ancient roman empire

Roman Empire (27 BC - 476 AD)

【Official language】Latin, Greek

[Capital] Rome; after the split, the western empire made Ravenna the capital, and the eastern empire made the capital Constantinople

[Polity] A monarchy (the head of state) disguised as a republic, and later a monarchy

【Head of State】Roman Emperor

[Head of Government] Nominal two consuls with equal rights, one of whom is the emperor

【Parliament】Senate

【Area】about 5,900,000 square kilometers in the heyday

【Population】Estimated ranging from 55 million to 120 million

[Establishment time] In the first 27 years, Octavian won the title of Augustus

[Death time] The unified Roman Empire split in 395, the Western Roman Empire died in 476, and the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) died in 1453

[First Emperor] Gaius Octavian (27-14 BC)

【Last Emperor】Theodosius I was the last ruler of the unified Roman Empire. Romulus Augustus was the last ruler of the Western Roman Empire and the last ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire under Constantine XI.

The official name is the Senate and the people of Rome. It is called Daqin in ancient Chinese books. It is a stage of ancient Roman civilization.

Roman Empire can be used to denote all lands under Roman rule. The expansion of Rome took Rome beyond the concept of a city-state into an empire. The heyday of Roman territory was during the reign of Trajan. The Roman Empire controlled a total of about 5.9 million square kilometers of land at this time, making it one of the largest countries in the ancient history of the world.

After Octavian established the empire, he established the system of heads of state, called Augustus. The Roman Empire is generally divided into two stages: the Early Empire (27 BC - 192 years) and the Later Empire (193 - 476 years. The Early Empire passed through the Giulia Claudius Dynasty, the Flavian Dynasty, to the Antonine Dynasty ( The era of the Five Sages) reached its peak. The country was stable and the society was prosperous, which was called the golden age of Rome. Since the crisis in the third century, the later empire was ruled by the Illyrian emperors, Diocletian's four emperors, and the emperors. The empire of Tandin the Great was officially divided into two parts after the death of Theodosius I (395). The west declined amid internal and external troubles, and in 476 Odoac deposed the last Western Roman Emperor Romulus. Augustus Lus, the Western Roman Empire was destroyed. The Eastern Empire was destroyed by the Ottoman Empire in 1453. Historians call the Eastern Roman Empire the Byzantine Empire.

Founding of the Roman Empire

The Roman Republic was weakened by the rivalry between Marius and Sulla, followed by Caesar's civil war against Pompey. During these upheavals, many senators were killed, executed, murdered, or committed suicide. The Senate was filled with supporters of the first three heads, and later supporters of the last three heads.

After the collapse of the latter three-headed alliance, Octavian and Antony divided the eastern and western parts of Rome, and the contradiction between the two sides became increasingly fierce. On September 31 BC, Octavian fought Antony and the Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII at Actium, Greece. At the height of the war, the Queen of Egypt thought that Antony had no hope of winning, so she withdrew her army to Egypt, and Antony also went to Egypt with him. Octavian then invaded Egypt, the Egyptian queen and Antony committed suicide, and Egypt was also occupied by Rome.

In the first 27 years, Octavian expressed that he would remove all power and restore the republic; on the other hand, he pretended to be compelled by the request of the senate and the citizens to accept the absolute power that was completely contrary to the republic, and became the head of state (or can be translated as "the first citizen"). "), Supreme Commander (Imperator, or can be translated as "Victorious General", "Grand Marshal"), the highest acting consul, life consul, tribunal, high priest, first elder, etc. The titles of "Gustus" and "Father of the Fatherland" (later emperors also had these titles). This wonderful performance by Octavian announced the founding of the Roman Empire.

● Julius-Claudian dynasty

During Octavian's reign, he continued to fight externally. After years of hard fighting against the tribes of northern Spain, Spain was completely conquered in the first 19 years. From 16 years ago, the Empire sent troops to the eastern Alps and the upper Danube, and established the two provinces of Rhaetian and Norric. Then they sent troops to the middle and lower reaches of the Danube to establish Pannonia and Misia. In the first 12 to 5 years, Rome conquered the land between the Rhine and the Elbe after successive campaigns. But the newly conquered lands continued to riot. In 9 years, the Roman general Varus was ambushed and annihilated in the battle of the Tottoburg Forest to suppress the German uprising, so that Rome could not give up the land between the Rhine and the Elbe. After that, Octavian did not carry out major conquests, and the next hundred years was a long period of stability, called the Roman Peace Period. It is one of the five lands in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

After Octavian died in 14 years, he succeeded his adopted son Tiberius. Tiberius strengthened the imperial power, abolished the legislative and electoral rights of the Citizens Assembly, concentrated the guards in Rome to defend the emperor, sanctioned all words and deeds against the emperor or criticized the emperor, and asked the Senate to express the same opinion only with him. Because of Tiberius' arbitrary rule and tensions with the Senate, he retired to Capri in 26 and ruled Rome there for nearly ten years. In 37, Tiberius was killed by the Guards on the island of Capri.

