Dulwich Picture Gallery, London/The Bridgeman Art...

C H A P T E R

5

The First WorldCivilizations: Rome, China,and the Emergence of theSilk Road

CHAPTER OUTLINEAND FOCUS QUESTIONS

Early Rome and the RepublicWhat policies and institutions help explain theRomans’ success in conquering Italy? How did Romeachieve its empire from 264 to 133 B.C.E., and whatproblems did Rome face as a result of its growingempire?

The Roman Empire at Its HeightWhat were the chief features of the Roman Empire atits height in the second century C.E.?

Crisis and the Late EmpireWhat reforms did Diocletian and Constantine institute,and to what extent were the reforms successful? Whatcharacteristics of Christianity enabled it to grow andultimately to triumph?

The Glorious Han Empire (202 B.C.E.–221 C.E.)What were the chief features of the Han Empire?

CRITICAL THINKINGIn what ways were the Roman Empire and theHan Chinese Empire similar, and in what wayswere they different?

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ALTHOUGH THE ASSYRIANS, Persians, and Indians under theMauryan dynasty had created empires, they were neither aslarge nor as well controlled as the Han and Roman Empiresthat flourished at the beginning of the first millennium C.E.They were the largest political entities the world had yetseen. The Han Empire extended from Central Asia to the Pa-cific Ocean; the Roman Empire encompassed the landsaround the Mediterranean, parts of the Middle East, andwestern and central Europe. Although there were no diplo-matic contacts between the two civilizations, the Silk Roadlinked the two great empires commercially.

Roman history is the remarkable story of how a group ofLatin-speaking people, who established a small communityon a plain called Latium in central Italy, went on to conquerall of Italy and then the entire Mediterranean world. Whywere the Romans able to do this? Scholars do not really knowall the answers, but the Romans had their own explanation.Early Roman history is filled with legendary tales of theheroes who made Rome great. One of the best known is thestory of Horatius at the bridge.

Threatened by attack from the neighboring Etruscans,Roman farmers abandoned their fields and moved into thecity, where they would be protected by the walls. One weakpoint in the Roman defenses, however, was a wooden bridgeover the Tiber River. Horatius was on guard at the bridgewhen a sudden assault by the Etruscans caused many Romantroops to throw down their weapons and flee. Horatius urgedthem to make a stand at the bridge; when they hesitated, hetold them to destroy the bridge behind him while he held theEtruscans back. Astonished at the sight of a single defender,the confused Etruscans threw their spears at Horatius, whocaught them on his shield and barred the way. By the timethe Etruscans were about to overwhelm the lone defender,

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the Roman soldiers had brought down the bridge. Horatiusthen dived fully armed into the water and swam safely tothe other side through a hail of arrows. Rome had beensaved by the courageous act of a Roman who knew his dutyand was determined to carry it out. Courage, duty, determi-nation—these qualities would serve the many Romans whobelieved that it was their divine mission to rule nations andpeoples. As one orator proclaimed, ‘‘By heaven’s will myRome shall be capital of the world.’’1

Early Rome and the RepublicFOCUS QUESTIONS:What policies and institutionshelp explain the Romans’ success in conqueringItaly? How did Rome achieve its empire from 264 to133 B.C.E., and what problems did Rome face as aresult of its growing empire?

Italy is a peninsula extending about 750 miles from north tosouth (see Map 5.1). It is not very wide, however, averagingabout 120 miles across. The Apennines form a ridge downthe middle of Italy that divides west from east. Neverthe-less, Italy has some fairly large fertile plains that are idealfor farming. Most important are the Po River valley in thenorth; the plain of Latium (LAY-shee-um), on which Romewas located; and Campania to the south of Latium. To theeast of the Italian peninsula is the Adriatic Sea and to thewest the Tyrrhenian Sea, bounded by the large islands ofCorsica and Sardinia. Sicily lies just west of the ‘‘toe’’ of theboot-shaped Italian peninsula.

Geography had an impact on Roman history. Although theApennines bisected Italy, they were less rugged than the moun-tain ranges of Greece and did not divide the peninsula into smallisolated communities. Italy also possessed considerably moreproductive agricultural land than Greece, enabling it to supporta large population. Rome’s location was favorable from a geo-graphic perspective. Located 18 miles inland on the Tiber River,Rome had access to the sea and yet was far enough inland to besafe from pirates. Built on seven hills, it was easily defended.

Moreover, the Italian peninsula juts into the Mediterra-nean, making Italy an important crossroads between thewestern and eastern ends of the sea. Once Rome had unifiedItaly, involvement in Mediterranean affairs was natural. Andafter the Romans had conquered their Mediterranean empire,governing it was made easier by Italy’s central location.

Early RomeAccording to Roman legend, Rome was founded by twinbrothers, Romulus and Remus, in 753 B.C.E., and archaeolo-gists have found that by around that time, a village of hutshad been built on the tops of Rome’s hills. The early Romans,basically a pastoral people, spoke Latin, which, like Greek,belongs to the Indo-European family of languages (see Table1.2 in Chapter 1). The Roman historical tradition also main-tained that early Rome (753–509 B.C.E.) had been under the

control of seven kings and that two of the last three had beenEtruscans (i-TRUSS-kunz), people who lived north of Romein Etruria. Historians believe that the king list may have somehistorical accuracy. What is certain is that Rome did fall underthe influence of the Etruscans for about a hundred years dur-ing the period of the kings and that by the beginning of thesixth century, under Etruscan influence, Rome began toemerge as a city. The Etruscans were responsible for an out-standing building program. They constructed the first roadbedof the chief street through Rome, the Sacred Way, before 575B.C.E. and oversaw the development of temples, markets,shops, streets, and houses. By 509 B.C.E., supposedly when themonarchy was overthrown and a republican form of govern-ment was established, a new Rome had emerged, essentially aresult of the fusion of Etruscan and native Roman elements.

The Roman RepublicThe transition from monarchy to a republican governmentwas not easy. Rome felt threatened by enemies from everydirection and, in the process of meeting these threats,embarked on a military course that led to the conquest of theentire Italian peninsula.

THE ROMAN CONQUEST OF ITALY At the beginning of theRepublic, Rome was surrounded by enemies, including theLatin communities on the plain of Latium. If we are to

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MAP 5.1 Ancient Italy. Ancient Italy was home to several groups.Both the Etruscans in the north and the Greeks in the south had amajor influence on the development of Rome.

Once Rome conquered the Etruscans, Sabines, Samnites, andother local groups, what aspects of the Italian peninsulahelped make it defensible against outside enemies?

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believe Livy (LIV-ee), one of the chief ancient sources for thehistory of the early Roman Republic, Rome was engaged inalmost continuous warfare with these enemies for the nexthundred years. In his account, Livy provided a detailed narra-tive of Roman efforts. Many of his stories were legendary incharacter; writing in the first century B.C.E., he used his storiesto teach Romans the moral values and virtues that had madeRome great. These included tenacity, duty, courage, andespecially discipline (see the box above).

By 340 B.C.E., Rome had crushed the Latin states in Lat-ium. During the next fifty years, the Romans waged a suc-cessful struggle with hill peoples from central Italy and thencame into direct contact with the Greek communities. TheGreeks had arrived on the Italian peninsula in large numbersduring the age of Greek colonization (750–550 B.C.E.; seeChapter 4). Initially, the Greeks settled in southern Italy andthen crept around the coast and up the peninsula. The Greeks

had much influence on Rome. They cultivated olives andgrapes, passed on their alphabet, and provided artistic andcultural models through their sculpture, architecture, and lit-erature. By 267 B.C.E., the Romans had completed the con-quest of southern Italy by defeating the Greek cities. Aftercrushing the remaining Etruscan states to the north in 264B.C.E., Rome had conquered most of Italy.

To rule Italy, the Romans created the Roman Confedera-tion in 338 B.C.E. Under this system, Rome allowed somepeoples—especially the Latins—to have full Roman citizen-ship. Most of the remaining communities were made allies.They were free to run their own local affairs but wererequired to provide soldiers for Rome. Moreover, theRomans made it clear that loyal allies could improve their sta-tus and even have hope of becoming Roman citizens. TheRomans had found a way to give conquered peoples a stakein Rome’s success.

Cincinnatus Saves Rome: A Roman Morality Tale

POLITICS &GOVERNMENT

There is perhaps no better account of how thevirtues of duty and simplicity enabled goodRoman citizens to prevail during the travails ofthe fifth century B.C.E. than Livy’s account of Cin-

cinnatus (sin-suh-NAT-uss). He was chosen dictator, suppos-edly in 457 B.C.E., to defend Rome against the attacks of theAequi. The position of dictator was a temporary expedientused only in emergencies; the consuls would resign, and aleader with unlimited power would be appointed for a speci-fied period (usually six months). In this account, Cincinnatusdid his duty, defeated the Aequi, and returned to his simplefarm in just fifteen days.

Livy, The Early History of RomeThe city was thrown into a state of turmoil, and the generalalarm was as great as if Rome herself were surrounded. Nau-tius was sent for, but it was quickly decided that he was notthe man to inspire full confidence; the situation evidentlycalled for a dictator, and, with no dissentient voice, LuciusQuinctius Cincinnatus was named for the post.

Now I would solicit the particular attention of thosenumerous people who imagine that money is everything inthis world, and that rank and ability are inseparable fromwealth: let them observe that Cincinnatus, the one man inwhom Rome reposed all her hope of survival, was at thatmoment working a little three-acre farm . . . west of theTiber, just opposite the spot where the shipyards are today. Amission from the city found him at work on his land—digginga ditch, maybe, or plowing. Greetings were exchanged, andhe was asked—with a prayer for divine blessing on himselfand his country—to put on his toga and hear the Senate’sinstructions. This naturally surprised him, and, asking if all

were well, he told his wife Racilia to run to their cottage andfetch his toga. The toga was brought, and wiping the grimysweat from his hands and face he put it on; at once theenvoys from the city saluted him, with congratulations, asDictator, invited him to enter Rome, and informed him ofthe terrible danger of Municius’s army. A state vessel waswaiting for him on the river, and on the city bank he was wel-comed by his three sons who had come to meet him, then byother kinsmen and friends, and finally by nearly the wholebody of senators. Closely attended by all these people andpreceded by his lictors he was then escorted to his residencethrough streets lined with great crowds of common folk who,be it said, were by no means so pleased to see the new Dicta-tor, as they thought his power excessive and dreaded the wayin which he was likely to use it. . . .

[Cincinnatus proceeds to raise an army, march out, anddefeat the Aequi.]

In Rome the Senate was convened by Quintus Fabius theCity Prefect, and a decree was passed inviting Cincinnatus toenter in triumph with his troops. The chariot he rode in waspreceded by the enemy commanders and the military stan-dards, and followed by his army loaded with its spoils. . . .Cincinnatus finally resigned after holding office for fifteendays, having originally accepted it for a period of six months.

What values did Livy emphasize in his account ofCincinnatus? How important were those values toRome’s success? Why did Livy say he wrote hishistory? As a writer in the Augustan Age, would hehave pleased or displeased Augustus by writing ahistory with such a purpose?

126 CHAPTER 5 The First World Civilizations: Rome, China, and the Emergence of the Silk RoadCopyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).


In the course of their expansion throughout Italy, theRomans had pursued consistent policies that help explaintheir success. The Romans were superb diplomats whoexcelled in making the correct diplomatic decisions. In addi-tion, the Romans were not only good soldiers but also persis-tent ones. The loss of an army or a fleet did not cause themto quit but spurred them on to raise new armies and buildnew fleets. Finally, the Romans had a practical sense of strat-egy. As they conquered, the Romans established colonies—fortified towns—at strategic locations throughout Italy. Bybuilding roads to these settlements and connecting them, theRomans created an impressive communications and militarynetwork that enabled them to rule effectively and efficiently(see the comparative illustration above). By insisting on mili-tary service from the allies in the Roman Confederation,Rome essentially mobilized the entire military manpower ofall Italy for its wars.

THE ROMAN STATE After the overthrow of the monarchy,Roman nobles, eager to maintain their position of power,established a republican form of government. The chief exec-utive officers of the Roman Republic were the consuls(KAHN-sulls) and praetors (PREE-turs). Two consuls, cho-sen annually, administered the government and led theRoman army into battle. The office of praetor was created in366 B.C.E. The praetor was in charge of civil law (law as itapplied to Roman citizens), but he could also lead armies andgovern Rome when the consuls were away from the city. Asthe Romans’ territory expanded, they added another praetorto judge cases in which one or both people were noncitizens.The Roman state also had a number of administrative officialswho handled specialized duties, such as the administration offinancial affairs and supervision of the public games of Rome.

The Roman senate came to hold an especially importantposition in the Roman Republic. The senate or council of

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INTERACTION & EXCHANGE

COMPARATIVE ILLUSTRATIONRoman and Chinese Roads. The Romans constructed aremarkable system of roads. After laying a foundation of gravel,which allowed for drainage, the Roman builders topped it withflagstones, closely fitted together. Unlike other peoples who

built similar kinds of roads, the Romans did not follow the contours of the landbut made their roads as straight as possible to facilitate communications andtransportation, especially for military purposes. Seen here is a view of the ViaAppia (Appian Way), built in 312 B.C.E. to make it easy for Roman armies tomarch from Rome to the newly conquered city of Capua, a distance of 152miles (shown on the map). By the beginning of the fourth century C.E., theRoman Empire contained 372 major roads covering 50,000 miles.

Like the Roman Empire, the Han Empire relied on roads constructed with stone slabs for the movement of military forces. The First Emperor ofQin was responsible for the construction of 4,350 miles of roads, and by the end of the second century C.E., China had almost 22,000 miles of roads.Although roads in both the Roman and Chinese Empires were originally constructed for military purposes, they came to be used for communicationsand commercial traffic as well.

What was the importance of roads to the Roman and Han Empires?

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elders was a select group of about three hundred men whoserved for life. The senate could only advise the magistrates,but this advice was not taken lightly and by the third centuryB.C.E. had virtually the force of law.

The Roman Republic had a number of popular assemblies.By far the most important was the centuriate assembly.Organized by classes based on wealth, it was structured insuch a way that the wealthiest citizens always had a majority.This assembly elected the chief magistrates and passed laws.Another assembly, the council of the plebs, came into beingas a result of the struggle of the orders.

This struggle arose as a result of the division of early Romeinto two groups, the patricians and the plebeians. The patri-cians were great landowners, who constituted an aristocraticgoverning class. Only they could be consuls, magistrates, andsenators. The plebeians constituted the considerably largergroup of nonpatrician large landowners, less wealthy landhold-ers, artisans, merchants, and small farmers. Although they, too,were citizens, they did not have the same rights as the patri-cians. Both patricians and plebeians could vote, but only thepatricians could be elected to governmental offices. Both hadthe right to make legal contracts and marriages, but intermar-riage between patricians and plebeians was forbidden. At thebeginning of the fifth century B.C.E., the plebeians began toseek both political and social equality with the patricians.

