Created by: Banny Rabindra Sulawargana
The Roman Empire is one of the most
consequential empires that ever lived in human history. with a span of more
than 1000 years, their history is one of the most influential in every aspect
of government, military, philosophy, and medical terms. Even to this day latin
words still in use on medical terms, their military tactic and philosophy is
still learned in modern day. In a 1000
years time span, The Roman Empire was divided into 3 periods. The first is The
Period Of Kings (625 - 510 BC), Second The Republican Rome (510 - 31 BC), and
last The Imperial Rome (31 BC - 476 AD).
Rome was founded by twin brothers
named Romulus and Remus who were also a demigod. In the
story, Romulus killed his brother Remus and then named the city after
himself, Roma. Roma expanded her territory by mostly war with neighbouring
cities. Since Rome is too big to handle by one king, their government was
changed to a republic with the senator in charge of handling the country.
The ruling class called themselves optimates (the best men) while the lower classes, or those who
sympathized with them, were known as the populares
(the people). In the Republic, three important men named Marcus Licinius Crassus and his political rival, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) joined with Gaius Julius Caesar, raised to form the First
Triumvirate of Rome. Crassus and Pompey both held the optimate political line while Caesar was a populare. Crassus and Pompey were great generals, who made
Rome bigger and wealthier than it was founded.
However, Crassus
was killed in 53 BC when he led an army against Parthia and defeated at The
Battle of The Carrhae. With the loss of Crassus,
the First Triumvirate of Rome disbanded thus Pompey and Caesar went to war with each other. Pompey tried to trial Caesar
on assorted charges. But Caesar responded
to the trial by crossing the Rubicon river in 49 BC with his army. At 48 BC, Pompey and Caesar met in battle at Pharsalus in Greece. Against all odds, Caesar pulled a victory against Pompey.
Pompey fled to Egypt hoping for sanctuary, but he was
assassinated upon his arrival. Hearing the news that Pompey was defeated, Gaius
Julius Caesar became the most powerful man in all of Rome. Upon his
arrival, he effectively disbanded the senate and proclaimed himself as a dictator. His popularity among the
people was enormous and his effort to create a stable and strong central
government meant increased prosperity for the city of Rome. Seeing Caesar becoming stronger day by day, Brutus (his son from his mistress Servilia) and Cassius (son in law from Servilia) planned to assassinate Caesar, with the help of the senate Caesar was killed in 44 BC.
After the dictator Caesar was killed, the Second
Triumvirate of Rome rose to power with Octavian
(Adopted son of Caesar), Marcus Anthony, and Lepidus. But Lepidus was neutralized by Octavian and Marcus since Lepidus was placed in charge of Africa.
Octavian would rule the west while Marcus on the east.
Marcus' involvement with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII, upset the balance Octavian had hoped to maintain and
the two went to war. Marcus and Cleopatra's combined forces were
defeated at the Battle of Actium in
31 BC and both later took their own lives. Octavian
emerged as a sole power in Rome. In 27 BC, The senate gave him the title of
Augustus, The First Emperor of Rome.
And at this point Republican Rome collapsed and the period of Imperial Rome
began.
Most of the Emperors
of the Roman Empire came from dynasty with most lineage came from adoption
and son. Starts from Julio - Claudian Dynasty
that consists of Augustus, Tiberius,
Caligula, Claudius, And Nero. This dynasty lasted for over 95 years, from
27 BC until 68 AD, with the fall of Julio
- Claudian Dynasty came 3 emperors that came from military (non - dynastic
emperors) Galba, Otho, Vitellius.
But they only reigned from 68 - 69 AD, which was changed by a short lived
dynasty, Flavian Dynasty. The Flavian
Dynasty consists of Vespasian,
Titus, and Domitian.
This dynasty ruled Rome for over 27 years from 69 AD to 96
AD and over when Domitian was assassinated and his advisor Nerva took the crown and started the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty. The
Nerva-Antonine Dynasty or some historian called The five good emperors. The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty consists of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus pius,
Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, and Commodus. Rome was at its highest peak
under Trajan rule, Rome spanning
from Iberian Peninsula to modern age kuwait. But at last under Commodus rule, Rome was taking a step
down from her glory days. This dynasty ruled Rome from 96 - 192 AD also the
longest dynasty that Rome ever had (same as Julio - Claudian Dynasty excluding Julius Caesar). With the assassination
of Commodus, Rome starts the years
of 5 emperor with Pertinax, Didius
Julianus, Pescennius Niger, Clodius Albinus, and Severus. The dispute of
the crown was won by Severus and
started the Severan Dynasty.