After Tiberius died, the Guard made Caligula emperor. This was the first time in Roman history that an army had established an emperor. Caligula is mentally ill, ignores state affairs, and indulges in entertainment. And moody often executed or confiscated property. He even appointed his own mount as consul. For 40 years, he spoke in Rome advocating personal dictatorship and deifying emperors. In 41, Caligula was killed by the Guards.

After Caligula's death, the Guard proclaimed his uncle the elderly Claudius to the throne. Claudius reformed the regime and established a bureaucratic system. There are three central departments, namely the Secretariat (in charge of internal affairs, military affairs, and diplomacy), the Finance Department (in charge of finance), and the Judicial Department (in charge of law), and to improve the status of knighthood and grant Roman citizenship to provincial residents, so that provincial nobles can also serve as senior officials or elders. Claudius also built the port of Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber and a large-scale water pipeline. In terms of external expansion, Claudius also conquered southern Britain and Mauritania. In 1954, Claudius was poisoned by Queen Agrippina the Younger.

After Claudius died, his adopted son Nero took the throne. Nero was a famous tyrant in Roman history. He ignored state affairs, was brutal and bloodthirsty, and was keen on entertainment, acting, and playing with women. He called himself a "great entertainer". In 1964, a fire broke out in Rome, and almost the whole city was burned down. Instead, Nero sang poetry in the palace. After the fire, a new palace was built, which was called the "Golden Palace". It was rumored that Nero set fire to building the new palace. In order to eliminate the rumors, Nero used Christians as scapegoats and hunted and killed Christians. Due to Nero's tyranny, resistance continued in various places, large-scale uprisings broke out in Britain, Gaul, Spain, and other places, and the Jewish war broke out in Palestine. At this time, Nero went to Greece for a long tour of art and drama, saying that "the Greeks are the only people who can appreciate music". In 68 years, the Spanish general Galba rebelled and proclaimed himself emperor. The Senate immediately recognized Galba as emperor, declared Nero an enemy of the motherland, and sentenced him to death. Nero committed suicide while fleeing.

●Four emperors' civil strife period

After Galba became emperor, due to his old age and inability to control the situation, the generals from all over the country supported their troops. In January 1969, Vitelius, the governor of Lower Germany, proclaimed himself emperor, while Galba was killed by his subordinate Otho, who made himself emperor. In March, Vitelius sent troops to compete with Osho for the throne, and Osho committed suicide. In July, Wei Paxian, the general who quelled the Jewish rebellion, proclaimed himself emperor. In October, Vespasian defeated Vitelius, ending the civil war.

●Flavian Dynasty

After Wei Paxian came to power, the empire faced a crisis. He first suppressed uprisings in various places. In 70 years, his son Titus led an army to attack Jerusalem. After the city was broken, he massacred and looted the city, and countless people were crucified on the cross. To make up for the huge fiscal deficit, he soared tax rates and raised provincial taxes, giving him enough money to overhaul his military and internal affairs. In addition, Wei Paxian's reign greatly strengthened the province's position. In 1973, he added provincial nobles to the Senate, and granted many provincial nobles Roman citizenship, enabling them to participate in politics widely.

After Vespasian's death in 1979, his son Titus ascended the throne. Titus was a political moderate, and during his tenure, Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompeii. Titus died in 1981 and his younger brother Domitian came to the throne. It is rumored that Titus was poisoned by Domitian. Domitian was autocratic and dictatorial, pretending to be "the Lord and God", and despised the Senate. In terms of external expansion, Domitian was successful in South Germany, but he lost twice in the war against Dacia and had to give gifts to make peace. In 1989, Domitian used the pretext of supporting the rebellion and executed a large number of senators and dignitaries, causing dissatisfaction among the people. Domitian died in a palace coup in 1996.

●Antonine Dynasty (Five Sages Period)

After Domitian's death, the Senate elected Nerva, a former consul who participated in the coup, as emperor. Nerva treated the elders with respect and kindness, and the authority of the Senate was restored to a certain extent. But Nerva was quite unpopular with the army and military commanders. In order to win the support of the army, in the second year of his ascension, Nerva chose Trajan, the German governor with outstanding military exploits, as his adopted son, successfully quelling the dissatisfaction of the army.

In 1998, after Nerva's death, Trajan ascended the throne, and he was the first emperor from a provincial aristocracy. Trajan continued to implement Nerva's policy of treating the elders kindly, built public facilities, and actively expanded externally. Trajan's period was the largest period of the Roman Empire. From 101, Trajan led his troops to invade Dacia, and in 106 he completely conquered Dacia and set up Dacia province. Trajan held a grand triumph, announced the 123-day festival, and built Trajan's Column to commemorate it. In 105, Trajan occupied northern Arabia and established the Arabian province. In 114, Trajan was incorporated into Armenia and the Armenian province was established. Continuing eastward, Trajan defeated the Parthian army, and in 116 captured the Parthian capital Tessiphon. At the end of that year, Trajan's troops arrived in the Persian Gulf, the only Roman commander who had ever been there. In 117, Trajan became seriously ill and withdrew his army, setting up two provinces of Assyria and Mesopotamia. On his deathbed, Hadrian was announced as his adopted son.

