116 THE CLASSICAL WORLD 700 bce–600 ce

REECE
From
Frrom m unp npro romi
misi sing
n beg egin
egininning
ning
ni ngs inin a colllleec
ect
ctio
ion of o f sm maallll anndd
quaarrrreels
qu lsom
om
ome
me ci c tyy-sstatate
ate
tes,
s, th
hee Gre reeks
eks een
ek nte
terered d an
an era ra o f
unpa
un
unpa
parraalllleelleedd crreeat
ativivviitty aannd susurp
r pri
risi
sing
ing
ng miillita
itaarry
it ry su ucces
cces
cc ess,
s, seeeeinng
off the
off he migghtt of the tth
he P Peerrssia
sia
ian emempi pire
re an ndd esttab
abliliish
sh
hin
ing cco
in olol on
niies
es
thrro
th ouuggho ouutt the
he Med edit
dit
iter
iter
erra
rane
nean
an and nd Bla l ckk Sea ea . U Un nde
der
Alex
lexand
le xand
xa dere th hee Gre reat
eat at, the
the Gr
th Gree
Greeeeks
ks held
eld p
el pooliliti
ticcaal sway
swwayay ovveer
mo
m osstt of tth he N Neear
ear
ar Eas ast, t, and d evveen afafte
ter
er Aleexxaandnder er’s
r’ss deeaath
th th heeir
ir
ccu
ultltura
uraall in
ur nfl
fluueence
nce rreemain
nc maiin
ma ned d power
owwere fu
ful th
ful theerre
re fo for cent
cceentu
nt u
nt urriees.
s.

ARCHAIC GREECE
n Gre cee d 700–
Greece
ece
ec 0–55000 bce
bce

We know little about the era following

W side-by-side with this in Athens (see p.118),
8
the collapse of Greece’s Mycenaean beginning with the reforms of the great
civilization in 1070 bce (see p.101), because law-giver Solon in around 594 bce.
no written records survive. But by around Despite continuing rivalry, some
750 bce, scattered clusters of villages cultural factors united the poleis: belief
throughout the Greek mainland, islands, in common deities and participation in
and Ionia (Greek-settled Asia Minor) had common cultural events, such as the pan-
grown into city-states, or poleis. Rivalry Hellenic games at Olympia. Philosophers,
between the poleiss was fierce, and fighting mainly in Ionia, began to speculate on the
frequent; by 600 bce, Sparta, Thebes, nature of the universe, while a rich legacy
Corinth, and Athens were dominant. of poetry includes probably the first written
Governing systems varied from polis versions of Homer’s Iliadd and Odyssey.
to polis. At first monarchy
was most common, but in
the 7th century bce some
city-states overthrew their
kings and instituted
“tyrannies”: rule by
autocrats from new
families, such as the
Pisistratids at Athens.
A basic form of
democracy emerged
Rows of marble lions on the island
of Naxos were dedicated to the
god Apollo in the 7th century BCE.
 GREECE 117

THE GREEK–PERSIAN WARS

n Gre
reece,
ree ce,
e,, th
thee Aege
Aeg an
an,
n, W Asi i r d 44999–
Asiia Mino
in 9––4499 bbce
9–4 bc
c
ce

In 499 bce, the Ionian cities of western in the naval defeat of the Persians at
Asia Minor, with some assistance from Salamis, with Themistocles at the helm,
Athens, staged a revolt against Persia, also in 480 bce. A further victory on land
which had conquered the region in at Plataea (in 479 bce) stiffened Greek
546 bce. The Persians were victorious, resolve and forced the retreat of the
suppressing the rebels in 493 bce, after main Persian force, and this signalled the
which the Persian king Darius I (see end of Persian ambition on the Greek
p.112)
2 resolved to teach the Greeks mainland. Although the war spluttered on
a lesson. This was a mistake of epic in Ionia and the Aegean until 449 bce, the
proportions. Having easily occupied Greeks, by defending their independence,
the Greek islands and found ready had in effect
collaborators among certain of the alreead
adyy emerged d
northern Greek cities, Darius’s army as thee vic
victo
tors
rs.
landed near Marathon (a small town on
the coast of Attica, northeast of Ath hens))
in late summer 490 bce. There, a
phalanx of Athenian citizen-sooldieers
– with shields locked togetherr tot fo
form
rm
ma
united front – and their alliess from
om
m the
city of Plataea kept the Perssianss in
n checkk,
despite being greatly outnum
umbe bereed.
Although Marathon was a min nor
setback, the damage to Perrsianan presttigge
was profound and they with hdrrew w.

THE SECOND PERSIAN INV

VAS
SIO
ON
The Persians were not to givee up and
the fight was renewed und der Darriu
iuss’s
successor, Xerxes, in 480 bce.. A sh hakyy
coalition of Greek city-staates form
med to
combat the invasion, but desp pite heroioic
resistance by the Spartan kingg Leeonid dass
at Thermopylae (in which all the Sparttans
perished), the Persians sooon won over
the important state of Thhebess too theirr
side and had Athens at thheir merrcy..
The city was put to the toorch,, but
Themistocles, a politician
n, haad by
then persuaded his fellow Atheeniaans
to finance a naval fleet.
This policy bore fruit

Leonidas, the Spartan king,

led an army of only 300
Spartans against Persian
forces at the the battle
of Thermopylae.
118 THE CLASSICAL WORLD 700 bce–600 ce

ATHENS AND DEMOCRACY

n Athe nss d 59
thens 594–3
4–338
4–3 388 bce

The oldest and most stable democracy
in ancient Greece developed in Athens,
invoking the right of all citizens – a
category excluding women, children,
slaves, and foreigners – to participate
in political decision-making.
At the start of the 6th century bce, the
reforms of the Athenian statesman Solon
had diluted the aristocrats’ power in
a
favour of the citizen assembly (ekklesia),
but it was only under the magistrate
Cleisthenes (c.570–c.507 bce) that the
Athenian constitution began to approach
its final form. He divided Athens into
s which
about 140 voting districts (demes),
were grouped together into 10 tribes.
Each of these supplied 50 members
annually to a council of 500, and this
group supplied the 50-member group of
council leaders (Prytaneis)s to administer
the government’s daily affairs.
orator in 5th-century bce Athens,
consolidated the power of the masses
by compensating the poor for the time
they spent attending the assembly.
DEMOCRACY AND EMPIRE
As Athens’ power waxed, the attractions
of holding office grew. Ostracism –
a vote by the ekklesiaa to exile over-mighty
politicians – aimed to curb the abuse of
power by a few. Athenian defeats in
the Peloponnesian W War (see p.122)
2 twice
suspended democracy, which, although
later restored, became a shadow of its
former glory by the time the R Romans took
over Greece in the mid-2nd century bce.
The Porch of the Caryatids,
on the Acropolis of Athens,
had to be rebuilt after
being burned down by
the Persians in 480 BCE.

