The Development of Power in the Roman Empire (Part 2 of 3)

Introduction

So far we’ve discussed the inception of power that created the great Roman Empire. I want to start Part II by looking at some key factors that contributed and sustained this empire’s success. Below I’ve divided the empire into its core elements, showing how each part contributed to the empires success. These elements were introduced to develop the empire’s strategies during their ‘High Empire’ stage (27BC – 305AD).

Pax Romana

The introduction of the Pax Romana (27BC – 180AD). Also known as the era of ‘Roman Peace’, this peace treaty is the foundation stone of this great empire’s success. This agreement united the Roman Empire which fueled its rapid and successful expansion. During this period, any civil war attempts were swiftly crushed by the Roman government. When we compare this to recent historic events, it is proven that global economies suffer greatly during times of war. During time of uncivil rest, trust between nations is breached which shuts down trading routes damaging economies and their growth. Since World War Two, technology and living standards in developed countries have improved mainly due to economic growth.

Taxation

A lot of the empire’s success was due to economic exploitation. City taxation became heavily monitored and regulated by the early Caesars. Another area the Romans expanded their Empire to was Egypt, in order to exploit grain produce. By creating a monopoly on a global source of valuable produce, it boosted the Roman economy granting further stability to the region. During this period of grain exploitation Augustus, the Caesar at the time, opened new trading routes with the newly discovered cities on the western coast of India. These newly imported goods were a new source of income for the Roman Government. Historical evidence of Rome’s lavish wealth has been seen through artifacts such as mirrors, lamps, statues and silks dating back to this period (Frankopan).

Law

It is said that the Roman Legal system is the foundation stone of modern civil law, the most widely used legal system used today (Berger, Adolf, 1953). The legal system spans across 1,000 years from the Twelve Tables (449 BC) to the Corpus Juris Civilis (AD 529) meaning it had a lot of time to develop and improve. Our ST4500 group believes that law is crucial form of power in society that keeps a society moving towards a stable future by providing minimal standards of acceptable behavior in society. Law shares a commonality with power as it represents a mental mindset that does not exist in the physical world. It establishes behavioral patterns amongst people in society which plays a monumental role when ruling an empire. For the Romans, when ruling nearly 70 million people in 100AD, law was a major power that maintained order across their empire.

Propaganda

Perhaps an understated reason for the Roman’s success was their use of propaganda. Roman Caesars discovered that propaganda was a method to enhance the perception of their power amongst the roman society. They also needed to justify their ruling to keep the people in their corner. The Romans successfully did this through sophisticated art forms such as literature, inscriptions, statues and religion. A good example of the Roman’s use of propaganda was when Julius Caesar issued letters to households across Rome stating that the Germanic Tribes want to ‘to lay waste as much as possible of the land around them’. This blatant use of propaganda had very successful effects as their society had not been accustomed to its use (BBC, 2011).

Religion

Finally, we come to Roman Religion, which like the Roman law changed over the duration of the empire’s ruling. In the beginning, Roman religion was polytheistic, a mixture of Greek gods and goddesses. As the empire expanded onto new cities and societies, the Romans refrained from imposing their religion upon newly conquered territories (Wasson, 2013). Because of this, over time the Roman Empire slowly adopted new beliefs, mainly Christianity and Judaism. This shift in the populous belief is said to result in the collapse in the Western Empire which we will discuss in Part III.

Conclusion

Sustaining an empire for 1,000 years is an impressive historical feat. What our group found interesting when researching this is that an empires success is determined by the populous mindset. This was responsible for the creation and destruction of the Roman Empire. This might sound simple however it is frankly astounding for something that does not physically exist to have the ability to dictate the outcome of something as large as the Roman Empire. To know that flags, maps, boundaries are human concepts that have no appearance in the physical world. This is the power of human perception(s).

The Romans were one of the first to discover and utilize the power of the populous’ mindset. Through a successful economy, structured law and governance they effectively pulled a society of millions together and united their beliefs. The Roman Empire represents an example of immense power through united human perception. When we look at what organizations do today, the methods of expansion may be different to that of the ancient Romans however the objectives remain the same. The major difference is that boundaries are less of an issue due to globalization and we are less likely to murder our way to achieve power… Hopefully... It is for certain that 2,000 years later, it’s all the same. Divide, conquer and rule. It’s just that modern organizations are better at hiding their objectives more discreetly.