The civil wars experienced in the last century of the Roman Republic proved two things

• The Republican system the romans had created was broken.
• There were enough ambitious people wanting to be solely in charge.

It was time for the rule of one man to take hold. Caesar was the first man to hold sole undisputed power, but accumulated power to quickly. He was assassinated and sparked off the start of the last two civil wars of the Republic.

The one person who was elevated to the position of Emperor of the first citizen was a nephew of Caesar. Octavian (later named Augustus) was in my opinion, the greatest politician in Roman Republic history (key: I want to emphasise his talents in the political sphere, not the military aspect of his career). He defeated Mark Anthony, a former lieutenant of Caesar to become the sole ruler of the Empire.

His reign, Pax Romana is considered the most stable, yet expansionary regime of Rome. Hispania and Gaul were subjugated.

The subsequent dynasty was questionable in their overall effectiveness at best. With the death of Emperor Nero, the first civil war in nearly a century took place. The year of the 4 emperors saw 4 emperors in 15 months. After which, territorially, the greatest 140 or so years of the empire took place.

Under Trajan, the Empire was at its largest. Including Vespasian and his son, Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius were amongst the finest emperors to reign in the period. The next civil war, the Year of the 5 emperors marked the start of what’s been termed as the second century crisis. Invasions, Defeats against the Sassanid Empire, Disease, Inflation wrecked the economy and backbone of Rome.

There was a sort of stability when Aurelian and Diocletian took over. The Illyrian Emperors in essence, re-forged the empire.  Constantine was the last true emperor of Rome before its division  into the east and west. The western empire would fall nearly a century later, while the Eastern Empire continued to reign for nearly a 1000 years after the fall of Rome.

 

The blog won’t be going beyond the year 476CE, traditionally considered the year in which the Western Roman Empire fell.

 

Military, Logistics, Artillery, Siege, Architecture, Literature, and Religion all underwent drastic changes during the 450 years the Empire reigned.

 

Now that an introduction to the empire has been made, these are some of the posts that will follow.

• Emperor Profiling
• Military and Siege advancements
• Architecture
• Rome itself
• The enemies of Rome
• The famous generals
• Crucial civil wars and events

 

This will continue in addition to posts from the Republican era of Rome.

In the eventual future, I look forward to adding the Kingdom of Rome, to the midst.

 

But for now, hope you are all excited for the future posts. I certainly am!

 

I plan to write at least 3 articles a month or maybe 4. It is a bit difficult with work, but I think now it should be easier for me to do so!

 

-Gaurav,
Roman Imperium

 

Like the world of ancient Greece? Check out the Athenian Inspector at : https://athenianinspector.wordpress.com/