THE ASSEMBLY
The composition of the Prytaneiss changed
regularly so that no one held power for
too long. The full ekklesia – with a
quorum of 6,000 people – convened
around 40 times a year, meeting
on the Pnyx, a hill near the
Acropolis, to vote on important
matters, including the election of
the city’s generals (strategoi ). Pericles
(495–429 bce), the most brilliant

“A M AN WHO
T KES NO
TA
INTEREST IN
POLITICS HAS
NO BUSINESS
A ALL.”
HERE AT
Pericles, 495–429 BCE
 GREECE 119

GREEK COLONIZATION
From the late 9th century bce, the Greeks dramatically expanded
their world by despatching colonists from cities in Greece to all corners
of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. This process continued for
more than three centuries. Exactly why colonization was so important
is unclear, but it may have been both a catalyst for trade and a pressure
valve for excess population or political difficulties in Greece itself.

THE ACQUISITION OF LANDS A silver coin from Catana (modern

Catania), a Greek settlement in Sicily
Although the Greeks had that was colonized around 720 BCE.
set up foreign trading
posts, such as at Al at Tartessus in modern
Mina in Syria, their Spain – in around
new colonies were 640 bce. In the east,
fully fledged citizen colonies spread up the
communities. Among coast of the Black Sea,
the earliest were those f om Byzantium to the
fr
in eastern Sicily, including Crimea, and to Trapezus
Syracuse, founded around 733 bce. (modern Trabzon) on the northern
Shortly after this, colonization began coastline of the Anatolian peninsula.
in southern Italy, with cities such By the late 6th century bce, the
as Rhegium, Sybaris, and Croton Greek impetus for colonization had
springing up in a network so dense faded, and as the system of city-states
that the area came to be known as in Greece itself came under strain,
Magna Graecia (“Greater Greece”). future Greek expansion would come
The movement spread far to the largely under the patronage of
south and west, founding Cyrene in Alexander the Great’s Macedonian
North Africa around 630 bce, and empire and its successor states.
Massilia (modern Marseilles, in
The city of Ephesus, a Greek colony located on
Fran
Fr ance
an ce)) ar
arou
ound
ound 600
600
0 bc
bcee. Th
Thee Gre
reek
eks Turkey
Tur key’s
’s wes
wester
tern
n coas
coastli
tline
tli ne, wa
wass e
esta
stabli
sta blishe
blish d in
she
firs
fi
irrsst reac
reacche
re hed th
hed the
he Ib
ber
e ia
ian Pe
Pen
niins
nsul
ula
la – an 11t
an 1 h-c
h-cent
entury
ury BCE
BC wave
wave off Gre
Greekk exp
e anans
nsion
io .
ion
The Pa
Parth
rthenon, n ththe e grea at temp
mpplee to
to th
the
he god
goddess
dde s
Athena
en , wa ass bu
built at Athen
Athen
Ath ens
ns in th
t e mid-
mid-5th5th ce entury
ntut ryy
tu
BCE. The
he project was as ini
i tia
tiated
ted byy th
t e cityt ’ss le
ty’s lea
eaddin
d ing
ng
statesman n Peeric
ricles
les, and the
les the
th ewwo
orkk was
wa
w as partl r ly
ove
erseen by Phidia
Phidia as,
s, one
one off C
on Clas
ass
ssica
ssica
icall Grre
eece’
ce’ss
g eat
greatest
ate st a
art
rtist
stss. Itt w
was
as cco
ompl plete
ete
te
ed arou
arou
o nd nd 432 32
2 BCE.
122 THE CLASSICAL WORLD 700 bce–600 ce

THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR

n Gre
Greece
ece
cee, W Turk
urkey,
y, Sic
iciily
icily
l d 4431–4
–44044 bc
bc
bce
cee

The Peloponnesian W War, a bitter 30-year

THUCYD
THU CYDIDE
CYD IDES
IDE S
struggle, arose from the rivalry between
the two most prominent Greek city- One of the first true historians, Thucydides
(c.460–c.404 BCE) wrote a History of the
states, Athens and Sparta. Unlike the
Peloponnesian War, recounting events he
democratic constitution of its rival (see had lived through. The speeches he put in
p.118),
8 Sparta was governed by kings and the mouths of the protagonists are some
a small military élite, moderated by five of the masterpieces of Greek literature.
annually elected magistrates (or ephors).s
The mass of the population were helots,
effectively serfs, with no political rights. supporting the Syracusans, and
In the mid-5th century bce, Athens Athens was sucked into a debilitating
established an empire based on and ultimately unsuccessful
its maritime strength, bringing siege of the city.
it into conflict with Sparta’s In 413 bce, the
land-based power. Spartans destroyed the
Athenian armada in Sicily,
THE STAGES OF WAR but still the war dragged
The initial pretext for on. Finally in 405 bce,
war was the attempt in at Aegospotami on the
432–431 bce by Potidaea, Hellespont, the Spartans
an Athenian client-city in captured most of the
northern Greece, to break Athenian fleet while it
away from the Athenian was beached on shore.
empire. Sparta and its Deprived of their naval
allies came to Potidaea’s A helmet typical of the protective support, the Athenians
aid, but the Athenians gear of the hoplites, the heavy could not resist a Spartan
infantry of the Greek armies.
initially held the upper blockade, and in 404 bce
hand. Sparta fought back, winning a they surrendered, agreeing to the
great victory at Amphipolis in 422 bce, destruction of their defensive walls.
and both sides agreed to observe a Athens would never again
50-year truce. be such a dominant force
Hostilities broke out again in 415 bce, among the Greek city-states.
when the Athenians, encouraged by the
extremist anti-Spartan statesman
Alcibiades, sent a great fleet The Athenians’ naval fleet
to Sicily, intent on absorbing included oared warships
known as triremes. These
Syracuse into their empire. vessels were fast and
The Spartans reacted by manoeuvrable, and were
able to ram enemy ships.
 GREECE 123

CLASSICAL GREEK CULTURE

The Classical Greek city-states of the 6th to 4th
centuries bce gave birth to a civilization of extreme
creativity, remarkable both for its uniformity of
belief and culture, and its diversity of political
systems. It has given us philosophers, artists, and
playwrights whose works we still celebrate today.

RELIGION, ART, AND PHILOSOPHY Socrates (lived

The possession of a common religion
was a hallmark of “Greekness”, and
temples, shrines, and oracles to the
principal gods – Zeus, their king;
Hera, his wife; Apollo, the sun god –
sprang up throughout Greece and
the Greek colonies. Cult centres such
as Olympia and Delphi became
important pan-Greek gathering
places and at some, in particular
at Olympia, the Greeks held games
in honour of the gods.
469–399 BCEE)
revolutionized
Greek thought, but
his radicalism led
to his execution.
The temples the Greeks built to
their gods are among the most
breathtaking relics of the Classical
age, and include the great marble
temple of the Parthenon built on the
Athenian acropolis between 447 and
432 bce. Sculptors such as Phidias
(born 490 bce), who created the
great cult statue of Athena for the
Parthenon, are among the world’s
earliest named artists.
The Greeks excelled in the
dramatic arts, too, with tragedies by
Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides,
and comedies by Aristophanes,
being performed at an annual
religious festival, called
the Dionysiaa in honour
of the god Dionysus.
Of equally profound
and lasting influence was the
work of Greek philosophers such
as Socrates (c.469–399 bce), Plato
(c.427–347 bce), and Aristotle (384–
322 bce), the first to apply rigorous
logic in an attempt to understand
the world, whose works were valued
into the Middle Ages and beyond.

