principate had been revealed: it was possible, it seemed,
for an emperor to be chosen outside Rome.”^5The Five “Good Emperors” (96–180)
Many historians see thepax Romana(PAKSorPAHKS
ro-MAH-nuh) (the “Roman peace”) and the prosperity it
engendered as the chief benefits of Roman rule during
the first and second centuriesC.E. These benefits were
especially noticeable during the reigns of five so-called
good emperorswho presided over a period of peace
and prosperity that lasted almost a hundred years.
These men—Nerva (NUR-vuh), Trajan (TRAY-jun),
Hadrian (HAY-dree-un), Antoninus Pius (an-tuh-NY-nuss
PY-uss), and Marcus Aurelius (MAR-kuss aw-REE-lee-
uss)—treated the ruling classes with respect, cooperated
with the senate, ended arbitrary executions, maintained
peace throughout the empire, and supported domestic
policies generally beneficial to the empire. Though abso-
lute monarchs, they were known for their tolerance and
diplomacy. By adopting capable men as their successors,
the first four good emperors reduced the chances of suc-
cession problems.
Under the five good emperors, the powers of the
emperor continued to be extended at the expense of
the senate. Increasingly, imperial officials appointed
and directed by the emperor took over the running of
the government. The good emperors also extended
the scope of imperial administration to areas previ-
ously untouched by the imperial government. Trajan
(98–117) established a program that provided state
funds to assist poor parents in raising and educating
their children.
The good emperors were widely praised by their
subjects for their extensive building programs. Trajan
and Hadrian (117–138) were especially active in con-
structing public works—aqueducts, bridges, roads, and
harbor facilities—throughout the provinces and in
Rome. Trajan built a new forum in Rome to provide a
setting for his celebrated victory column. Hadrian’s
Pantheon, a temple of “all the gods,” is one of the
grandest ancient buildings surviving in Rome.The Roman Empire at Its Height:
Frontiers and Provinces
Although Trajan broke with Augustus’s policy of defensive
imperialism by extending Roman rule into Dacia (modern
Romania), Mesopotamia, and the Sinai peninsula, his con-
quests represent the high-water mark of Roman expan-
sion (see Map 6.1). His successors recognized that theempire was overextended and pursued a policy of
retrenchment. Hadrian withdrew Roman forces from
much of Mesopotamia. Although he retained Dacia and
Arabia,hewentonthedefensiveinhisfrontierpolicy,
reinforcing the fortifications along a line connecting the
Rhine and Danube Rivers and building a defensive wall
eighty miles long to keep the Scots out of Roman Britain.
By the end of the second century, the vulnerability of the
empire had become apparent. Frontiers were stabilized,
and the Roman forces were established in permanent
bases behind the frontiers. But when one frontier was
attacked, troops had to be drawn from other frontiers,
leaving those borders vulnerable to attack. The empire
lacked a real strategic reserve, and in the next century its
weakness would be ever more apparent.
At its height in the second century, the Roman
Empire was one of the greatest states the world had
seen. It covered about 3.5 million square miles, and like
the empire of Han China, it had a population estimated
at more than 50 million. While the emperors and the
imperial administration provided a degree of unity,
considerable leeway was given to local customs, and
the privileges of Roman citizenship were extended to
many people throughout the empire. In 212, the em-
peror Caracalla (kar-uh-KAL-uh) completed the process
by giving Roman citizenship to every free inhabitant of
the empire. Latin was the language of the western part
of the empire, while Greek was used in the east. Roman
culture spread to all parts of the empire; however,
there were limits to Romanization because local lan-
guages persisted and many of the empire’s residents
spoke neither Latin nor Greek.CITIES AND ROMANIZATION The administration and cul-
tural life of the Roman Empire depended greatly on
cities and towns. A provincial governor’s staff was not
large, so local city officials were expected to act as
Roman agents in carrying out many government func-
tions, especially those related to taxes. Most towns and
cities were not large by modern standards. The biggest
was Rome, but there were also some large cities in the
East: Alexandria in Egypt numbered over 300,000 inhab-
itants, Ephesus in Asia Minor had 200,000, and Antioch
in Syria housed around 150,000. In the West, cities were
usually small, with only a few thousand inhabitants.
Cities were important in the spread of Roman culture,
law, and the Latin language. They were also uniform in
physical appearance, with similar temples, markets,
amphitheaters, and other public buildings.
Magistrates and town councillors chosen from the
ranks of the wealthy upper classes directed municipalThe Early Empire (14–180) 125Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
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