The Roman Empire can be used to represent all the land under Roman rule. The expansion of Rome made Rome surpass the concept of city-state and become an empire. The heyday of Roman territory was the reign of Trajan. At this time, the Roman Empire controlled about 5.9 million square kilometers of land, making it one of the largest countries in the ancient history of the world.
After Octavian established the empire, he founded the head of state system called Augustus. The Roman Empire is generally divided into two stages: the early empire (-192) and the late empire (193-476). The early empire reached its peak through the Jorio-Claudia dynasty, the Flavian dynasty and the Antoine dynasty (the era of five wise emperors). National stability and social prosperity are called the golden age of Rome. Later empires, from the crisis of the third century, were ruled by the emperors of Illyria, Diocletian and Constantine the Great, and were formally divided into two parts after the death of Theodosius I (395). In 476, Odiak deposed the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, romulus Augustus Orus, and the Western Roman Empire perished. The Eastern Roman Empire was destroyed by the Ottoman Empire until 1453, and historians called it the Byzantine Empire.
The establishment of the Roman Empire
The Roman Republic was weakened by the power struggle between Marius and Sura, followed by Caesar's civil war against Pompeii. In these riots, many members of parliament were killed, executed, murdered or committed suicide. The Senate is full of supporters of the first three heads, and later they are supporters of the last three heads.
After the disintegration of the last three-headed alliance, Octavian and Anthony carved up the eastern and western parts of Rome, and the contradictions between the two sides became increasingly fierce. In September of 3 1 year, Octavian fought Antony and Queen Cleopatra VII in Aksin, Greece. At the height of the war, the Queen of Egypt thought that Anthony had no chance of winning, so she withdrew her troops to Egypt, and Anthony also went to Egypt together. Octavian then invaded Egypt, the Queen of Egypt and Anthony committed suicide, and Egypt was also occupied by Rome.
Twenty-seven years ago, Octavian said that he would abolish all powers and restore the * * * * system; At the same time, he pretended to be forced by the demands of the Senate and citizens, accepted the absolute power completely opposite to the * * * system, and became the head of state (or translated as "the first citizen"), the supreme commander (or translated as "the ever-victorious general" and "the grand marshal"), the supreme acting consul, the lifelong consul, the tribune, the high priest and the first elder, and obtained it. Octavian's wonderful performance declared the establishment of the Roman Empire.
Pre-imperial era
Julius Claudius dynasty
During Octavian's reign, he continued to fight abroad. After many years of hard struggle with the tribes in northern Spain, Spain was completely conquered in 19 years ago. From 16, the empire sent troops to the eastern Alps and the upper reaches of the Danube, and established two provinces, Leiting and Norick. Then he sent troops to the middle and lower reaches of the Danube to establish Pannonia and Misia provinces. Rome conquered the land between the Rhine River and the Elbe River after years of war from 12 to 5 years ago. But riots broke out in the newly conquered land. In 9, Varus, a Roman general, was ambushed in the Teutonburg forest war to suppress the German uprising, and was completely annihilated, which forced Rome to give up the land between the Rhine River and the Elbe River. After that, Octavian did not make a large-scale expedition, and the next hundred years were a long period of stability, which was called the Roman peace period.
Octavian passed on his adopted son Tiberius after his death in 14. Tiberius strengthened the imperial power, abolished the legislative power and voting right of the assembly, concentrated the guards in Rome to defend the emperor, sanctioned all words and deeds that opposed or criticized the emperor, and demanded that the Senate only express the same opinion as him. Tiberius retired to Capri in 26 years because of his arbitrariness and tense relationship with the Senate, where he ruled Rome for nearly ten years. In 37, Tiberius was killed by guards on Capri Island.
After Tiberius died, the guards made Rikka Regula emperor. This is the first time in Roman history that the army established an emperor. Ka Regula suffers from mental illness, ignores national politics and is addicted to recreational activities. He is moody and often executes people or confiscates property. He even appointed his mount as consul. For 40 years, he preached personal dictatorship and deified the emperor in Rome. In 4 1 year, Ka Regula was killed by the guards.