After Trajan's death, Hadrian came to the throne. Hadrian turned the offensive into the defensive, abandoned the lands that Trajan had conquered in the east, and built a continuous border wall on the northern frontier to strengthen the defense. Hadrian transitioned from the Führer system to an absolute monarchy, taking his own will as the supreme law. And vigorously strengthen the knighthood, making it a specialized bureaucratic class. He also set up the Council of Advisors of the Head of State, which was directly responsible to him, carried out his instructions, and ordered jurists to compile the "Permanent Edict" as the legal basis of the empire, to strengthen the Romanization of the provinces and narrow the distance between the provincial cities and Rome. But in 131, Hadrian forbade the Jews to practice circumcision, observe the Sabbath and read the Jewish law, which triggered a Jewish uprising. It took the Roman army three years to kill 580,000 Jews before suppressing the uprising. From then on, the Jews were forced to wander the world. everywhere. Hadrian died in 138, and when he was seriously ill declared Anthony the adopted son.

After Antonin came to the throne, there was generally nothing to do with the external convergence of the border, and he had a good relationship with the senate and the internal affairs. Rome has enjoyed more than 20 years of peace and prosperity. Anthony died in 161.

After Antony's death, the emperor was succeeded by two adopted sons, Verus and Marco Aurelius. This was the first time in Roman history that two emperors ruled together. Marc Aurelius, known as the "Emperor of Philosophers", is the author of "Meditations at once", and is the main expounder of Stoic philosophy. Verus is a mediocre person. When the two ascended the throne, the situation on the borders of the empire was dire, Parthians invaded Armenia in 162, and Verus fought back the Parthians for four years. Then came the plague, and a great number of Romans died. In 167, the Germans invaded again, and the two emperors had to lead an army to conquer. Due to financial constraints, the emperor sold the crown jewels to raise army salaries. In 169, Verus died and the empire was restored to the status of an emperor. Marc Aurelius eased pressure on the Empire by allowing the Germans to settle on the borders of the Empire, which laid the groundwork for future barbarian invasions. In 175, a rebellion by general Cassius broke out in the east. After the rebellion was quelled, Marc Aurelio began the war against the Germans again in an attempt to annex Bohemia, but when he was about to succeed, Marc Aurelio died of illness in the army in 180. Rome has begun to decline.

The beginning of the crisis of the 3rd century

After Marc Aurelio's death, his son Commodus succeeded him. Commodus indulged in licentiousness and left political affairs to his favorite ministers and the commander of the Guard. In 182, his sister and some elders tried to assassinate him, and after the incident, he executed everyone who participated in the assassination and many innocent people. Commodus is cruel and suspicious, loves sports such as circus and wrestling, and claims to be the reincarnation of Hercules. And put on gladiator costumes and take part in gladiatorial fights. Commodus's rule caused dissatisfaction among the people, many plotted to assassinate him, and Commodus became more eccentric and tyrannical. On New Year's Day 193, when Commodus announced that he was going to serve as the consul of the year in gladiator attire, his mistress drank him a glass of poisoned wine and was then strangled by a wrestler sent by the chief of the guards.

After Commodus died, the guards put the city governor Petinax on the throne. Petinax was just a puppet. When he wanted to clean up the military, he was immediately killed by the guards. After Petinax died, the Guards actually announced that the throne would be auctioned off, and whoever paid the most could become the emperor. After competition and bargaining among many, Julianus bought the throne at a price that the Guards were satisfied with. But Julianus had no followers but was a puppet, and the provincial army treated him with disdain. Nigel, the governor of Syria, was the first to proclaim himself emperor. Then Severus, the North African governor of Pannonia, rebelled and attacked Rome. The Senate instead declared Severus emperor and executed Julianus. Severus also executed all the original guards for treason, and formed a new and larger guard with his own soldiers.

●Severus Dynasty

After Severus became emperor, he immediately went to war with Nigel, who had already become emperor. Nigel was defeated at Issus in 194. In 197, Severus defeated the rebellious British Governor Albanus in Lyon again, ending the civil war in 193. Severus was a soldier, and he was accustomed to acting arbitrarily. He ignored the senate, removed the elders from important positions one by one, and replaced them with knights without culture. Severus' rule was backed by the army. He expanded the Roman army to an unprecedented level, most of them were foreigners and did everything possible to win over the army, pay the army high wages, and reward the army without hesitation. . Severus achieved no small success militarily, in addition to ending the civil war, he defeated the Parthians and incorporated Mesopotamia in 199. Severus raised the imperial power to the highest level, and his jurists said that Severus was not bound by all laws and was the master of anyone, and the empire was his property. In 208, Severus sent troops to Britain, but did not make much progress, and died of serious illness in York in 211. On his deathbed, his last words to his two sons were: "May your brothers live in harmony and let the soldiers get rich, and leave the others alone."

