Early European History Part 42

18. Compare Roman liberality in extending the franchise with the similar policy displayed by the United States.

19. Compare the freedom of trade between the provinces of the Roman Empire with that between the states of the American Union.

20. On the map, page 48, trace the trade routes during imperial times.

21. Compare as civilizing forces the Roman and the Persian empires.

22. What was the _Pax Romana_? What is the _Pax Britannica_?

23. Compare the Romanization of the ancient world with that process of Americanization which is going on in the United States to-day.

24. Explain this statement: "The Roman Empire is the lake in which all the streams of ancient history lose themselves and which all the streams of modern history flow out of."

25. "Republican Rome had little to do, either by precept or example, with the modern life of Europe, Imperial Rome everything." Can you justify this statement?

FOOTNOTES

[1] Webster, _Readings in Ancient History_, chapter xix, "The Makers of Imperial Rome: Character Sketches by Suetonius"; chapter xx, "Nero, a Roman Emperor."

[2] Hence our word "prince".

[3] See page 184.

[4] The provinces of Pannonia, Noric.u.m, and Raetia. See the map facing page 184.

[5] See page 187.

[6] For a description of ancient Rome see pages 292-296.

[7] Jesus was born probably in 4 B.C., the last year of the reign of Herod, whom the triumvirs, Antony and Octavian, had placed on the throne of Judea in 37 B.C.

[8] A Roman emperor was generally called "Caesar" by the provincials. See, for example, _Matthew_, xxii, 17-21, or _Acts_, xxv, 10-12. This t.i.tle survives in the German _Kaiser_ and perhaps in the Russian _Tsar_ or _Czar_.

[9] In 131 A.D., during the reign of the emperor Hadrian, the Jews once more broke out in revolt. Jerusalem, which had risen from its ruins, was again destroyed by the Romans, and the plow was pa.s.sed over the foundations of the Temple. From Roman times to the present the Jews have been a people without a country.

[10] See Bulwer-Lytton's novel, _The Last Days of Pompeii_.

[11] See the map on page 205 for the system of Roman roads in Britain.

[12] See page 200.

[13] Pliny, _Natural History_, xxvii, 1.

[14] See page 179.

[15] See page 187.

[16] See _Acts_, XXV, 9-12.

[17] See page 151.

[18] _Inst.i.tutes_, bk. i, t.i.t. i.

[19] See page 331.

[20] See page 127.

[21] Several English cities, such as Lancaster, Leicester, Manchester, and Chester, betray in their names their origin in the Roman castra, or camp.

[22] See page 149.

[23] For ill.u.s.trations of Roman coins see the plate facing page 134.

[24] See the map on page 48.

[25] See page 107.

[26] Latin _collegia_, whence our "college."

[27] See pages 263 and 285.

[28] See page 183.

[29] See page 267.

[30] Seneca, _Minor Dialogues_, XI, 7.

CHAPTER X

THE LATER EMPIRE: CHRISTIANITY IN THE ROMAN WORLD, 180-395 A.D.

74. THE "SOLDIER EMPERORS," 180-284 A.D.

THE LATER EMPIRE, 180-395 A.D.

The period called the Later Empire covers the two hundred and fifteen years from the accession of Commodus to the final division of the Roman world at the death of Theodosius. It formed, in general, a period of decline. The very existence of the empire was threatened, both from within and from without. The armies on the frontiers often set up their favorite leaders as contestants for the throne, thus provoking civil war. Ambitious governors of distant provinces sometimes revolted against a weak or unpopular emperor and tried to establish independent states. The Germans took advantage of the unsettled condition of affairs to make constant inroads. About the middle of the third century it became necessary to surrender to them the great province of Dacia, which Trajan had won. [1] A serious danger also appeared in the distant East. Here the Persians, having overcome the Parthians, [2] endeavored to recover from Roman hands the Asiatic provinces which had once belonged to the old Persian realm.

Though the Persians failed to make any permanent conquest of Roman territory, their constant attacks weakened the empire at the very time when the northern barbarians had again become a menace.

"IMPERIAL PHANTOMS"

The rulers who occupied the throne during the first half of this troubled period are commonly known as the "Soldier Emperors," because so many of them owed their position to the swords of the legionaries. Emperor after emperor followed in quick succession, to enjoy a brief reign and then to perish in some sudden insurrection. Within a single year (237-238 A.D.) six rulers were chosen, wors.h.i.+ped, and then murdered by their troops "You little know," said one of these imperial phantoms, "what a poor thing it is to be an emperor." [3]

POLITICAL SITUATION IN 284 A.D.