According to YouGov, 4% of adult men and
1% of adult women in the U.S. think about the Roman Empire daily. We want to
substantially increase those numbers, so we thought we’d take a little trip
through time and reveal what caused the momentous rise and disastrous fall of
one of history’s most famous empires. Was it outside invaders? Political corruption?
Crumbling infrastructure? Or…tax evasion? The answer may surprise you….although it
likely includes a wide variety of factors. Our team of researchers dug through ruins, read countless books, and conquered
numerous territories in an attempt to replicate the events of and understand
the inner workings of the Roman Empire. Before we even really begin, we should distinguish
between Rome and the Roman Empire, which are not the same thing. You see, before Rome was a
massive, sprawling empire, it was a republic. We recognize that things often happen differently
in human history. Monarchies gradually became representational governments, but
Rome decided to reverse the order. According to legend, the city was originally
founded by twin brothers Romulus and Remus all the way back in 753 BC. They were
rumored to be demigods, the sons of Mars, the god of war, abandoned by a nearby king
and rescued and raised by a female wolf. As is common with brothers, especially those
raised by pack animals, a fight broke out between them, either over where the city would be located
or who would rule it. Yet unlike most sibling fights, Romulus ended up killing Remus, thus
achieving sole power and giving Rome his name. In yet another version, a woman named Roma, who was traveling in Aeneas’ entourage along
with other survivors from the sack of Troy, went to the Tiber River and absolutely
refused to venture further in their journey. To show she was serious and
underscore her point to the men, she and the other women burned all their ships, meaning everyone in the group ended up staying
in the Rome area whether they wanted to or not. Assuming it’s unlikely that two demigods raised
by a wolf founded a city, and knowing that the aftermath of the Trojan War is still quite
unclear, there’s a good chance these stories mayyyyy be fabricated, but they contribute
to the myths and legends surrounding Rome. What we do know about the beginnings of the
eventual mighty empire is that archaeological records indicate that Rome was founded in
approximately 625 BC, and it likely started as a small trading center on the banks of the
Tiber and eventually developed into a city. Why and how did this happen? Well, at the time, the areas in which the town was
located were called Etruria and Latium. Citizens were organized into multiple
villages in the region and may have unified to defend themselves against
an invasion of neighboring Etruscans. A competing theory suggests that the
Etruscan invasion was successful and is actually what consolidated these
villages into the city known as Rome. See, one of the problems with things that
happened in 625 BC is that it’s hard to find people who will give you definite
answers about what took place back then. Regardless of what specific event brought the
villagers together into a larger conglomerate, the historical record indicates a lot of upheaval
and unification around 600 BC, so it’s clear that by that time, Rome had moved on up in the
world from its humble trading center origins. As it was setting out on its own and finding
itself, much like most college students, Rome underwent several changes in its identity. Until 510 BC, Rome was firmly in its “Period of
Kings” era, meaning it had established itself as a monarchy. At least seven different
rulers oversaw the city during this time. These kings came from earlier lines of
royalty left by preceding civilizations, most notably Etruscan, Sabine,
and Latin lines of kings. Unlike most monarchies, the succession of the
seven kings of Rome was not hereditary. In a nod to the foundations that would eventually
enable Rome’s transition into a republic, the kings were elected by the Senate. After the legendary first king Romulus, son of
a wolf and the god of war, who admittedly may have been a tough act to follow, Numa Pompilius
arrived on the scene. The line of kings continued to include Tullus Hostilius, who we swear is not
a Hogwarts professor but an actual Roman king, Ancus Martius, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus—known
as Tarquin the Elder—Servius Tullius, and finally, Lucius Tarquinius
Superbus—known as Tarquin the Proud. The last King, or Rex as referred
to by the Romans at the time, was apparently much less beloved than his
predecessors. Historians have found evidence to indicate that his rule was widely regarded as
tyrannical, with the public largely against him. This came to a boiling point when Lucius
Superbus’ son allegedly forced himself upon a well-liked noblewoman,
Lucretia. Roman residents and nobles alike reacted with rage and wanted
Lucius Superbus and his son out of power. Eventually, the king was overthrown, and Rome
transitioned into a republic. The word itself derives from the Latin for “property of
the people” - res publica. If you’ve ever studied for the SATs, you know that’s
just one of many words based on Latin roots that will keep you up at night
studying for the vocabulary section. The transition to a republic wasn’t
out of the blue, as some recognition of peoples’ rights already existed.
Rome’s very own constitution had already been established during
its first monarchical period. After becoming a republic, the city prospered,
expanding its borders through military conquests, leveling up its economy and production of
goods, and increasing trade with its neighbors. However, this wasn’t exactly the fair and balanced representative government you may
be picturing, at least initially. See, Rome was divided into patricians and
plebeians. Patricians were members of wealthy Roman families, and they were the only ones who
could hold elected office and religious offices. So, instead of being ruled by the people at large, the Romans were now ruled by senators
and Knights, meaning the upper classes held all the power. This made Rome totally
different from the republics that exist today. Occasionally, if the upper
classes felt it was merited, they could nominate a dictator to
guide them through times of crisis, but for the most part, this rule of
the patricians held for centuries. However, this wasn’t solely achieved through the
famed Roman Senate. Although the Senate existed at the time, it wasn’t the formal law-making body
of the Republic. The members were also appointed, not elected, an important distinction
from today’s legislative bodies. However, the powerful patrician members
of the Senate held great sway in society and exercised it over Rome’s actual
law-making groups to get their way. The patricians looked down on the other segment
of society, the plebeians, and enacted laws mostly for their own benefit. However, the plebeians,
justifiably discontent with this state of affairs, struggled to gain more control within
