Rome Rising Notes

The Late Roman Republic and the Annexation of Egypt

Growth of the Roman Republic

The Roman Republic expanded significantly over several centuries. Here's a timeline of that growth:

  • 338 BC: Latin War

  • 290 BC: Samnite Wars

  • 264 BC: Pyrrhic War, northern Italy

  • 241 BC: 1st Punic War

  • 218 BC: Between 1st and 2nd Punic Wars

  • 192 BC: 2nd Punic War, Cisalpine Gaul

  • 167 BC: Celtiberians, 1st-3rd Macedonian Wars

  • 146 BC: 3rd Punic War, 4th Macedonian War

  • 133 BC: Numantia, Pergamon

  • 118 BC: Narbo, Balearic Islands

  • 96 BC: Jugurthine War, Cilicia, Cyrene

  • 64 BC: Sertorian War, Mithridatic Wars

  • 44 BC: Cyprus, Gallic Wars, Numidia

  • 27 BC: Egypt and Moesia under Octavian

  • AD 14: Reign of Augustus

  • AD 37: Reigns of Caligula and Claudius

  • AD 54: Reign of Tiberius

  • AD 84: Agricola, German frontier, Taurica

  • AD 102-118: Reign of Trajan

  • AD 113-117: Temporary conquests

  • AD 142-185: Intermittent Roman control

  • AD 172-180:

  • AD 201: Reign of Septimius Severus

  • AD 202-203:

Egypt was variously a Roman client, a province, and partitioned off and on from 66 BC.

Egypt Prior to the Romans

  • Controlled by the Ptolemaic Dynasty (Founded by Greek Macedonian Ptolemy I after the breakup of Alexander the Great’s territories)

  • Ptolemaic period in Egypt: 305 – 30 BCE

Background on the end of the Ptolemaic period in Egypt

  • In 51 B.C., Ptolemy XII dies, leaving the throne to 18-year-old Cleopatra and her brother, the 10-year-old Ptolemy XIII.

  • Soon after they assumed power, complications arose between Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII.

  • Around this same time, the civil war between military leaders Julius Caesar and Pompey was consuming Rome.

  • Pompey eventually sought refuge in Egypt, but, on orders by Ptolemy, was killed.

  • In pursuit of his rival, Caesar followed Pompey into Egypt, where he met and eventually had a romantic affair with Cleopatra.

  • With Caesar, Cleopatra now had access to enough military muscle to dethrone her brother and solidify her grip on Egypt as sole ruler.

  • Cleopatra follows Caesar back to Rome but returned to Egypt in 44 B.C., following his assassination.

  • In 41 B.C., Second Triumvirate ruling Rome: Marc Antony, Octavian (Caesar’s great-nephew), Marcus Aemilius Lepidus

  • Love affair between Antony and Cleopatra

  • Antony, who presided over Rome's eastern areas, saw in Cleopatra the chance for financial and military support to secure his own rule over the empire.

  • Cleopatra had her own motivations, as well: in exchange for her help, she sought the return of Egypt's eastern empire, which included large areas of Lebanon and Syria.

  • In 34 B.C., Antony returned with Cleopatra to Alexandria, Egypt

  • In 31 B.C., Cleopatra and Antony combined armies to try to defeat Octavian in a raging sea battle at Actium, off Greece’s west coast.

  • After suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of Octavian, Mark Antony, believing Cleopatra to be dead, killed himself.

  • Cleopatra followed by also committing suicide, supposedly by being bitten by an asp.

  • Following Cleopatra's death, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire.

  • Octavian (later “Augustus”): Rome’s first emperor

The Development of the Empire

Augustus: Rome’s First Emperor (r. 27 BCE – 14 CE)

  • Claims to be restoring Roman Republic

  • Senate grants extraordinary powers

  • “Princeps”: First Citizen

  • Senatorial provinces vs. imperial provinces

  • More marginalized role of senate

  • Role of High Priest

Administering Roman Egypt

  • Division of nomes in the Nile Delta

  • Traditional Egyptian god Horus as a Roman soldier

Trends in Imperial Rule

  • Increasingly autocratic system

  • More centralized authority of emperors following Augustus

  • Senate’s role continues to diminish

  • After split of empire: system is more formalized and bureaucratic

  • Smaller administrative units

  • More important imperial court

Life in the Roman World

Projections of Imperial Power

Case Study: Augustus' Horologium

  • Dedication:

    • IMP CAESAR DIVI F

    • AVGVSTVS

    • PONTIFEX MAXIMVS

    • IMP XII COS XI TRIB POT XIV

    • AEGYPTO IN POTESTATEM

    • POPVLI ROMANI REDACTA

    • SOLI DONVM DEDIT

  • Caesar Augustus, imperator, son of a divus, pontifex maximus, imperator 12 times, consul 11 times, with tribunician power 14 times when Egypt had been brought into the domain of the Roman people, gave this gift to the Sun.

  • The obelisk is in visual dialogue with Augustus' Ara Pacis.

Roman Infrastructural Development in Eastern Desert of Egypt

  • Via Nova Hadriana

Administration and Social Order

Roman Social Order

  1. Emperor and Imperial Family

  2. Patricians

  3. Equestrians

  4. Plebeians

  5. Enslaved People

The Patriarchal Structure of the Roman Empire and the Role of Women

Economy

Agricultural Production in the Roman Empire

  • Main crops: grain, olives, grapes, fruits, vegetables

  • Livestock: cattle, sheep, pigs

  • Fishing and Hunting

Roman Craft Production
Roman Taxation: The Backbone of Empire

  • Highly organized, overseen by officials

  • Some taxes fixed, others more variable

  • Paid in money or goods in kind

Trade, Commerce, and Mobility in the Roman Empire

Religion

The Traditional Pantheon of the Romans

  • The Pantheon building in central Rome dedicated to all the traditional Roman gods

  • Augustus as Pontifex Maximus (High Priest of Rome)

  • Statues of Juno, Jupiter, and Neptune

The Imperial Cult

  • The apotheosis of Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161 CE) on a column base in central Rome

Mystery Cults

  • Mithras killing a bull (2nd c. CE)

  • Ceremony worshipping the sarcophagus of Osiris depicted in the Temple of Isis at Pompeii (1st c. CE)

Christianity and Judaism in the Roman Empire

  • Christian Emperor Justinian (r. 527–565 CE)

  • Relief from the Arch of Titus showing Roman soldiers carrying off the spoils from the temple in Jerusalem, including a menorah (81 CE)