Roman Empire

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Roman empire The period when the Roman state and its overseas provinces were under the rule of an emperor, from the time of AUGUSTUS (27 BC) until 476 AD. The Roman empire was divided in 375 AD by Emperor Theodosius into the Western and Eastern empires. The term is often used to refer to all Roman territories during both the republic and the empire.

The city of Rome gradually gained power from the time of the Tarquins (6th century BC), subduing the Etruscans, Sabines, Samnites, and Greek settlers, and by the mid-3rd century BC, controlled Italy. It came into conflict with CARTHAGE in the western Mediterranean and with the Hellenistic world in the east. Success in the PUNIC WARS gave Rome its first overseas possessions in Sicily (241), Spain (201), and north Africa (146) and the Macedonian Wars eventually left Rome dominant in Macedonia, Greece, and parts of Asia Minor. Syria and Gaul from the Rhine to the Atlantic were added by the campaigns of POMPEY and Julius CAESAR and Egypt was annexed in 31 BC after the Battle of ACTIUM. AUGUSTUS planned to consolidate the empire within natural boundaries, but in 43 AD CLAUDIUS invaded Britain. TRAJAN, in 106, made Dacia a province in response to raids across the Danube, although it was abandoned in 270. His annexation of Mesopotamia was very brief (114–117).

This vast empire was held together by secure communication and internal peace maintained by the ROMAN LEGIONS. Fleets kept the sea safe for shipping and a network of ROMAN ROADS, built to move troops quickly, facilitated trade, personal travel, and an imperial postal system. The development of a single legal system and the use of a common language (Latin in the west, Greek in the east) helped maintain unity. Roman cities flourished throughout the empire, assisted by efficient water and drainage systems. Roman influence and trade spread even further reaching India, Russia, southeast Asia, and through the SILK ROAD, China.

The success of the empire also led to its downfall, its sheer size contributing to its collapse, exacerbated by power struggles and the invasion of land-hungry migrating tribes. Rome was sacked by the VISIGOTHS in 410, Carthage was conquered by the VANDALS in 455, and in 476 Romulus Augustulus, the last emperor of the Western empire was deposed. The Eastern empire (BYZANTINE empire) lasted until 1453. GIBBON's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776–81) is a classic account of the disintegration of imperial Rome.

Roman Empire Mediterranean empire formed (c.27 bc) by Augustus after the assassination (c.44 bc) of Julius Caesar. Its power centre was ancient Rome. The Romans adopted the culture of ancient Greece, but their Empire was based on military power and Roman law. In terms of technology and (arguably) culture, Roman civilization was not surpassed in Europe until the Renaissance. By the death of Augustus (ad 14), the Empire included most of Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and the whole North African coast. In the 1st and 2nd centuries, Britain was conquered; in the e, Roman rule extended to the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf, and further territory, including Dacia (Transylvania), was added in se Europe. The Empire was at its greatest extent at the death of Trajan (ad 117), when it included all the lands around the Mediterranean and extended to n Britain, the Black Sea, and Mesopotamia. Hadrian (r.117–138) called a halt to further expansion. Rome reached the height of its power during the first 150 years of imperial rule, becoming a city of grand, monumental buildings with c.1 million inhabitants. In the 3rd century, pressure from Germanic tribes and the Persians, plus economic difficulties, contributed to the breakdown of government. Armies in the provinces broke away from Rome. Diocletian restored order, and from his time the Empire tended to be split into e and w divisions. In 330, Constantine founded an e capital at Constantinople. Rome was increasingly challenged by different peoples, such as the Goths who sacked the city in 410. By 500, the Roman Empire in the west had ceased to exist. The Eastern or Byzantine Empire survived until 1453.

Roman empire. Archaeological evidence for Irish contacts with the Roman empire is accumulating but its extent and effects remain controversial. Under the early empire any Romanization of western Britain was very limited: social structure and material wealth were not significantly different on either side of the Irish Sea. By the 4th century, however, Irish raids demonstrated that the Irish found western Britain sufficiently wealthy to reward the investment required to mount risky expeditions. The same impression is given by Irish settlements in western Britain; especially in the civitates of the Demetae and the Silures there is good evidence of the acclimatization of Irish settlers to late Roman society, once Rome's authority had vanished. In the early empire, however, the main impact may have been through trade, probably organized through designated entrepôts, perhaps protected by treaties between Irish kings and the Roman authorities. It has been claimed that surviving evidence for trade with the empire is mainly confined to the eastern part of the island, from the central plain southwards. Yet the ogam alphabet, based on, but carefully distinguished from, a Roman model, was widely used in the south of Munster.

Thomas M. Charles‐Edwards

Ro·man Em·pire the empire established by Augustus in 27 bc and divided by Theodosius in ad 395 into the Western or Latin and Eastern or Greek Empire.

Roman Empire see Rome ; Byzantine Empire ; Holy Roman Empire .