The struggle between the patricians and plebeians draggedon for hundreds of years, but the plebeians ultimately weresuccessful. The council of the plebs, a popular assembly forplebeians only, was created in 471 B.C.E., and new officials,known as tribunes of the plebs, were given the power toprotect plebeians against arrest by patrician magistrates. Anew law allowed marriages between patricians and plebeians,and in the fourth century B.C.E., plebeians were permitted tobecome consuls. Finally, in 287 B.C.E., the council of the plebsreceived the right to pass laws for all Romans.

The struggle between the patricians and plebeians had hada significant impact on the development of the Roman state.Theoretically, by 287 B.C.E., all Roman citizens were equalunder the law, and all could strive for political office. But inreality, as a result of the right of intermarriage, a select num-ber of patrician and plebeian families formed a new senatorialaristocracy that came to dominate the political offices. TheRoman Republic had not become a democracy.

The Roman Conquest of theMediterranean (264–133 B.C.E.)After their conquest of the Italian peninsula, the Romans foundthemselves face to face with a formidable Mediterraneanpower—Carthage (KAHR-thij). Founded around 800 B.C.E. onthe coast of North Africa by Phoenicians, Carthage had flour-ished and assembled an enormous empire in the western Medi-terranean. By the third century B.C.E., the Carthaginian Empireincluded the coast of northern Africa, southern Spain, Sardinia,Corsica, and western Sicily. The presence of Carthaginians inSicily, so close to the Italian coast, made the Romans apprehen-sive. In 264 B.C.E., the two powers began a lengthy struggle forcontrol of the western Mediterranean (see Map 5.2).

In the First Punic (PYOO-nik) War (the Latin word forPhoenician was Punicus), the Romans resolved to conquer Sicily.The Romans—a land power—realized that they could not winthe war without a navy and promptly developed a substantialnaval fleet. After a long struggle, a Roman fleet defeated theCarthaginian navy off Sicily, and the war quickly came to anend. In 241 B.C.E., Carthage gave up all rights to Sicily and hadto pay an indemnity. Sicily became the first Roman province.

Carthage vowed revenge and extended its domains inSpain to compensate for the territory lost to Rome. When theRomans encouraged one of Carthage’s Spanish allies to revoltagainst Carthage, Hannibal (HAN-uh-bul), the greatest ofthe Carthaginian generals, struck back, beginning the SecondPunic War (218–201 B.C.E.).

This time, the Carthaginian strategy aimed at bringing thewar home to the Romans and defeating them in their ownbackyard. Hannibal crossed the Alps with an army of 30,000to 40,000 men and inflicted a series of defeats on the Romans.At Cannae (KAH-nee) in 216 B.C.E., the Romans lost an armyof almost 40,000 men. The Romans seemed on the brink ofdisaster but refused to give up, raised yet another army, andbegan to reconquer some of the Italian cities that had goneover to Hannibal’s side. They also sent troops to Spain, andby 206 B.C.E., Spain was freed of the Carthaginians.

The Romans then took the war directly to Carthage, forc-ing the Carthaginians to recall Hannibal from Italy. At theBattle of Zama (ZAH-muh) in 202 B.C.E., the Romans crushedHannibal’s forces, and the war was over. By the peace treatysigned in 201 B.C.E., Carthage lost Spain, which becameanother Roman province. Rome had become the dominantpower in the western Mediterranean.

Fifty years later, the Romans fought their third and finalstruggle with Carthage. In 146 B.C.E., Carthage was destroyed.For ten days, Roman soldiers burned and pulled down all of thecity’s buildings (see the box on p. 130). The inhabitants—50,000men, women, and children—were sold into slavery. The terri-tory of Carthage became a Roman province called Africa.

During its struggle with Carthage, Rome also had problemswith the Hellenistic states in the eastern Mediterranean, and af-ter the defeat of Carthage, Rome turned its attention there. In148 B.C.E., Macedonia was made a Roman province, and twoyears later, Greece was placed under the control of the Romangovernor of Macedonia. In 133 B.C.E., the king of Pergamumdeeded his kingdom to Rome, giving Rome its first province inAsia. Rome was now master of the Mediterranean Sea.

THE ROMAN ARMY By the fourth century B.C.E., the Romanarmy consisted of four legions, each made up of four thou-sand to five thousand men; each legion had about three hun-dred cavalry and the rest infantry. In the early Republic, thearmy was recruited from citizens between the ages of eigh-teen and forty-six who had the resources to equip themselvesfor battle. Since most of them were farmers, they enrolledonly for a year, campaigned during the summer months, andreturned home in time for the fall harvest. Later, during thePunic Wars of the third century B.C.E., the period of servicehad to be extended, although this was resisted by farmerswhose livelihoods could be severely harmed by a long



absence. Nevertheless, after the disastrous Battle of Cannaein 216 B.C.E., the Romans were forced to recruit larger armies,and the number of legions rose to twenty-five. Major changesin recruitment would not come until the first century B.C.E.with the military reforms of Marius (see ‘‘Growing Unrestand a New Role for the Roman Army’’ in the next section).

The Decline and Fall of the RomanRepublic (133–31 B.C.E.)By the middle of the second century B.C.E., Roman domina-tion of the Mediterranean Sea was complete. Yet the processof creating an empire had weakened the internal stability ofRome, leading to a series of crises that plagued the Republicfor the next hundred years.

GROWING UNREST AND A NEW ROLE FOR THE ROMANARMY By the second century B.C.E., the senate had becomethe effective governing body of the Roman state. It comprisedthree hundred men, drawn primarily from the landed aristoc-racy; they remained senators for life and held the chief magis-tracies of the Republic. The senate directed the wars of thethird and second centuries and took control of both foreignand domestic policy, including financial affairs.

Of course, these aristocrats formed only a tiny minority ofthe Roman people. The backbone of the Roman state had

traditionally been the small farmers. But over time, manysmall farmers had found themselves unable to compete withlarge, wealthy landowners and had lost their lands. By takingover state-owned land and by buying out small peasant own-ers, these landed aristocrats had amassed large estates, calledlatifundia (lat-i-FOON-dee-uh), that used slave labor.Thus, the rise of the latifundia contributed to a decline in thenumber of small citizen farmers who were available for mili-tary service. Moreover, many of these small farmers driftedto the cities, especially Rome, forming a large class of landlesspoor.

Some aristocrats tried to remedy this growing economicand social crisis. Two brothers, Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus(ty-BEER-ee-uss and GY-uss GRAK-us), came to believethat the underlying cause of Rome’s problems was thedecline of the small farmer. To help the landless poor, theybypassed the senate by having the council of the plebs passland reform bills that called for the government to reclaim pub-lic land held by large landowners and to distribute it to landlessRomans. Many senators, themselves large landowners whoseestates included broad tracts of public land, were furious.A group of senators took the law into their own hands andmurdered Tiberius in 133 B.C.E. Gaius later suffered the samefate. The attempts of the Gracchus brothers to bring reformshad opened the door to further violence. Changes in theRoman army soon brought even worse problems.

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MAP 5.2 Roman Conquests in the Mediterranean, 264–133 B.C.E. Beginning with the Punic Wars, Rome expanded its holdings, first in thewestern Mediterranean at the expense of Carthage and later in Greece and western Asia Minor.

What aspects of Mediterranean geography, combined with the territorial holdings and aspirations of Rome and the Carthaginians,made the Punic Wars more likely?

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In the closing years of the second century B.C.E., a Romangeneral named Marius (MAR-ee-uss) began to recruit hisarmies in a new way. The Roman army had traditionallybeen a conscript army of small farmers who were landhold-ers. Marius recruited volunteers from both the urban and ru-ral poor who possessed no property. These volunteers sworean oath of loyalty to the general, not the senate, and thus con-stituted a professional-type army no longer subject to thestate. Moreover, to recruit these men, the generals wouldpromise them land, forcing the generals to play politics inorder to get laws passed that would provide the land

promised to their veterans. Marius had created a new systemof military recruitment that placed much power in the handsof the individual generals.

THE COLLAPSE OF THE REPUBLIC The first century B.C.E.was characterized by two important features: the jostling fordominance of a number of powerful individuals and the civilwars generated by their conflicts. Three individuals came tohold enormous military and political power—Crassus(KRASS-uss), Pompey (PAHM-pee), and Julius Caesar.Crassus was known as the richest man in Rome and led a

The Destruction of Carthage


The Romans used a technical breach of Car-thage’s peace treaty with Rome to undertake athird and final war with Carthage (149–146 B.C.E.).Although Carthage posed no real threat to

Rome’s security, the Romans still remembered the traumaticexperiences of the Second Punic War, when Hannibal hadravaged much of their homeland. The hard-liners gained theupper hand in the senate and called for the completedestruction of Carthage. The city was razed, the survivorssold into slavery, and the land turned into a province. In thispassage, the historian Appian of Alexandria describes thefinal destruction of Carthage by the Romans under the com-mand of Scipio Aemilianus (SEE-pee-oh ee-mil-YAY-nuss).

Appian, Roman HistoryThen came new scenes of horror. The fire spread and carriedeverything down, and the soldiers did not wait to destroy thebuildings little by little, but pulled them all down together.So the crashing grew louder, and many fell with the stonesinto the midst dead. Others were seen still living, especiallyold men, women, and young children who had hidden in theinmost nooks of the houses, some of them wounded, somemore or less burned, and uttering horrible cries. Still others,thrust out and falling from such a height with the stones, tim-bers, and fire, were torn asunder into all kinds of horribleshapes, crushed and mangled. Nor was this the end of theirmiseries, for the street cleaners, who were removing the rub-bish with axes, mattocks, and boat hooks, and making theroads passable, tossed with these instruments the dead andthe living together into holes in the ground, sweeping themalong like sticks and stones or turning them over with theiriron tools, and man was used for filling up a ditch. Some werethrown in head foremost, while their legs, sticking out of theground, writhed a long time. Others fell with their feet down-ward and their heads above ground. Horses ran over them,crushing their faces and skulls, not purposely on the part ofthe riders, but in their headlong haste. Nor did the streetcleaners either do these things on purpose; but the press of

war, the glory of approaching victory, the rush of the sol-diery, the confused noise of heralds and trumpeters all round,the tribunes and centurions changing guard and marching thecohorts hither and thither—all together made everybody fran-tic and heedless of the spectacle before their eyes.

Six days and nights were consumed in this kind of turmoil,the soldiers being changed so that they might not be wornout with toil, slaughter, want of sleep, and these horrid sights.. . .

Scipio, beholding this city, which had flourished 700 yearsfrom its foundation and had ruled over so many lands,islands, and seas, as rich in arms and fleets, elephants, andmoney as the mightiest empires, but far surpassing them inhardihood and high spirit . . . now come to its end in totaldestruction—Scipio, beholding this spectacle, is said to haveshed tears and publicly lamented the fortune of the enemy.After meditating by himself a long time and reflecting on theinevitable fall of cities, nations, and empires, as well as of indi-viduals, upon the fate of Troy, that once proud city, upon thefate of the Assyrian, the Median, and afterwards of the greatPersian empire, and, most recently of all, of the splendidempire of Macedon, either voluntarily or otherwise thewords of the poet [Homer, Iliad] escaped his lips:

The day shall come in which our sacred TroyAnd Priam, and the people over whomSpear-bearing Priam rules, shall perish all.

Being asked by Polybius in familiar conversation (for Polybiushad been his tutor) what he meant by using these words,Polybius says that he did not hesitate frankly to name hisown country, for whose fate he feared when he consideredthe mutability of human affairs. And Polybius wrote thisdown just as he heard it.

What does the description of Rome’s destruction ofCarthage reveal about the nature of Romanimperialism? What features seem more rhetoricalthan realistic? Why?



successful military command against a major slave rebellion.Pompey had returned from a successful military command inSpain in 71 B.C.E. and had been hailed as a military hero. JuliusCaesar also had a military command in Spain. In 60 B.C.E.,Caesar joined with Crassus and Pompey to form a coalitionthat historians call the First Triumvirate (triumvirate means‘‘three-man rule’’).

The combined wealth and influence of these three menwas enormous, enabling them to dominate the political sceneand achieve their basic aims: Pompey received a command inSpain, Crassus a command in Syria, and Caesar a special mili-tary command in Gaul (modern France). When Crassus waskilled in battle in 53 B.C.E., his death left two powerful menwith armies in direct competition. Caesar had conquered allof Gaul and gained fame, wealth, and military experience aswell as an army of seasoned veterans who were loyal to him.When leading senators endorsed Pompey as the less harmfulto their cause and voted for Caesar to lay down his commandand return as a private citizen to Rome, Caesar refused. Hechose to keep his army and moved into Italy illegally bycrossing the Rubicon, the river that formed the southernboundary of his province. Caesar marched on Rome and

defeated the forces of Pompey and his allies, leaving Caesarin complete control of the Roman government.

Caesar was officially made dictator in 47 B.C.E. and threeyears later was named dictator for life. Realizing the need forreforms, he gave land to the poor and increased the senate to

Roman Legionaries. The Roman legionaries, famed for their courage and tenacity,made possible Roman domination of the Mediterranean Sea. At the time of the PunicWars, a Roman legionary wore chain-mail armor and a plumed helmet and carried an ovalshield, as in the bronze statue from the second or first century B.C.E. shown at the left.Heavy javelins and swords were their major weapons. This equipment remained standarduntil the time of Julius Caesar. The illustration on the right shows a Roman legion on themarch from Trajan’s column, erected in the second century C.E.

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CHRONOLOGY The Roman Conquest of Italy and theMediterranean

Conquest of Latins completed 340 B.C.E.

Creation of the Roman Confederation 338 B.C.E.

First Punic War 264–241 B.C.E.

Second Punic War 218–201 B.C.E.

Battle of Cannae 216 B.C.E.

Roman seizure of Spain 206 B.C.E.

Battle of Zama 202 B.C.E.

Third Punic War 149–146 B.C.E.

Macedonia made a Roman province 148 B.C.E.

Destruction of Carthage 146 B.C.E.

Kingdom of Pergamum to Rome 133 B.C.E.



nine hundred members. He also reformed the calendar byintroducing the Egyptian solar year of 365 days (with laterchanges in 1582, it became the basis of our own calendar).Caesar planned much more in the way of building projectsand military adventures in the east, but in 44 B.C.E., a groupof leading senators assassinated him.