After Regula died, the guards made his uncle Claudius the elder heir to the throne. Claudius reformed political institutions and established a bureaucratic system. The central government has three departments, namely, the Secretariat (responsible for internal affairs and military diplomacy), the Ministry of Finance (responsible for finance) and the Ministry of Justice (responsible for law), and promotes the status of knights and grants Roman citizenship to residents of various provinces, so provincial nobles can also serve as senior officials or elders. During the reign of Claudius, ostia Port at the mouth of the Tiber River and a large-scale water pipeline were also built. In terms of external expansion, Claudius newly conquered southern England and Mauritania. In 54, Claudius was poisoned by little Queen Agrippina.
After Claudius died, Nero, the adopted son, succeeded to the throne. Nero was a famous tyrant in Roman history. He ignored national politics, was cruel and murderous, was keen on entertainment, acting and playing with women, and called himself a "great artist". In 64, a fire broke out in Rome, and almost the whole city was burned down. Instead, Nero recited poems in the palace. After the fire, he built a new palace and named it "Golden Hall". At that time, it was widely rumored that Nero set fire to build a new palace. Nero took Christians as scapegoats and killed them on a large scale in order to dispel rumors. Because of Nero's tyranny, Britain, Gaul, Spain and other places rebelled constantly, and the Jewish war broke out in Palestine. At this time, Nero went to Greece for a long journey of art and drama, saying that "Greeks are the only people who can enjoy music". In 68, Spanish general Garba rebelled and proclaimed himself emperor. The Senate immediately recognized Garba as the emperor, declared Nero an enemy of the motherland and sentenced him to death. Nero committed suicide on the run.
During the four emperors' civil strife
After Garba proclaimed himself emperor, due to his old age and weak body, he was unable to control the situation, which led to the arrogance of generals everywhere. In June 65438 +69 10, Vitrius, the governor of Lower Germanic, proclaimed himself emperor. At the same time, Garba was killed by his subordinate Osso, and he became emperor himself. In March, Vitri Wu Si sent troops to compete for the throne with Osso, who committed suicide after being defeated. In July, Wei Pami, the general who put down the Jewish rebellion, proclaimed himself emperor. On June+10, 5438, Wei Pami defeated Vitri and ended the civil war.
Flavi dynasty
After Wei Ba came to power, the empire faced a crisis. He first suppressed the uprisings in various places. In 70, his son Titus led an army to attack Jerusalem. After breaking the city, he slaughtered it and looted it. Countless people were crucified. In order to make up for the huge fiscal deficit, he raised the tax rate by a large margin, and raised the tax amount of each province, so as to obtain enough funds to rectify the military and political affairs. In addition, during the reign of Wei Boxiang, the status of the province was greatly strengthened. In 73, he joined the provincial nobles in the Senate and granted Roman citizenship to many provincial nobles, enabling them to participate in politics extensively.
After Wei Pami died in 79 AD, his son Titus succeeded to the throne. Titus was a moderate politician. During his term of office, Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompeii. Titus died in August1and his younger brother Titus Flavius Domitianus succeeded him. It is rumored that titus was poisoned by Titus Flavius Domitianus. Titus Flavius Domitianus is autocratic, pretending to be "God and God" and despising the Senate. In terms of external expansion, Titus Flavius Domitianus succeeded in South Germanic, but lost twice in the war against Dacia, so he had to give gifts and make peace. 1989, Titus Flavius Domitianus executed a large number of elders and dignitaries on the pretext of supporting the rebellion, which aroused public dissatisfaction. 1996, Titus Flavius Domitianus died in a palace coup.
Antoine dynasty (five emperors period)
After Titus Flavius Domitianus's death, the Senate elected Marcus Cocceius nerva, a former consul who participated in the coup, as emperor. Marcus Cocceius nerva respects and treats the elderly well, and the authority of the Senate has been restored to some extent. But Marcus Cocceius nerva is very unpopular among the army and military commanders. In order to win the support of the army, Marcus Cocceius nerva chose German Governor Trajan as his adopted son in the second year of his reign, which successfully calmed the dissatisfaction of the army.