the government of the Roman Republic. From the start of the Republic in 509 BC
until 494 BC, the Senate persisted as the only governing body within the state
under the leadership of two consuls. That was until the plebeians organized a
strike to assume some power. In a victory for both unions and democracies
everywhere, the strike worked. This led to the establishment
of several legislative bodies created to give more power to the
people. These were divided up as follows: Comitia Centuriata passed laws, made
decisions regarding acts of war, and elected consults, censors, and praetors. The Concilium Plebis, though it started as a
ruling body specifically for the plebeians, it eventually expanded its scope of power to make decrees that applied to all people
in Rome, including the patricians. The Comitia Tributa was in charge of electing
minor officials and was generally in charge of more local matters, dispensing justice by
enacting fines rather than sentences. It was open to all Roman citizens, or at least those
who were free adults in possession of a penis, which was the case in most ancient societies. The two consuls in charge of this all commanded
both the Roman military and oversaw the Senate, not unlike the current powers of
the President of the United States. However, as opposed to the former Roman monarchs, the consuls had substantial
limitations on their power. First off, they could only serve for one
year, leaving them limited time to accrue and thus wield power. Second, there were
additional magistrate positions within the Roman Republic that also held decision-making
power, thereby keeping the consuls in check. To further strengthen the republic and the
rule of law, the Romans decided to codify many new laws at this time. In 451 BC, they came
up with something known as the “Twelve Tables'', a collection of laws about politics,
as well as private and public affairs. Thanks to continued expansion during
Rome’s existence as a Republic, by 338 BC, this once small city-state was ruling the
entire Italian boot-shaped peninsula. Of course, this expansion was far from linear, as
they did suffer quite a few setbacks. For example, the neighboring Gauls came
in and sacked Rome in 390 BC. However, the young republic managed to build
again and then take control of all of Italy under the leadership of
Camillus, a revered military leader. Further expansion occurred during the Punic Wars, which lasted from 264 BC to 146 BC and
were fought between Carthage and Rome. At the time, Carthage was an impressive
and incredibly powerful city-state on the northern coast of Africa, approximately
located near modern-day Tunis, Tunisia. There were three Punic Wars in total. After
the first two, Rome expanded to control the western Mediterranean, including Spain and
the island of Sicily. They also defeated one of the greatest generals and military
tacticians of all time, the legendary Hannibal. Though he continued to rule Carthage for some time
after being defeated by the Romans, his financial and tax reforms, enacted to pay back the massive
war debt imposed by Rome, made him extremely unpopular. He eventually fled east all the way
to the court of Bithynia in modern-day Turkey, where he was betrayed and revealed to the
Romans. To avoid capture, he poisoned himself. At the end of the Third Punic War,
which took place between 149 and 146 BC, Rome finally bested its formidable foe and
burned the city of Carthage to the ground. Many surviving citizens were sold into slavery,
and this entire region became a Roman province. Simultaneously, Rome also expanded eastward, defeating the once mighty kingdom
of Macedonia in the Macedonian Wars, 200 years after Alexander the Great had
overseen his own kingdom’s rapid expansion. Aside from the increased territory and
economic clout that the acquisition of these provinces via military victory gave
Rome, they also helped develop Roman society and culture as a whole. As you may have noticed
if you’ve ever walked through an Italian city, Rome took quite a lot of architectural, religious, and artistic details from the Greeks
and integrated them into its society. The Greek pantheon of gods was given new names and
turned into a Roman pantheon. Roman literature got an incredible jumpstart by translating a lot of
classic Greek texts into Latin. The writings of Greek philosophers influenced a lot of Roman
thinking and philosophy going forward as well. Perhaps this was part of the reason
for Rome’s relative success; instead of solely concentrating on burning their
captured cities to the ground - although they did do that too sometimes - they
also acquired a lot of knowledge, art, and new perspectives from the
civilizations they conquered. By this time, the Roman military had
become a formidable force. This military might and territorial expansion
marked Rome as the premiere power in the Mediterranean Sea, one of the ancient
world's foremost centers of economic activity. Alas, it seems the Roman Republic expanded too
fast for its own good. The Republic started to fall apart from within, leading to political
instability and, eventually, civil war. Discontent led to turmoil, reform, and coup attempts as inequality spread
throughout society, thanks to wealthy landowners using their resources and power
to push small farmers out of public land. The wealthy patricians also used
their considerable force to exert pressure on the government, so the Senate
increasingly ended up working in their favor, reversing many of the earlier
gains made by plebeians in society. Disagreements among leaders led to
factions forming within the government: some supporting the plebeians, others
the patricians, and some the military. Gaius Marius, a military leader, became
consul in 107 BC and ruled for several terms, acting more like a warlord than a
leader. This made him many enemies, and by 91 BC, he faced challenges for
power, including from General Sulla. Taking advantage of a Roman tradition
allowing dictators to be elected occasionally, the upper class elected L.
Cornelius Sulla in 82 BC. Despite being a dictator, Sulla surprisingly
stepped down in 79 BC. However, the state's growing reliance on strong rulers during times of
trouble marked the shift from Republic to Empire. A lot of Romans ended up wanting to
change the status quo. Some took the path of working within the system to try to
course-correct the wayward direction of the Roman Republic. This included leaders like
the Gracchus brothers, Tiberius and Gaius, who enacted several social reforms during the
period of 133 BC to 122 BC to help the poorest members of Roman society. Unfortunately,
they were killed for their troubles, which seemingly discouraged anyone
else from trying to help the poor. Others took a more violent approach to
political change. In the 1st century BC, Roman senator Lucius Catiline, along with a
whole contingent of Romans who fought for the poor and downtrodden and had become incredibly
discontent with the state of Roman society, laid out a plan to overthrow the government.