Within a few years after Caesar’s death, two men had di-vided the Roman world between them—Octavian (ahk-TAY-vee-un), Caesar’s grandnephew and adopted son, tookthe western portion and Antony, Caesar’s ally and assistant,the eastern half. But the empire of the Romans, large as itwas, was still too small for two masters, and Octavian andAntony eventually came into conflict. Antony allied himselfclosely with the Egyptian queen, Cleopatra VII. At the Battleof Actium in Greece in 31 B.C.E., Octavian’s forces smashedthe army and navy of Antony and Cleopatra, who both fledto Egypt, where they committed suicide a year later. Octa-vian, at the age of thirty-two, stood supreme over theRoman world. The civil wars had ended. And so had theRepublic.

The Roman Empire at Its HeightFOCUS QUESTION:What were the chief features ofthe Roman Empire at its height in the second centuryC.E.?

With the victories of Octavian, peace finally settled on theRoman world. Although civil conflict still erupted occasion-ally, the new imperial state constructed by Octavian experi-enced remarkable stability for the next two hundred years.The Romans imposed their peace on the largest empire estab-lished in antiquity.

The Age of Augustus (31 B.C.E.–14 C.E.)In 27 B.C.E., Octavian proclaimed the ‘‘restoration of the Repub-lic.’’ He understood that only traditional republican formswould satisfy the senatorial aristocracy. At the same time,Octavian was aware that the Republic could not be fullyrestored. Although he gave some power to the senate, Octa-vian in reality became the first Roman emperor. The senateawarded him the title of Augustus, ‘‘the revered one’’—a fittingtitle, in view of his power, that had previously been reservedfor gods. Augustus proved highly popular, but the chief sourceof his power was his continuing control of the army. The sen-ate also gave Augustus the title of imperator (im-puh-RAH-tur) (our word emperor), or commander in chief.

Augustus maintained a standing army of twenty-eightlegions, or about 150,000 men (a legion was a military unit ofabout 5,000 troops). Only Roman citizens could be legion-aries, while subject peoples could serve as auxiliary forces,which numbered around 130,000 under Augustus. Augustuswas also responsible for setting up a praetorian guard ofroughly 9,000 men who had the important task of guardingthe emperor.

While claiming to have restored the Republic, Augustusinaugurated a new system for governing the provinces.Under the Republic, the senate had appointed the governorsof the provinces. Now certain provinces were given to theemperor, who assigned deputies known as legates to governthem. The senate continued to name the governors of theremaining provinces, but the authority of Augustus enabledhim to overrule the senatorial governors and establish a uni-form imperial policy.

Augustus also stabilized the frontiers of the RomanEmpire. He conquered the central and maritime Alps andthen expanded Roman control of the Balkan peninsula up tothe Danube River. His attempt to conquer Germany failedwhen three Roman legions, led by a general named Varus,

Augustus. Octavian, Caesar’s adopted son, emerged victorious fromthe civil conflict that rocked the Republic after Caesar’s assassination.The senate awarded him the title Augustus. This marble statue fromPrima Porta, an idealized portrait, is based on Greek rather than Romanmodels. The statue was meant to be a propaganda piece, depicting ayouthful general addressing his troops. At the bottom stands Cupid, theson of Venus, goddess of love, meant to be a reminder that the Julians,Caesar’s family, claimed descent from Venus, thus emphasizing theruler’s divine background.

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were massacred in 9 C.E. by a coalition of German tribes. Hisdefeats in Germany taught Augustus that Rome’s power wasnot unlimited and also devastated him; for months, he wouldbeat his head on a door, shouting, ‘‘Varus, give me back mylegions!’’

Augustus died in 14 C.E. after dominating the Roman worldfor forty-five years. He had created a new order while placatingthe old by restoring traditional values. By the time of his death,his new order was so well established that few agitated for analternative. Indeed, as the Roman historian Tacitus (TASS-i-tuss) pointed out, ‘‘Practically no one had ever seen truly Re-publican government. . . . Political equality was a thing of thepast; all eyes watched for imperial commands.’’2

The Early Empire (14–180)There was no serious opposition to Augustus’s choice of hisstepson Tiberius (ty-BEER-ee-uss) as his successor. By hisactions, Augustus established the Julio-Claudian dynasty; thenext four successors of Augustus were related either to hisown family or that of his wife, Livia.

Several major tendencies emerged during the reigns of theJulio-Claudians (14–68 C.E.). In general, more and more of theresponsibilities that Augustus had given to the senate tendedto be taken over by the emperors, who also instituted an im-perial bureaucracy, staffed by talented freedmen, to run thegovernment on a daily basis. As the Julio-Claudian successorsof Augustus acted more openly as real rulers rather than ‘‘firstcitizens of the state,’’ the opportunity for arbitrary and cor-rupt acts also increased. Nero (NEE-roh) (54–68), for exam-ple, freely eliminated people he wanted out of the way,including his own mother, whose murder he arranged. With-out troops, the senators proved unable to oppose theseexcesses, but the Roman legions finally revolted. Abandonedby his guards, Nero chose to commit suicide by stabbing him-self in the throat after uttering his final words, ‘‘What an artistthe world is losing in me!’’

THE FIVE GOOD EMPERORS (96–180) Many historians regardthe Pax Romana (PAKS or PAHKS ro-MAH-nuh) (the‘‘Roman peace’’) and the prosperity it engendered as the chiefbenefits of Roman rule during the first and second centuriesC.E. These benefits were especially noticeable during thereigns of the five so-called good emperors. These rulerstreated the ruling classes with respect, maintained peace inthe empire, and supported generally beneficial domestic poli-cies. Though absolute monarchs, they were known for theirtolerance and diplomacy. By adopting capable men as theirsons and successors, the first four of these emperors reducedthe chances of succession problems.

Under the five good emperors, the powers of the emperorcontinued to expand at the expense of the senate. Increas-ingly, imperial officials appointed and directed by the em-peror took over the running of the government. The goodemperors also extended the scope of imperial administrationto areas previously untouched by the imperial government.Trajan (TRAY-jun) (98–117) implemented an alimentaryprogram that provided state funds to assist poor parents in

raising and educating their children. The good emperorswere widely praised for their extensive building programs.Trajan and Hadrian (HAY-dree-un) (117–138) were espe-cially active in constructing public works—aqueducts,bridges, roads, and harbor facilities—throughout the empire.

FRONTIERS AND THE PROVINCES Although Trajanextended Roman rule into Dacia (modern Romania), Meso-potamia, and the Sinai peninsula (see Map 5.3), his successorsrecognized that the empire was overextended and returnedto Augustus’s policy of defensive imperialism. Hadrian with-drew Roman forces from much of Mesopotamia. Althoughhe retained Dacia and Arabia, he went on the defensive in hisfrontier policy by reinforcing the fortifications along a lineconnecting the Rhine and Danube Rivers and building a de-fensive wall 80 miles long across northern Britain to keep theScots out of Roman Britain. By the end of the second century,the Roman forces were established in permanent basesbehind the frontiers.

At its height in the second century C.E., the Roman Empirewas one of the greatest states the world had seen. It coveredabout 3.5 million square miles and had a population, like thatof Han China, estimated at more than 50 million. While theemperors and the imperial administration provided a degreeof unity, considerable leeway was given to local customs, andthe privileges of Roman citizenship were extended to manypeople throughout the empire. In 212, the emperor Caracalla(kar-uh-KAL-uh) completed the process by giving Romancitizenship to every free inhabitant of the empire. Latin wasthe language of the western part of the empire, while Greekwas used in the east. Roman culture spread to all parts of theempire and freely mixed with Greek culture, creating whathas been called Greco-Roman civilization.

The administration and cultural life of the Roman Empiredepended greatly on cities and towns. A provincial governor’sstaff was not large, so it was left to local city officials to act asRoman agents in carrying out many government functions,especially those related to taxes. Most towns and cities werenot large by modern standards. The largest was Rome, butthere were also some large cities in the east: Alexandria inEgypt numbered more than 300,000 inhabitants. In the west,cities were usually small, with only a few thousand inhabi-tants. Cities were important in the spread of Roman culture,law, and the Latin language, and they resembled one anotherwith their temples, markets, amphitheaters, and other publicbuildings.

PROSPERITY IN THE EARLY EMPIRE The Early Empire was aperiod of considerable prosperity. Internal peace resulted inunprecedented levels of trade. Merchants from all over theempire came to the chief Italian ports of Puteoli on the Bayof Naples and Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber River. Long-distance trade beyond the Roman frontiers also developedduring the Early Empire. Economic expansion in both theRoman and Chinese Empires helped foster the growth of thistrade. Although both empires built roads chiefly for militarypurposes, the roads also came to facilitate trade. Moreover,by creating large empires, the Romans and Chinese not only

The Roman Empire at Its Height 133Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).


established internal stability but also pacified bordering terri-tories, thus reducing the threat that bandits posed to traders.As a result, merchants developed a network of trade routesthat brought these two great empires into commercial con-tact. Most important was the overland Silk Road, a regular

caravan route between West and East (see ‘‘Imperial Expan-sion and the Origins of the Silk Road’’ later in this chapter).

Despite the profits from trade and commerce, agricultureremained the chief pursuit of most people and the underlyingbasis of Roman prosperity. Although the large latifundia still

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MAP 5.3 The Roman Empire from Augustus Through Trajan (14–117). Augustus and later emperors continued the expansion of the RomanEmpire, adding more resources but also increasing the tasks of administration and keeping the peace. Compare this map with Map 5.2.

Which of Trajan’s acquisitions were relinquished during Hadrian’s reign?

Trade in the Roman Empire.Trade was an important ingredient inthe prosperity of the Early RomanEmpire. Although Roman roads wereexcellent, most goods traveled by boatthroughout the Mediterranean andbeyond. This third-century C.E.Roman mosaic from Sousse, Tunisia,shows workers unloading a cargo ofiron ore from a ship.

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dominated agriculture, especially in southern and centralItaly, small peasant farms continued to flourish, particularlyin Etruria and the Po valley. Although large estates dependedon slaves for the raising of sheep and cattle, the lands of somelatifundia were also worked by free tenant farmers who paidrent in labor, produce, or sometimes cash.

Despite the prosperity of the Roman world, an enormousgulf existed between rich and poor. The development of townsand cities, so important to the creation of any civilization, isbased largely on the agricultural surpluses of the countryside.In ancient times, the margin of surplus produced by eachfarmer was relatively small. Therefore, the upper classes andurban populations had to be supported by the labor of a largenumber of agricultural producers, who never found it easy toproduce much more than they needed for themselves.

Culture and Society in the RomanWorldOne of the notable characteristics of Roman culture and societyis the impact of the Greeks. Greek ambassadors, merchants,and artists traveled to Rome and spread Greek thought andpractices. After their conquest of the Hellenistic kingdoms,Roman generals shipped Greek manuscripts and artworks backto Rome. Multitudes of educated Greek slaves labored inRoman households. Rich Romans hired Greek tutors and senttheir sons to Athens to study. As the Roman poet Horace(HOR-uss) said, ‘‘Captive Greece took captive her rude con-queror.’’ Greek thought captivated the less sophisticatedRoman minds, and the Romans became willing transmitters ofGreek culture.

ROMAN LITERATURE The high point of Latin literature wasreached in the age of Augustus, often called the golden age ofLatin literature. The most distinguished poet of the AugustanAge was Virgil (VUR-jul) (70–19 B.C.E.). The son of a smalllandholder in northern Italy, he welcomed the rule of Augus-tus and wrote his greatest work in the emperor’s honor. Vir-gil’s masterpiece was the Aeneid, an epic poem clearlyintended to rival the work of Homer. The connectionbetween Troy and Rome is made in the poem when Aeneas,a hero of Troy, survives the destruction of that city and even-tually settles in Latium—establishing a link between Romancivilization and Greek history. Aeneas is portrayed as theideal Roman—his virtues are duty, piety, and faithfulness.Virgil’s overall purpose was to show that Aeneas had fulfilledhis mission to establish the Romans in Italy and thereby startRome on its divine mission to rule the world.

Let others fashion from bronze more lifelike,breathing images—

For so they shall—and evoke living faces from marble;Others excel as orators, others track with their

instrumentsThe planets circling in heaven and predict when

stars will appear.But, Romans, never forget that government is your

medium!

Be this your art:—to practice men in the habit of peace,Generosity to the conquered, and firmness against

aggressors.3

As Virgil expressed it, ruling was Rome’s gift.

ROMAN ART The Romans were also dependent on theGreeks for artistic inspiration. The Romans developed ataste for Greek statues, which they placed not only in pub-lic buildings but also in their private houses. The Romans’own portrait sculpture was characterized by an intense real-ism that included even unpleasant physical details. Wallpaintings and frescoes in the homes of the rich realisticallydepicted landscapes, portraits, and scenes from mythologicalstories.

The Romans excelled in architecture, a highly practicalart. Although they continued to adapt Greek styles and madeuse of colonnades and rectangular structures, the Romanswere also innovative. They made considerable use of curvilin-ear forms: the arch, vault, and dome. The Romans were alsothe first people in antiquity to use concrete on a massivescale. They constructed huge buildings—public baths, such asthose of Caracalla, and amphitheaters capable of seating50,000 spectators. These large buildings were made possibleby Roman engineering skills. These same skills were put touse in constructing roads, aqueducts, and bridges: a networkof 50,000 miles of roads linked all parts of the empire, and inRome, almost a dozen aqueducts kept the population of onemillion supplied with water.

ROMAN LAW One of Rome’s chief gifts to the Mediterra-nean world of its day and to later generations was its systemof law. Rome’s first code of laws was the Twelve Tables of450 B.C.E., but that was designed for a simple farming societyand proved inadequate for later needs. So, from the TwelveTables, the Romans developed a system of civil law thatapplied to all Roman citizens. As Rome expanded, problemsarose between citizens and noncitizens and also among non-citizen residents of the empire. Although some of the rules ofcivil law could be used in these cases, special rules were oftenneeded. These rules gave rise to a body of law known as thelaw of nations, defined as the part of the law that applied toboth Romans and foreigners. Under the influence of Stoicism,the Romans came to identify their law of nations with natu-ral law, a set of universal laws based on reason. This enabledthem to establish standards of justice that applied to allpeople.

These standards of justice included principles that wewould immediately recognize. A person was regarded asinnocent until proved otherwise. People accused of wrong-doing were allowed to defend themselves before a judge. Ajudge, in turn, was expected to weigh evidence carefullybefore arriving at a decision. These principles lived on longafter the fall of the Roman Empire.

THE ROMAN FAMILY At the heart of the Roman social struc-ture stood the family, headed by the paterfamilias (pay-tur-fuh-MEE-lee-uss)—the dominant male. The household



also included the wife, sons with their wives and children,unmarried daughters, and slaves. Like the Greeks, Romanmales believed that females needed male guardians (see thebox on p. 137). The paterfamilias exercised that authority; onhis death, sons or nearest male relatives assumed the role ofguardians.