After Severus died, two sons, Caracalla and Geta, took the throne at the same time, and within a year, Caracalla killed Geta. Caracalla was again a tyrant, killing his younger brother and his comrades, his wife and father-in-law, and many others of great renown. Caracalla continued Severus' policy of preferential treatment of the army. In order to increase revenue and expand tax sources, Caracalla issued the Caracalla decree in 212, granting Roman citizenship to all free people in the empire. In 217, Caracalla was killed by the Guards while on his expedition to Parthia. Then, the commander of the guards, Maclinus, made himself emperor and made Diadumenian the co-emperor. Maclinus was the first emperor in Roman history who was not a patriarch but a knight. After Maclinus succeeded to the throne, he ended the war with Parthia under extremely unfavorable terms, and cut military expenditures, causing the army to be dissatisfied. In 218, Severus' sister-in-law, Julia Misa, instigated a rebellion, and Maclinus and Diadumenian were killed.

Misa made her 13-year-old grandson, Elbagalus, emperor, and the age of women in Rome began. Elbagalus worshipped the gods of the East and had a bad relationship with the Senate. In 222, due to the unbridled fornication of Elbagalus, Misa killed him and made his other grandson, 14-year-old Alexander Severus, emperor. Relations between the emperor and the Senate improved under Alexandre Severus. There was another crisis on the borders of the empire. In 231, Alexander Severus went to the east to fight the Persians. The situation improved slightly, and he had to rush to the west to resist the Germans. In 235 the army rebelled and Alexandre Severus was killed.

●The climax of the crisis of the 3rd century

After the death of Alexander Severus, the army made Maximinus Trax emperor. Maximinus Trax, who was of humble origin and despised, treated the senate and the people with brutality and was killed by the senate secretly instructed by the guards in 238. Then, in the same year, the Senate introduced four emperors, all of whom were killed. Gordian III, who then ascended the throne, was only 13 years old and was a puppet of the Guards. In 244, the army elected Philip of Arabia to the throne, and he held a celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of the founding of Rome. In 249, Philip of Arabia was killed by the rebel general Disius. Disius was killed in a war with the Goths in 251. Another long-lasting plague broke out when the successor Gauls ruled. Gallus died again at the hands of soldiers in 263. Valerian and Gallienus, who succeeded him, had to lead two large armies, one against the Persians in the east and the other against the Germans in the west, which opened the way for the division of the empire into eastern and western parts. In 259, the general of the Rhine region, Postumus, proclaimed himself emperor and established the Gallic Empire, including Gaul, Britain, and most of Spain. In 260, Valerian was captured while fighting the Persians. In 267, the eastern part of Palmyra became independent, splitting off part of the eastern provinces. At this time, the chaos of the Roman Empire was at its extreme, and the central government was almost paralyzed. The emperor not only had to face external enemies but also suppressed the rebellious army and people's uprising. In addition, the army continued to establish new emperors, hoping for more rewards. If the rewards were not generous, the emperor would be killed. In 268, Gallienus reformed the military, removed all the soldiers from other duties and became a professional army, and established a new reserve army, stationed in Milan, and made Milan the military capital of the empire. The reformed army then succeeded in defeating the Ostrogoths.

●Illyrian emperors

Less than a year after Galienus reformed the military, he was killed by his subordinates, and Claudius II came to the throne. He defeated first the Alamanis, and later a mighty Gothic army, known as the "Gothic Conqueror". After Claudius II died of the plague in 270, Aurelian came to the throne, and he reunited the Roman Empire with the title "Reconstructor of the World". He again battered the Goths in Pannonia, ending the Gothic invasion. Then he led an army to the east, recovered Asia Minor and Syria from Palmyra, and then attacked the city of Palmyra, captured the Queen of Palmyra, Chinobia, and razed the city of Palmyra to the ground in 273. In the same year, Aurelian defeated Tetricus I, monarch of the Gallic Empire, and reincorporated Gaul, Britain and Spain into the empire. Aurelian shows Chinobia and Tetricus at the Triumph. In order to strengthen the defense, Aurelian built a 20-kilometer-long, 6-meter-high city wall for Rome, and gave up Dacia in order to take advantage of the natural danger of the Danube. In 275, Aurelian was killed while on an expedition to Persia, and the senate elected Tacitus as emperor, which was the last time the senate elected an emperor. Tacitus was killed within a year of his reign, and the army introduced Probus as emperor. Probus smashed the Germanic invasion of Gaul in three ways and drove the Vandals out of the Balkans. In 282, after Probus was killed, Carus, who ascended the throne, once again defeated the Germans in the north, attacked Persia, and once occupied Taisiphon. After the violent death of Carus in 283, his brother Carinus succeeded him. In 284 Diocletian, the commander of the Guard, rebelled, defeated Carinus near Belgrade and became ruler of the empire.