The art of vase painting reached new

heights during the Classical period of
Greece, often depicting scenes from myth.
124 THE CLASSICAL WORLD 700 bce–600 ce

THE CONQUESTS OF
ALE XANDER THE GREAT
n Greeec
ecee, th
the
he Nea asstt d 33366–3
Neeear East 6––3323
23 bce
c
ce

In the 4th century bce, Greece saw Alexander’s prompting. Once his father
a struggle for power between several was dead, Alexander moved with brutal
city-states, with first Sparta and then, speed to put down rivals and, in 335 bce,
from 371 bce, Thebes emerging as the suppress a Theban revolt.
victor. From the early 350s bce, the
northern Greek state of Macedonia THE INVASION OF PERSIA
began to expand under an energetic and Now secure on the Macedonian throne,
ruthless new king, Philip II. In 338 bce, Alexander embarked on an enterprise
Philip, aided by his 18-year-old son of staggering ambition: the invasion
Alexander, gained victory against the of the Achaemenid Persian empire.
Thebans and their allies at Chaeronea. In 334 bce, he led an army of some
The other Greeks then rapidly submitted 50,000 across the Hellespont into
to MMacaced
edononiaiann ov
overlordship p. Asia Minor – modern T Turkey – with
The
he youngg Alexander was not Phi hili
ililp’
ps th
he initiall in
inte
teent
ntioon of o liberatting thee
oon
nlyy son
o aand nd his
his ssuccce
cess
s ion
ssion to
to tthehe tthr
hrron
one G ee
Gr e k ci
c tiiess theeree fro ro
om PeP rrssia
i n cont
ntro
nt rol.l.l
ro
waas byy no m meeaan ns as
assu
sure
red.
d. P
Phi
hililiip’
hi p’s Disspu utteed ssu ucc
ucc
c es
essi
s on
ons an
andd
assa
assass
sass
ssin
naattio
tio
ion inin 336 6 bc
bce has lon ng r b
re beellio
llliioons
onss had
ad wea eake
kene
ke n d
beeen
be n suussp
peecctted
ed to b bee at the
thhe Ach chaeaem
meeninid em
em
mpipire
pire
 GREECE 125

The Temple of the Oracle, in

the Siwa Oasis, Egypt, where
Alexander came to consult the
oracle of Zeus Ammon in 332 BCE.

in the 4th century bce, but

its ruler, Darius III, could
still call upon resources
vastly superior to those
of Alexander. Nonetheless,
Alexander, with tactical
and strategic brilliance,
and with more than
an eye for his image as
an all-powerful ruler, defeated the trappings of an oriental potentate,
a large Persian force at Granicus in adopting Persian court dress and protocol
334 bce, and then the next year bested and moving to secure all the former
Darius III himself at Issus in Syria. provinces of the Achaemenid empire.
Utilizing the professionalism and
manoeuvrability of his smaller forces FINAL CAMPAIGNS AND DEATH
agains nst the vast, cumbersome Persian
ns Alexander spent 329 and 328 bce
armi
ar mies
mi es,, he see
es e memedd un
u bebeatab
a le. Pausing suppressing revolts in the eastern
to visi itt Eggyypt
p , he d def
efea
effea
e te
tedd Da
Daririus
u one provinces of Bactria and Sogdia, after
final all time
imme at
at Gau uggaam
meelaa oon
n the
t he
th w ich he pushed on into northwestern
wh
b nkks off tthe
ba he Tigg riis iin
he n 331
31 bce
bce. Th
bc Thee India, defeating the local ruler Porus at
fugi
fu giitiive
ve Peerrsiiaan
n kin
kin
ing w waas
as muurdder
e edd th
hee H daspes in 327 bce. Finally, even his
Hy
follow
foll
fo lllowwining yyeearr and
nd Ale lexaand
ndeerr too
ook oon
n loya
lo yal Macedonians refused to go further.
ya
A lo long
ngg and gruelling return across desert
teerrai
terr ain
ai n to reach central Persia, and the
perc
pe rcei
ceived influence of native Persians in
Allex
A lexan
exander’s entourage, fuelled a series of
muti
mu tini
inniies
e . Then, in 323 bce, aged only 32,
tth
he coconq nqque
u ror of the known world died
off a feevveerr at Babylon. His embalmed
bodyy was
bo
body as ssent to Egypt, and his generals
plootttteed to seize power for themselves,
pl
siin
ncce,e as he was still relatively young
a th
at he time of his death, Alexander
had not chosen a successor.

“HIS FRIENDS
ASKED: ‘TO WHOM
A Roma
Roma
oma an-eera
ra mos
mos
moosaic
a DO YOU LEAVE THE
sh
showin
sho
howinwingg Alexxa
and
ndde
err rid
r ding
ding
ng
his
h
in
iss hors
int
ho
orse
seeB
nto battle,
nto
nt att
ttle
Bu
le,
e p
uce
cep
ce
po
ephal
phal
oss
halus
ssib
ssi
sibly
us
us
blyy
KINGDOM?’ AND
att Iss
a Issus
us in 333 3 BC
BC .
BCE
HE REPLIED ‘TO
THE STRONGEST’.”
Dio
Diod
dorrus Siculus on the death of Alexander
do
(Library of Historyy, XVII, 117)
126 THE CLASSICAL WORLD 700 bce–600 ce

THE SUCCESSORS OF ALE XANDER

n Egyp
gypt,
t,, Syri
yr a, Mac
Macedo
edo
ed
donia
d i d 33223–3
–331 bce
bcee

Alexander the Great’s death The Ptolemaic Greeks adapted

in 323 bce led to a long Egypt’s practice of mummification,
creating mummy portraits of the
struggle for control of his deceased in a western style.
empire. This began almost
at once, for Alexander’s erupted, which between
wife R
Roxana was pregnant, 323 and 279 bce
and the army split between gradually eliminated
those wanting to see if she the weaker contenders.
bore a son and those who
supported the severely DECLINE AND FALL
disabled half-brother By 301 bce, three main
of Alexander, Philip successor states survived –
Arrhidaeus. In the end, the Antigonids based in
the child was born Macedonia, the Seleucids
male and as Alexander in Mesopotamia and
IV he ruled jointly with Syria, and the Ptolemies
Arrhidaeus, who became in Egypt – together with a
Philip IV. However, this only masked constellation of smaller statelets that fed
the deep divisions between the generals, off warfare between the big three. After
who then proceeded to carve out their Antigonus I of Macedonia was defeated
own territories: Ptolemy in Egypt; by the others at Issus in 301 bce and the
Antigonus in Asia Minor; Lysimachus in other weaker states had been eliminated,
Thrace; Eumenes in Cappadocia; and the tensions diminished and the three
Seleucus in Persia. A series of wars Greek kingdoms survived until they
between these Diadochoii (or “successors”) were successively swallowed up by the
Romans: Macedonia in 168 bce, a
R
The Greek city of Corinth in the Peloponnese was
taken by the Romans in 146 BCE, marking the end much-reduced Seleucid kingdom in
of mainland Greece’s independence. 64 bce, and finally, Egypt in 31 bce.
 GREECE 127

HELLENISTIC CULTURE
Alexander’s conquests left a large part of western Asia and North
Africa in Greek hands. As part of his efforts to solidify his hold over
this enormous territory, Alexander himself encouraged the foundation
of Greek cities in the newly conquered lands, including most notably
Alexandria in Egypt. These became the focus for the diffusion of
Greek culture, known as Hellenism, throughout the East.