Fathers arranged the marriages of daughters. In theRepublic, women married ‘‘with legal control’’ passing fromfather to husband. By the mid-first century B.C.E., the domi-nant practice had changed to ‘‘without legal control,’’ whichmeant that married daughters officially remained within thefather’s legal power. Since the fathers of most marriedwomen died sooner or later, not being in the ‘‘legal control’’of a husband made possible independent property rights thatforceful women could translate into considerable powerwithin the household and outside it.

Some parents in upper-class families provided educationfor their daughters by hiring private tutors or sending themto primary schools. At the age when boys were entering sec-ondary schools, however, girls were pushed into marriage.The legal minimum age for marriage was twelve, althoughfourteen was a more common age in practice (for males, thelegal minimum age was fourteen, and most men married

later). Although some Roman doctors warned that early preg-nancies could be dangerous for young girls, early marriagespersisted because women died at a relatively young age. Agood example is Tullia, Cicero’s beloved daughter. She wasmarried at sixteen, widowed at twenty-two, remarried oneyear later, divorced at twenty-eight, remarried at twenty-nine,and divorced at thirty-three. She died at thirty-four, whichwas not unusually young for women in Roman society.

By the second century C.E., significant changes wereoccurring in the Roman family. The paterfamilias no longerhad absolute authority over his children; he could no longersell his children into slavery or have them put to death.Moreover, the husband’s absolute authority over his wifehad also disappeared, and by the late second century,upper-class Roman women had considerable freedomand independence.

SLAVES AND THEIR MASTERS Although slavery was a com-mon institution throughout the ancient world, no people pos-sessed more slaves or relied so much on slave labor as theRomans eventually did. Slaves were used in many ways inRoman society. The rich owned the most and the best. In thelate Roman Republic, it became a badge of prestige to be

The Pantheon. Shown here is the Pantheon, one of Rome’sgreatest buildings. Constructed of brick, six kinds of concrete,and marble, it is a stunning example of the Romans’ engineeringskills. The outside porch of the Pantheon contains eighteenCorinthian columns made of granite, but it is the inside of thetemple that amazes onlookers. The interior is a large circularspace topped by a huge dome. A hole in the center of the roof isthe only source of light. The dome, built up layer by layer, wasmade of concrete, weighing 10 million pounds. The wallsholding the dome are almost 20 feet thick.

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Cato the Elder on Women

FAMILY &SOCIETY

During the Second Punic War, the Romansenacted the Oppian Law, which limited theamount of gold women could possess and re-stricted their dress and use of carriages. In 195

B.C.E., an attempt to repeal the law was made, and womendemonstrated in the streets on behalf of this effort. Accord-ing to the Roman historian Livy, the conservative Romanofficial Cato the Elder spoke against repeal and against thewomen favoring it. Although the words are probably notCato’s own, they do reflect a traditional male Roman attitudetoward women.

Livy, The History of Rome‘‘If each of us, citizens, had determined to assert his rights anddignity as a husband with respect to his own spouse, we shouldhave less trouble with the sex as a whole; as it is, our liberty,destroyed at home by female violence, even here in the Forumis crushed and trodden underfoot, and because we have not keptthem individually under control, we dread them collectively. . . .But from no class is there not the greatest danger if you permitthem meetings and gatherings and secret consultations. . . .

‘‘Our ancestors permitted no women to conduct even per-sonal business without a guardian to intervene in her behalf;they wished them to be under the control of fathers, brothers,husbands; we (Heaven help us!) allow them now even tointerfere in public affairs, yes, and to visit the Forum and ourinformal and formal sessions. What else are they doing nowon the streets and at the corners except urging the bill of thetribunes and voting for the repeal of the law? Give loose rein

to their uncontrollable nature and to this untamed creatureand expect that they will themselves set bounds to theirlicense; unless you act, this is the least of the things enjoinedupon women by custom or law and to which they submitwith a feeling of injustice. It is complete liberty or, rather, ifwe wish to speak the truth, complete license that they desire.

‘‘If they win in this, what will they not attempt? Review allthe laws with which your forefathers restrained their licenseand made them subject to their husbands; even with all thesebonds you can scarcely control them. What of this? If you suf-fer them to seize these bonds one by one and wrench them-selves free and finally to be placed on a parity with theirhusbands, do you think that you will be able to endure them?The moment they begin to be your equals, they will be yoursuperiors. . . .

‘‘Now they publicly address other women’s husbands,and, what is more serious, they beg for a law and votes, andfrom sundry men they get what they ask. In matters affectingyourself, your property, your children, you, Sir, can beimportuned; once the law has ceased to set a limit to yourwife’s expenditures you will never set it yourself. Do notthink, citizens, that the situation which existed before the lawwas passed will ever return.’’

What particular actions on the part of the womenprotesting this law angered Cato? What more generalconcerns did he have about Roman women? Whatdid he believe was women’s ultimate goal in regardto men?

Roman Women. Roman women, especiallythose of the upper class, had more freedomthan women in Classical Athens despite thepersistent male belief that women requiredguardianship. This mural decoration, found inthe remains of a villa destroyed by theeruption of Mount Vesuvius, shows a groupof Pompeian ladies with their slavehairdresser.

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attended by many slaves. Greek slaves were in much demandas tutors, musicians, doctors, and artists. Roman businessmenwould employ them as shop assistants or craftspeople. Slaveswere also used as farm laborers; in fact, huge gangs of slavesworked the large landed estates under pitiful conditions.Many slaves of all nationalities were used as menial house-hold workers, such as cooks, waiters, cleaners, and gardeners.Contractors used slave labor to build roads, aqueducts, andother public structures.

The treatment of Roman slaves varied. There are numer-ous instances of humane treatment by masters and evenreports of slaves who protected their owners from danger outof gratitude and esteem. But slaves were also subject to

severe punishments, torture, abuse, and hard labor that drovesome to run away, despite stringent laws against aiding a run-away slave. Some slaves revolted against their owners andeven murdered them, causing some Romans to live in unspo-ken fear of their slaves (see the box above).

Near the end of the second century B.C.E., large-scale slaverevolts occurred in Sicily, where enormous gangs of slaveswere subjected to horrible working conditions on largelanded estates. The most famous uprising on the Italian pen-insula occurred in 73 B.C.E. Led by a gladiator named Sparta-cus (SPAR-tuh-kuss), the revolt broke out in southern Italyand involved 70,000 slaves. Spartacus managed to defeat sev-eral Roman armies before being trapped and killed in

The Roman Fear of Slaves

FAMILY &SOCIETY

The lowest stratum of the Roman populationconsisted of slaves. They were used extensivelyin households, at the court, as artisans in indus-trial enterprises, as business managers, and in

numerous other ways. Although some historians have arguedthat slaves were treated more humanely during the EarlyEmpire, these selections by the Roman historian Tacitus andthe Roman statesman Pliny indicate that slaves still rebelledagainst their masters because of mistreatment. Many masterscontinued to live in fear of their slaves, as witnessed by thesaying ‘‘As many enemies as you have slaves.’’

Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial RomeSoon afterwards the City Prefect, Lucius Pedanius Secundus,was murdered by one of his slaves [in 61 C.E.]. Either Pedaniushad refused to free the murderer after agreeing to a price, orthe slave, in a homosexual infatuation, found competition fromhis master intolerable. After the murder, ancient customrequired that every slave residing under the same roof must beexecuted. But a crowd gathered, eager to save so many inno-cent lives; and rioting began. The senatehouse was besieged.Inside, there was feeling against excessive severity, but the ma-jority opposed any change. Among the latter was Gaius Cas-sius Longinus, who when his turn came spoke as follows. . . .

‘‘An ex-consul has been deliberately murdered by a slave inhis own home. None of his fellow-slaves prevented or betrayedthe murderer, though the senatorial decree threatening thewhole household with execution still stands. Exempt themfrom the penalty if you like. But then, if the City Prefect wasnot important enough to be immune; who will be? Who willhave enough slaves to protect him if Pedanius’s four hundredwere too few? Who can rely on his household’s help if evenfear for their own lives does not make them shield us?’’

[The sentence of death was carried out.]

Pliny the Younger to AciliusThis horrible affair demands more publicity than a letter—Larcius Macedo, a senator and ex-praetor, has fallen a victimto his own slaves. Admittedly he was a cruel and overbearingmaster, too ready to forget that his father had been a slave, orperhaps too keenly conscious of it. He was taking a bath inhis house at Formiae when suddenly he found himself sur-rounded; one slave seized him by the throat while the othersstruck his face and hit him in the chest and stomach and—shocking to say—in his private parts. When they thought hewas dead they threw him onto the hot pavement, to makesure he was not still alive. Whether unconscious or feigningto be so, he lay there motionless, thus making them believethat he was quite dead. Only then was he carried out, as if hehad fainted with the heat, and received by his slaves who hadremained faithful, while his concubines ran up, screamingfrantically. Roused by their cries and revived by the cooler airhe opened his eyes and made some movement to show thathe was alive, it being now safe to do so. The guilty slavesfled, but most of them have been arrested and a search isbeing made for the others. Macedo was brought back to lifewith difficulty, but only for a few days; at least he died withthe satisfaction of having revenged himself, for he lived to seethe same punishment meted out as for murder. There yousee the dangers, outrages, and insults to which we areexposed. No master can feel safe because he is kind and con-siderate; for it is their brutality, not their reasoning capacity,which leads slaves to murder masters.

What do these texts reveal about the practice ofslavery in the Roman Empire? What were Romanattitudes toward the events discussed in thesedocuments?



southern Italy in 71 B.C.E. Six thousand of his followers werecrucified, the traditional form of execution for slaves.

IMPERIAL ROME At the center of the colossal RomanEmpire was the ancient city of Rome. A true capital city,Rome had the largest population of any city in the empire,close to one million by the time of Augustus. Only Chang’an,the imperial capital of the Han Empire in China, had a com-parable population during this time.

Both food and entertainment were provided on a grandscale for the inhabitants of Rome. The poet Juvenal (JOO-vuh-nul) said of the Roman masses, ‘‘But nowadays, with novote to sell, their motto is ‘Couldn’t care less.’ Time waswhen their plebiscite elected generals, heads of state,commanders of legions: but now they’ve pulled in theirhorns, there’s only two things that concern them: Bread andCircuses.’’4 Public spectacles were provided by the emperoras part of the great religious festivals celebrated by the state.Most famous were the gladiatorial shows, which took placein amphitheaters. Perhaps the most famous was the amphi-theater known as the Colosseum, constructed in Rome toseat 50,000 spectators. In most cities and towns, amphitheat-ers were the biggest buildings, rivaled only by the circuses(arenas) for races and the public baths.

Gladiatorial games were held from dawn to dusk (see theFilm & History feature on p. 140). Contests to the deathbetween trained fighters formed the central focus of thesegames, but the games included other forms of entertainmentas well. Criminals of all ages and both genders were sent intothe arena without weapons to face certain death from wildanimals who would tear them to pieces. Numerous types ofanimal contests were also held: wild beasts against each other,such as bears against buffaloes; staged hunts with men shoot-ing safely from behind iron bars; and gladiators in the arenawith bulls, tigers, and lions. It is recorded that five thousandbeasts were killed in one day of games when Emperor Titusinaugurated the Colosseum in 80 C.E.

DISASTER IN SOUTHERN ITALY Gladiatorial spectacles werecontrived by humans, but the Roman Empire also experi-enced some spectacular natural disasters. One of the greatestwas the eruption of Mount Vesuvius (vuh-SOO-vee-uss)on August 24, 79 C.E. Although known to be a volcano, Vesu-vius was thought to be extinct, its hillsides green with flour-ishing vineyards. Its eruption threw up thousands of tons oflava and ash. Toxic fumes killed many people, and the nearbycity of Pompeii (pahm-PAY) was quickly buried under volcanicash. To the west, Herculaneum (hur-kyuh-LAY-nee-um) andother communities around the Bay of Naples were submergedbeneath a mud flow (see the box on p. 141). Not for another1,700 years were systematic excavations begun on the buriedtowns. Through examination of their preserved remains,archaeologists have been able to reconstruct the everyday lifeand art of these Roman towns. Their discovery in the eigh-teenth century was an important force in stimulating bothscholarly and public interest in Classical antiquity and helpedgive rise to the Neoclassical style of that century.

Crisis and the Late EmpireFOCUS QUESTIONS:What reforms did Diocletian andConstantine institute, and to what extent were thereforms successful? What characteristics ofChristianity enabled it to grow and ultimately totriumph?

During the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the last of the five goodemperors, a number of natural catastrophes struck Rome. Tomany Romans, these natural disasters seemed to portend anominous future for Rome. New problems arose soon afterthe death of Marcus Aurelius in 180. This same era also sawthe growth of Christianity and its eventual adoption as the of-ficial religion of Rome.

Crises in the Third CenturyIn the course of the third century, the Roman Empire camenear to collapse. Military monarchy under the Severan rulers(193–235), which restored order after a series of civil wars, wasfollowed by military anarchy. For the next forty-nine years, theRoman imperial throne was occupied by anyone who had themilitary strength to seize it—a total of twenty-two emperors,only two of whom did not meet a violent death. At the sametime, the empire was beset by a series of invasions, no doubtexacerbated by the civil wars. In the east, the Sassanid (suh-SAN-id) Persians made inroads into Roman territory. Ger-manic tribes also poured into the empire. Not until the end ofthe third century were most of the boundaries restored.

Invasions, civil wars, and plague came close to causing aneconomic collapse of the Roman Empire in the third century.There was a noticeable decline in trade and small industry,and the labor shortage caused by the plague affected bothmilitary recruiting and the economy. Farm production dete-riorated significantly as fields were ravaged by invaders or,even more often, by the defending Roman armies. Themonetary system began to collapse as a result of debasedcoinage and inflation. Armies were needed more than ever,but financial strains made it difficult to pay and enlist moresoldiers. By the mid-third century, the state had to hire Ger-mans to fight under Roman commanders.

The Late Roman EmpireAt the end of the third and beginning of the fourth centuries,the Roman Empire gained a new lease on life through theefforts of two strong emperors, Diocletian (dy-uh-KLEE-shun)and Constantine (KAHN-stun-teen). Under their rule, theempire was transformed into a new state, the so-called LateEmpire, distinguished by a new governmental structure, a rigideconomic and social system, and a new state religion—Christianity(see ‘‘Transformation of the Roman World: The Develop-ment of Christianity’’ later in this chapter).

THE REFORMS OF DIOCLETIAN AND CONSTANTINE BothDiocletian (284–305) and Constantine (306–337) extendedimperial control by strengthening and expanding the

Crisis and the Late Empire 139Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).


administrative bureaucracies of the Roman Empire. A hierar-chy of officials exercised control at the various levels of gov-ernment. The army was enlarged, and mobile units were setup that could be quickly moved to support frontier troopswhen the borders were threatened.