● Four emperors co-governed

After Diocletian became emperor, he changed the system of heads of state to a monarchy. The monarch wears a crown, and a precious silk robe, and is covered in gold and silver jewelry, and the subjects need to kneel and worship the monarch. In addition, monarchs were worshipped as gods, such as Diocletian who called himself Jupiter incarnate. In addition, Diocletian practiced the co-governance of four emperors. There were two emperors in the east and west, one was the official, called Augustus, and the other was the deputy, called Caesar, and the highest power belonged to Diocletian. And it is stipulated that the adopted son and son-in-law of the deputy post should be abdicated to the deputy post after serving for 20 years in the main post. Thus, Diocletian, Augustus of the East, was stationed in Nicomedia, and ruled Thrace, the East, Asia, Egypt, and Pontus, and Caesar Galerius was stationed in Thessaloniki, and ruled Macedonia and Messiah. . Western Augustus Maximian was stationed in Milan and ruled Italy, Rhaetian, Illyria and Africa, while Caesar Constantius I was stationed in Trier and ruled Britain, Gaul and Spain. Diocletian also reduced the scale of the provinces, divided more than 100 provinces, and established administrative regions. More than a dozen provinces were one administrative region, and local governors did not hold military posts.

Diocletian reformed the military, dividing the army into frontier troops and patrol troops. He also reduced the size of the legions and increased the number of legions to facilitate dispatch, since Diocletian divided the empire into four parts, each emperor had a large number of soldiers, which greatly increased the economic burden of the empire. Therefore, Diocletian implemented a new tax system. In terms of the head tax, it stipulated that the adult male is one head and the female is half. The land tax is taxed according to the type and area of grain fields or orchards, and the urban residents are taxed according to various industries. In addition, officials, retired veterans, and slaves are exempt from tax. In order to ensure the source of taxation, Diocletian promulgated a law that did not allow farmers to move freely, and handicraftsmen and merchants were not allowed to change their professions, and even stipulated that the son must inherit his father's business. Diocletian also changed the currency system and adjusted prices, but without success.

Diocletian abdicated in 305 after 20 years on the throne, along with Maximian. In the West, Constantius I, who ascended the throne, died in Britain after just over a year on the throne, and his son Constantine I ascended the throne. When Constantine I ascended the throne, he only occupied Britain and Gaul, and the rest was under the control of Maximian's son, Maxentius. In 312 he defeated Maxentius and unified the West. In the East, after Galerius' death in 311, Lycinius, who ascended the throne, defeated Maximinus Deia, who held Egypt and parts of Asia and unified the East. In 313, Constantine I and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan, declaring Christianity legal. In 314, a conflict broke out between the two, with no winner. In 323, the two fought again, Licinius was defeated, and Constantine became the sole ruler of the empire.

●Constantine Dynasty

Constantine the Great began to rule and was exhausted throughout the empire. He adopted a method similar to that of Diocletian, appointing three sons Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constantine. For Caesar, part of each ruling empire. Constantine ruled the Balkans and the Black Sea, Constantine II ruled Spain, Gaul, and Britain, Constantius II ruled the East and Egypt, and Constantine ruled Italy and Africa. Constantine reformed the administrative divisions and divided the country into four major administrative regions, with the lower administrative regions and then the provinces. On the economic front, he continued Diocletian's policy of hereditary occupation and the fixation of peasants on the land and enacted laws reaffirming the right of slave owners to kill slaves. Militarily, Constantine abolished the Guard, replaced it with the Palatine Cavalry Guard, and recruited a large number of barbarians into the army. Constantine used terror to forcibly recruit troops, and those who refused to do so could be put to death. Constantine also made great efforts to build a new capital, Constantinople, beside the Bosphorus Strait, known as the New Rome. The construction of Constantinople cost countless, after 6 years until 330 was initially completed. In terms of religion, Constantine convened the Council of Nicea in 325, which established many of the basic teachings of Christianity and denounced the Arians as heretics. In 337, Constantine became seriously ill, and before his death, he was baptized.

As soon as Constantine died, a melee for the throne broke out in the Roman Empire. Constantine II, Constance, and Magnentius were killed successively. In 353, Constantius II became the only ruler. In 361, Constantius II's cousin Julian, the apostate, rebelled. Constantius II died while conquering Julian, and Julian took power. Influenced by Neoplatonism, Julian implemented an anti-Christian policy after he came to power, vigorously supported polytheism, as well as Judaism and Christian heresies, and aggressively attacked Christianity, churches were burned and looted, and Christians were driven out of the army and schools. Julian himself also wrote Books attacking Christianity. Among other things, Julian was financially successful, stopping inflation. Defeated the Germans militarily, and invaded Persia, capturing Tessiphon. Julian was killed in Persia in 363. Jovian, who came to the throne, canceled Julian's anti-Christian policies.

