The Early Roman Empire – Managing the Territory

The Roman Empire split its lands into provinces and collected taxes from them, except for Italy, which had a different status. At its largest, around the second century, the empire covered a vast area from Scotland to Armenia, and from the Sahara Desert to the Euphrates River. About 60 million people lived in the empire around the middle of the second century.

A New Elite Class

• Big cities like Carthage, Alexandria, and Antioch were super important for the empire.
• These cities were like the heart of the empire, gathering taxes from the nearby countryside.
• Rich locals worked closely with the Roman government, helping out with running things and collecting taxes.
• In the second and third centuries, the rich folks in provinces took charge of government and army jobs.
• This made a new strong group of leaders, who were even more powerful than the Senate.
• Emperor Gallienus (253-268) made sure senators couldn’t lead the military, making the rich even stronger.
• Italy didn’t have as much say in the empire because of these changes.

City Life in the Empire

• Cities had their own leaders, councils, and territories that included nearby villages.
• Promoting or demoting a village to a city status often showed imperial favor or disfavor.
• Cities had better access to food during shortages and offered amenities like public baths and entertainment.
• Compared to villages, city life was seen as more comfortable and advanced.

The Third-Century Crisis

• From the 230s, the Roman Empire faced threats from different sides.
• A new aggressive dynasty, the Sasanians, emerged in Iran around 225 and expanded quickly towards the Euphrates.
• Germanic tribes like the Alamanni, Franks, and Goths threatened along the Rhine and Danube.
• These invasions led to giving up territories beyond the Danube.
• The empire faced internal instability, with a quick turnover of emperors during this period.
• In just 47 years, 25 emperors came and went, showing the difficulties the empire faced.

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The Roman Empire had two main time frames including the ‘Early Empire’ and the ‘Late Empire’. The Early Empire was from 27 BCE to the third century CE. At this time, people spoke many languages, but Latin and Greek were the most used language. Augustus started the Roman Empire in 27 BCE. They called him the ‘Principate’ or the ‘leading citizen’ to honor the Senate.

In this article, we are going to discuss The Early Empire of Rome in detail.