THE HELLENISTIC CITY Euclid (c.300 bce) and Archimedes

Greek-speakers were a definite (287–212 bce), the comic playwright
minority in Alexander’s empire and Menander (342–293 bce), and the
the successor states, but everywhere historian Polybius (c.200–c.118 bce)
the cities bore the hallmarks of the are a few of the influential figures
mother country. These included whose work was absorbed by the
temples built in the Greek fashion, Romans during their conquests of
R
a central marketplace and meeting th
he He
Helllllen
eniis
isti
tic la
tic lands
nd ds, ens
enssur
uriin
ing that
th
hat
at
space (or agora),
a and the gymnasium um
m, Gre
reec
eccee’’s cu
cult
ltur
lt u all leg
leggac
a y lliive
vedd on
o .
which was not merely a placee ooff
exercise, but acted as a centrre fo
or
Greek-style education wheree you ung
ng
men could study classic au uth
horrs aan
nd
obtain a sense of Greek culultu
l ure.
re.
re

DIVERGENCE AND DISSOLLUTI

TION
ON
N
Although united by the Greekk
language, the Hellenisticc ci c ties
ti s
and kingdoms did absorrb eaaste stern
ern
influences, notably in Egy gyptt
where the Greek-speak akking
in
ng
kings ruled as pharaaooh hs..
Hellenistic art styless also
travelled far to the easast,
st
influencing the Budd ddh
dd haa
h
figures of the Indian n st
stat
atee ooff
Gandhara in the 2nd cen enttu
ury
ry
bce. In science and liiterrat atur
ure,
ure e,
the Hellenistic Gre reek
re ekss
ek
continued the Claass s iccal
al
tradition of creativivvit
ity.
y
The mathematicia ian ns
ns
Antiochus I of Commagen enne (r
ne (rule
(ru led
led
ed
70–38 BCEE) was ruler off a Hellle
llen
enist
istticc
kingdom near Armenia a and
and ha
h
hadad thhisiss
spectacular funerary mon nume
um
ument
me nt
built to himself in the Gre
ree
re ek sty
ek sty
st
tylle
le.
e.
128 THE CLASSICAL WORLD 700 bce–600 ce

ME
From
From ina
om naus
nau uspicipiici
c ous
ous be
ou beggiinn
nnin in
ngs
gs as a sm maalllll hi
hillll-ttop
op set
ettl
ttlt em
emen
meennt
in
n cen
entr
t al
al Ita tallyy in th
he mi mi dd--88tth ce
c en
nttur
tury
urry bc
u bce, Rom me sus rviv ived
iv
ivedd
turb
tu rbul
u en nt ea earlrly ceentu urriiees to
u to ccon
o q
on quuer
er tthe
h ent ntiirre Itali
taliian
ta an
peen
p niins
nsul
nsul
ula – an and th
and theen
then n crereated
ated
at ed an
an emempipire
re enc
enc
nccomom
ompa
mpapasssssiin
ing th
the
he
whol
wh hol
ole of
of tth he Medit
he ed
dit
iter
terra
erraane
er neaan
nean nw wor
orld
orrld,
ld, pa
ld p rtrts
ts of
of the he Neeaar Easst, t,
a dn
an noort
orthw
rtthwes
hwes
hw este
stteern
n Eu urrop
ope.
e. Romome’ e s mi
e’ milliita
mili tary
ry and d
a mini
ad niist
strraaatitive strengt
tiv
ti gth aalllo
gt
gth owe
w d it too een ndudure
r sevver eral
al cri
al r ses
se
se
until, fin
naallllyy,, waves off baarrb
n bar
ariana invavaadeers
rs brroought aboout ut ittss fal
a l.

EARLY ROME
n Cent
entral
entral
al Ital
al t y
ta d 7553–5
3 099 bc
bbce
ce

According to tradition, Rome was

founded on 21 April 753 bce by Romulus,
R
said to have been the son of the god
Mars. Like most of the traditions
associated with RRome’s earliest days, it
is hard to disentangle truth from myth.

ROME UNDER THE MONARCHY

The first settlement, atop the Palatine
Hill overlooking the Tiber river, was
almost indistinguishable from the area’s
myriad small 8th-century bce villages.
Crucially, R Rome seems to have been
more receptive to outside influences than
its rivals, and particularly to that of the
more developed Etruscan civilization
that flourished in central Italy. Some of
Rome’s early kings – there were seven
R Cura Hostilia building. The accession
by tradition – may have been Etruscan.
The story goes that the second king,
Numa Pompilius, established many of
Rome’s religious traditions, while Ancus
R next king, Tarquinius
Marcius in the 7th century bce expanded
the territory of the fledgling city-state
through a series of localized struggles
against the neighbouring Latin tribe.
In this Renaissance mosaic, Romulus, the legendary
founder of Rome, and his twin brother Remus suckle
from the she-wolf said to have raised them.
From the reign of Tullus
T Hostilius
(673–642 bce) comes the first evidence
of a R
Roman senate, in the form of the
of his heir, T
Tarquinius Priscus – probably
an Etruscan – in 616 bce brought a
new dynamism to Rome.
R However the
T Superbus, was a
tyrant, and his unpopular rule led to
his deposition in 509 bce by a group
of aristocrats. From this point onwards
Rome was a republic.
 ROME 129

THE ROMAN REPUBLIC

n Ita
Italia
lia
i n peni
ia pen
eni ula d 509 bbce
en nsu ce–c.25
bc
c . 0 bbce
bc
ce
ce