●Valentinian Dynasty

In 364, the Danube officer Valentinian I was made emperor by the army, and then he distributed the eastern empire to his younger brother Valens. Valentinian I in Milan, Valens in Constantinople. In 376, Valentinian I died and was succeeded by Valentinian II. In 378, Valens was killed in battle against the Goths at Fort Adriana, and the east was subsequently ruled by Gratian and Theodosius. Gratian died in 383, and Theodosius made peace with the Goths, allowing them to settle in the territory, join the army and serve as officials. He also let Valentinian II of the west cede to him a piece of land, and in 388 he defeated the usurpers of the west, Magnus Maximus and Flavius Victor and his son. In 392, Valentinian II was killed in Vienna.

●Theodosian Dynasty

After the death of Valentinian II in 392, Theodosius I declared Christianity the state religion and opposed all paganism and heresies. Theodosius I became the sole ruler of the empire after defeating Eugenius, the usurper in the west, in 394, the last unification of the Roman Empire. When Theodosius died in 395, he divided the empire in two, giving the eastern part to the eldest son Arcadius and the western part to the youngest son Honorius.

The demise of the Western Roman Empire

After the division of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, Alaric, the Gothic leader, continued to invade the Roman Empire. The Eastern and Western Roman Empires did not unite to fight the enemy but instead watched Alaric become strong and hoped that he would attack each other. In the winter of 405, Alaric broke through the Rhine defenses of the Roman Empire, and Rome had no effective resistance, effectively giving up most of Gaul. In 407, Constantine III, the general who was stationed in Britain, rebelled. The Western Roman Empire attempted to make Alaric attack Constantine III. Alaric asked for 4,000 pounds of gold as the price. Afterward, Alaric invaded Italy as Rome first promised and then reneged on it, and Emperor Honorius at Ravenna was unable to retreat. Alaric surrounded Rome, famine and plague broke out in the city, and the Senate and Alaric made peace, handing over 5,000 pounds of gold, 30,000 pounds of silver, and many other valuables and treasures. In 409, Alaric besieged Rome for the second time, erecting a puppet emperor, and Honorius only retained the throne with the support of the Eastern Roman Empire. In 410, Alaric besieged Rome for the third time. The slaves in the city opened the city gates for Alaric. Alaric's barbarian army plundered the city for three days at will and returned with a great deal. And Rome was devastated.

For the next ten years, Honorius' co-emperor, Constantius III, became the military head of the empire, and the empire stabilized for a period of time. In 418, the Visigoth kingdom was established with the capital Toulouse, the first barbarian kingdom established in the Roman Empire. In 423, after Honorius died, Valentinian III came to the throne. In 439, the Vandal-Aran Kingdom was established, with the capital Carthage, and established its own navy, which kept attacking the Roman Empire from the sea. In 451, Attila, the leader of the Huns, invaded with 500,000 troops and was repelled by the famous imperial general Aetius and the Visigoth kingdom. Aetius repeatedly repelled the barbarian attacks. In 454, the Rebellion of Maximus broke out. Petronius Maximus conspired to kill Aetius and Valentinian III successively, and then proclaimed himself emperor. In 455, the leader of the Vandals, Giseric, took advantage of the chaos and invaded Rome. Petronius Maximus was killed and the whole city was sacked.

After this, the Western Roman Empire has been unable to maintain and is lingering on. Later, there were eight emperors in the west, but they were all puppets. The real power rests with the barbarian-born military chiefs. During the 16 years of Lichmel's reign, he abolished Avitus, Mercorian, Libius Severus, killed the Emperor Fuli of the Eastern Emperor Antemius, and established Olibrius. When Gondobade was in power, Liselius. In 475, when Orestre came to power, he simply made his son Romulus Augustus the emperor. In 476, Odoac deposed Romulus Augustus and transferred the national emblem of the Western Roman Empire to the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Western Roman Empire fell.

●Byzantine Empire

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire, or the Byzantine Empire, justifiably became the orthodox Roman Empire. In 1453, the Byzantine Empire was destroyed by the Ottoman Empire.

●Charlemagne Empire

In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne "Emperor of the Romans" in Rome, recognizing Charlemagne's empire as the successor of the Roman Empire. After Charlemagne's death, his empire was divided.

●Holy Roman Empire

Strictly speaking, the Holy Roman Empire has no legal direct relationship with the Roman Empire, on the contrary, it appeared on the stage of history as one of the invaders of the Roman Empire. But in AD 962, the Holy Roman Empire recognized the Holy Roman Empire as the legitimate successor of the Western Roman Empire, and later the Byzantine Empire of Constantinople also recognized this status. Until 1806, the Holy Roman Empire was overthrown by Napoleon I and declared its disintegration.

