Ancient Roman: The Roman Empire MT2

midterm 2

Ampitheater

Two theaters put facing each other. This was used for gladiatorial combat. The most famous ampitheater is the Ampitheater Flavian also known as the colosseum. The Ampitheater is a venue for public entertainment where paying spectators would watch ritualized blood shed. Having an ampitheater was key to being a city. Unlike other spectacles such as drama coming from the greeks the amphitheater is distinctly roman.

In an amphitheater events there was:

• Morning: Venatio (“wild-beast hunt”) trained hunters would kill animals for entertainment. The more rare/dangerous the animal, the better

• Early Afternoon: executions. People who were condemned criminals. Lots of art of people being executed by beasts.

• Late Afternoon: Gladiators. Typically men who fought against eachother. Could be prisoners of war or criminals forced to fight eachother but most usually was professionals who were gladiators as a career. Also there would rarely be fights to death.

Two proposed ideas of why gladiatoral combat was so common and important to roman culture

• the romans were so violent they needed an outlet even in cities for violence

• the amphitheater reinforce social and moral order. The people in seats are more important than those fighting on the sand.

Antonine Plague

An outbreak of smallpox in the late 160s CE ( Golden age) from the east, brought over by the return of Roman soldiers; kills ~10% of Roman population, ~25% of Romans in large cities and military camps

Thought to be brought back from soldiers campaigning in the East in about year 155. First time smallpox would enter the Mediterranean

This plague hit during the reign of Marcus Aurelius and was terrible timing. The death of people meant less people to tax and the mass death of soldiers was even worse since rome was fighting germanic tribes at the time. It compounded the financial and military issues Marcus Aurelius was facing

Shows consequences of increased, globalized empire

Death usually comes from ENDEMIC (native), isolated shocks, not outside disease

auxiliary cohort

An army unit made up of NON-CITIZENS

Under Augustus not only were legions but also auxiliary cohorts were made to permanently standard with a career in the military (a paid salary and fixed term of service which was 20 but got bumped up to 25)

Mid second century there was 440 auxiliary cohorts

Auxiliary cohorts were made up of basically every corner of the empire and even beyond. In the republic they were commanded by their own chiefdoms but under the empire (1st century CE) they were commanded by roman officials always of the equestrian prefect rank (an auxilia)

Why did they fight?

A salary

And if you serve 25 years you get yourself and your family citizenship forever making it a way for social mobility

centurion

The men within the legionary structure that actually know what they are doing. There are 59 of them (technically 60 but the first centurion is called the primus pilus). They are enlisted men who fought and rose to the position of the centurion (also meaning there is a career structure).

How the upper commanders who were made up of aristocrats of senatorial rank were able to lead a successful army was because of the centurions.

Codex Iustinianus

Made in 529 it was the first of the three books of roman law made by Emperor Justinian. Inspired by the Codex of Theodosianus who was the first too collect all imperial constitutions, Justian went further and had all the constitutions edited, shortened, and got rid of all contradictions within the constitutions. Basically was very very useful for law because there was no other collection like it that was actually consistent but hard for historians because we cannot tell what was changed.

Remains a source for us understanding roman law and european law to this day.

Commodus

The emperor that follows Marcus Aurelius. He reigned from 180-192 and was an emperor born to the purple. The 6 good emperors were all adopted so had the idea that they were the best man for the job, however Commodus was born to Marcus while Marcus was emperor. Marcus was the first emperor since Vespasian to have a naturally born son.

He co-ruled as Marcus since 176, got the imperium and tribunician power and title of Augustus before Marcus died so there was no question about who would become emperor. Then Marcus died in 180 and at age 19, Commodus took over

Commodus was an awful emperor though. Like really bad.

Marcus left Commodus many good advisors but Commodus ignored them.

His partisans seemed out of control since his chamberlain (Cleander) was rivals with the praetorian prefect (Perennis) and got Perennis killed. Cleander was a freedman yet he became praetorian prefect which was crazy to the romans

He had no military victories, he literally pulled out of a war and still had a triumph for doing nothing

He got excessive honors. He renamed Rome to Colonia Commodian. He renamed every month for features about himself. He also called himself Hercules Romanus

Most shockingly, he preformed as a gladiator. If Nero singing on tour was bad….this was worse

Also killed senators for laughing at him after he killed an ostrich

His terrible reign ended December 31st of 192 and his memory was condemned

His death ended the Antonine dynasty and left a vacuum of power

consilium

A group of Amici (“friends” who in practice was the group of people the emperor relied on.) They were an informal group of people who the emperor would trust and consult with on any matters. We don't really know the extent of or how stable this group was. However, they did hold a lot of power due to being the ones the emperor would go to.

The praetorian prefect is the most important figure in the consilium. They get even more important later. There are two prefects one with the troop and one in the Consilium. The one in the consilium gets more administrative and legal roles than the prefect with the military but technically still is a consultant that represents the military

constitutio Antoniniana

Passed by Emperor Caracalla in 212. It was an edict that granted full roman citizenship forever to basically all inhabitants of the Roman Empire which ended the hierarchy of romans (citizens) and “foreigners” as in non roman-citizens

It is debated about how much it impacted or why it was even made in the first place.