He was about to go through with it when he was discovered by Marcus Cicero, a famous
Roman orator, who exposed him to the Senate. After his failed insurrection
attempt, an army of the Roman Republic chased Catiline into Gaul and
murdered him and most of his followers. The republic became incredibly unstable
and was embroiled in endless civil wars. This fostered a further gravitation
towards strong, dictatorial leaders, and eventually, it all came to a
head with one man: Julius Caesar. Caesar assumed power in 60 BC and had
an ambitious vision for a Roman Empire; he sought to conquer huge
swathes of mainland Europe, far away from the Mediterranean countries
and coasts that the Republic had controlled. He started venturing north and, by 51 BC, had taken over Celtic Gaul. In
addition to power and prestige, this gave him a significant amount of wealth,
as he could steal Gaul’s resources and people. Though Rome hadn’t fully become an empire
yet, as the Senate was still in existence, the senators' power was significantly
weakening. This was best exemplified when they ordered Caesar to turn back
and forgo his conquests of Gaul, and Caesar responded by completely ignoring
them and doing what he was going to do anyway. While maintaining immense popularity with
the Roman public, thanks to his successful military exploits and popular writings
about travel and politics, Caesar continued to rankle other Senators and former allies,
creating a troubling stir in Roman politics. This was part of the reason he was
eventually assassinated in 44 BC. Over 60 conspirators, many of them political
officials, gathered together on March 15, now forever called the Ides of March by pretentious
people, and stabbed Caesar 23 times during a meeting of the Senate. If the assassins thought
the death of the headstrong Caesar would solve their problems and help them get some of their
power back, they could not have been more wrong. Due to Caesar’s popularity with the people, the
public turned completely against the Senate, whose wealthy and out-of-touch members
they hadn’t exactly loved to begin with. This led to multiple civil wars until a new ruler
emerged... Caesar's grandnephew and adoptive son. Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, better known
as Octavian for short. He took his place and ruled alongside Caesar’s former friend,
Mark Antony - the Roman emperor, not the Latin singing sensation. And renamed himself
Augustus Caesar, a nod to his adoptive father. When Mark Antony was killed during Rome’s conquest
of Egypt, Augustus remained the sole ruler. This made him the first official emperor of Rome,
achieving the ambitious aims of his father. His reign was long and prosperous, lasting 41
years and representing a golden age for the Empire. In fact, this period became known
as Pax Romana, meaning the Roman peace. Before Augustus’ ascension, the Roman
Republic had undergone a long period of crisis, instability, and turmoil, and the
people were, quite frankly, tired of it, so Augustus’ restoration of stability within
political institutions was very welcome, even at the price of establishing
a sovereign ruler for life. Instead of expanding the Roman territories,
Augustus traveled through his lands to quell revolts and encourage peaceful coexistence with
the people Rome had previously conquered. He then focused his attention on creating
stability and prosperity back home. During the Pax Romana, Augustus
enacted many social reforms. He wanted to restore his version of morality in
the Roman Empire and passed several laws to discourage adultery and encourage the birth
of children. In fact, families with three or more children were frequently rewarded,
especially if the kids happened to be boys. This contrasts starkly with
the promiscuous, indulgent, and downright Epicurean image we
have of most Roman emperors today. In some surprisingly progressive moves,
Augustus also granted women citizenship and a number of rights, such as the right
to inherit property and manage their own finances. He also provided a path for
slaves to gain freedom, though he made it quite clear there would be a limit on
how many slaves could actually become free. Augustus also established a regular census
to ensure a fairer taxation system and win the support of even more people. This
helped accurately assess the tax burden of the provinces and made collection fairer
and more manageable for Roman citizens. Lastly, Augustus created the Praetorian
Guard, veterans of the Roman legions carefully screened and selected to
serve as the emperor's bodyguards. Literature, architecture, and art reached an
apex during Augustus’ reign, and many of the most famous Roman sculptures and
writings hail from this period, like the Ara Pacis Augustae,
built between 13 and 9 BC. Due to all these factors and his benevolent
rule, Augustus was loved by the people both during his reign and after. After his
death, he was immortalized as a god, and he wouldn’t be the last Roman
Emperor to be bestowed this honor. Augustus’ rule moved Rome into its Imperial
Period, perhaps the time it is best known for, as after his rule, Rome conquered…well, pretty
much everything it could get its hands on. The kingdom prospered and expanded,
maintaining power by assimilating many of the people it conquered into its
empire…but also, horrifically, making a fair amount of conquered people slaves working for the
construction and advancement of the Roman Empire. Unfortunately, not every Roman emperor was as
well-regarded, competent, and widely respected as Augustus. Many of you may have heard of
the oft-mentioned historical figure Caligula. Known in historical circles as a crazy and violent
emperor, Caligula’s name eventually became used in modern society as a stand-in for anyone deemed
to be extravagantly evil and unstable. Perhaps it came as no surprise, to everyone except him
at least, that his life ended via assassination. Caligula had developed an unfortunate
habit of sending several members of the patrician class to death on conspiracy
charges, whether merited or not. This, understandably, significantly soured
relations between the Emperor and his Senate. One day, in late January of 41
AD, Caligula was making his way to lunch through an underground passage
in the Palatine when two tribunes of the Praetorian Guard, Cornelius Sabinus
and Cassius Chaerea, murdered him. Historians doubt they committed
this act entirely by themselves; several notable Romans, including
the politicians Annius Vinicianus, Valerius Asiaticus, and commander Marcus
Clemens, were implicated in the plot to assassinate Caligula. However, it seems
like no one bothered to investigate all that much after the emperor was killed—a “see
something, say nothing” policy if you will. So, one might say Caligula’s paranoid
accusations of conspiracy became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Soon after his death,
Claudius was proclaimed Emperor in his place. However, here’s where Roman history can
get a little distorted and unclear and reveal the underlying political
games being played as the empire expanded. For example…what if one
of the Roman emperors thought that being possibly the worst human being to
ever exist…wasn’t actually all that bad? We are talking, of course, about Nero, another
man widely regarded as a stain on the imperial throne of Rome. Known in popular history
for playing a fiddle while Rome burned, Nero had actually done quite a lot besides
that to piss the Roman population off, according to historians of the time. He emptied the treasury, leaving
the city effectively cash-strapped, murdered anyone who dared question
this action of his, or really, any other action of his, and generally
came across like a bit of an ass. In addition, his biographer Suetonius
wrote that Nero “practiced every sort of obscenity,” including incest, animal
cruelty, and flat-out murder. When that’s what your own biographer is writing about you,
perhaps you’ve taken a wrong turn in life. Over time, historians started to suspect that the particulars of the stories
about Nero may be untrue. For example, the fiddle story
is almost certainly fabricated, seeing as the fiddle wouldn’t be
invented for almost another millennium, but a raging fire did strike Rome at the time. In
the summer of 64 AD, a huge blaze leveled 70% of the city’s buildings and made half its population
homeless, as reported by Roman historian Tacitus. The shocked, desperate, and angry Roman
population looked for someone to blame, and a rumor quickly spread that the already
unpopular Nero had ordered the fire to be set in order to rebuild the city to his liking.