●Russian Empire

After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the Russian Empire, which had always had good relations with the Byzantine Empire, regarded itself as the successor of the Roman Empire. The capital, Moscow, was known as the "Third Rome".

●Natural Science

Agriculture:

The Spaniard Columella wrote 12 volumes of "On Agriculture", which dealt with agricultural and animal husbandry technology and management, as well as social economy, and this work had a great influence on the medieval manor.

Medical aspects:

In the time of Tiberius, there was a famous doctor Celsus (30-45 years ago), who wrote 8 volumes of the "Compendium of Medicine", of which volumes 7-8 recorded many operations and described them in detail. During the Marc Aurelius period, the famous doctor Galen (129-199) served as the imperial physician for many years and wrote a lot. Galen pioneered anatomy by using monkey anatomy to infer human anatomy. Galen also put forward the theory of "Three Reiki", namely "Reiki of Vitality", "Reiki of Nature" and "Reiki of Soul", to explain the physiological mechanism of the human body. Galen's pharmacological writings introduce a variety of medicinal materials, about 820 species, including animals, plants, and minerals. Galen's theory was regarded as a classic in the medieval West until Harvey proposed the theory of blood circulation in the 17th century.

Astronomy:

There was Ptolemy (85-168), an astronomer in Alexandria, Egypt, who wrote 13 volumes of the Astronomical Collection. The book is a collection of ancient Greek and Roman astronomy, the book uses geometric systems to describe the motion of celestial bodies, and has a star map including 1022 stars, which was extremely complete in ancient times. In addition, the book also discusses the calculation of the calendar, the calculation of solar and lunar eclipses, and the production and use of astronomical instruments. However, since Ptolemy believed in the "geocentric theory", in order to make this theory valid, he designed an extremely complex celestial geometry system to solve some problems that the prediction of the geocentric theory did not match the actual, so that the calculation results were roughly similar to the actual observations. Before Copernicus put forward the "heliocentric theory", Ptolemaic's theory was dominant in Europe.

Geography:

Strabo (64-23 BC) wrote 17 volumes of Geography. The "known world" of the Romans at that time is described in detail, including all parts of Europe, West Asia and North Africa, involving the physical and human geography of various places. The book also discusses the impact of the environment on the economic life of various places and the study of cities. . Before the Great Discovery of Geography, the book was the most detailed geographical work in the West.

Pliny the Elder (23-79) authored 37 volumes of "Natural History", covering all aspects of science at that time, involving astronomy, geography, biology, medicine, agriculture, minerals, and so on. "Natural History" is written on the basis of Pliny the Elder's notes of reading and seeing for many years. The whole book is unclassified and relatively messy. The greatest achievement of "Natural History" is that it records more than 20,000 things and excerpts 2,000 kinds of documents. A variety of, so that many precious scientific records were handed down at that time. It is an extremely rare encyclopedic work in ancient times.

●Philosophy

Neo-Stoic philosophy prevailed during the Empire, with leading philosophers Seneca and Emperor Marc Aurelius preaching fatalism and asceticism.

After the crisis of the 3rd century, Neoplatonism focused on the mysticism of the time, represented by Plotinus and Proclus. Calling God the origin of the world is an absolutely infinite existence and cannot be known. The flesh of man is the source of sin, and man must get rid of the flesh before he can communicate with God and obtain the truth. This is the doctrine of "Oneness of Man and God".

In Christianity, a theology called "Father Theology" emerged, represented by St. Augustine. St. Augustine wrote "On the City of God", "Confessions" (different from Rousseau's "Confessions"), etc., integrating Neoplatonism into Christian teachings. Father-in-law philosophy uses philosophy to demonstrate many of today's basic doctrines, mainly theism, Trinity, Creation, Original Sin, Redemption, and the Kingdom of Heaven.

●History

Li Wei, a historian in the Octavian period (59-17 years ago), wrote 142 volumes of "The History of Rome Since the Founding of the City" (also known as "History of Rome"), of which 36 volumes exist, describing the legendary construction of Romulus. History of the city of Rome to 9 years. This history book is the first general history of Western historiography. And the writing is wonderful.

Tacitus (55-120) wrote 12 volumes of History, which mainly recounted the history of the reign of the Flavian Dynasty. Since Tacitus lived in this period and experienced many historical events, the narrative is also quite detailed and vivid. Since Tacitus was politically inclined toward the republic and opposed to the emperor, the book criticized reality and sang ancient heroes. In addition, Tacitus's writings have been praised and criticized, and they have criticized and praised various historical figures, aiming to carry forward noble morality. In addition, Tacitus also has works such as "Germania" and "Chronicle" handed down.

