Lecture #1 — A General Introduction and Overview.

(This post is based on a lecture held by Jan Frode Hatlen at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, August 21 2008. However, any factual errors in the text is strictly my responsibility.)

It is hard to be precise about what Rome was like before approximately 500 BCE, as there exist few written sources from before this time. They become slightly less rare from about 480 BCE; for example, the Law of the Twelve Tables, Rome’s first law code, which regulated the relationship between patricians and plebeians, was established in 451-449 BCE.

What is known is that Rome was little more than a village society, and only one of many in Italy. It soon developed into a polis, a city state, though, with a couple thousand inhabitants who had relatively exclusive rights as citizens. At least, the free men of the polis did. During this period Rome was quite similar to other cities in the Mediterranean area, and especially those in areas of Greek cultural dominance; areas which had expanded from the sixth century BCE as Greek city states had established colonies along the coasts of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

In the period between 400 and 200 BCE, Rome changes, until it in 150 BCE no longer is a small polis but rather a substantial city with a ditto empire. By this time, Rome had conquered areas in Greece, Africa and other places, and a stream of wealth started flowing to Rome. A large portion of this wealth was made up of slaves, who in time became citizens when they were freed and thus boosted the size of Rome. It has been estimated that around 1 CE, Rome had one million inhabitants, most of them descendents of or currently slaves.

When it comes to the political system of Rome, the city started out with a republican ruling principle after the abolition of the monarchy in 509. However, competition between the ruling magnates leads to the century between 130 BCE to 31 BCE — in other words, from the days of the Gracchi to the battle of Actium — being characterized by an almost perpetual state of civil war. This culminated with the establishment of the Principate, where the Caesar in theory was a princeps inter pares, first among equals.

The Principate lasted until the third century CE, although it gradually weakened throughout the period. The third century is characterized by chaos and anarchy. Emperors come and go, usually raised and overthrown by the Legions, while the Empire is attacked by outside forces; from Gaul in the west, to Dacia in the north, to Syria in the east. However, the Empire survives, perhaps primarily because of the reforms of Diocletian (284 CE), which divided the empire into four parts in a system of an eastern and a western emperor, both of whom had co-rulers. This system is referred to as the Tetrarchy or the Dominate, and in it the powers of the Emperor(s) were much greater than during the Principate.

The idea was that each Emperor should rule for 20 years and appoint his successor, but when Diocletian retires in 305 the Empire is thrown into chaos again. Constantine’s ascendance to the post of Emperor restores order, but with great changes. Christianity is made the state religion, and the capital is moved to Constantinople (not that Rome had really mattered much lately, anyway; Milan, Trier, Constantinople and other cities had been more conveniently situated for emperors whose main concern was the defense of the Empire). With the introduction of Christianity the declining provincial capitals are given a boost when they become episcopal residences. The Church becomes reservations for Roman culture, both in terms of administration, law, organization and mentality — a role they keep up till the ninth and tenth centuries CE. This was more or less the beginning of the Roman Empire as a basis of legitimacy in European politics.