Constantine’s biggest project was the construction ofa new capital city in the east, on the site of the Greekcity of Byzantium on the shores of the Bosporus. Eventuallyrenamed Constantinople (modern Istanbul), the city wasdeveloped for defensive reasons and had an excellent

FILM & HISTORY

Gladiator (2000)

The film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, is a fictionalstory set in the Roman Empire near the end of the secondcentury C.E. In the movie, Emperor Marcus Aurelius (RichardHarris) informs his son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) that heintends to turn over imperial power to his successful andrespected general, Maximus (Russell Crowe), in the hope thatthis decent and honest man can restore the Roman senateand revive the Republic. Commodus reacts by killing his fa-ther, assuming the position of emperor, and ordering thedeaths of Maximus, his wife, and son. Maximus escapes butreturns too late to Spain to save his wife and child. He is cap-tured and then sold into slavery to Proximo (Oliver Reed),

who trains him to be a gladiator. Maximus is eventually sentto Rome, where he becomes a superhero in the gladiatorialgames in the Roman Colosseum, all the while awaiting anopportunity to avenge the death of his wife and son by killingCommodus. Maximus becomes involved in a plot with Lucilla(Connie Nielsen), the emperor’s sister, and Gracchus (DerekJacobi), a Roman senator, to rejoin his army, march on Rome,and overthrow the emperor. When Commodus discovers theplot, he challenges the captured Maximus to a duel in theColosseum but stabs him first to ensure his own success. De-spite his injury, Maximus kills the emperor in combat.

Gladiator is a relatively exciting story, but how much of itis based on historical facts? With the exception of MarcusAurelius, Commodus, and Lucilla, all of the characters are fic-tional. Marcus Aurelius was a kind emperor with a love of phi-losophy and died in 180, probably from plague, and certainlynot by his son’s hands, as depicted in the film. Commodusruled from 180 to 192, although he was only eighteen whenhe became emperor, not in his late twenties as in the movie;and he had blond hair, not dark hair. Commodus was anunstable and cruel young man who was strongly attracted togladiatorial contests. He was obsessed with performing inthe arena, especially with slaughtering animals. He was notkilled in the Colosseum, however, but strangled by his wres-tling partner on the last day of 192.

Contrary to the movie, Marcus Aurelius had no intentionof restoring the Republic; by 180, most Romans had becomewell accustomed to the empire. In fact, Marcus Aurelius hadalready made his son Commodus a joint ruler in 177. Norhad Marcus Aurelius banned gladiatorial games, as themovie claims. And although Commodus’s sister Lucilla didenter into a plot with some senators to assassinate herbrother, the plot of 182 failed, and the conspirators, includ-ing Lucilla, were executed.

Although Gladiator shows little concern for historicalfacts, the movie did demonstrate that many people are stillinterested in ancient history. It became one of the highestearning films of 2000 and won numerous awards includingAcademy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor for RussellCrowe. Moreover, the film helped to renew interest in Romanhistory—sales of biographies of historical Roman figures andof Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations increased noticeably in theyears after the movie was released.

Maximus (Russell Crowe) triumphs in the Roman Colosseum.

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strategic location.Calling it his ‘‘NewRome,’’ Constantineendowed the citywith a forum, largepalaces, and a vastamphitheater.

The political andmilitary reforms ofDiocletian and Con-stantine also greatlyincreased two institu-tions—the army and

the civil service—that drained most of the public funds. Thoughmore revenues were needed to pay for the army and the bu-reaucracy, the population was not growing, so the tax base couldnot be expanded. To ensure the tax base and keep the empiregoing despite the shortage of labor, the emperors issued edictsthat forced people to remain in their designated vocations. Basicjobs, such as baker or shipper, became hereditary. The fortunesof free tenant farmers also declined. Soon they found themselvesbound to the land by large landowners who took advantage ofdepressed agricultural conditions to enlarge their landed estates.

THE END OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE Constantine hadreunited the Roman Empire and restored a semblance of

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The Eruption of Mount Vesuvius

FAMILY &SOCIETY

Pliny the Younger, an upper-class Roman whorose to the position of governor of Bithynia inAsia Minor, wrote a letter to the Roman historianTacitus, describing the death of his uncle, Pliny

the Elder, as a result of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.Pliny the Elder was the commander of a fleet at Miscenum.When the eruption occurred, his curiosity led him to take adetachment of his fleet to the scene. He landed at Stabiae,where he died from toxic fumes.

Pliny, Letter to Cornelius TacitusThank you for asking me to send you a description of myuncle’s death so that you can leave an accurate account of itfor posterity. . . . It is true that he perished in a catastrophewhich destroyed the loveliest regions of the earth, a fateshared by whole cities and their people, and one so memora-ble that it is likely to make his name live for ever. . . .

My uncle was stationed at Miscenum, in active commandof the fleet. On 24 August, in the early afternoon, my motherdrew his attention to a cloud of unusual size and appearance. .. . He called for his shoes and climbed up to a place whichwould give him the best view of the phenomenon. It was notclear at that distance from which mountain the cloud was ris-ing (it was afterwards known to be Vesuvius); its generalappearance can best be expressed as being like an umbrellapine, for it rose to a great height on a sort of trunk and thensplit off into branches, I imagine because it was thrust upwardsby the first blast and then left unsupported as the pressure sub-sided, or else it was borne down by its own weight so that itspread out and gradually dispersed. In places it looked white,elsewhere blotched and dirty, according to the amount of soiland ashes it carried with it. My uncle’s scholarly acumen sawat once that it was important enough for a closer inspection,and he ordered a boat to be made ready. . . .

[Unable to go farther by sea, he lands at Stabiae.]

Meanwhile on Mount Vesuvius broad sheets of fire and leap-ing flames blazed at several points, their bright glare emphasizedby the darkness of night. My uncle tried to allay the fears of hiscompanions by repeatedly declaring that these were nothing butbonfires left by the peasants in their terror, or else empty houseson fire in the districts they had abandoned. . . .

They debated whether to stay indoors or take their chancein the open, for the buildings were now shaking with violentshocks, and seemed to be swaying to and fro as if they weretorn from their foundations. Outside on the other hand, therewas the danger of falling pumice-stones, even though thesewere light and porous; however, after comparing the risksthey chose the latter. In my uncle’s case one reason out-weighed the other, but for the others it was a choice of fears.As a protection against falling objects they put pillows ontheir heads tied down with cloths.

Elsewhere there was daylight by this time, but they werestill in darkness, blacker and denser than any ordinary night,which they relieved by lighting torches and various kinds oflamp. My uncle decided to go down to the shore and investi-gate on the spot the possibility of any escape by sea, but hefound the waves still wild and dangerous. A sheet was spreadon the ground for him to lie down, and he repeatedly asked forcold water to drink. Then the flames and smell of sulfur whichgave warning of the approaching fire drove the others to takeflight and roused him to stand up. He stood leaning on twoslaves and then suddenly collapsed, I imagine because the densefumes choked his breathing by blocking his windpipe whichwas constitutionally weak and narrow and often inflamed.When daylight returned on the 26th—two days after the lastday he had seen—his body was found intact and uninjured, stillfully clothed and looking more like sleep than death.

What do you think were the reactions of upper-classRomans to this event? How do you think lower-classRomans reacted?

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order. After his death, however, the empire continued todivide into western and eastern parts, which had become twovirtually independent states by 395. In the course of the fifthcentury, while the empire in the east remained intact underthe Roman emperor in Constantinople, the administrativestructure of the empire in the west collapsed and wasreplaced by an assortment of Germanic kingdoms. The pro-cess was a gradual one, beginning with the movement of Ger-mans into the empire.

Although the Romans had established a series of politicalfrontiers along the Rhine and Danube Rivers, Romans andGermans often came into contact across these boundaries.Until the fourth century, the empire had proved capable ofabsorbing these people without harm to its political struc-ture. In the late fourth century, however, the Germanictribes came under new pressure when the Huns, a fiercetribe of nomads from the steppes of Asia who may have beenrelated to the Xiongnu (SHYAHNG-noo), the invaders ofthe Han Empire in China, moved into the Black Sea region,possibly attracted by the riches of the empire to its south.One of the groups displaced by the Huns was the Visigoths(VIZ-uh-gahthz), who moved south and west, crossed theDanube into Roman territory, and settled down as Romanallies. But the Visigoths soon revolted, and the Romanattempt to stop them at Adrianople in 378 led to a crushingdefeat for Rome.

Increasing numbers of Germans now crossed the frontiers.In 410, the Visigoths sacked Rome. Vandals poured intosouthern Spain and Africa, Visigoths into Spain and Gaul.The Vandals crossed into Italy from North Africa and ravagedRome again in 455. By the middle of the fifth century, thewestern provinces of the Roman Empire had been taken overby Germanic peoples who set up their own independent king-doms. At the same time, a semblance of imperial authorityremained in Rome, although the real power behind thethrone tended to rest in the hands of important military offi-cials known as masters of the soldiers. These militarycommanders controlled the government and dominated theimperial court. In 476, Odoacer (oh-doh-AY-sur), a newmaster of the soldiers, himself of German origin, deposed theRoman emperor, the boy Romulus Augustulus (RAHM-yuh-lus ow-GOOS-chuh-luss). To many historians, the deposi-tion of Romulus signaled the end of the Roman Empire inthe west. Of course, this is only a symbolic date, as much ofdirect imperial rule had already been lost in the course of thefifth century.

WHAT CAUSED THE FALL OF THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE?

The end of the Roman Empire in the west has given rise tonumerous theories that attempt to provide a single, all-encompassing reason for the ‘‘decline and fall of the RomanEmpire.’’ These include the following: Christianity’s emphasison a spiritual kingdom undermined Roman military virtuesand patriotism; traditional Roman values declined as non-Italians gained prominence in the empire; lead poisoningcaused by water pipes and cups made of lead resulted in amental decline; plague decimated the population; Romefailed to advance technologically because of slavery; and

Rome was unable to achieve a workable political system.There may be an element of truth in each of these theories,but all of them have also been challenged. History is anintricate web of relationships, causes, and effects. No singleexplanation will ever suffice to explain historical events.One thing is clear, however. Weakened by a shortage ofmanpower, the Roman army in the west was simply not ableto fend off the hordes of people invading Italy andGaul. In contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire, which wouldsurvive for another thousand years, remained largely freefrom invasion.

Transformation of the Roman World:The Development of ChristianityThe rise of Christianity marked a fundamental break with thedominant values of the Greco-Roman world. To understandthe rise of Christianity, we must first examine both the reli-gious environment of the Roman world and the Jewish back-ground from which Christianity emerged.

The Roman state religion focused on the worship of a pan-theon of Greco-Roman gods and goddesses, including Juno,the patron goddess of women; Minerva, the goddess of crafts-people; Mars, the god of war; and Jupiter Optimus Maximus(JOO-puh-tur AHP-tuh-muss MAK-suh-muss) (‘‘best andgreatest’’), who became the patron deity of Rome andassumed a central place in the religious life of the city. TheRomans believed that the observance of proper ritual by statepriests brought them into a right relationship with the gods,thereby guaranteeing security, peace, and prosperity, and thattheir success in creating an empire confirmed that theyenjoyed the favor of the gods. As the first-century B.C.E. politi-cian Cicero claimed, ‘‘We have overcome all the nations ofthe world because we have realized that the world is directedand governed by the gods.’’5

The polytheistic Romans were extremely tolerant of otherreligions. They allowed the worship of native gods and god-desses throughout their provinces and even adopted some ofthe local deities. In addition, beginning with Augustus,emperors were often officially made gods by the Roman sen-ate, thus bolstering support for the emperors (see the com-parative essay ‘‘Rulers and Gods’’ on p. 143).

The desire for a more emotional spiritual experience ledmany people to the mystery religions of the Hellenistic east,which flooded into the western Roman world during theEarly Empire. The mystery religions offered their followersentry into a higher world of reality and the promise of afuture life superior to the present one.

In addition to the mystery religions, the Romans’ expan-sion into the eastern Mediterranean also brought them intocontact with the Jews. Roman involvement with the Jewsbegan in 63 B.C.E., and by 6 C.E., Judaea (which embraced theold Jewish kingdom of Judah) had been made a province andplaced under the direction of a Roman procurator. But unrestcontinued, augmented by divisions among the Jews them-selves. One group, the Essenes, awaited a Messiah whowould save Israel from oppression, usher in the kingdom ofGod, and establish paradise on earth. Another group, the



Zealots, were militant extremists who advocated the violentoverthrow of Roman rule. A Jewish revolt in 66 C.E. wascrushed by the Romans four years later. The Jewish Templein Jerusalem was destroyed, and Roman power once morestood supreme in Judaea.

THE ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY Jesus of Nazareth (c. 6 B.C.E.–c. 29 C.E.) was a Palestinian Jew who grew up in Galilee, an im-portant center of the militant Zealots. Jesus’s message was sim-ple. He reassured his fellow Jews that he did not plan toundermine their traditional religion. What was important wasnot strict adherence to the letter of the law but the transforma-tion of the inner person: ‘‘So in everything, do to others whatyou would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law andthe Prophets.’’6 God’s command was simply to love God andone another: ‘‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart andwith all your soul and with all your mind and with all yourstrength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.’’7

In his teachings, Jesus presented the ethical concepts—humility,charity, and brotherly love—that would form the basis of the valuesystem of medieval Western civilization.

To the Roman authorities of Palestine, however, Jesuswas a potential revolutionary who might transform Jewishexpectations of a messianic kingdom into a revolt againstRome. Therefore, Jesus found himself denounced on manysides, and the procurator Pontius Pilate ordered his crucifix-ion. But that did not solve the problem. A few loyal followersof Jesus spread the story that Jesus had overcome death, hadbeen resurrected, and had then ascended into heaven. Thebelief in Jesus’s resurrection became an important tenet ofChristian doctrine. Jesus was now hailed as ‘‘the anointedone’’ (Christus in Greek), the Messiah who would return andusher in the kingdom of God on earth.

Christianity began, then, as a religious movement withinJudaism and was viewed that way by Roman authorities formany decades. One of the prominent figures in early Chris-tianity, however, Paul of Tarsus (c. 5–c. 67), believed that themessage of Jesus should be preached not only to Jews but toGentiles (non-Jews) as well. Paul taught that Jesus was thesavior, the son of God, who had come to earth to save allhumans, who were all sinners as a result of Adam’s sin of dis-obedience against God. By his death, Jesus had atoned for the

COMPARATIVE ESSAY

Rulers and Gods

RELIGION &PHILOSOPHY

All of the world’s earliest civilizations believedthat there was a close relationship between rul-ers and gods. In Egypt, pharaohs were consid-ered gods whose role was to maintain the order

and harmony of the universe in their own kingdom. In thewords of an Egyptian hymn, ‘‘What is the king of Upper andLower Egypt? He is a god by whose dealings one lives, thefather and mother of all men, alone by himself, without anequal.’’ In Mesopotamia, India, and China, rulers werethought to rule with divine assistance. Kings were of-ten seen as rulers who derived their power fromthe gods and acted as the agents or repre-sentatives of the gods. In ancient India, rul-ers claimed to be representatives of thegods because they were descended fromManu, the first man who had been made aking by Brahman, the chief god. Many Romansbelieved that their success in creating an empirewas a visible sign of divine favor.