●Law

The 2nd-century jurist, Guyo, wrote The Ladder of Jurisprudence. In the 3rd century, jurists compiled the Code of Gregorian and the Code of Hermogenes, preserving a large number of imperial edicts and decrees. Roman law has a far-reaching influence on the formulation of laws in modern society. Now the laws of civil law countries, such as debt law, property law, and other laws, all bear the shadow of Roman law.

●Construction

Colosseum

The Colosseum in Rome was built during the Flavian Dynasty. It has three floors of arches and can accommodate tens of thousands of people. It is a place for gladiatorial performances. There are complex underground facilities for gladiatorial performances, and even water can be used for naval battles. The Arc de Triomphe also originated in Rome and was built for the triumph of the emperor. Now there are two triumphal arches in the ancient city of Rome, one was built by Didu and the other was built by Constantine, with exquisite reliefs on them.

●Literature

There is Virgil, a poet in the Octavian period (70 years ago - 19 years ago), whose early works include 10 "Pastoral Songs", mainly singing pastoral life. In the first 29 years, Virgil published four volumes of "Pastoral Poems" (also translated as "Agricultural Poems"), which mainly talked about agricultural production and also sang about rural scenery. On the Keeping of Livestock, Book IV on the Keeping of Bees. In his later years, Virgil wrote 12 volumes of the epic "Aenes" (also translated "Iniat"), which is about how the hero Aenes escaped from Troy and came to Yida in Roman mythology. The story of profit and kingship.

Ovid (43-14 years ago) was famous for his love poems, and he became famous for "Love Songs", a collection of love poems in 3 volumes and 49 pieces. He is also the author of 21 "Lady Letters", which are love letters written by Ovid based on mythological stories and in the tone of the heroine in the love story. Ovid's Kama Sutra was sentenced to exile in the Black Sea region for violating Octavian's policy of "clarifying customs". The long poem "Metamorphoses" (different from Kafka's "Metamorphoses") is Ovid's representative work. It was written around the time of exile and rewrote many myths and legends.

●Agriculture

The most important part of the economy of the Roman Empire was agriculture. The main food crop of the Roman Empire was wheat, which was grown all over the empire, especially in the eastern provinces. The main economic crops in Rome are olives and grapes. The Mediterranean area is the main planting area of grapes and olives. The grapes are grown to the north, and the olives are the most grown in Spain. Rome imported a large amount of grain, wine and oil from the eastern provinces every year, and the eastern provinces were also an important source of Roman tax revenue. In terms of production technology, the efficiency of agricultural production is not high, and the common is the two-zone crop rotation. The agricultural industry is mainly large-scale estates, using slave and slave labor, and small farmers have almost disappeared. In the later years of the Empire, these estates heavily influenced the state's taxation.

●handicrafts

The main handicraft industry of the Roman Empire was pottery making because the transportation of food, wine, oil, and other commodities required pottery. The Italian pottery center is mainly in Pozzuoli, and the pottery industry in Gaul is also very competitive. The Gauls also invented the double-eared urn. The mining industry in Spain is very developed and monopolized by the state. In the textile industry, woolen wool from Padua, woolen cloak from Spain and a hooded coat from Gaul are well known. There is also a handicraft industry in Spain for making fish sauce, a seasoning made from fish.

At the beginning, the Roman Empire only traded with some small countries around it, and the scope was small. It was not until 138 BC to 119 BC that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian twice to the Western Regions to reach the sphere of Roman rule, and then the East and the West were closely linked ("together" seems to be an overstatement). In the Western Han Dynasty, silk fabrics, tea, and porcelain were exchanged for rest, and gems, spices, medicinal materials, and glassware of Greece, Rome, Dashi, and Macedonia were exchanged. In addition to frequent visits, they also convey their own products and technologies to each other, promoting the exchange of material and spiritual civilizations between the East and the West, and benefiting the people of the East and the West a lot.

●The period of the head of state

Augustus - Tiberius - Caligula - Claudius I - Nero - Galba - Otho - Vitellius - Vespasian - Titus - Domitian - Nerva - Figure Rajen

Hadrian - Antonin Beau - Marcus Aurelius - Verus - Commodus - Petinax - Julianus - Severus - Caracalla - Macrinus

Diadumenian - Elagabalus - Alexandre Severus

●Crisis of the Third Century

Maximinus - Gordian I - Gordian II - Pupienus - Barbinus - Gordian III - Arab Philip - Decius - Helenius

Hostilian - Gallus - Volusianus - Emilianus - Valerian - Gallienus - Thessaloninus - Claudius II - Quintilus - Ole good

Claudius Tacitus - Florianus - Probus - Carus - Numerian - Carinus

●Monarchy period

Diocletian - Maximian - Constantius I - Galerius - Severus II - Maxentius - Lycinius - Maximinus - Valerius s valens

Martinianus - Constantine I - Constantine II - Constantine I - Constantius II - Julian - Jovian - Valentinian I - Va Lens

Gratian - Valentinian II - Theodosius I