Possible Motivation:

Dio claims it was for tax purposes since non roman-citizens did not have to pay indirect taxes to the roman empire (such as inheritance tax) but thats iffy

Could also be to make a universal community between the emperor and his citizens for ideological purposes. People owe their citizenship to him.

Possible effects?

MAJOR DEBATE

Could symbolize THE major turning point of the roman empire since citizenship gives full protection of the law, has symbolic status, and converts the whole empire into a community resembling a nation

Could also not be important since it did not really change the lives of most inhabitants so most did not care. The big prevailing hierarchy distinction was honestiores and Humilories. Also Dio barely talks about the edict so that implies its not really important

familia urbana

An “urban slave household”.

Enslaved people had radically different experiences. Urban enslaved people tended to have better lives than their rural counterparts.

Most evidence for Urban slavery comes from rome and italy

The main occupation for urban enslaved persons were domestic or household services

Very common for people to own enslaved people

In elite households assignments were very particular. They wouldnt have overlapping roles.

One reason wide revolts were rare and revolutions never happened was because of the huge different experience between urban and rural enslaved persons. An enslaved person in an urban house does not have the want to side with a rural enslaved person despite both having awful conditions.

Also for urban enslaved persons they were expected to be freed almost automatically around the age of 30

Gallic Empire

During the third century crisis, Emperor Gallienus (253-268) was facing threats on the Danubian frontier due to many tribes such as the goths invading the Balkan area and Gaul. Legions of the Rhine thought Gallienus was an ineffective emperor so they proclaimed their own commander, Postumus, emperor. Gallienus had so much on his plate due to the third century crisis (I.e invasions, financial issues, etc) that he recognized Postumus as an emperor. Postumus reaches out to legions in spain and Britain and create the Gallic empire in 260 separated from the central state of Rome. It was more roman looking and more structured than the Palmyrene empire and showed the roman imperials losing hold on territory. This empire lasted 14 years but was destroyed by Emperor Aurelian in 274.

honestiores

A distinction for judicial punishments. This class was made of senators, equestrians, decuriones, soldiers, and veterans

The distinction between Honestiores and humiliores transcended the free/slave distinction and the non-citizen/citizen distinction

The social distinction made the roman legal system incredibly unfair as over the 2nd century, the punishment you got for the same crime was different based on your status.

The worse punishment an honestiores could get was fines and exiles (even if they committed mass murder or smth)

Humiliores

Everyone else who is not a senator, equestrian, decuriones, soldiers, and veterans (I.e an honestiores)

The distinction between Honestiores and humiliores transcended the free/slave distinction and the non-citizen/citizen distinction

The social distinction made the roman legal system incredibly unfair as over the 2nd century, the punishment you got for the same crime was different based on your status.

Humilores were subjected to capital punishment even if they committed the same crime a honestiores (the worse honestiores could face was like exile and fines). And as time went on lesser offenses committed by humiliores were punished with capital punishment and overtime capital punishments got more violent

Examples of capital punishment

Crematio (being burned at the stake)

Crux (crucifixion)

Condemnatio ad bestias (being thrown to beasts in an arena for paid spectators to watch you die)

interpretatio romana

Literally “latin translation” which is just the word for syncretism. Syncretism is when one or more deities become associated/merged with one another. So essentially Jupiter is associated with Zeus, Juno with Hera, etc.

This mainly affected the western half of the empire as the eastern half were able to keep their old practices and old religious systems basically the same.

The western half had their older religious systems romanized, local deities became merged with roman gods therefore viewed as the roman gods instead of what they used to be viewed as.

The spread of syncretism diffused the roman imperial cult giving subjects the consciousness that they were subjects to a single political force. Syncretism helped create the approximation of an empire wide religion.

Isis

She was originally an Egyptian goddess in which she already took on forms of other gods. She embodies law, justice, and making sure vows are kept sacred and are not broken plus as an universalizing identity.

The goddess of the one of the two big mystery cults. Her mystery cult due to not being tied to sanctuaries or cities was able to travel far across the empire. Her cult, like other mystery cults, started in the east in small local context and spread rapidly across the empire and gave individual worshippers a form of personal salvation that can be seen as a precursor to christianity

Unlike other civic temples her cult has an official priesthood (not made up of aristocrats) and her temples were not just visited for festivals like they were for the official roman religion but instead individuals would visit her temples to reflect and contemplate.

Joining her mystery cult is thought to cause the individual to have a series of visions. We are unsure what about but some say its about personal salvation.

Isis represents unofficial religions, that is religion not regulated by the roman state.

Julia Domna

The wife of Emperor Septimius Servus. She was from Emesa, syria and comes from a priestly family that worship Heliogabalus. Her origin is similar to Servus because he came from north africa therefore both arent italians.

Its her grand nephews Elagabalus and Severus Alexander who become the two last emperors of the severan dynasty showing the bloodline of the dynasty is through the woman.

She represents the turn of imperial women becoming more important publicly

Praefectus Annonae

The civil servant position created under Augustus to manage the Annona (food supply distribution system of Rome); the position oversees the process of getting food from Black Sea, North Africa/Egypt, and distributing it to 200k Romans in supplementary amounts

Showcases consolidation of power to the Roman emperor and challenges of a growing Roman population