His contemporaries thought that this rumor would be quite easily believed. After all,
people generally aren’t likely to give incestuous, homicidal, puppy-kicking
monarchs the benefit of the doubt. The other problem was that while this massive
conflagration was devastating the city and its people, Nero decided to make his way up to the
top of the city walls, dressed in theatrical garb, and recite a poem about the destruction of
Troy while allegedly weeping with emotion as he imagined the beautiful new city that would
arise from the ashes. Legends at the time have him strumming an ancient version of a guitar, known
as a “cithara,” while reciting this epic poem. As you can imagine, this did nothing to endear
him to the people currently running for their lives from their destroyed houses who had
already put up with his BS for several years. However, there’s one big problem with all
of these accounts: They may be somewhat, or even mostly, false. More than that, they may
actually be outright propaganda at the time. Part of the problem with relying
on historical records about Rome, or really, any civilization, is that
we have to parse out the biases of the sources. And many modern historians
or archaeologists are now questioning if Nero’s reputation as one of the most evil
rulers of all time is actually deserved. See Contrary the popular belief that Nero
was disliked by the Roman population, it appears he may have actually
been disliked by the elite instead. Unfortunately Romes elite were the people who
mostly shaped how history would be recorded. During his reign, which began when Nero was a very
young 17 years old, he enacted tax reforms that pissed the wealthy off but made life significantly
better for the lower classes. He also loved games, theater, and entertainment - perhaps why the
most infamous story about him has him playing music while reciting a poem - and encouraged
such activities amongst the Roman population, organizing events like chariot races.
This won him fans among the public, even as it garnered disdain
from his fellow wealthy Romans. He also increased the supply of food
available to Rome and undertook several important public works projects.
In many artworks and coinage of the time, he is depicted as an emperor
well-liked by the population at large. So why would the Roman writers who were Nero’s
contemporaries make up so many vicious lies about him? Curator Thorsten Opper of the
British Museum points out a simple truth: “The sources need to be seen
as texts with a clear agenda.” Many Roman writers seemed to prefer the old
days of oligarchical rule in Rome and detested an emperor who seemed to favor the support
and wants of the masses instead. Historians have now uncovered evidence that when the fire
broke out in Rome, Nero was actually 30 miles away from the city, so not only was it unlikely
he was responsible, but he definitely could not have made his way to the top of the city walls
and started playing a fiddle, or even a cithara. That’s not to say that Nero was a
blameless angel. It is very likely he either killed his mother or
forced her into ending her life, and he definitely loved partaking in some
extravagant spending for himself. However, perhaps painting a depressing picture of the era,
neither of these were exactly unheard of acts for monarchs at the time, as killing relatives to
secure succession or favor was not all that rare. He also set Christians on fire,
blaming them for starting the blaze that burned down Rome. Yet again,
though, horrible abuse and mistreatment of Christians was pretty par for the
course for Roman emperors overall. So, while Nero has been immortalized as an
ostentatious, evil, bloodthirsty, unstable, maniacal ruler, the actual problems
of his reign and the reason for his eventual downfall seem to have been much
more practical and grounded in reality. They also pointed to the
issues that would plague the Roman Empire and eventually lead to its collapse. Nero steadily lost the support and favor of
Rome’s elite over time by prioritizing the Roman people while extravagantly spending
tons and tons of money. Simultaneously, he was tasked from the age of 17 with overseeing
and holding together a massive, sprawling empire and dealing with the unrest and revolt that ensued
after an empire had enslaved several populations. In one corner of the kingdom, Nero faced a
fierce revolt led by Queen Boudicca of the Celts, who completely sacked the Roman outpost of
Londinium, forcing experienced Roman soldiers to flee in terror before launching a
counterattack. In the other corner, the Parthian Empire, located around the region
of present-day Iran, was ready to go to war. These events all happened within a few years, testing the endurance and long-term
viability of the Roman Empire. More significantly, Nero also started facing
dissent from his own supposed subordinates. The governor of Gallia Lugdunensis,
known as Gaius Julius Vindex - with a V, unlike the popular cleaning product - rebelled
against Nero’s rule. He was joined by the Roman governor of Spain, Servius Sulpicius Galba,
who challenged Nero for his power and position. Though Vindex and his forces lost, which
led to Vindex killing himself, more and more politicians threw their support behind Galba,
as did those in the Spanish provinces. When the prefect of the Praetorian Guard, who
essentially functioned as Nero’s head bodyguard, also declared allegiance to Galba, Nero,
understandably fearing for his life, fled Rome. With almost no support from the Senate, who
had just passed a vote declaring Nero an enemy of Rome, the young emperor realized that his
reign, and most likely his life, was coming to an end. In an effort to avoid the humiliation of
a public execution, he killed himself at age 30. Since he had no official heir, the Julio-Claudian
dynasty that his great-great-grandfather Augustus had implemented ended with Nero’s death. As a
result, Galba took up the mantle of Roman Emperor. Even at this relatively early time,
the cracks of the Roman Empire were already beginning to show. Ruling
over so many different peoples in far-flung territories and keeping together
a massive expanse of land in an age of slow communication in travel was a daunting
task; at times, seemingly impossible. Couple that with dissatisfied occupied people, local Roman rulers who would sometimes decide
to make grabs for power and general political turmoil, and you have the makings
of the beginning ... of the end. For example, the rule of Galba would
be short-lived. The year after Nero’s death became known as the “Year of the Four
Emperors,” which, as you may have noticed, is a significantly higher number of monarchs
than you’d expect to go through in a year. Though the period did actually last a bit longer,
amounting to a little more than a year and a half, the quick changes in leadership
indicated nothing particularly productive or good going on in
the Roman Empire at the time. Let’s zoom in on what exactly happened.
