) Harries, Jill. 2001. Law and Empire in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[2]: (Mousourakis 2007, 161)
[3]: (Berger 1968, 742)
[4]: (Stearns 2001)
At Rome nearly all aqueducts begin in Sabine Hills, in the valley of the river Anio. Waters, such as from the (previously built) Aqua Marcia, would take 15-20 hours to reach the city. At the city the water would enter a distribution tank, before travelling through the terracota or lead-pipe network. The best evidence for piped urban water networking has been found at Pompeii. The water had three main destinations: street fountains, baths and domestic. Most Romans gained their fresh water from street fountains. For domestic use, water supply was controlled by size of bronze nozzle (adjutage) that connected the masonry channel to the lead pipe that entered the house. Domestic water was probably paid for with a "water tax". [1] Arsinoe, metropolis in Egypt (capital town of a nome) "had running water supplied by two reservoirs into which water was pumped from an arm of the Nile." [2] By the 3rd century CE, there were 11 aqueduct lines into Rome [3] which we can infer required maintenance. Under Claudius (41-54 CE) Aqua Claudius and Anio Novis were built with a gradient which fell several inches every 100 feet. Tunnels were precisely angled and key stone arch used for 6 mile column of arches that carried water into Rome. Waters were distributed to public drinking fountains, public baths and other buildings, and to wealthy Romans who paid for running water [3] .
[2]: (Peacock 2000, 416)
[3]: (Canciello 2005)
E.g. Late 1st BCE. Ferrara - Padua, built by Augustus. Claudius "employed 30,000 men for eleven years in cutting an outlet to the Liris for the waters of the Fucine Lake, and thereby saved them from repeated inundation a large area of the Marsian lands" [1] "Legionaries’ engineering and construction skills were put to use for obviously military purposes (fortifications), but also sometimes for improving infrastructure by building canals or bridges, or in mining and quarrying." [2]
[1]: (Allcroft and Haydon 1902, 121)
[2]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 48)
"Legionaries’ engineering and construction skills were put to use for obviously military purposes (fortifications), but also sometimes for improving infrastructure by building canals or bridges, or in mining and quarrying." [1] Via Flaminia crossed Nera River with Ponte d’Augusto, spans from 52-105 feet. Pont-Saint-Martin, east of Aosta, span of 35.6 meters. 104 CE Alcantara bridge, span 28.8 meters, height 62 meters. Puente Romano, Merida, total length 721 meters (not built in one go, sections added over time) [2] Major repair of roads, bridges and harbours under Trajan (98-117 CE). [3] .
[1]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 48)
[2]: (Gagarin and Fantham 2009, 25)
[3]: (Canciello 2005)
Galen (129 - 199CE). Vitruvius Pollio (born 64 BCE), wrote ten books on architecture and engineering. "From it we gain almost all our knowledge of the Roman canons of architecture in temples, acqeducts and houses, and of the military engines of the period." Cornelis Celsus, included work on farming, medicine and surgery. [1] Pliny the Elder (23 - 79 CE), Historia Naturalis (77 CE) "20,000 facts from 500 authors", index to scientific knowledge. Also wrote two histories. [2]
[1]: (Allcroft and Haydon 1902, 224-230)
[2]: (Allcroft and Haydon 1902, 240)
Jewish writings - Talmud? Martin Goodman reference. Christian literature. Belief system. James Ribes on Roman religion.
Dio Cassius (155 - c235 CE), Livy (59 BC - 17 CE), Plutarch (50 - 125 CE), Tacitus (56-120 CE) [1] . Pompeius Trogus Historiae Philippicae, a universal history in forty four books up to 9 CE. Strabo (54 BCE - 24 CE), wrote geographical and historical works. Titus Livius Patavinus (born Padua, 59-57 BCE) [2] Cornelius Tacitus (probably born Rome, 54-120 CE), work included Germania a treatise on geographical and social condition of Germany. Histories (concerns years 69-70 CE), Annales (History of Rome, Tiberius to Nero) [3] Suetonius historian, De vita Caesarum. Valerius, historical anecdotes. Plutarch (born 46 CE, Boeotia) known for Parallel Lives and Moralia.