When R Rome became a republic in A statue of a lictor, who carried the fasces,
509 bce, it retained some of the the bundle of rods and axes that symbolized
the power of the Republic’s magistrates.
elements of the old monarchical
system, including the Senate two elected tribunes (who
– an amorphous group of later came to have a veto
elders with decision-making over laws passed in the
powers. Every year, a citizen Senate). The codification of
assembly elected two consuls, Roman laws in the “Twelve
R
whose dual authority was an Tables” in 445 bce eased
attempt to prevent despotism. other restrictions on the
plebeians; and in 366 bce the
THE STRUCTURE OF SOCIETY
T first plebeian consul was elected.
The early R Republic was
dominated by the conflict TH EX
THE E PAN
P SION OF ROME
between two groups of citizens, Afftteer a R
A Roman victory against
the patricians (elite landowners) a le
lea
eague of Latin neighbours in
and the underclass of plebeians. 496 bce, a series of “colonies”
The patricians monopolized political of RRoman citizens set out from Rome, R
p wer,, and provided all the members
po gradually forming a network of
fo
for
or thhe Seenan tee. Pl
Pleb
ebei
eb eian
ei n res
resenentm
tmenentt off Rom
omanan-con
contr trol
olle
led
d or -in
incl
clin
ined
ed
d cciiti
ities
ies
thi
th
his
is hi
hie
iera
iera
rarcrchyy lled
rc ed ttoo a se
seri
ries
es oof viiol
olen
lentt thro
throug
ro uggho
hout ut ccen
entrtral
al Ita
taly
ly.. In 396
396 bcbcee,
confl
co nflicicts
ts,, wh
whic
ichh in 44944 bc bcee ressul
ulte
ted in th
he Roman ans ca
an captu ured thehe lea
eadi
ding
ng
thee cr
th c eatition
ion of
of a plp eb
ebeieian
an assssem
emblblyy wiith Etrrus
usca
caan city of Veii,, and by the the earlyy
3 d ce
3r cent
ntury bc ce h had
ad also
a defeat ated
ed d the
Th
The
h TeTempl
m e of C Cast
a or an
ast and
nd PPollu
uxx (ce
(centre righ
ht)
t), in
th Forum
the Forum a att Ro
Rome,
me wawass whe
w re thehe patri
patricia
cians
cia n met Samn
mnitites
es to
to beb gi
ginn the exteens
n ioon ofo
to disscus
cuss thee gov
governrnmen
m t of the
the early Reppubl
blic.
ic. their po
powe wer into to sou
o th
t -centralal Ita
talyly.
130 THE CLASSICAL WORLD 700 bce–600 ce

THE PUNIC WARS

n Ital
taa y, Spai
p n,
n, N Afri
ricca
ri ca d 26
264
64–
44–1
––1488 bc
bce
ce

Rome expanded its influence through

R help. The fighting – known as the First
the Italian peninsula during the first Punic WWar – dragged on for 23 years,
half of the 3rd century bce, gradually involving land battles and sieges that
creating conflict with other powers in generally went the R
Romans’ way, and
the Mediterranean. Most notable among more decisive naval battles ending in a
these adversaries were the Carthaginians, Roman victory at the Aegates Islands in
R

“WE HAVE BEEN DEFEAT

A ED
IN A GREAT A LE.”
A BATT
Marcus Pomponius announcing the disastrous Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene, 217 BCE

who, from their capital in modern 241 bce. Carthage was stripped of its
Tunisia, North Africa, controlled an
T territories in Sicily, but compensated by
empire that included Sicily. W War broke going on to form a new empire in Spain.
out with R Rome in 264 bce over a quarrel A Second Punic W War broke out in
between Carthaginian-allied Syracuse 218 bce, when the Spanish city of
and the Maame mert
rtin
in
nes
e of Messana, also in Sagguntum, m, ffea
m, eari
ea ring
ri ngg abs
bsor
orpt
or p io
i n byy
Sic
icilily
ily,y, who
ho aap
ppeeaale
ppea
pp led ttoo the
he Rom
oman
oman
anss fo
forr thee Carrtth
th ha
hag
agininia
ian ggeen
ian neera
ral Haannnib
niiba
bal,l,
 ROME 131

appealed to the RRoman Senate A Carthaginian stela from the tophet, or

for aid. The R
Romans demanded graveyard, at Carthage. The horn-shaped
symbol is for Tanit, a moon goddess.
Hannibal’s surrender; the
latter responded with an disaster farther south at
invasion. Crossing the Cannae, where their
Alps – with an army general Varro rashly
that included war allowed his army to
elephants – in the be outflanked and
winter of 218 bce, encircled by the
he soon defeated the Carthaginian cavalry,
Romans at Ticinus
R and
an d th
then
en massacred.
and Trebia, in the Man any
ny ci
citities
ties
e then
north of Italy. defe
de fecctted
ed frroom the
Rom
oman caaau u
usssee, but
HANNIBAL’S Gen
Ge neera
ral Fa
Fabius
bi
ITALIAN CAMPAIGNS Maaxxim
imusus kept
After this victory, Hann
Ha nnibal away from
many Cisalpine Gauls Rome and halted
– Celts settled around Milan – flocked the momentum of his earlier victories.
to Hannibal’s cause. A further Roman
R In 207 bce, Hasdrubal, the brother of
defeat at Lake Trasimene, in central Hannibal, was defeated and killed at
Italy, in 217 bce led to the deaths of Metaurus, northeast Italy, and five years
around 15,000 R Romans. The next year later a R
Roman counterstrike by Scipio
Romans suffered an even greater
the R forced Hannibal to return to Africa.
A romanticized view of the battle of Zama in
2 BCE
202 B , wher
h e Scipio
cip
ip fina ally defeated Hannibal and THE END OF THE PUNIC WARS
de troyed
dest
de
des tro
oyed
y d hi
h s last
a ararmy 20,000 Carthaginians died.
my – 2 In October 202 bce, the Carthaginians
were defeated, and were stripped of
their Spanish territories and reduced
to a small territory around Carthage.
Yet R
Rome was not satisfied, and in 149 bce
used a pretext to begin a Third Punic
War. With no land army to speak of,
Carthage was soon besieged, and was
stormed in 148 bce. The R Romans razed
t e city, deported its people, and finally
th
annexed its remaining territory.

HANNIBAL
Born c.247 BCE, Hannibal became
Carthage’s leading general during the
Second Punic War and commander-in-
chief in 221 BCE. His plan to lead an army
across southern Gaul (modern France)
into Italy was a bold one and he showed
tactical genius in a string of victories
against Rome. Yet he lacked strategic
vision and became bogged down once
Roman resistance stiffened. After the war,
he was chief magistrate of Carthage, but
Roman fears of a Carthaginian revival led
to his exile in 195 BCE. He died in c.183 BCE.
132 THE CLASSICAL WORLD 700 bce–600 ce