Their supposed connection to the godsalso caused rulers to seek divine aid in theaffairs of the world. This led to the art ofdivination, an organized method to discoverthe intentions of the gods. In Mesopotamianand Roman society, one form of divinationinvolved the examination of the livers of sacri-ficed animals; features seen in the livers wereinterpreted to foretell events to come. The

Chinese used oracle bones to receive advice from supernat-ural forces that were beyond the power of human beings.Questions for the gods were scratched on turtle shells oranimal bones, which were then exposed to fire. Shamansexamined the resulting cracks on the surface of the shells orbones and interpreted their meaning as messages fromsupernatural forces. The Greeks divined the will of the gods

by use of the oracle, a sacred shrine dedicated to a godor goddess who revealed the future in response to aquestion.

Underlying all of these divinatory practiceswas a belief in a supernatural universe, that is, aworld in which divine forces were in chargeand on which humans were dependent fortheir own well-being. It was not until the Sci-entific Revolution of the modern world that

many people began to believe in a naturalworld that was not governed by spiritual forces.

What role did spiritual forces play in earlycivilizations?

Vishnu. Brahman the Creator, Shiva the Destroyer, andVishnu the Preserver are the three chief Hindu gods ofIndia. Vishnu is known as the Preserver because hemediates between Brahman and Shiva and thus maintainsthe stability of the universe.ª

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sins of all humans and made possible their reconciliation withGod and hence their salvation. By accepting Jesus as their sav-ior, they too could be saved.

THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY Christianity spread slowly atfirst. Although the teachings of early Christianity were mostlydisseminated by preaching, written materials also appeared.Among them were a series of epistles (letters) written by Pauloutlining Christian beliefs for different Christian commun-ities. Some of Jesus’s disciples may also have preserved someof the sayings of the master in writing and would have passedon personal memories that became the basis of the writtengospels—the ‘‘good news’’ concerning Jesus—of Matthew,Mark, Luke, and John, which by the end of the first centuryC.E. had become the authoritative record of Jesus’s life andteachings and formed the core of the New Testament.Recently, some scholars have argued that other gospels, suchas that of Thomas, were rejected because they deviated fromthe beliefs about Jesus held by the emerging church leaders.

Although Jerusalem was the first center of Christianity, itsdestruction by the Romans in 70 C.E. dispersed the Christiansand left individual Christian churches with considerable inde-pendence. By 100, Christian churches had been established inmost of the major cities of the east and in some places in thewestern part of the empire. Many early Christians came fromthe ranks of Hellenized Jews and the Greek-speaking populationsof the east. But in the second and third centuries, an increasingnumber of followers came from Latin-speaking peoples.

Initially, the Romans did not pay much attention to theChristians, whom they regarded as simply another Jewishsect. As time passed, however, the Roman attitude towardChristianity began to change. The Romans tolerated otherreligions as long as they did not threaten public order or pub-lic morals. Many Romans came to view Christians as harmfulto the Roman state because they refused to worship the stategods and emperors. Nevertheless, Roman persecution ofChristians in the first and second centuries was only sporadicand local, never systematic. In the second century, Christians

were largely ignored as harmless (see the box on p. 145). Bythe end of the reigns of the five good emperors, Christiansstill represented a small minority within the empire, but oneof considerable strength.

THE TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIANITY Christianity grew slowly inthe first century, took root in the second, and by the thirdhad spread widely. Why was the new faith able to attract somany followers? First, the Christian message had much to offerthe Roman world. The promise of salvation, made possible byJesus’s death and resurrection, made a resounding impact on aworld full of suffering and injustice. Christianity seemed toimbue life with a meaning and purpose beyond the simple ma-terial things of everyday reality. Second, Christianity seemedfamiliar. It was regarded as simply another mystery religion,offering immortality as the result of the sacrificial death of asavior-god. At the same time, it offered more than the othermystery religions did. Jesus had been a human figure, not amythological one, and people could relate to him.

Moreover, the sporadic persecution of Christians by theRomans in the first and second centuries not only did little tostop the growth of Christianity, but in fact served tostrengthen it as an institution in the second and third centu-ries by causing it to become more organized. Crucial to thischange was the emerging role of the bishops, who began toassume more control over church communities. The Chris-tian church was creating a well-defined hierarchical structurein which the bishops and clergy were salaried officers sepa-rate from the laity or regular church members.

As the Christian church became more organized, someemperors in the third century responded with more system-atic persecutions, but their schemes failed. The last great per-secution was at the beginning of the fourth century, but bythat time, Christianity had become too strong to be eradi-cated by force. After Constantine became the first Christianemperor, Christianity flourished. Although Constantine wasnot baptized until the end of his life, in 313 he issued theEdict of Milan officially tolerating Christianity. Under

Jesus and His Apostles. Pictured is afourth-century C.E. fresco from a Romancatacomb depicting Jesus and his apostles.Catacombs were underground cemeterieswhere early Christians buried their dead.Christian tradition holds that in times ofimperial repression, Christians withdrew tothe catacombs to pray and hide.

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OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS

Roman Authorities and a Christian on Christianity

RELIGION &PHILOSOPHY

At first, Roman authorities were uncertain how todeal with the Christians. In the second century,Christians were often viewed as harmless and yetwere subject to persecution if they persisted in

their beliefs. Pliny was governor of the province of Bithynia innorthwestern Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). He wrote tothe emperor for advice about how to handle people accusedof being Christians. Trajan’s response reflects the generalapproach toward Christians by the emperors of the secondcentury. The final selection is taken from Against Celsus, writ-ten about 246 by Origen of Alexandria. In it, Origen defendedthe value of Christianity against Celsus, a philosopher whohad launched an attack on Christians and their teachings.

An Exchange Between Pliny and TrajanPliny to Trajan

It is my custom to refer all my difficulties to you, Sir, for noone is better able to resolve my doubts and to inform my ig-norance.

I have never been present at an examination of Christians.Consequently, I do not know the nature of the extent of thepunishments usually meted out to them, nor the grounds forstarting an investigation and how far it should be pressed. . . .

For the moment this is the line I have taken with all personsbrought before me on the charge of being Christians. I haveasked them in person if they are Christians, and if they admitit, I repeat the question a second and third time, with a warn-ing of the punishment awaiting them. If they persist, I orderthem to be led away for execution; for, whatever the nature oftheir admission, I am convinced that their stubbornness andunshakable obstinacy ought not to go unpunished. . . .

Now that I have begun to deal with this problem, as so of-ten happens, the charges are becoming more widespread andincreasing in variety. . . .

I have therefore postponed any further examination andhastened to consult you. The question seems to me to beworthy of your consideration, especially in view of the num-ber of persons endangered; for a great many individuals of ev-ery age and class, both men and women, are being broughtto trial, and this is likely to continue. It is not only the towns,but villages and rural districts too which are infected throughcontact with this wretched cult. . . .

Trajan to Pliny

You have followed the right course of procedure, my dearPliny, in your examination of the cases of persons charged withbeing Christians, for it is impossible to lay down a general ruleto a fixed formula. These people must not be hunted out; if

they are brought before you and the charge against them isproved, they must be punished, but in the case of anyone whodenies that he is a Christian, and makes it clear that he is notby offering prayers to our gods, he is to be pardoned as a resultof his repentance however suspect his past conduct may be.But pamphlets circulated anonymously must play no part inany accusation. They create the worst sort of precedent andare quite out of keeping with the spirit of our age.

Origen, Against Celsus[Celsus] says that Christians perform their rites and teachtheir doctrines in secret, and they do this with good reason toescape the death penalty that hangs over them. He comparesthe danger to the risks encountered for the sake of philosophyas by Socrates. . . . I reply to this that in Socrates’s cases theAthenians at once regretted what they had done, and cher-ished no grievance against him. . . . But in the case of theChristians the Roman Senate, the contemporary emperors,the army, . . . and the relatives of believers fought against thegospel and would have hindered it; and it would have beendefeated by the combined force of so many unless it hadovercome and risen above the opposition by divine power, sothat it has conquered the whole world that was conspiringagainst it. . . .

He [also] ridicules our teachers of the gospel who try toelevate the soul in every way to the Creator of the universe. . . .He compares them [Christians] to . . . the most obtuse yokels,as if they called children quite in infancy and women to evilpractices, telling them to leave their father and teachers andto follow them. But let Celsus . . . tell us how we makewomen and children leave noble and sound teaching, and callthem to wicked practices. But he will not be able to proveanything of any kind against us. On the contrary, we deliverwomen from licentiousness and from perversion caused bytheir associates, . . . while we make boys self-controlled whenthey come to the age of puberty and burn with desires forsexual pleasure, showing them not only the disgrace of theirsins, but also what a state these pleasures produce in the soulsof bad men, and what penalties they will suffer and how theywill be punished.

What were Pliny’s personal opinions of Christians?Why was he willing to execute them? What wasTrajan’s response, and what were its consequencesfor the Christians? What major points did Origenmake about the benefits of the Christian religion?Why did the Roman authorities consider these ideasdangerous to the Roman state?



Theodosius (thee-uh-DOH-shuss) the Great (378–395), itwas made the official religion of the Roman Empire. In lessthan four centuries, Christianity had triumphed.

The Glorious Han Empire(202 B.C.E.–221 C.E.)

FOCUS QUESTION:What were the chief features ofthe Han Empire?

During the same centuries that Roman civilization wasflourishing in the West, China was the home of its owngreat empire. The fall of the Qin dynasty in 206 B.C.E. wasfollowed by a brief period of civil strife as aspiring succes-sors competed for hegemony. Out of this strife emergedone of the greatest and most durable dynasties in Chinesehistory—the Han (HAHN). The Han dynasty would laterbecome so closely identified with the advance of Chinesecivilization that even today the Chinese sometimes refer tothemselves as ‘‘people of Han’’ and to their language as the‘‘language of Han.’’

The founder of the Han dynasty was Liu Bang (lyooBAHNG) (Liu Pang), a commoner of peasant origin whowould be known historically by his imperial title of HanGaozu (HAHN gow-DZOO) (Han Kao Tsu, or Exalted Em-peror of Han). Under his strong rule and that of his succes-sors, the new dynasty quickly moved to consolidate itscontrol over the empire and promote the welfare of its sub-jects. Efficient and benevolent, at least by the standards of thetime, Gaozu maintained the centralized political institutionsof the Qin but abandoned its harsh Legalistic approach to lawenforcement. Han rulers discovered in Confucian principles auseful foundation for the creation of a new state philosophy.Under the Han, Confucianism, supplemented by elementsfrom the surviving classics of the ‘‘hundred schools’’ period,began to take on the character of an official ideology (see thebox on p. 147).

Confucianism and the StateThe integration of Confucian doctrine with Legalist institu-tions, creating a system generally known as State Confucian-ism, took a while to accomplish. At first, the foundingemperor Han Gaozu departed from the Qin policy of central-ized rule by rewarding some of his key allies with vast fief-doms, restricting his own territory to lands around the newcapital of Chang’an (CHENG-AHN). But chronic unrestthroughout the countryside eventually forced a change in pol-icy. By the mid-second century B.C.E., the influence of unrulyaristocratic forces had been curbed, and once again powerwas concentrated at the imperial court.

Once this was accomplished, the Han rulers sought torestore key components of the Qin system of centralized gov-ernment. For example, they borrowed the tripartite divisionof the central government into civilian and military author-ities and a censorate. The government was headed by a‘‘grand council’’ including representatives from all three

segments of government. The Han also retained the systemof local government, dividing the empire into provinces anddistricts.

Finally, the Han sought to apply the Qin system of select-ing government officials on the basis of merit rather thanbirth. Shortly after founding the new dynasty, Han Gaozudecreed that local officials would be asked to recommendpromising candidates for public service. Thirty years later, in165 B.C.E., the first known civil service examination wasadministered to candidates for positions in the bureaucracy.Shortly after that, an academy was established to train candi-dates. The first candidates were almost all from aristocratic orother wealthy families, and the Han bureaucracy itself wasstill dominated by the traditional hereditary elite. Still, theprinciple of selecting officials on the basis of talent had beenestablished and would eventually become standard practice.By the end of the first century B.C.E., as many as 30,000 stu-dents were enrolled at the academy.

Driven by government policies that used tax incentives topromote large families, the population of the empireincreased rapidly—by some estimates rising from about 20million to more than 60 million at the height of the dynasty—creating a growing need for a large and efficient bureaucracyto maintain the state in proper working order. Unfortunately,the Han were unable to resolve all of the problems left overfrom the past. Factionalism at court remained a serious prob-lem and undermined the efficiency of the central govern-ment. Equally important, despite their efforts, the Han rulerswere never able to restrain the great aristocratic families,who continued to play a dominant role in political and eco-nomic affairs. The failure to curb the power of the wealthyclans eventually became a major factor in the collapse of thedynasty.

The EconomyHan rulers unwittingly contributed to their own problems byadopting fiscal policies that led eventually to greater concen-tration of land in the hands of the wealthy. They were awarethat a free peasantry paying taxes directly to the state wouldboth limit the wealth and power of the great noble familiesand increase the state’s revenues. The Han had difficultyhowever, in preventing the recurrence of the economicinequities that had characterized the last years of the Zhou(see the box on p. 148). Land taxes were not especially highbut had to be paid in cash rather than in grain to make collec-tion easier. In years of bad harvests, poor farmers wereunable to pay their taxes and were forced to sell their landand become tenant farmers, paying rents of up to half the an-nual harvest. Although food production increased steadilydue to the application of natural fertilizer and the use of irontools that brought new lands under the plow, the trebling ofthe population under the early Han eventually reduced theaverage size of a family’s farm plot to about one acre per per-son, barely enough for survival.

Farm families also faced a number of other exactions,including compulsory military service for adult males andforced labor of up to one month annually. As rural protests



escalated during the first decades of Han rule, the imperial gov-ernment finally ended military conscription and began to relyon professional armies, recruited primarily among non-Chineseminorities living along the periphery of the empire. That strat-egy, however, would eventually lead to its own problems (see‘‘The Decline and Fall of the Han’’ later in this chapter).