The year was 69 AD. It was the worst of times.[pause]..and…that’s pretty much it. With the endorsement of the Senate, Galba
had started his victory march to Rome. Unfortunately - a word that will continuously
pop up in descriptions of Roman emperors from here on - Galba had already acquired
a reputation for greed and cruelty. After just seven months in office, it
became clear to the people of Rome that his reputation was well-deserved. He
frequently functioned as judge, jury, and executioner, sentencing notable Roman men
to death due to his own unconfirmed suspicions. He would also seize Roman property on a whim
and lean into a very paternalistic system in which those loyal to him were allowed to tax and
punish others on the basis of political favors. Corruption flourished under Galba, and
Roman citizens started to bristle at this new state of affairs. The masses
tried to pressure Galba to punish two of his most corrupt lieutenants. In a
show of petty defiance and dismissal of the peoples’ will reminiscent of a stubborn
four-year-old, Galba promoted them instead. Most infuriatingly and stupidly, for his
own preservation, Galba refused to pay the Roman legions the salary they were
owed. We’re far from political experts, but refusing to pay your armies seems
like a great way to encourage a coup. After months of ill-treatment and no
pay, while simultaneously seeing Galba flaunt his corruption and cruelty, the
legions in Lower Germany decided that enough was enough and proclaimed their
own general, Aulus Vitellius, emperor. In a show of solidarity with this new development,
the Praetorian Guard murdered Galba in the Roman Forum on January 15. This marks the second time
that the emperor’s bodyguards presented more of a threat than protection for the ruler
of Rome. It would be far from the last. Galba’s body was left in the street after his
assassination. To understand how disrespected he was by the time of his death, he lay
there for a while until a soldier walked by, recognized who it was, and beheaded him to
deliver his head to Marcus Salvius Otho. You might ask, who is Marcus Salvius
Otho? And why didn’t any Romans have simpler names? Though we’re unsure
of the answer to the second question, the first answer is the soon-to-be second
emperor of the Year of Four Emperors. If you were paying attention earlier in the video, you may have recognized a small problem with
Otho becoming the second emperor of the year: General Aulus Vitellius of the Germans had
already been proclaimed emperor by his legions. And as the Roman Empire, like most empires, functioned under Highlander
rules…there could only be one. So, what’s Otho’s story? Otho had started as a supporter of Galba but
gradually distanced himself as he saw Galba’s support wane and his behavior worsen. After Galba
was killed, the Senate proclaimed Otho emperor. Seemingly a relatively peaceful and good
man, Otho tried to reason with Vitellius and his legions as they marched towards Rome
and agreed on a peace settlement. However, Vitellius had no interest in peace, nor did
he give up his bid for the title of Emperor. Otho realized he would have to meet the
incoming general with military force and sent his troops out to meet those
from Lower Germania. Though his legions initially won some victories, they suffered
a brutal defeat at the Battle of Bedriacum. Historical accounts may not be totally
reliable, as you’ve seen so far, but Roman historian and senator Cassius Dio wrote
that 40,000 Romans died on the battlefield that day. No matter what the exact number was, it’s
clear that the Roman losses were devastating. At the time, Otho himself was in Brixellum. A messenger from the bloody battle flew
in at top speed to deliver the news, which was so shocking that Otho and his
companions didn’t even believe it at first. The messenger, clearly fiercely committed
to getting this important news across to the temporary emperor, threw himself on his sword to
emphasize the seriousness of what he was saying. We’re sure there are better ways to emphasize
your points in an argument, but people during the Roman Empire seemed to frequently resort to
self-destruction as a matter of first resort. Now convinced of the seriousness of his losses,
Otho decided he would end his resistance then and there. Though historians believe he
may have actually won if he had continued fighting Vitellius’ legions, it was clear
that Otho thought the cost would be too great. Supposedly, he stated that “he would no longer
endanger the lives of such brave men, who had deserved so well,” and then, you guessed it…killed
himself. His loyal soldiers plunged into despair, considering Otho one of the bravest men they
had ever met and an “incomparable emperor.” It’s sad to say that, in total, Otho’s rule
lasted only three months; a real shame since, if given the chance, he would have made a
pretty empathetic, perhaps great emperor. However, that was not to be. Finally,
Vitellius was on the scene, and the Senate, eager to align themselves with whoever had the
biggest army and was banging down their door, officially endorsed him as the newest Emperor
of Rome. How would he do? Well….pretty terribly. Unfortunately, before he even got to the city,
Vitellius started acting like a greedy warlord instead of the leader of one of the greatest
empires the world had ever known at the time. He gave his troops free rein to intimidate and
harass locals, “ask for,” but more accurately, plunder everything they wanted from the villages
they passed through in the countryside of Gaul, and generally acted like a narcissistic despot. Even his pirate-like soldiers shuddered
at Vitellius’ actions during the infamous Battle of Bedriacum. They viewed
the general’s absolute slaughter of thousands of Roman troops
as unnecessary and inhumane. Vitellius, on the other hand, apparently had no
problem with the endless rotting corpses strewn before him on the battlefield. He was said to
exclaim, “The odor of a dead enemy was sweet and that of a fellow citizen sweeter still.” You
may recognize these as the words of a sociopath. Soon enough, Vitellius made it clear
that he had no respect for Roman rule or tradition. He declared himself above
it all, gave himself supreme power, and behaved in a completely tyrannical way
with frequent and pointless executions. Unfortunately, as long as he kept his legions'
loyalty, he remained in power. Fortunately for Roman citizens who wished
to remain alive and unexecuted, he only managed to do this for eight months. Soon enough, tired of Vitellius’ cruel excesses, another Roman legion commander decided
to challenge him for the throne. Titus Flavius Vespasianus, better known as
Vespasian, was leading Roman legions in Judea to suppress a Jewish revolt, while Vitellius was
losing supporters left and right. Vespasian’s legions and those of Syria and Alexandria
declared him emperor and swore to fight for him. More legions, including Moesia, Pannonia,
Illyricum, and the Danube, soon followed. The combination of all these different Roman
troops amounted to a formidable force, and Vespasian ended up sailing back to
Rome with a massive army behind him. The legions under Vespasian were led by
Antonius Primus. They easily crossed and took over northern Italy before they encountered
Vitellius’ legions in October. Perhaps fittingly, the fight once again took place at Bedriacum,
making it the Second Battle of Bedriacum. Men on both sides fought
through the day and night, resulting in many losses.
As the story goes, a small, seemingly ridiculous understanding ended up
guaranteeing victory for Vespasian’s forces. One of the legions under Primus had come
from Syria, where, after years on the ground, the men had picked up some local customs.