THE END OF THE REPUBLIC

n Ital
talyy,
y, Ga
Gau
Gauul d 13
1 7–444 bce
cee

During the 2nd century bce the political

situation in RRome became increasingly
tense. Then, in the 80s bce, the city was
hit by a political and military struggle for
power between Marius, the reformer of
the R
Roman army, and Sulla, a
politician who, after Marius’s
death, became Dictator, or
sole ruler, in 82 bce.
POMPEY AND CAESAR
That year, Sulla killed
more than 500 of his
opponents and packed the
Senate with his supporters.
After Sulla’s death in 78 bce,
another popular general, Pompey, rose
to power. For 15 years Pompey excelled
at his political role, and bolstered his
military reputation with several victories
in the East. Yet, in 60 bce, increasing
factional violence led him to broker
a three-way alliance, called the “First
Triumvirate”, with the rich financier
T himself king, a group of republicans,
The assassination of Julius Caesar was carried out by
only a small group of senators; most fled or waited to
see what actions the assassins would take next.
JULIUS CAESAR
Born in 100 BCE, Caesar became Roman
consul in 59 BCE. He created a new province
for Rome in Gaul from 58 to 52 BCE and this
brought him great political power and
popularity – which ultimately led
to his murder in 44 BCE.
Crassus and a rising
military star – Julius
Caesar. This collapsed
in 49 bce and led to civil
war between the factions
of Caesar and Pompey.
THE FIRST CIVIL WAR
Caesar pushed Pompey out of Italy and,
in 48 bce, defeated him at Pharsalus in
Thessaly. Pompey was murdered in Egypt,
but his partisans fought on until, in 46 bce,
Caesar triumphed, becoming Dictator
for life. Fearing Caesar would make
including Marcus Brutus, assassinated
him. However, their murderous act failed
to save the RRepublic from collapse.
 ROME 133

THE FIRST EMPEROR: AUGUSTUS

n Ita
Italy,
ly th
ly, he Medi
diiter
te ran
an ean d 44
nean 44 bce
cee–14
14 c
14 cee

After Julius Caesar died in 44 bce, permanent power of a tribune of the

his chief lieutenant Mark Antony,
attempting to manipulate public opinion,
allied himself with Octavian – Caesar’s
18-year-old adoptive son – in order to
exploit his family connections and gain
political support. Antony miscalculated,
for Octavian, although young, was even
shrewder than Caesar. He remained in
alliance with Antony and Lepidus –
who played the role of financier in this
“Second Triumvirate” – for only as long
as it took to defeat the armies that had
been raised by Brutus and Cassius,
Caesar’s murderers.
In 32 bce, war broke out among
the Second Triumvirate. At Actium
the following year, Antony was
defeated, and both he and his
mistress, the Egyptian pharaoh
Cleopatra, committed suicide.
Octavian did not seek
immediate revenge against
Antony’s partisans. Nor
did he have himself made
Dictator, as Caesar had done.
Instead, he manipulated
Republican politics to acquire
R
supreme power without
seeming to usurp the
Senate’s authority.
plebeians, making him invulnerable to
legal action. Although he did not refer
to himself as an emperor, this was the
position he now held.
MILITARY EXPANSION
Augustus secured the empire’s borders
along the Danube river and sent armies
into Germany, which he was about to
conquer when a disastrous defeat in 9 ce
caused a retreat from the Elbe river back
to the Rhine. His last years saw a defensive
stance along existing frontiers.
“WA
W RS, BOTH CIVIL
AND FOREIGN,
I UNDERT
R OOK,
BOTH ON SEA
AND ON LAND!”
Inscription of Augustus (the Res Gestae Divi
Augusti ) from Ankara, Turkey, c.14 CE

FROM GENERAL
TO EMPEROR
In 27 bce, Octavian was
granted a special form of
authority, known as proconsular
imperium, for 10 years, which in
effect allowed him to act as he
chose in all provinces where the
army was currently based. In the
same year, he took the title “Augustus”.
In 23 bce, Augustus acquired the
During Augustus’s reign (27 BCE–14 CEE), the production
of images of the emperor, such as this statue from
Turin, Italy, became a vital part of imperial propaganda.
134 THE CLASSICAL WORLD 700 bce–600 ce

THE GOVERNMENT AND ARMY

n Rom m ree d 27
omaan empi
mp cee–c.2
27 bce ..20
2200 cee

The empire over which Augustus

A imperial treasury, were assumed by
assumed rule in 27 bce was very different freedmen (former slaves). Provincial
from the RRome of the early republic. governors, however, who administered
Now ruling over territories that stretched Rome’s imperial territories, were almost
R
from the Iberian peninsula in the west all senators. The RRoman government
to Syria and Armenia in the east – raised its revenue mainly through indirect
as well as large parts of North taxes on sales or death
Africa – the Roman
R duties. Some was spent on
government faced far the upkeep or building of
greater challenges Roman roads, which linked
R
than the old, the main cities of the empire,
informal systems but as much as 80 per cent
could manage. was spent on the army.

GOVERNMENT AND THE ROMAN LEGIONS

THE PROVINCES Augustus had inherited
A
At the centre of Roman
R 80 legions, which he cut
government, the role of to 28, each comprising
the emperor remained around 5,000 men.
ambivalent. Certain Supporting them, and
emperors, such as Claudius directly answerable to
(ruled 41–54 ce), liked to the emperor, were infantry
flatter the old senatorial The legio
gio
ions’
ns’ supe
ns’ su
uper
peri
erior
iorr eq
io equip
uipm
i ment
me and cavalry regiments
class with the fantasy that and training made them more than of non-citizens (called
a match for non-Roman enemies.
the emperor was just a “auxiliaries”). The total
superior sort of senator; others, such as manpower may have been around
Nero (ruled 54–68 ce), tended to much 300,000. The legions formed a formidable
more direct, despotic, and capricious strike force, almost irresistible in open
rule. The early empire had little in the combat. Their engineering expertise
way of a public service, and many meant they could also conduct siege
important roles, such as running the warfare expertly and take on large-scale
construction projects, such
as roads and fortifications.
Over time the army
formed its own power
base, through the imperial
guard (the Praetorians)
based in RRome and
the legionary frontier
garrisons, and became as
much a cause of internal
instability as a guardian
against outside threat.
The Roman road network, much
of it paved, was vital for the rapid
transit of Roman armies.
 ROME 135