This dynasty consisted of Severus, Caracalla, Geta, Elagabalus, and Alexander Severus. but in
217 AD when Caracalla was
assassinated there was one non dynastic emperor for a year, Macrinus. The Severan dynasty is my least favorite dynasty since almost all of
the emperors were corrupted, didn’t care of the people in the empire and the
main reason why the Third Century Crisis happened.
With the downfall of the Severan Dynasty, a period called Crisis Of Third Century or
Military Anarchy or Imperial Crisis, this is the period that makes the downfall
of Rome inevitable. In just 50 years, Rome had at least 25 Emperors and most of
them were generals that took advantage in the crisis. The 25 Emperors are Maximus Thrax, Gordian I, Gordian II, Gordian III, Pupienus, Balbinus, Philip The
Arab, Decius, Herennius Etruscus, Hostilian, Gallus, Volusianus, Aemilian,
Valerian, Gallienius, Claudius II, Quintilius, Aurelian, Tacitus, Florian,
Probus, Carus, Carinas, Numerius.
Some states broke from the Roman Empire such as the Gallic
Empire led by Tacticus and The
Palmyrene Empire led by Queen Zenobia.
But both of them were taken care of by Aurelian,
making The Roman Empire last for a few more years until The Tetrarchy led by Diocletian came. The Tetrarchy is a system that split Rome into 2 parts, Western
Roman Empire with the Capital city at Rome, and Eastern Roman Empire with the
Capital city at Constantinople (modern age Istanbul). The Tetrarchy consists of 7 Emperors, 5 at West and 4 at East. The
emperors of the Western Roman Empire are Diocletian,
Maximilian, Maxentius, Severus, and Licinius.
While in the Eastern Roman Empire are Diocletian, Galerius, Maximinus, and Licinius. Licinius and Diocletian are the only emperors that
led western and eastern empire at the same time in The Tetrarchy. But there was one emperor that led the western
empire in 305 - 306 AD that was in a different dynasty, Constantius I, he was in Constantinian Dynasty. The Tetrarchy was a good plan, but it
was ineffective after the death of Diocletian
and thus the Constantinian Dynasty was
born. With the fall of Severus, Constantine the Great was the Emperor
of the East and West Roman Empire and the first Emperor that converted to
Christianity. Under his rule, The capital was moved from Rome to Constantinople
because Rome was a liability. The
Constantinian Dynasty consists of Constantine
and his son, Constantine II,
Constans I, Constantius II and Julian
the Apostate. Julian the Apostate was
the last Emperor that still worshiped pagan and opposed Christianity.
Their reign was from 312 - 363 AD, but most of the Emperor
was actually insignificant since in this dynasty only Constantine the Great was a great leader of Rome and others were
just plain useless leaders. The death of Julian
the Apostate was the death of pagan in the Roman Empire and conflict
between two generals, Jovian and Valentinian the Great. Jovian proclaimed
himself Emperor in 363 AD but he was defeated by Valentinian the Great in 364 AD and thus the Valentinian Dynasty was born.
The Valentinian Dynasty consists of Valentinian
the Great, Valens, Gratian, Valentinian II. Valentinian the Great, in my
opinion was the funniest death of all Roman Emperor because when he was
belittling the Quadi leader, he fall over because brain hemorrhage since he was
too angry and stress that cloud him and then he died in front of the people
that he was belittled.
The Valentinian Dynasty ruled Rome from 364 - 392 AD and 393 AD there’s new
dynasty, Theodosian Dynasty. The Theodosian Dynasty consists of Theodosius I, Constantius III, Honorius,
Arcadius, Valentinian III, Theodosius II, and Marcian. The Theodosian Dynasty ruled Rome from 392 - 457 AD. After Marcian there’s non dynastic emperor in
the west (the last emperor of western roman empire) P. Maximus, Avitus, Majorian, L.Severus, Anthemius, Olybrius,
Glycerius, Julius Nepos, and Romulus Augustus. There is some debate between
historians whether Julius Nepos or
Romulus Augustus was the last Emperor of the Western Roman Empire since Romulus Augustus' reign was too short.
Meanwhile in the east, There’s new dynasty, the Leonid Dynasty. The Leonid Dynasty consists of Leo I, Basiliscus, Zeno, Anastasius I, Leo II. Under the reign of Zeno, the western roman empire fell to
the hand of barbarian. After 476 AD, The eastern roman empire changed name into
Byzantine Empire. There was actually
one emperor in the Byzantine Empire
that retake Rome and his name is Justinian
The Great.
That was the summary of the history of the Roman Empire from Founding until the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