One of them was saluting the sun at dawn. After fiercely battling through a long and bloody
night, and perhaps not with the clearest of minds, Vitellius’ forces saw this salute and
concluded that Primus’ men were, in fact, saluting incoming reinforcements. Exhausted,
badly injured, and in a state of despair, they fled the battle, with Vespasian's
troops pursuing them all the way to Rome. Even after Primus’ and Vespasian’s
troops entered the city in December, Vitellius’ legions still tried to mount a
last-ditch resistance effort. They trapped the incoming men in the winding streets
of the Roman capital and threw objects, including tiles, from the
surrounding rooftops to kill them. Though many men died as a result of the
violence within the city walls - 50,000 according to Cassius Dio, who was
apparently spending that particular year as Rome’s unofficial body counter
- in the end, resistance was futile. Realizing his time had come, Vitellius
tried to escape the city disguised in rags, but Vespasian’s men recognized and captured him
immediately. They dragged him along the Sacred Way and displayed him in a show of public humiliation
at the Forum, where a crowd hurled abuse at him. The legions then tortured him on the Stairs of
Wailing, which…is a thing that apparently needed to exist at that time, and after dragging
him through the streets of Rome yet again, this time with a hook instead of a noose like
the first time, for a bit of variety, they threw him into the river. But not before severing his
head, which they then paraded through the city. We can’t emphasize how much the Romans really,
really hated Vitellius. And how becoming a Roman Emperor was apparently becoming more of a
life shortener than smoking Marlboro Reds. On December 22, 69 AD, the Senate finally
declared Vespasian emperor. This would signify the end of a protracted period of
Roman turmoil and the beginning of a new, more peaceful, and prosperous era of
Imperial Rome known as the Flavian Dynasty. Under Vespasian’s rule, the Colosseum
was constructed, unaware as yet of the throngs of tourists that would one day
stampede through its walls, shouting, “Are you not entertained?!”
at their exhausted families. Vespasian was an intelligent
ruler and a good politician, making sure to restore not only the rule
of law that Vitellius had completely disregarded but also to take care of both
the people of Rome and its elite class. He fully restored the power of the Senate and
enacted several reforms focused on public welfare. As well-regarded as the Flavian Dynasty was, the
Year of Four Emperors troubled many Romans. It reminded them that despite the golden age Augustus
had presided over as the first emperor of Rome, there was still a fundamental problem
with empires and monarchies; namely, that the welfare and safety of the population
often depend on the mental stability and character of whoever is in charge, and if you’re dealt a bad
hand…that’s it for life - or until assassination. Augustus had managed to claim
and consolidate power thanks to the internal failures of the Roman
Republic, and he had held onto it because of his shrewd political moves
and the care he took of his people. Subsequent emperors had already
started to disappoint the Roman public, and more upheavals would soon come. However, for the time being, as long as Rome
continued to expand and conquer new lands, the empire’s star was still rising. The Roman legions were a big reason for
Roman expansion and overall success. Known for their incredible discipline,
the armies of the Roman Republic moved away from the classic formation of their
neighboring civilization, the Greek phalanx. The phalanx proved unwieldy for battle due
to the landscape of most of central Italy, consisting of endless hills and valleys. Instead, the Roman legions were composed
of relatively small infantry units known as maniples. Each maniple had 120 men in
12 files and 10 ranks. In times of battle, maniples were arranged in three lines of
ten in a checkerboard pattern. That way, the lines were flexible, and the first line
could fall back into a defensive formation with the second line if required, or alternately,
the second line could reinforce the first. Gradually, a new, larger unit known as a cohort
replaced the maniple. Each had around 360 men, and around the time of Julius Caesar,
every legion would have around ten cohorts, four in the front, followed by
two lines of three cohorts each. While this added up to 3,600 men, this
only included the heavily armed infantry. The cohorts usually had supporting
forces of light infantry and cavalry, bringing the total number of each
legion up to around 6,000 men. To put a visual on these large numbers,
when seven legions would go into battle, a not uncommon occurrence, there would
be about 25,000 heavily armed infantry stretched out over a mile and a half. That’s
a length of just over 26 football fields. An interesting change occurred when the tide of
war shifted, and Rome eventually found itself on the defensive side, protecting against invasions
rather than invading others to conquer their land. Cohorts were increased to 500-600 men each,
meaning each legion now had around 5,000 to 6,000 heavily armed infantry troops alone, with
cavalry and light infantry composed of archers, slingers, and javelin men functioning as backup. When the Roman legions started encountering
barbarian armies mounted on horseback, they increased the proportion of cavalry
to counter these new mounted troops. Thus, cavalry went from one-seventh of
an average legion to one-fourth. In the 4th century AD, the
Romans instituted catapults and ballistas as part of their legions
to enhance their defensive capabilities. In addition to the Roman army's unique
formation and strict discipline, the legions' weapons provided another
big advantage in battle. The pilum and the gladius were two of the most popular
weapons for infantry soldiers at the time. The pilum was a javelin measuring
7 feet, or just over 2 meters, and the gladius was a type of sword about 20
inches, or 50 centimeters long. These weapons enabled Roman soldiers to excel in hand-to-hand
combat and fighting at a distance with javelins. In addition, the Romans had strong defensive
equipment that helped protect them in battles. Items like metal helmets, shields, and cuirasses -
breastplates and backplates fastened together and meant to protect the torso - reduced the amount of
damage Roman soldiers took to the head and body. Roman technological advancements
helped not only on the battlefield but also in the development
of the civilization itself. One of the major contributions
of the Roman Empire to the world, for example, was the rapid development
of engineering practices. Even today, ancient Roman aquifers still survive in parts
of Italy and the former Roman territories. The Romans built sophisticated underground
sewage systems, enabling not only a primitive form of plumbing to exist but also improving
their cities' general hygiene and cleanliness, as waste flowed underground instead
of being left on the streets. Part of what enabled Roman engineering marvels
was the development of cement and concrete as building materials. The combination of
such materials created structures that have stood the test of time, which is
part of the reason for the prevalence of Roman ruins throughout the modern world today. By far one of the best achievements of the Romans,
and one that helped not only their military expeditions, but also the impressive development
of their trade routes, was the Roman road system. Two of the most famous roads, Via
Appia and Via Egnatia, enabled the exchange of goods between Rome and Brindisi and
Rome and Constantinople—present-day Istanbul. You can still find remnants of the Appian
Way in Italy today, and Egnatia Odos, translated from Greek as Egnatia Street, still
runs through the major Greek city of Thessaloniki. As the Roman Empire grew, this
extensive road system helped keep the disparate parts of this grand
