Lessons From Rome Part II ~ by Ransom

This article is the second in an overview of the Roman Empire & the lessons which may be drawn from it. The material discussed is drawn heavily from The History of Rome Podcast (http://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/), which is well-worth listening to.

My goal in this series is to draw out several lessons from Roman history – some of them useful to us as individual men, some providing insight to the world around us, and some that are just plain historically interesting.

This article draws on the period of time starting with the reign of Caesar Augustus and concluding with the reign of Marcus Aurelius. This is covered by podcast episodes 53 - 95.

The Concentration of Power

Augustus Caesar was about as good of an emperor as one could reasonably hope for. He set about reforming the operation of the empire to resolve internal conflicts & abuses of power, attempted to solidify the boundaries of the empire, and did his best to raise up successors to ensure a smooth transition when it was time to step down.

He was not wildly successful. His intended successors kept dying (https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/the_history_of_rome/2009/05/54-all-in-the-family-the-history-of-rome.html), his attempted conquest of Gaul to the Elbe River was thwarted for all time by barbarian destruction of multiple legions in the Teutoburg Forest (https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/the_history_of_rome/2009/05/55-teutoburg-nightmares-the-history-of-rome.html), and politics & power continued as they had always been. Only the internal reforms had a real measure of success as Augustus brought the Senate into compliance.

All his plans and cunning could not control the decisions of his successors. Tiberius Caesar was debauched and suspicious and was followed by Caligula, who made Tiberius look good. Claudius tried his best but was assassinated too soon & followed by Nero, whom you know. Three men vied to succeed Nero. Only one succeeded.

Things kept on in that vein for a long while.

If like me your familiarity with Roman history is largely informed by the Biblical setting it may be a surprise to learn how much history Rome had yet to experience. The birth of Christ took place during the first half of Augustus' reign, and he was the first of many, many emperors. The Apostle Paul wrote letters during the reign of Nero. Roman history is long. Buckle up.

The Judean Revolt began in AD 66 and lasted a few years before inevitably ending at Masada. Thus ended the Jewish state, but keep an eye on those Jews – they want independence and won't take 'no' for an answer.

The Praetorian Guard come to prominence in this period of history. Where before they guarded the emperor, now they function as king-makers. If the Praetorians like you, good. If not, better start writing that will. The Praetorians figure in the short reigns of several emperors you've never heard of (for good reason).

At this point a fairly clear pattern emerges of a strong emperor holding power for an extended period of time and then being followed by a succession of weak, unlucky, or incompetent emperors.

Becoming & remaining emperor became increasingly a matter of power. Power was always at the center of the equation but at the beginning it roughly coincided with existing traditions and responsibilities. Augustus was Julius' adopted son and he respected the Senate's forms and customs.

It did not take long for those traditions to start breaking down. Where tradition did not suffice greed did. Bribing senators and armies was expensive. Promises were easy to make and sometimes difficult to keep. Once the throne was secure, though, extracting money from opponents – or anyone who could be cast as an opponent – was an easier proposition. Any emperor who fell behind on what the army believed his responsibilities to be soon found himself replaced, and dead.

While the Roman Empire originated from the City of Rome it was beginning to become something a little different. The Emperor Hadrian made extensive trips around the empire (https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/the_history_of_rome/2010/01/82-hadrians-walls.html) and spent little time in Rome itself, preferring to take his court with him. Rome was still the seat of power, but people slowly woke up to the fact that it didn't need to be.

As the empire grew, then stopped growing, it began to lose cohesion. Threats came up from the east and the west, forcing the imperial structure into a reactive and often ineffective state. The empire was so large that maintaining control of the armies under a single imperial figure was not a simple task. While the empire was putting out fires in one corner of the empire, coals roared back into life in others. An emperor who failed to lead his army to victory was not an emperor who invited loyalty, doubly so if the victory was lead by someone else.

The reign of the emperor Marcus Aurelius is often considered to be the bright end to Rome's imperial peak. An interesting man who kept what is probably history's best-known journal, Marcus took an unusual approach to the throne (https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/the_history_of_rome/2010/04/91-marcus-and-lucius-and-the-parthians.html) and spent nearly his entire reign combating invasion and revolt.

If he had lived longer perhaps the empire would have seen better days. He did not, and it didn't. After Marcus' death the Roman Empire began its long and uneven path towards dissolution and forgetfulness.

Lessons

Success is not always a good thing. Augustus did the best job he could and left his successors a well-trained empire with lots of good-will. If he hadn't done such a good job perhaps later emperors could not have so easily abused their position. Systems that are dominated by a personality are often less stable and more prone to corruption than systems defined by principles.

Augustus had a vision for safeguarding Rome's future and pursuing that vision repeatedly lead to the violation of Roman law & custom. Even that was not enough to set the empire on a course of indefinite success but it established legal precedent and weakened the social fabric enough for new problems to develop earlier and stronger than they otherwise might have. There is always a justification for taking short-cuts or breaking down obstacles, but they exist for a reason. It may not be a good reason and circumvention may be justified, but weakening the principles by which systems operate will often have unexpected and persistent effects.

History is a difficult thing to tie down. The Roman era had relatively few surviving sources, and many were written to attract the friendly eye of political patrons invested in certain narrative outcomes – or at least to avoid the censure of powerful foes. Verify what you hear and keep in mind that error and nuance are ever present.

Rome's success as an empire came at the cost of its stability as a city & community. Most visibly, palace complexes displaced many districts that had housed city population and commerce. Nero's palace complex was built upon many of the areas gutted by the infamous great fire. This could not have happened if the rest of the Mediterranean world weren't available to pull resources from and push consequences off to. Empires destroy nations – including the nation nominally running the empire. The consequences of this will become increasingly evident as the empire spirals in upon itself.