Learn all about the Roman Empire! This short introduction of the Roman Empire discusses how the Empire started, some of the key events and emperors, and how the Roman Empire fell.
The Roman Empire was the largest empire the ancient world had ever seen. At its height, it covered all the lands around the Mediterranean Sea and parts of northern Europe, Africa, and the Near East. It lasted over a thousand years, and has left a legacy that will not be forgotten.
Before the Roman Empire, there was the Roman Republic. It was in the year 27 BCE when Octavian, the nephew of Julius Caesar, became the first emperor of #Rome and adopted the title Augustus Caesar. It was under the Emperor Trajan who ruled between 98-117 CE when the Roman Empire truly began to reach its height and was at its greatest geographic extent and political power during the reign of Hadrian between 117-121 CE.
The #Roman#Empire ended in the West in around 476 CE, and ended in the east around 1453 CE with the death of #Constantine XI.
CHAPTERS: 0:00 Introduction 0:47 How did the Roman Empire Start? 2:09 Famous Emperors 3:51 Crisis of the Third Century 4:09 Split of the Empire 5:12 How did the Roman Empire Fall?
Hello and welcome to Ancient History Encyclopedia. My name is Kelly and today I'm going to be taking
you through a short introduction into the expansive history of the Roman Empire.
The Roman Empire was the largest empire that the ancient world, so pre-476 CE, had ever seen. At
its height it covered all the lands around the Mediterranean Sea and parts of northern Europe,
Africa, and the Near East. The empire lasted for over a thousand years, beginning in 31 BCE and
ending in 476 CE in the west and 1453 CE in the east. Let's have a look at how the empire began,
some of the key events and emperors, and how it eventually fell. Before the Roman Empire,
there was the Roman Republic. In the year 27 BCE, Octavian, the nephew of Julius Caesar,
became the first emperor of Rome and adopted the title Augustus Caesar. Now, I know you might be
thinking, wasn't Julius Caesar the first Roman emperor? Well, although he is often regarded as
such, he was never actually granted the title of emperor. He was, however, granted the title of
dictator, which the senate begrudgingly gave to him, giving him supreme military and political
power. Now, it's important to remember in the time of the Roman Republic that it was not the norm to
put all the power into the hands of one man. This was actually the first thing that they decided to
change when they got rid of their kings, changing from a monarchy to a republic. Now, back to
Augustus. Due to his success in destroying Rome's enemies and bringing stability to the empire,
the senate willingly granted him the title of emperor. Augustus ruled until he died in 14 CE
and his last words are said to have been, I found Rome a city of clay and left it a city of marble.
He reformed laws, he initiated vast building projects, he secured Rome's borders and secured
the empire a lasting name as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, cultural and political powers
in history. Following Augustus was his heir, Tiberius, who lacked the strength in character
and vision that made Augustus such a successful emperor. Then came Caligula, the cruel one,
Claudius, the paranoid one, and Nero, the crazy one. These five emperors are referred to as the
Julio-Claudian dynasty from the two family names that each of the emperors were descended from,
Julius and Claudius. Nero's suicide in 68 CE initiated the period of social unrest which is
known as the year of the four emperors. Within the year there were four rulers, Galba, Otho,
Vitellius and Vespasian. The year was full of deaths and swift successions to the throne,
with men each less qualified to rule than the last, until Vespasian. When Vespasian ascended
the throne he initiated the Flavian dynasty which can be distinguished by the large building
projects such as the Colosseum, economic prosperity and expansion of the empire.
It was under the emperor Trajan who ruled between 98 and 117 CE when the empire truly began to reach
its height. Trajan is noted as one of the five good emperors of Rome, along with Nerva, Hadrian
who built the famous wall across the Scottish border of Roman territory, Antonius Pius who
built the Antonine wall in Scotland, and Marcus Aurelius, the so-called philosopher king and author
of the meditations. It was under the reign of Hadrian between 117 and 121 CE when Rome gained
its greatest geographical extent and political power. The empire fell into an era of instability
and turmoil between 235 and 284 CE. This period is known as the crisis of the third century.
The empire was constantly fighting civil wars and experiencing social unrest and economic upheaval.
The empire was reunited by Aurelian, but by 285 CE the empire was simply too large to be ruled by
the central government in Rome. At this time it was split by Emperor Diocletian into a western
and eastern empire, but then 27 years later Constantine became the sole ruler of the eastern
and western empires. He named the city of Byzantium the new capital of the eastern Roman empire,
which was also known as the Byzantine empire, and renamed it Constantinople, which is now modern-day
Istanbul. In the fourth century Christianity had started to take hold throughout the empire. In 313
CE Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, declaring religious tolerance of all religions throughout the
empire, especially Christianity. In 380 CE under Emperor Theodosius I, Christianity became the
state religion. He outlawed all pagan worship, closed the schools and universities, and converted
all pagan temples into Christian churches. One question we hear a lot is why did the Roman
empire fall? It should be noted that the fall of Rome only refers to the western part of the empire,
which fell in 476 CE. The eastern part of the empire continued until 1453 CE. Towards the end
of the fourth century the Goths started to invade Roman territory, causing the Gothic Wars. Scholars
date the beginning of the end of the western Roman empire to 378 CE, when the Emperor Valens was
defeated at the Battle of Adrianople by Goth forces under Fritigern. After all this talk of economic
strength and geographic expansion, it isn't easy to find the cause of the fall of such a large empire.
A sole cause has never been agreed on, and it's understandably so as the decline took about 300
years. However there are many factors that ought to be mentioned. These factors include political
instability due to the size of the empire, the self-interest of the two halves of the empire,
invasion of barbarian tribes, government corruption, reliance on mercenary armies,
over-reliance on slave labor damaging the economy, massive unemployment and inflation. With all these
factors working together, there was also the introduction of Christianity, which has been noted
as a pivotal factor in the decline of the empire. Before Christianity, the emperor was considered
divine, and the so-called cult of the emperor encouraged worship of whoever held the position
as a god. During the crisis of the third century, this became a real problem, for an emperor who
naturally wanted to stay in power and do as he wanted as the head of the government, would come
to favor the military with higher pay and other gifts. The military kept the emperor in power
only for as long as he was doing what they felt he should, and so the military came to decide who
would rule Rome and for how long. How did the empire come to its final end? Well, the empire
ended in the west when the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by the Germanic
king Odatius in 476 CE. Between 962 and 1806, the Western Roman Empire was reinvented as the
Holy Roman Empire, but was only an empire in name. In the east, the empire continued as the Byzantine
Empire until around 1453 CE, with the death of Constantine XI and the fall of Constantinople
to the Ottoman Turks.