civilization connected. This helped maintain the precariously large Roman
Empire, as did the taxation system. See, when Rome conquered a new territory,
a lot of the residents of the region would become Roman citizens, and would be
taxed as such. In addition to newly obtained local resources, this increase in
tax base helped grow the empire’s wealth. At its peak in 117 AD, the Roman
Empire encompassed a lot of the northern African coast, Asia Minor,
and most of Europe. This meant that the lands of Rome stretched from the
Atlantic Coast to the Euphrates River, with the northernmost borders
of the empire found in Britain. However, the seeds of Rome’s undoing had
already been planted. The precariousness of the imperial throne, the reliance on
imperial conquests for wealth and forced labor, the challenges associated with ruling such a
massive area, as well as the class divisions that had pestered Rome since its beginning..all
these factors started to combine into a toxic mix. With the Roman Empire stretched so wide, it was also stretched incredibly thinly. No
matter how well the Roman road systems worked, there were no 747s in operation or Zoom meetings
to enable oversight of such a large empire. Once Roman expansion stopped,
in some cases because they had literally reached the end of a land
mass, two major problems materialized. First off, Rome had always relied on its
militaristic expansion to enslave a portion of the newly conquered population and used
their forced labor to maintain infrastructure, build the empire’s engineering marvels, produce
food, and generally keep the system running. Once the empire became overextended
and new conquests ground to a halt, the incoming supply of enslaved labor was
halted as well. Though this was undoubtedly good news to all the neighbors of the
Roman Empire who wished to remain free, i.e. everyone, it started an era
of declining labor force in Rome. Second, the acquisition of new territories and a
new tax base from the conquered people who became citizens instead of slaves continuously
imparted wealth into the Roman Empire. Without the acquisition of new wealth, the
Roman economy started to stagnate. Even worse, the heavily armed, formidable Roman legions
still had to be funded during this period, as even though they weren’t actively
fighting to conquer neighboring lands, they still had their hands full, defending the
empire from revolts and neighboring invasions. That meant that the army required increasing
resources in its valiant attempt to hold Rome's borders together while avoiding
acquiring more land and wealth. Defensive spending coupled with no
economic growth created a further problem: funds had to be diverted away from
the empire's other needs and into the military. Rome’s military overspending in
its waning years went not only to soldiers but also to engineering feats like Hadrian’s wall in
Great Britain, meant to keep potential invaders away and alleviate some of the pressure
on Roman soldiers to defend the border. However, this meant that maintaining the
complex, advanced infrastructure built within Rome became a secondary goal,
and the empire's irrigation, sewage, and road systems started to slide into disrepair. This decreased both the quality of
life for the average Roman citizen, as well as their trust and pride
in the emperor and the Senate, as it was clear that citizens’
needs were not being prioritized. Some scholars argue that the Roman emperors
of this time period had to extract more and more taxes from their population to
fund the army. This actually led to fewer people being able to pay the taxes,
eventually wiping out the middle class while the rich moved their homes outside
the city and sought to evade taxes. There is significant debate about
how much this actually affected the Roman economy of the time. However,
much evidence suggests that “coin hoarding” became common throughout the
empire in this era to help avoid taxes. Meanwhile, a political system that had started to
rely on ascension via homicide was also becoming problematic. As the empire grew, becoming Emperor
of Rome almost guaranteed a shortened life span. The Crisis of the Third Century started in 235
AD, and it was exactly as fun as it sounds for everyone involved. The emperor at the time,
Severus Alexander, had ascended to the throne at fourteen years old. Despite that, his reign
had been a peaceful and prosperous one overall. However, he was very ill-suited
for battle. Unfortunately for him, Rome’s neighbors were starting
to poke at the Empire's borders. Starting in 231 AD, the Sassanian
Empire invaded Roman lands, followed by numerous invasions by the neighboring
Germanic tribes between 234 and 235 AD. As empathetic and conscientious
of a ruler as Severus was, he was an incredibly inept general.
His troops started to resent him, and their military discipline fell
apart. Eventually, in March of 235 AD, Maximinus Thrax, along with his legion,
mutinied and assassinated Severus Alexander. Naturally, according to the rules of the time,
this made him the next emperor. On a side note, we don’t recommend this method for
acquiring the job of your dreams. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Maximinus would not go
on to have a long and prosperous reign. Instead, his ascension started the Crisis, almost
fifty years of utter anarchy in which military leaders fought and killed
each other to ascend to the throne, rulers died under “mysterious
circumstances,” disease, revolts, and fires plagued the land. Persecution of
Christians also ran rampant during this time. More than 25 men took power during
this period, almost all of them dying by assassination. Worse yet, the people
tasked with protecting the Roman Emperors, the Praetorian Guard, were actually
the murderers most of the time. Without stable and peaceful leadership, corruption
ran rampant throughout Rome, including in its Senate, and civic participation and pride failed
miserably. Things got so bad that one time, the Praetorian Guard assassinated a Roman Emperor and
named the next one based on the highest bidder. Some rulers’ reigns only
lasted for a few days or weeks; though the exact timespan of some reigns
is still uncertain, it appears the record for the shortest reign goes to the father
and son team of Gordian I and Gordian II. The pair revolted against Maximinus in April
of 238 AD and were recognized by the Senate. A whole 22 days later, Gordian II was
killed by legions loyal to Maximinus, and Gordian I, who was at the ripe old age of
80, killed himself as soon as he heard the news. One month later, Maximinus
himself was killed by his own men, so defeating the Gordians ended up being
a bit of a Pyrrhic victory after all. The era of Imperial Crisis ended in 285 AD and was
followed by the Tetrarchy. Diocletian, the emperor at the time, initiated a split of the Roman
empire into the Western and Eastern sections. Splitting the empire was an attempt to make
this large bureaucracy more manageable, with Diocletian appointing junior
rulers, resulting in four separate rulers functioning at once, which is what
gave this period the name of Tetrarchy. Two Caesars ruled the Roman empire under
two Augusti because Romans liked using names of former rulers as formal titles in
order to confuse future history students. Diocletian theoretically co-ruled with Maximian, a
military colleague he appointed Caesar in 285 AD, though in practice, Maximian always functioned
as a subordinate. Perhaps, since he had come from humble origins, he felt he owed Diocletian
a favor and should follow his rules. Then in 305 AD, Diocletian did something quite
rare for a Roman emperor - he let go of the throne without being assassinated
or dying. Feeling increasingly weak and overwhelmed, he gave
an emotional speech in which he explained that the empire should be
ruled by someone stronger than him. As Maximian worked for Diocletian
for all intents and purposes, this meant he had to abdicate as well.