THE EARLY EMPIRE

n Rom
oma
man m re d 14
n emp
mpi 14–69
14–69
6 cee

Augustus died in 14 ce, having chosen

Tiberius, the son of his wife Livia by her
first marriage, as his heir. Tiberius was
55 when he came to the throne, having
proved himself a capable general and
administrator, yet he was never truly
popular and, in the middle period of his
reign, became dominated by Sejanus, the
prefect of the Praetorian guard. In the
last seven years of his life, Tiberius shut
himself away in his palace on the island A cameo showing Augustus’s wife Livia and her
of Capri, leading to an atmosphere of son Tiberius, who became the second emperor
of the Julio-Claudian dynasty (27 BCE–68 CEE).
frustration and stagnation in Rome.
R
led to his assassination and replacement
THE POST-TIBERIAN EMPERORS by a man the Praetorians thought would
Tiberius’s rule gave way to a new, young be a pliant weakling: Claudius (ruled
emperor, Caligula (ruled 41–54 ce), 41–54 ce). Yet Claudius proved shrewd;
whom the governing class welcomed he sponsored large-scale public works
with open arms. However, Caligula’s that included a new port at Ostia and,
patent instability and dangerous temper although not a military man, ordered the
conquest of Britain from 43 ce. Claudius
was succeeded by the mercurial Nero
( ul
(r uled
ed 554–
4 68 ce ce)), wwho, unsuited to po p wer,
beca
be came
ca me mmirired
ir ed in
in co
corr
rru
rr upti
upti
up tion
on.. Wh
on Whenen aan n
army
ar myy rev
revol
oltt br
brok
okee ououtt in Spa
Spap in in
in 68 ce ce,,
civi
ci vill wa
warr er
erup
upteted d, lea
leadi
ding
ng to
to fo
four
ur
emmpeperorors
rs in a sising
inglle
le yea
yearr,
r, u
unt
n il finaallllyy
nt
Vesp
Ve spas
sp asia
asian
ia n (r
(rulledd 69
69–79 79 ce),) a tough-
minded gen nere al
al,, em
emer erge
er ged
ge d tr
triu
iump
iump pha
han nt.
nt.
The Co
Colos
losseu
seumm, the empiri e’s
’ largest amphithea atre –
begun under er Ves
Ve pas
asian
as ian a
and comp
comp
omplet
leted
leted by
by hiss so
sson
n
Titus – hous
o ed spe
specta
ctacul
acu ar gladiatorial shows.
136 THE CLASSICAL WORLD 700 bce–600 ce

THE EMPIRE AT ITS HEIGHT

n Rom
o an
n emp ree d 669–18
empire
em 1880 ce
c

Vespasian’s accession in the talented governor of

69 ce inaugurated a new Upper Germany, Trajan,
dynasty, the Flavians, as his son, beginning a
during which stability practice that would see
at first seemed to the next emperors,
return to the empire. Hadrian, Antoninus Pius,
Vespasian’s economic and Marcus Aurelius,
reforms filled the all adopted by their
treasury, and new pred
pr edec
dec
eces
ces
esso
sso
sor.
r. T
This gave
territory was occupied the
thhe em
empi
mpipire
re a gol o den age
in northern Britain – a cen
centu
ce tu
urry ooff stability.
and parts of Germany
and Asia Minor. TR AJA N A ND
TR N D HADRIAN
But Vespasian’s son Nerv
Ne rva died after just
Titus, succeeding him tw years, and Trajan
two
tw
A marble frieze from Ephesus showing
in 79 ce, was to die emperors Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, and soon began to enlarge
after just two years. Lucius Verus. Hadrian has a beard, a Greek the empire’s frontiers,
Titus’s younger brother fashion he made popular at Rome. seizing Dacia (modern
Domitian (ruled 81–96 ce) made Romania) in two wars between 101 and
a promising start, but degenerated into 106 ce; the mercantile kingdom of
tyranny and was assassinated, possibly Nabataea (largely in modern Jordan) in
on the orders of the Senate itself. 106 ce; and much of Mesopotamia (now
Iraq) from 115 to 117 ce. These victories
THE “GOLDEN AGE” brought massive booty that helped fill
The Senate then put forward one of the treasury. Yet the eastern territories
their own as emperor, a 70-year-old, were not secure, and when Trajan died
much-respe p cted senator named Nerva. in 117 ce were already in revolt.
To eens
To n uree th thee su succ
cces
essision
on,, NeNerva ad adopopted d Itt w
was
as pperha
haps
ps thithiss th
that
at p
per
e suad ded
Trajjan
Tr an’s
’s suc
uccce
cess
ssor
ssorr, Ha
Hadr dria
ian,, ttoo be
b mor oe
Hadria
Haddria
r an’s
ri n’’s
’ WaWal
W llll is
i am monu
onumen
onu mental tal b
barri
barri
rrier
err str
stretc
et hin
etc h g 80
Roman
Ro
Rommaann mil
miil
m i es
es ((11
11177km
km) acro
crro
osss no
n the
nor thern
rn
n Bri
Britai
t n,
ta n, built
buiilt caut
ca utio
ut ious
ious. He
H sta tart
rrtted
ed no ne neww wawars ofof
to de
to defend
def en
nd d th
the pro rov
ovvinc
ince ag
ince
in ga
gai
aiinst
nsst
nst ba
barba
rb
baria
ba riia
an incursi
ncu
nccursi
rsio
rs onss.
on expa
ex p ns
pa nsio
ion
io n annd bu
buililt de
deffe
fens
nssiv
ive w
iv wo
ork
rkss in
in
 ROME 137

TRAJAN
Trajan (ruled 98–117 CE) was from an
Italian family that had moved to Spain,
making him the first emperor with strong
non-Italian roots. He made his name while
fighting under Domitian along the Rhine
in the 80s CE and as governor of Upper
Germany. Popular with the army, he was
an obvious choice to succeed Nerva. He
showed astonishing energy in expanding
the empire’s frontiers, an achievement he
celebrated in Trajan’s Column, which was
built beside the new Forum that Trajan
commissioned in central Rome.

Germany and Britain. Hadrian travelled
widely, seeing more of his domains than
any emperor before him, and established
a permanent imperial council that
reduced the importance of the senate.
THE LAT
A ER ANTONINES
Hadrian adopted the elderly Antoninus
Pius (ruled 138–161 ce), intending the
latter’s young protégé Marcus Aurelius to
succeed him quickly. Yet Antoninus lived
for another 23 years in a tranquil reign
that saw few revolts. When Marcus
Aurelius finally succeeded in 161 ce,
ruling jointly with Lucius Verus – another
of Hadrian’s circle – he faced a series of
crises. A plague between 168 and 169 ce
killed thousands, including Lucius Verus,
and the empire became entangled in the
Marcomannic Wars against barbarians
on the Danube, whom the emperor
could never wholly subdue. Before his
death in 180 ce, Marcus had chosen his
own son Commodus to succeed him, the
first son ever born to a ruling emperor.
However, like Domitian’s, Commodus’s
rule was unstable and would spell the
end of Rome’s golden age.

“HE WAS THE FIRST TO CONSTRUCT

A WALL… WHICH WA S TO SEPARATE
B A R B A RI A N S A N D R OM A N S . ”
The
Th
The
he H
His
isstto
tor
o
orriia
a Au
Aug
ug
ugust
usta
sta on
on H
Ha
adrian
adri
dri
rian’
an
n s buil
bu
uiliilldin
ui din
ing
ng o
off th
he
eWWa
Wal
allll
138 THE CLASSICAL WORLD 700 bce–600 ce

CRISIS AND REFORM

n Rom
Roman
an empire d 18
n emp
em 180–3
0 05
0–3 05 ce
c

The emperors of the late-1st
and 2nd centuries bce
had handpicked their
successors. Marcus
Aurelius was the first
emperor for a century
to have an adult male
son, Commodus – but
he proved a lesson in the
weakness of hereditary
succession. Commodus was
rash and fickle. His behaviour
sparked a series of military revolts that
led finally to the triumph of Septimius
Severus (ruled 193–211 ce), the governor
of Upper Pannonia (in modern Hungary).
A firm and active ruler, Severus seemed
set to restore confidence in the empire.
This Roman coin from c.218 CE bears
a depiction of the controversial
emperor Elagabalus.
He divided large
provinces into two, to
avoid any one governor
having too much
military power, and he
conquered territories
in Mesopotamia. Yet his
successor Caracalla (ruled
211–217 ce) proved more capable
of making enemies than ruling – he
murdered his brother and co-emperor
Geta. Caracalla himself was murdered
in 217 ce near Carrhae (in modern
Turkey) by an army faction fearful that
he would execute them.