MANUFACTURING AND TRADE Although such economicproblems contributed to the eventual downfall of thedynasty, in general the period of the early Han was one ofunparalleled productivity and prosperity, marked by amajor expansion of trade, both domestic and foreign. Thiswas not necessarily due to official encouragement. In fact,the Han were as suspicious of private merchants as theirpredecessors had been and levied stiff taxes on trade in aneffort to limit commercial activities. Merchants were alsosubject to severe social constraints. They were disqualified

from seeking office, restricted in their place of residence,and generally viewed as parasites providing little true valueto Chinese society.

The state itself directed much trade and manufacturing; itmanufactured weapons, for example, and operated shipyards,granaries, and mines. The system of roads was expanded andmodernized, and new bridges, rest houses, and post stationsfor changing horses were added. Unlike the Romans, how-ever, the Han rulers relied on waterways for the bulk of theirtransportation needs. To supplement the numerous majorrivers crisscrossing the densely populated heartland of China,new canals were dug to facilitate the moving of goods fromone end of the vast empire to the other.

The Han dynasty also began to move cautiously into for-eign trade, mostly with neighboring areas in Central andSoutheast Asia, although trade relations were established withcountries as far away as India and the Mediterranean, where

A Prescription for the Emperor


Jia Yi (JYAH YEE) (Chia) (201–168? B.C.E.) was acounselor to Emperor Wendi (wen-DEE) (WenTi) (r. 181–157 B.C.E.), one of the early rulers ofthe Han dynasty. His words of advice to his sov-

ereign, excerpted in this selection, bear witness to the strongtradition of popular sovereignty in Confucian thought thathad earlier been expressed by the well-known fourth-centuryB.C.E. philosopher Mencius (see Chapter 3). Following Men-cius’s example, Jia Yi declared that the desires of the peopleshould be paramount in forming the basis of government. Inhis opinion, a ruler who did not defer to the wishes of hissubjects did not merit the mandate of Heaven. Jia’s views onthe role of the supernatural in human affairs are particularlystriking, as he declared that it was not the will of Heaven, butgood or bad deeds undertaken here on earth, that broughtfortune or misfortune to the people of China.

‘‘People Are in Every Way the Root’’It is said that in government, the people are in every way theroot (base). For the state, the ruler, and the officials, the peo-ple constitute the root. Thus the security of the state or itsendangerment depends on them [the people]; the prestige ofthe ruler or his disgrace depends on them; and the honor ofthe officials or their debasement is contingent on them. Thisis what is meant by saying the people are in every way theroot. Then again, it is said that in government, the peopleconstitute in every way the mandate. For the state, the ruler,and the officials all depend on the people for their mandate.The life or death of the state depends on the people, thevision or blindness of the ruler depends on them, and

whether officials are respected or not depends on them. Thisis why the people are in every way the mandate. . . .

Still further it is said that the people are the power on whichthe state, the ruler, and the officials all depend for their power.If victory is won, it is because the people want to be victorious;if an attack succeeds, it is because the people want it so; if defensesucceeds, it is because the people want to survive. . . . If the peo-ple are fearful of the enemy, they will surely retreat and defeatwill surely come. Disaster and fortune, as we see, are determinednot in Heaven but by the officers and the people. . . .

Good deeds will in the end bring good fortune, and baddeeds will inevitably bring misfortune. Those who are blessedby Heaven need not thank Heaven, and those who sufferfrom natural disasters need not blame Heaven, for it is allone’s own doing. . . . Heaven will present good fortune tothe virtuous and disaster to those who deprive the people.Even the lowest of people should not be slighted, and the mostfoolish among them should not be taken advantage of. Thus,throughout history, those who oppose the people sooner orlater are defeated by the people. . . . How can anyone thinkof behaving with arrogance and self-deception? The enlight-ened ruler and the noble person will vie to practice goodwhen they perceive it, and they will treat evil like an enemyif they hear of it.

Are Jia Yi’s views implicit in the teachings ofConfucius, as expressed in the Analects and othersources discussed in Chapter 3? How do his viewscompare with the advice offered to the ruler in otherancient societies?

The Glorious Han Empire (202 B.C.E.–221 C.E.) 147Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).


active contacts were maintained with the Roman Empire (seeMap 5.4). Some of this long-distance trade was carried by seathrough southern ports like Guangzhou (gwahng-JOE), butmore was transported by overland caravans on the Silk Road(see the next section and Chapter 10) and other routes thatled westward into Central Asia.

New technology contributed to the economic prosperityof the Han era. Significant progress was achieved in suchareas as textile manufacturing, water mills, and iron casting;skill at ironworking led to the production of steel a few centu-ries later. Paper was invented under the Han, and the devel-opment of the rudder and fore-and-aft rigging permitted shipsto sail into the wind for the first time. Thus equipped, Chi-nese merchant ships carrying.heavy cargoes could sailthroughout the islands of Southeast Asia and into the IndianOcean.

Imperial Expansion and the Originsof the Silk RoadThe Han emperors continued the process of territorial expan-sion and consolidation that had begun under the Zhou andthe Qin. Han rulers, notably Han Wudi (HAHN woo-DEE)(Han Wu Ti, or Martial Emperor of Han), who ruled from141 to 87 B.C.E., successfully completed the assimilation into

the empire of the regions south of the Yangtze River, includ-ing the Red River delta in what is today northern Vietnam.Han armies also marched westward as far as the Caspian Sea,pacifying nomadic tribal peoples and extending China’sboundary far into Central Asia (see Map 5.5).

The latter project apparently was originally planned as ameans to fend off pressure from the nomadic Xiongnu peo-ples, who periodically threatened Chinese lands from theirbase area north of the Great Wall. In 138 B.C.E., Han Wudidispatched the courtier Zhang Qian (JANG chee-AHN)(Chang Ch’ien) on a mission westward into Central Asia toseek alliances with peoples living in the area against the com-mon Xiongnu menace. Zhang Qian returned home withample information about political and economic conditions inCentral Asia. The new knowledge permitted the Han courtto establish the first Chinese military presence in the area ofthe Taklimakan (tah-kluh-muh-KAHN) Desert and the TianShan (TEE-en SHAHN) ((Heavenly Mountains). Eventually,this area would become known to the Chinese people as Xin-jiang (SHIN-jyahng), or ‘‘New Region.’’

Chinese commercial exchanges with peoples in CentralAsia now began to expand dramatically. Eastward into Chinacame grapes, precious metals, glass objects, and horses fromPersia and Central Asia. Horses were of particular significancebecause Chinese military strategists had learned of the

An Edict from the Emperor

EARTH &ENVIRONMENT

According to Confucian doctrine, Chinese mon-archs ruled with the mandate of Heaven as longas they properly looked after the welfare of theirsubjects. One of their most important responsi-

bilities was to maintain food production at a level sufficientto feed their people. Natural calamities such as floods,droughts, and earthquakes were interpreted as demonstra-tions of displeasure with the ‘‘Son of Heaven’’ on earth. Inthis edict, Emperor Wendi wonders whether he has failed inhis duty to carry out his imperial Dao (Way), thus incurringthe wrath of Heaven. After the edict was issued in 163 B.C.E.,the government took steps to increase the grain harvest,bringing an end to the food shortages.

Han Shu (History of the Han Dynasty)For the past years there have been no good harvests, and ourpeople have suffered the calamities of flood, drought, andpestilence. We are deeply grieved by this, but being ignorantand unenlightened, we have been unable to discover wherethe blame lies. We have considered whether our administra-tion has been guilty of some error or our actions of somefault. Have we failed to follow the Way of Heaven or toobtain the benefits of Earth? Have we caused disharmony inhuman affairs or neglected the gods that they do not accept

our offerings? What has brought on these things? Have theprovisions for our officials been too lavish or have weindulged in too many unprofitable affairs? Why is the food ofthe people so scarce? When the fields are surveyed, they havenot decreased, and when the people are counted they havenot grown in number, so that the amount of land for eachperson is the same as before or even greater. And yet there isa drastic shortage of food. Where does the blame lie? Is it thattoo many people pursue secondary activities to the detrimentof agriculture? Is it that too much grain is used to make wineor too many domestic animals are being raised? I have beenunable to attain a proper balance between important andunimportant affairs. Let this matter be debated by the chan-cellor, the nobles, the high officials, and learned doctors. Letall exhaust their efforts and ponder deeply whether there issome way to aid the people. Let nothing be concealed fromus!

What reasons does Emperor Wendi advance toexplain the decline in grain production in China?What are the possible solutions that he proposes?Does his approach meet the requirements for officialbehavior set out by Chinese philosophers such asMencius?



importance of cavalry in their battles against the Xiongnu andsought the sturdy Ferghana horses of Bactria to increase theirown military effectiveness. In return, China exported goods,especially silk, to countries to the west.

Silk, a filament recovered from the cocoons of silkworms,had been produced in China since the fourth millenniumB.C.E. Eventually, knowledge of the wonder product reachedthe outside world, and Chinese silk exports began to rise dra-matically. By the second century B.C.E., the first items madefrom silk reached the Mediterranean Sea, stimulating the firstsignificant contacts between China and Rome, its great coun-terpart in the west. The bulk of the trade went overlandthrough Central Asia (thus earning this route its modernname, the Silk Road), although significant exchanges also

took place via the maritime route (see Chapter 9). Silkbecame a craze among Roman elites, leading to a vast out-flow of silver from Rome to China and provoking the Romanemperor Tiberius to grumble that ‘‘the ladies and their bau-bles are transferring our money to foreigners.’’

The silk trade also stimulated a degree of mutual curiositybetween the two great civilizations but not much mutualknowledge or understanding. Roman authors such as Plinyand the geographer Strabo (who speculated that silk was pro-duced from the leaves of a ‘‘silk tree’’) wrote of a strange landcalled ‘‘Seres’’ far to the east, while Chinese sources men-tioned the empire of ‘‘Great Qin’’ at the far end of the SilkRoad to the west. So far as is known, no personal or diplo-matic contacts between the two civilizations ever took place.

NORTHAFRICA

EGYPTARABIA

RUSSIA

PERSIA

AFGHANISTAN

BACTRIA

Constantinople

Antioch

Damascus

Alexandria

Black Sea

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INDIA

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INDOCHINA

Turfan

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Guangzhou(Canton)

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HimalayasTaxila

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Breakdown of Traded Goods

North India

South India

China

Arabia

East Africa

Region Imports Exports

tortoiseshell

ivory

spices

incense

slaves

precious stones

wine

metal

cloth and clothing

glassware

coinage

weapons

timber

silks

Traded goods:

Silk Road

Sea Routes

0 500 1,000 Miles

0 500 1,000 1,500 Kilometers

MAP 5.4 Trade Routes of the Ancient World. This map shows the various land and maritime routes that extended from China toward othercivilizations that were located to the south and west of the Han Empire. The various goods that were exchanged are identified at the bottom ofthe map.

What were the major goods exported from China?

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But two great empires at either extreme of theEurasian supercontinent had for the first time beenlinked in a commercial relationship.

Social ChangesUnder the Han dynasty, Chinese social institutionsevolved into more complex forms than had beenthe case in past eras. The emergence of a free peas-antry resulted in a strengthening of the nuclearfamily, which now became the prevailing socialunit throughout the countryside, although thejoint family—the linear descendant of the clan sys-tem in the Zhou dynasty—continued to hold swayin some areas, notably in the south.

Under the Han, women continued to play a second-ary role in society although they frequently exercisedconsiderable influence within individual households.Ban Zhao (bahn ZHOW), a prominent historian ofthe period and a woman whose own career was anexception to the rule, described that role as follows:

To be humble, yielding, respectful and reverential;to put herself after others—these qualities are those

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Great Wall of Han period

Borders of the Han Empire

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MAP 5.5 The Han Empire. This map shows the territory under the control of the Han Empire at its greatest extent during the first centuryB.C.E. Note the Great Wall’s placement relative to nomadic peoples.

How did the expansion of Han rule to the west parallel the Silk Road?

Making Paper. One of China’s most important contributions to the world wasthe invention of paper during the Han dynasty. Although the first known use ofpaper for writing dates back to the first century B.C.E., paper was also used forclothing, wrapping materials, military armor, and toilet tissue. It was evensuggested to a prince in 93 B.C.E. that he use a paper handkerchief. Paper was madeby pounding fibers of hemp and linen. Then the crushed fibers were placed on aflat meshed surface and soaked in a large vat. After the residue dried, it was peeledaway as a sheet of paper, seen piled at the right in this eighteenth-century painting.

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exemplifying woman’s low and humble estate. To retire late andrise early; not to shirk exertion from dawn to dark—this is calledbeing diligent. To behave properly and decorously in serving herhusband; to be serene and self-possessed, shunning jests andlaughter—this is called being worthy of continuing the husband’slineage. If a woman possesses the above-mentioned three qual-ities, then her reputation shall be excellent.8

The vast majority of Chinese continued to live in ruralareas, but the number of cities, mainly at the junction of riv-ers and trade routes, was on the increase. The largest was theimperial capital of Chang’an, which was located adjacent tothe old capital of Xianyang and soon became one of the greatcities of the ancient world, rivaling Rome in magnificence.The city covered a total area of nearly 16 square miles andwas enclosed by a 12-foot earthen wall surrounded by a moat.Twelve gates provided entry into the city, and eight majoravenues ran east-west or north-south. Each avenue wasnearly 150 feet wide; a center strip in each avenue was re-served for the emperor, whose palace and gardens occupiednearly half of the southern and central parts of the city.

Religion and CultureThe Han dynasty’s adoption of Confucianism as the officialphilosophy of the state did not have much direct impact onthe religious beliefs of the Chinese people. Although officialsources sought to flesh out the scattered metaphysical refer-ences in the Confucian canon with a more coherent cosmol-ogy, the pantheon of popular religion was still peopled bylocal deities and spirits of nature, some connected with popu-lar Daoism. Sometime in the first century C.E., however, anew salvationist faith appeared on the horizon. Merchantsfrom Central Asia carrying their wares over the Silk Roadbrought the Buddhist faith to China for the first time. At first,its influence was limited, as no Buddhist text was translated

into Chinese from the original Sanskrit until the fifth centuryC.E. But the terrain was ripe for the introduction of a new reli-gion into China, and the first Chinese monks departed forIndia shortly after the end of the Han dynasty.

Cultural attainments under the Han tended in general toreflect traditional forms, although there was considerableexperimentation with new forms of expression. In literature,poetry and philosphical essays continued to be popular, buthistorical writing became the primary form of literary creativ-ity. Historians such as Sima Qian (SUH-mah chee-AHN)and Ban Gu (bahn GOO) (the dynasty’s official historianand the older brother of the historian Ban Zhao) wrote worksthat became models for later dynastic histories. These histori-cal works combined political and social history with biogra-phies of key figures. Like so much literary work in China,their primary purpose was moral and political—to explain theunderlying reasons for the rise and fall of individual humanbeings and dynasties.