However, instead of this peaceful transfer of power ushering in a new era of prosperity,
it instead plunged the empire into civil war. One man, known as the future emperor Constantine, finally emerged victorious in 312 AD. He killed
his co-emperor Maxentius at Milvian Bridge, and once again, the Western Roman
Empire had one and only one ruler. Wanting to lead the entire Roman Empire once more, Constantine also defeated the Eastern ruler and
ended up ruling over a united empire. However, he acknowledged the slight separation that had
formed between the empire’s two geographical segments by establishing the capital of
Constantinople, named after himself, in the East. Constantine is also famous for being the first
Roman emperor to establish Christianity as the empire’s official religion, as opposed to former
rulers who had persecuted this New Wave - at the time - religion. Even Diocletian and
Maximian had ordered the closing of churches and the burning of Christian
scriptures just a few years before. Constantine ruled until 337 AD when he
died of natural causes. After his death, the running of the empire was
handed over to his three sons, the unimaginatively named Constantine
II, Constans I, and Constantius II. Once again, power struggles emerged with
three rulers at the helm. Constantine II and Constans I fought a vicious war for
power, which resulted in Constantine II’s death. Constans I’s victory was
short-lived, as the Roman legions soon declared a military man named Magnentius
as emperor, who promptly killed Constans I. Just three and a half years later, Magnentius
killed himself after losing a battle, thus allowing Constantius II, the
sole remaining son of Constantine, who had been ruler of the east during Magnentius’
rise to power in Rome, to take full control. Then, a fever in 361 AD came and
wiped Constantius II out as well. The next man to ascend the throne, Julian, was a
cousin of Constantius II. He ruled for only two short years before succumbing to injuries
during a battle against Persia. However, he remains known to this day for being the
last emperor to rule over a Pagan Rome, as he decided to reverse the
empire’s stance on Christianity. After Julian’s death in 363 AD
came the Valentinian dynasty, marked by power struggles, usurpations,
assassinations, and overall turmoil. Eventually, Theodosius I, who had started in
379 AD as an emperor of the east, ruled over a united Roman Empire once again after the death
of Valentinian II, the Western ruler, in 392 AD. However, this united Roman empire would
be short-lived; Theodosius I died just a few years later in 395 AD. This marked the final
split of Rome between Theodosius’ sons - Arcadius and Honorius - after the area had been split and
resplit several times over the last few decades. The final division lay between the East, ruled by
Arcadius, which would become the Byzantine Empire, and the West, ruled by Honorius, which would
become…well, nothing at all pretty soon after. The Eastern Roman Empire continued to thrive
while the West quickly crumbled. In fact, the prosperity of the East may have
hastened the collapse of the West. Though the two smaller areas could theoretically
be managed more easily now, they also had to coordinate military funding and resource
allocation, which they failed to do spectacularly. When outside forces like the Germanic tribes
threatened the empire, the two sides could not cooperate well enough to swiftly take action.
Over time, the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire grew in wealth, while the Latin-speaking West
experienced an exacerbated economic crisis. Constantine and subsequent emperors of the
East had made sure to fortify the city well and keep legions stationed around its walls. The
Byzantine Empire’s wealth helped shore up these fortifications. Nearby invaders, seeing
Constantinople's power and strength as opposed to Rome's weakness and ruin, became more
likely to attack the West for an easier victory. In contrast, the Eternal City, the place that
had once stood as a symbol of the mighty Roman Empire’s power, was falling apart internally
and physically as its infrastructure crumbled. But what happened to the formidable and
well-armed Roman legions? How could the Empire have crumbled so quickly while these impressive
soldiers were out there defending Roman lands? Well, in later years, such as during the
reigns of emperors Diocletian and Constantine, the increasing challenge of keeping
the Roman legions well-funded and able to fend off revolts and outside
attacks created a need for mercenaries. Emperors would recruit soldiers
from various neighboring factions, including the Germanic Goths, a strange
arrangement as they had frequently fought with them in the past. However, it was clear that
desperate times called for desperate measures. The Goths fought well enough, but the problem
was that they didn’t have any particular reason to be loyal to Rome. They were, as most
mercenaries, in it for the money. In fact, some of them became very resentful towards
the Roman Empire, and for justifiable reasons. When one of the biggest invasions to date occurred
in the area, the rampage of the Huns across northern Europe in the late fourth century, many
Germanic tribes fled south into the Roman Empire. Otherwise, they faced potential slaughter by the
Huns. On the other hand, they ended up dealing with harassment and flat-out abuse in Rome—a
real “between a rock and a hard place” situation. Though tribes like the Visigoths were allowed
to cross the Danube into Roman territory, the Romans made it clear that they would
barely be tolerated within the empires borders. Historian Ammianus Marcellinus notes that while
the Visigoths were starving, Roman officials would give them dog meat, but sometimes only in exchange
for forcing the Visigoth children into slavery. The Roman treatment of the Goths became too cruel
to bear, and eventually, a fierce revolt occurred, ending in the obliteration of a Roman army
in the Battle of Adrianople in 378 AD and the murder of Eastern Emperor Valens. The
fact that Goths were also serving in the Roman army at this point probably didn’t
help the Roman legions win any victories, as it’s unlikely they would have
stayed to fight against their brothers. Genuinely perplexed as to why the people
they had fed dog meat to in exchange for making their children slaves held such
resentment against them, the Romans scrambled to negotiate a truce. However, by
410, the Goths were over any idea of peace, and the Goth King Alaric - a great name for
a no doubt terrible band - had had enough. He marched west and sacked the city of Rome
with the help of several Goth soldiers who had spent time serving in the Roman army and
learning all of their techniques and formations. Though the empire would hold on for a little bit
longer, it was nothing more than a dying gasp. Neighboring Goths - the European
tribes, not the Marilyn Manson fans - repeatedly attacked the empire
until one of the tribes, the Vandals, burned it all to the ground in 455 AD. By 476
AD, the Western Roman Empire had crumbled. Perhaps fittingly, the very last empire of
Rome was named Romulus, an echo of the very first emperor of Rome. After being defeated by
a Germanic general named Odoacer, he was thrown out but allowed to live out the rest of his life
in exile…going out, like the rest of the Western Roman Empire, not with a bang, but a whimper.
Did you know these details about the rise and fall of the Roman Empire? If not, what surprised
you the most? Let us know in the comments below, and in the meantime, watch “What Caused the
Roman Empire to Collapse” or this one instead.