“THIS MAN... OVERT
R URNED THE WHOLE
ORDER OF THINGS: FOR HE CHOSE
THREE OTHER MEN TO SHARE THE
IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT WITH HIM.”
Lactantius, speaking of Diocletian, De Mortibus Persecutorum
THE BEGINNING OF THE END
For a while the empire teetered between
hope and farce. Emperor Elagabalus
(ruled 218–222), who was a Syrian high
priest of dubious morality and Septimius
Severus’s great-nephew, scandalized and
alienated Senatorial opinion. His cousin
Severus Alexander, brought in to replace
him, lost the support of the army and
was murdered in Germany in 235 ce.
This ushered in a half-century of chaos,
when emperors, brought to power and
then murdered by their own soldiers,
rarely lasted more than a few years.
ROME 139
For 20 years, Gaul broke away to
be ruled by its own emperors. More
dangerously, after the Persians captured
the emperor Valerian (ruled 253–260 ce)
in 260 ce, the city of Palmyra in Syria
established its own eastern empire under
Queen Zenobia and her son Vaballathus.
To add to the official empire’s woes, new
groups of barbarians, including the
Goths, pressed down from eastern and
central Europe toward the Rhine and
Danube frontiers. Aurelian (ruled
270–275 ce) finally defeated Zenobia
and brought Gaul back into the empire,
but he had to abandon Dacia and still
barbarians such as the Franks and
Alamanns raided Gaul, and the Goths
pillaged across the Danube. It was all too
much for a single emperor to deal with.
THE TETRARCHY
Nominated by the army as emperor in
284 ce, Diocletian chose an old military
colleague, Maximian, to rule jointly with
him. In 293 ce, he further subdivided the
imperial office by selecting two junior
emperors (or “Caesars”) to reign with the
two senior ones (or “Augusti”). Now that
there were, in effect, four emperors – in
a system known as the Tetrarchy – facing
a challenge in one area of the empire
no longer meant abandoning problems
elsewhere. Diocletian also reformed the
army, recruiting smaller legions better
adapted to combat the barbarian
incursions. In an unprecedented act, in
305 ce Diocletian abdicated voluntarily
due to ill health, and retired to his palace
at Spalatum (modern-day Split, Croatia).
The detailed carving on this imperial Roman
marble sarcophagus shows Roman soldiers
battling the Goths during the 3rd century CE.
140 THE CLASSICAL WORLD 700 bce–600 ce

CONSTANTINE AND THE

NE W CHRISTIAN EMPIRE
nR
Roma
man
ma n emp
emp re d 306
mp re
mpi 3006–3
6– 37 cee

When Emperor Diocletian retired in

305 ce, his system of four rulers (the
T
Tetrarchy; see p.139)
9 fell apart. The new
college of four emperors excluded
Maxentius, the son of Diocletian’s
colleague Maximian, and Constantine,
the son of a Caesar in the Tetrarchy.
T baptized on his deathbed in 337 CE.
The result was chaos, and by 310 ce
there were no fewer than seven
competing emperors. In the civil war
that followed, Constantine won out,
first defeating Maxentius at the Battle
of Milvian Bridge in 312 ce, and then
finally, in 324 ce, becoming the
unchallenged sole emperor.
CONSTANTINE’S REFORMS
Constantine divided the army between
a mobile field force (the comitatenses)s and
the frontier garrisons (the limitanei ). The
bureaucracy became much more formal,
hierarchical, and efficient, headed by a
praetorian prefect. The new emperor
also founded a new capital city at
CONSTANTINE
Born in the 280s BCE, Constantine took a
long road to Christianity. He claimed to
have received a vision before the Battle of
Milvian Bridge in 312 BCE, and after this he
honoured the Christian god. He was finally
Constantinople (now Istanbul), modelled
on RRome with its seven hills, from which
to administer the eastern empire.
CONSTANTINE AND CHRISTIANITY
Constantine is best known for his support
of Christians, following their persecution
under Diocletian. He decreed freedom
of worship by the Edict of Milan in
313 ce, sponsored the first large churches
in R
Rome, and allowed bishops to take an
increasingly important role in politics.
Constantine (right) gives the symbols of imperial rule –
the Phrygian bonnet, canopy, and Lateran Palace –
to Pope Sylvester I in this 12th-century fresco.
 ROME 141

THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

n Rom m ree d 33
omaan empi
mp 337–4
7 476
76 ce
76 ce

Following the end of the reign of

Constantine (see facing page),
e the Roman
R
empire became overwhelmed, by an
increasingly complex and inflexible
political and bureaucratic system; by
pressure from barbarians along the
frontier; and by a series of ineffective
rulers in the western empire. A division
between eastern and western empires
meant that after 395 ce, no one ruled
both halves together as sole emperor. No
longer able to absorb the outsiders pressing
against its frontiers, by the mid-4th century
the empire was on the defensive, and the A Roman legionary fights a Germanic warrior.
catastrophic destruction of the eastern Almost invincible at its height, the Roman army later
suffered a decline in resources that left it vulnerable.
field army by the Goths at Adrianople
in 378 ce almost led to a total collapse. ineffective rules of Honorius (395–423 ce)
and Valentinian III (424–455 ce) did
THE EMPIRE FRAGMENTS AND FALLS nothing to stem the tide.
The barbarians moved from raids A series of short-lived western emperors
to seizing land on which to settle, became the puppets of the conquering
reducing the number of citizens the German chieftains. In 476 ce, the
empire’s central authorities could tax Germanic general Odovacar
and put to work. Much of the eastern demanded land in Italy for
empire was shielded from this – his soldiers. When the
it was the western half that boy-emperor RomulusR
lost much of Spain and Augustulus defiantly
Gaul to the Visigoths and refused, he was deposed.
the Franks in the first part Odovacar did not bother to appoint a
of the 5th century ce, and new emperor, ruling as a king himself,
the grain-rich provinces of and as a result, the RomanR Empire in
North Africa to the Vandals the west was at an end.
between 429 and 439 ce.
Britain broke away from the
empire in 410–411 ce, and “THE IMPERIAL R CITY...
Rome itself was sacked – the
R
first time it had fallen to a WAS DELIVERED R TO
foreign enemy in almost 800 THE LICENTIOUS
years – by the Goths in 410 ce.
The westward movement of the FURY R OF THE TRIBES R
Huns from the 430s meant that
the empire was facing challenges OF GERMANY R AND
on too many fronts, and the ”
SCYT
Y HIA.
The barbarians fought the Romans
with primitive weapons, such as this Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman
francisca, a Frankish throwing axe. Empire, on the sack of Rome by the Goths, 410 CE