[2]: (Allcroft and Haydon 1902, 225-228)
[3]: (Allcroft and Haydon 1902, 238)
Albius Tibullus (born 53 BCE), poet wrote Elegies. Sextus Propertius (born in Umbria c58-49 BCE), elegiac poet. Publius Vergilius Maro (born near Mantua 70 BCE), poet, wrote Eclogues (published before 39 BCE), Georgics, Aeneid (begun 29 BCE, published 17 BCE). Quintus Horatius Flaccus (born at Venusia 65 BCE) a humourist, wrote Satires (published c34-29 BCE), Odes (published 23-14 BCE), Epodes (poem, published c30 BCE), Epistles (published c20 BCE), De Arte Poetica (essay publised c13 BCE). Publius Ovidius Naso (born at Sulmo, 43 BCE) poet of elegiac verse, Amores (9 BCE), Heroides, Ars Amandi (2 BCE), Remedia Amoris (1 CE), Fasti, Metamorphoses, Tristia, Epistles from Pontus, and other works.
[1]
Junius Juvenais, satirist, (born Acquinum, died 130 CE)
[2]
Seneca (born Cordova, 4 CE) also wrote some widely read tragedies and dialogues. Lucan, poet (born 39 CE, Cordova). Apuleius, Latin prose writer (born c125 CE, a Numidian Berber, from Madaurus). Martial, Latin epigram (38 CE, Bilbilis). Petronius (c27 CE, Massalia) wrote satirical novel Satyricon.
More: Oxford Latin Dictionary. "Dinner table conversation."
[1]: (Allcroft and Haydon 1902, 211-224)
[2]: (Allcroft and Haydon 1902, 235)
Julian calendar, in use since 46 BCE. in 8 BCE Augustus renamed Quintilis as Iulius (July) and Sextilis as Augustus (August).
Spintria may have been used in the Principate to pay prostitutes although it is also argued that these were gaming pieces.
Spintria may have been used in the Principate to pay prostitutes although it is also argued that these were gaming pieces.
gold was used as a store of wealth (cf J.-M. Carrié 2003 "Solidus et Credit") and conceivably was used for payment.
The Romans did not use paper currency in any period.
Rome produced its first coin about 281 BCE, a Greek-style silver didrachma, minted in Neapolis (and twelve years later coins were minted in Rome.) Prior to end of Second Punic War (end 201 BCE) many coins were produced by communities other than Rome. Monetary and economic unity from Rome was achieved by the early 1st century BCE. [1] Roman coins included the silver denarius, silver Sestertius and gold aureus. [2]
[1]: (Crawford 2001, 32, 42)
"Before Augustus, Romans wanting to post a letter had to find a courier wherever they could, and work out the arrangements for delivery ad hoc. But by Cicero’s day [i.e. c100 BCE] there had evolved a number of fairly regular means by which one could send a letter." This included "a private system of letter carriers maintained by the publicani, whose business of collecting taxes in the provinces necessitated a reliable means of communication over long distances... a private individual could arrange for these couriers, called tabellarri, to carry personal letters along with the business correspondence of their companies." [1] "The legion also had a detachment of 120 horsemen (equites legionis), typically employed as messengers and similar roles, rather than as cavalry in combat." [2]
[1]: (Nicholson 1994)
[2]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 36)
There was a wide variety of types of fortification, including temporary marching camps, wooden forts, stone forts, fortresses for legion concentrations, long walls (e.g., Hadrian’s) with mile castles and lookout towers.
"Romans were so fond of the texture effect of opus quadratum that they continued to use this technique even after having developed more effective kinds of masonry." [1] Inferred absent because "texture effect" should be irrelevant in a military context and Romans of this period had access to motar.
A ditch filled with water would not have been beyond the technological capabilities of the Romans during this period but did they use/need them?