Painting—often in the form of wall frescoes—becameincreasingly popular, although little has survived the ravagesof time. In the plastic arts, iron was steadily replacing bronzeas the medium of choice. Less expensive to produce, iron wasbetter able to satisfy the growing popular demand during atime of increasing economic affluence.

The trend toward reduced expenditures was also evidentin the construction of imperial mausoleums. Qin Shi Huang-di’s ambitious effort to provide for his immortality became amodel for his successors during the Han dynasty, althoughapparently on a somewhat more modest scale. In 1990, Chi-nese workers discovered a similar underground army for aHan emperor of the second century B.C.E. Like the imperialguard of the First Qin Emperor, the underground soldierswere buried in parallel pits and possessed their own weaponsand individual facial features. But they were smaller—onlyone-third the height of the average human adult—and were

Han Dynasty Horse. This terra-cottahorse head is a striking example of Hanartistry. Although the Chinese haddomesticated the smaller Mongolian pony asearly as 2000 B.C.E., it was not until towardthe end of the first millennium B.C.E. that theChinese acquired horses as a result ofmilitary expeditions into Central Asia.Admired for their power and grace, horsesmade of terra-cotta or bronze were oftenplaced in Qin and Han tombs. Thismagnificent head suggests the divine powerthat the Chinese of this time attributed tohorses.

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armed with wooden weapons and dressed in silk clothing,now decayed. A burial pit nearby indicated that as many as10,000 workers, probably slaves or prisoners, died in the pro-cess of building the emperor’s mausoleum, which took anestimated ten years to construct.

The Decline and Fall of the HanIn 9 C.E., the reformist official Wang Mang (wahngMAHNG), who was troubled by the plight of the peasants,seized power from the Han court and declared the founda-tion of the Xin (SHEEN) (New) dynasty. The empire hadbeen crumbling for decades. As frivolous or depraved rulersamused themselves with the pleasures of court life, the powerand influence of the central government began to wane, andthe great noble families filled the vacuum, amassing vastlanded estates and transforming free farmers into tenants.Wang Mang tried to confiscate the great estates, restore theancient well-field system, and abolish slavery. In so doing,however, he alienated powerful interests, who conspired tooverthrow him. In 23 C.E., beset by administrative chaos anda collapse of the frontier defenses, Wang Mang was killed in acoup d’etat.

For a time, strong leadership revived some of the glory ofthe early Han. (Chinese historians refer to the period afterthe Wang Mang revolt as the Later Han dynasty.) The courtdid attempt to reduce land taxes and carry out land resettle-ment programs. The growing popularity of nutritious cropslike rice, wheat, and soybeans, along with the introduction ofnew crops such as alfalfa and grapes, helped boost food pro-duction. But the great landed families’ firm grip on land andpower continued. Weak rulers were isolated within their im-perial chambers and dominated by eunuchs and other power-ful court insiders. Official corruption and the concentration ofland in the hands of the wealthy led to widespread peasantunrest. One Chinese source reported with bitterness the con-ditions of the times:

The houses of the powerful are compounds where several hun-dreds of ridgebeams are linked together. Their fertile fields fillthe countryside. Their slaves throng in thousands, and their mili-tary dependents can be counted in tens of thousands. Theirboats, carts, and merchants are spread throughout the four quar-ters. Their stocks of goods held back for speculation fill up the

principal cities. Their great mansions cannot contain their pre-cious stones and treasure. The upland valleys cannot hold theirhorses, cattle, sheep, and swine. Their elegant apartments are fullof seductive lads and lovely concubines. Singing-girls and courte-sans are lined up in their deep halls.9

The Han also continued to have problems with theXiongnu beyond the Great Wall to the north. Professionalarmies recruited from among non-Chinese peoples along theperiphery of the empire proved to be unreliable in both per-formance and loyalty. After attempts to pacify the Xiongnuleaders through negotiations failed to resolve the situation,Han rulers turned once again to military force. The threatfrom the north did not abate until the end of the first centuryC.E., when the alliance among the various nomadic groupsfractured into disunity. The respite proved to be short-lived,however, as raids on Chinese territory continued intermit-tently up to the end of the dynasty, sometimes reachingalmost to the gates of the capital city.

Buffeted by insurmountable problems within and without,in the late second century C.E., the dynasty entered a periodof inexorable decline. The population, which had been esti-mated at about 60 million in China’s first census in the year 2C.E., had shrunk to less than one-third that number two hun-dred years later. In the early third century C.E., the dynastywas finally brought to an end when power was seized by CaoCao (TSOW tsow) (Ts’ao Ts’ao), a general known to latergenerations as one of the main characters in the famous Chi-nese epic The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. But Cao Caowas unable to consolidate his power, and China entered a pe-riod of almost constant anarchy and internal division, com-pounded by invasions by northern tribal peoples. The nextgreat dynasty did not arise until the beginning of the seventhcentury, four hundred years later.

A Comparison of Rome and ChinaAt the beginning of the first millennium C.E., two greatempires—the Roman Empire in the West and the HanEmpire in the East—dominated large areas of the world.Although there was little contact between them, the twoempires exhibited some remarkable similarities. Both lastedfor centuries, and both were extremely successful in estab-lishing centralized control. Both built elaborate systems ofroads in order to rule efficiently and relied on provincialofficials, and especially on town and cities, for local adminis-tration. In both empires, settled conditions led to a highlevel of agricultural production that sustained large popula-tions, estimated at between 50 and 60 million in eachempire. Although both empires expanded into areas withdifferent languages, ethnic groups, and ways of life, theymanaged to extend their legal and political institutions, theirtechnical skills, and their languages throughout theirempires.

The Roman and Han Empires also had similar social andeconomic structures. The family stood at the heart of thesocial structure, and the male head of the family was all-powerful. The family also inculcated the values that helpedmake the empires strong—duty, courage, obedience, and

CHRONOLOGY The Han Dynasty

Overthrow of Qin dynasty 206 B.C.E.

Formation of Han dynasty 202 B.C.E.

First silk goods arrive in Europe Second century B.C.E.

Reign of Han Wudi 141–87 B.C.E.

Zhang Qian’s first mission to Central Asia 138 B.C.E.

First Buddhist merchants arrive in China First century C.E.

Wang Mang interregnum 9–23 C.E.

Collapse of Han dynasty 221 C.E.



discipline. The wealth of both societies also depended on agri-culture. Although a free peasantry provided a backbone ofstrength and stability in each empire, wealthy landownerswere able to gradually convert the free peasants into tenantfarmers and thereby ultimately to undermine the power ofthe imperial governments.

Of course, there were also significant differences. Merchantswere more highly regarded and allowed more freedom in Romethan they were in China. One key reason for this difference isthat whereas many inhabitants of the Roman Empire dependedto a considerable degree on commerce to obtain such staples aswheat, olives, wine, cloth, and timber, the vast majority of Chi-nese were subsistence farmers whose needs—when they weresupplied—could normally be met by the local environment. Asa result, there was undoubtedly less social mobility in Chinathan in Rome, and many Chinese peasants spent their entirelives without venturing far beyond the village gate.

Another difference is that over the four hundred years ofthe empires’ existence, Chinese imperial authority was far

more stable. With a more cohesive territory and a strong dy-nastic tradition, Chinese rulers could easily pass on theirauthority to other family members. In contrast in the RomanEmpire, political instability was a chronic problem, at least insome periods. Although Roman emperors were accordeddivine status by the Roman senate after death, accession tothe Roman imperial throne depended less on solid dynasticprinciples and more on pure military force.

Both empires were periodically beset by invasions of no-madic peoples: the Han dynasty was weakened by theincursions of the Xiongnu, and the Western Roman Empireeventually collapsed in the face of incursions by the Ger-manic peoples. Yet, although the Han dynasty collapsed,the Chinese imperial tradition, along with the class struc-ture and set of values that sustained that tradition, survived,and the Chinese Empire, under new dynasties, continuedinto the twentieth century as a single political entity. Incontrast, the Roman Empire in the west collapsed and livedon only as an idea.

CHAPTER SUMMARYBetween 509 and 264 B.C.E., theLatin-speaking community ofRome expanded and broughtalmost all Italy under its control.Even more dramatically, between264 and 133 B.C.E., Rome expandedto the west and east and becamemaster of the Mediterranean Seaand its surrounding territories, cre-ating one of the largest empires in

antiquity. Rome’s republican institutions proved inadequatefor the task of ruling an empire, however, and after a series ofbloody civil wars, Augustus created a new order that estab-lished a Roman imperial state.

The Roman Empire experienced a lengthy period of peaceand prosperity between 14 and 180. In the course of the thirdcentury, however, the empire came near to collapse due toinvasions, civil wars, and economic decline. Although theemperors Diocletian and Constantine brought new life to theso-called Late Empire, their efforts only shored up the empiretemporarily. Beginning in 395, the empire divided into west-ern and eastern parts, and in 476, the Roman Empire in thewest came to an end.

Although the Roman Empire in the west collapsed and livedon only as an idea, Romanachievements were bequeathedto the future. The Romance lan-guages of today (French, Italian,Spanish, Portuguese, and Roma-nian) are based on Latin. Westernpractices of impartial justice and

trial by jury owe much to Roman law. Aspects of Romanadministrative practices survived in the Western world for cen-

turies. The Romans also preserved the intellectual heritage ofthe Greco-Roman world of antiquity. But the heirs of Romewent on to create new civilizations—European, Islamic, andByzantine—that led to a dramatically different phase in the de-velopment of human society.

The Han dynasty also created one of the greatest empiresin antiquity. During the glory years of the Han dynasty,China extended the bound-aries of its empire far intothe sands of Central Asia andsouthward along the coast ofthe South China Sea intowhat is now Vietnam. Thedoctrine of State Confucian-ism provided an effective ideology for the state, and Chineseculture appeared unrivaled. In many respects, its scientificand technological achievements were unsurpassed.

One reason for China’s striking success was that unlikeother civilizations of its time, it long was able to fend off thedanger from nomadic peoples along the northern frontier. Bythe end of the second century B.C.E., however, the Xiongnuwere becoming a threat, and tribal warriors began to nip atthe borders of the empire. While the dynasty was strong, theproblem was manageable, but when internal difficultiesbegan to weaken the unity of the state, China became vulner-able to the threat from the north and entered its own time oftroubles.

Like the Roman Empire, however, the Han Empire left arich legacy to its successors. The Confucian institutions andprinciples enshrined during the long years of Han rule sur-vived several centuries of internal division and eventually re-emerged as the governing doctrine of later Chinese empiresdown to the twentieth century.

Chapter Summary 153Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).


CHAPTER TIMELINE

500 B.C.E. 250 B.C.E. 1 C.E. 250 C.E. 500 C.E.

Republicbegins

Twelve Tables

Jesus of Nazareth Constantine legalizes Christianity

Struggle of the orders

Decline and collapse of Republic Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of empire

Early EmpireConquest of Italy and Mediterranean

Early Han dynasty Later Han dynasty Period of internal division

Arrival of Buddhism

Paper invented

Wang Mang revoltReign of HanWudi

Rome

China

CHAPTER REVIEW

Upon ReflectionQ Was the fall of the Roman Republic due to systemicinstitutional weaknesses or the personal ambitions of generalsand politicians? Explain your answer.

Q In what ways was the rule of the Roman emperors in thefirst and second centuries C.E. an improvement over theRepublic of the first century B.C.E.? In what ways was theirrule not an improvement over the last century of theRepublic?

Q In what ways were the Roman and Han imperial systemsof government alike? In what ways were they different?

Key Termsconsuls (p. 127)praetors (p. 127)senate (p. 127)centuriate assembly (p. 128)council of the plebs (p. 128)patricians (p. 128)plebeians (p. 128)tribunes of the plebs (p. 128)latifundia (p. 129)dictator (p. 131)praetorian guard (p. 132)Pax Romana (p. 133)good emperors (p. 133)natural law (p. 135)

paterfamilias (p. 135)State Confucianism (p. 146)civil service examination (p. 146)

Suggested ReadingGENERAL SURVEYS OF ROMAN HISTORY For a general

account of Roman history, see M. T. Boatwright, D. J. Gargola, and R.

J. A. Talbert, The Romans: From Village to Empire (New York, 2004).

Good surveys of the Roman Republic include M. H. Crawford, The

Roman Republic, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, Mass., 1993), and C. S. Mackay,

Ancient Rome: A Military and Political History (Cambridge, 2004). The

history of early Rome is well covered in T. J. Cornell, The Beginnings of

Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000–

264 B.C.) (London, 1995). An excellent account of the basic problems of

the late Republic can be found in M. Beard and M. H. Crawford, Rome

in the Late Republic (London, 1984). Also valuable is E. Hildinger,

Swords Against the Senate: The Rise of the Roman Army and the Fall of

the Republic (Cambridge, Mass., 2002).

EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE A good survey of the Early Roman

Empire is M. Goodman, The Roman World, 44 B.C.–A.D. 180 (London,

1997). See also R. Mellor, Augustus and the Creation of the Roman

Empire (Boston, 2005), for a brief history with documents.

ROMAN SOCIETY AND CULTURE On Roman art and architec-

ture, see F. S. Kleiner, A History of Roman Art (Belmont, Calif., 2006).

On the Roman family, see S. Dixon, The Roman Family (Baltimore,

1992). On slavery, see K. R. Bradley, Slavery and Society at Rome (New

York, 1994).



LATE ROMAN EMPIRE On the crises of the third century, see

D. S. Potter, The Roman Empire at Bay, A.D. 180–395 (New York, 2004). On

the Late Roman Empire, see S. Mitchell, History of the Later Roman

Empire, A.D. 284–641 (Oxford, 2006). On the collapse of the Roman Empire,

see P. Heather, The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and

the Barbarians (New York, 2006). A useful work on early Christianity is

R.MacMullen, Christianizing the Roman Empire (NewHaven, Conn., 1984).

THE HAN EMPIRE There are a number of useful books on the

Han dynasty. Two very good recent histories are M. E. Lewis, Early

Chinese Empires: Qin and Han (Cambridge, Mass., 2007), and C.

Holcombe, The Genesis of East Asia, 221 B.C.–A.D. 207 (Honolulu, 2001).

The latter study places Han China in a broader East Asian perspective.

Z. Wang, Han Civilization (New Haven, Conn., 1982), presents

evidence from the mainland on excavations from Han tombs and the old

imperial capital of Chang’an. For a comparison of the Roman and Han

Empires, see W. Scheidel, ed., Rome and China: Comparative Perspec-

tives on Ancient World Empires (Oxford, 2007).

Go to the CourseMatewebsite atwww.cengagebrain.comfor additional study toolsand review materials—including audio and videoclips—for this chapter.

Chapter Summary 155Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).


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