Hadrian’s wall. 15 feet high for 73 miles. Milecastle every Roman mile up to 21 feet high. Milecastle could house 60 troops. Between Milecastles, two watchtowers with centuries. 17 large forts along wall home to 1000 soldiers. Nine foot ditch dug at base of wall while a Vallum behind (120 ft wide ditch) ran the entire length of the stone wall. 15-20000 men used to build. 5 year build. [1] .
[1]: (Canciello 2005)
For example, swords. Noric steel first made by the Celts in 300 BCE. Romans imported Noric steel. Noricum, a region of the Austrian Alps "between Raetia in the west and Pannonia in the east" became a province within the Roman Empire. [1] However, use of Noric steel could hardly have been typical. "A sword from the Roman Republican period (3rd-2nd century BCE) in Slovenia was found to have an iron edge and a steel (0.4%C) body, like the much later spatha discussed below; a particularly unfortunate combination." [2]
[1]: (Buchwald 2005, 124) Vagn Fabritius Buchwald. 2005. Iron and steel in ancient times. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab.
[2]: (Williams 2012, 51-52) Alan Williams. 2012. The Sword and the Crucible: A History of the Metallurgy of European Swords Up to the 16th Century. BRILL. Leiden.
"Imperial legionaries were primarily swordsmen who employed a heavy throwing spear (pilum) to disrupt their enemy before engaging in hand-to-hand combat." [1] According to Josephus, by first century CE only one throwing-spear used. In the 3rd century the lancea (light javelin) came into use, among similar weapons. [2]
[1]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 41)
[2]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 43)
Each legion had 55 carroballistae bolt-shooters. [1] "The use of the hand-crossbow in Europe thus divides into two quite distinct periods, the first between about -100 and +450; the second beginning in the +10th century." [2]
[1]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 45)
[2]: (Needham and Wang 1954, 174) Needham J and Wang L. 1954. Science and Civilisation in China. Cambridge University Press.
ladius [1] "Imperial legionaries were primarily swordsmen who employed a heavy throwing spear (pilum) to disrupt their enemy before engaging in hand-to-hand combat." [2] From the mid-first century CE the stabbing Mainz-type sword type gained a shorter point and became "more versatile as a cutting weapon." [3] "By the later 2nd or early 3rd century AD, the short stabbing sword was largely replaced by the longer spatha, a cutting weapon previously used by the Roman cavalry (who no longer required longer swords to cut down their opponents) and probably adopted from Rome’s Celtic enemies." [3]
[1]: (Erdkamp 2011, 192)
[2]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 41)
[3]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 42)
Roman cavalry were not traditionally horseback archers. Inferred that they carried lances.
Wardogs were attached to units and were used by sentries and patrols. Garrett will check whether they were used in battle. Romans kept geese as intruder alarms along with sentry dogs as they were more sensitive to intruders. [1]
[1]: (Mayor 2014, 288) Adrienne Mayor. Animals in Warfare. Gordon Lindsay Campbell. ed. 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
Bedouin camel troops were used as auxiliaries in North Africa and in the Middle East
Shields: "the written evidence of Polybius, and a Republican example found in Egypt, suggests they were made of plywood laminated with leather and canvas, bound together at the edges with iron or bronze." [1] Felt materials: subarmales "padded garments normally worn under armour." [1]
[1]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 43)
There were two fleets, one based in Misenum and another in Ravenna. They were commanded by a praefectus classis. Post-Actium battle c800 warships in active service. Augustus created 3 fleets (Praetorian), stationed at Forum Iulil, Ravenna and Misenum. Each fleet had about 10,000 men, Ravenna more after Vespasian. Provincial fleets later added [1] No evidence for slaves on Roman war-galleys from the Principate. [2] Galleys were most widely used. No new technology was introduced during this period. 196-197 CE, Septimus Severus formed a new naval unit. All Italian triremes now manned with heavily armed troops. [3]
[1]: (D’Amato 2009, 8)
[2]: (Beresford, 2012, 209)
[3]: (D’Amato 2009, 6-7)
For example, Roman invasion of Britain. Did not have military transport ships.