In 98, after Marcus Cocceius nerva's death, Trajan ascended the throne. He was the first emperor to be born into a noble family in other provinces. Trajan continued to implement Marcus Cocceius nerva's policy of treating the elderly well, built public facilities and actively expanded overseas. The period of Trajan was the greatest period of the Roman Empire. From 10 1, Trajan led the troops to invade Dacia. By 106, Dacia was completely conquered and Dacia was established as a province. Trajan held a grand triumph, announced the123rd festival and built a Trajan column to commemorate it. 105, Trajan occupied northern Arabia and established Arab provinces. 1 14, Trajan was merged into Armenia and established as a province of Armenia. Trajan continued eastward, defeated the Parthian army, and occupied Taixi Peak, the capital of Parthia, in 1 16. At the end of that year, Trajan arrived in the Persian Gulf. He was the only Roman commander who had been here. 1 17, Trajan was seriously ill, and two provinces of Assyria and Mesopotamia were established. On his deathbed, Hadrian was declared his adopted son.
After Trajan's death, Hadrian succeeded to the throne. Hadrian turned the offensive to the defensive, abandoned the land conquered by Trajan in the east, and built a continuous side wall in the northern frontier to strengthen the defense. Hadrian's transition from head of state to absolute monarchy took his own will as the supreme law. And vigorously strengthen the status of knights, making them a special bureaucratic class. He also set up a Fuehrer's Advisory Committee, which was directly responsible for him, carried out his instructions, ordered jurists to make permanent humiliation the legal basis of the empire, strengthened the romanization of provinces, and narrowed the distance between provinces, cities and Rome. But in 13 1 year, Hadrian banned Jewish circumcision, kept the Sabbath and read Jewish law, which triggered the Jewish uprising. It took the Roman army three years to slaughter 580,000 Jews before suppressing the uprising. Since then, Jews have been forced to wander around the world. /kloc-in 0/38, Hadrian died, and when he was seriously ill, he declared Anthony as his adopted son.
After Antoine ascended the throne, the external convergence boundary was generally good, he was diligent and loved the people at home and had a good relationship with the Senate. Rome has enjoyed peace and prosperity for more than 20 years. 16 1 year, Anthony died.
After Antoine's death, the queen was succeeded by two adopted sons, Verus and Marco Horillo. This was the first time in Roman history that two emperors ruled her. Mark Horrillo, known as the "Emperor of Philosophy", is the author of Meditation at Once and the main expositor of Stoic philosophy. Verus is a mediocre man. When they ascended the throne, the situation on the imperial border was very serious. /kloc-Parthia invaded Armenia in 0/62, and Verus fought hard for four years before repelling the Parthians. Then a plague broke out and a large number of Romans died. 167, the Germans invaded again, and the two emperors had to lead the army to conquer. Due to financial constraints, the emperors sold the crown jewels to raise their salaries. 169, when Verus died, the empire resumed its status as emperor. Mark Orie eased the pressure of the Germans on the empire a little and allowed them to settle on the border of the empire, which laid a hidden danger for the barbarian invasion in the future. 175, the rebellion launched by General cassius broke out in the East. After putting down the rebellion, Mark Horilo launched a war against Germany again, trying to annex Bohemia, but just as he was about to succeed, Mark Horilo died in the army in 180. Rome has begun to decline.
Late empire
The beginning of the crisis in the 3rd century.
After the death of Mark Holliro, his son Commodus succeeded to the throne. Commodus indulged in debauchery and left all political affairs to his minions and guard officers. 182, his sister and some elders tried to assassinate him. After the news leaked, he executed all the people involved in the assassination and many innocent people. Commodus is cruel and suspicious, loves circus, wrestling and other sports activities, and calls himself the reincarnation of Hercules. Put on a gladiator costume and take part in a gladiator competition. The rule of Commodus aroused people's dissatisfaction. Many people plotted to assassinate him, and Commodus became more eccentric and tyrannical. 193 On New Year's Day, when Commodus dressed as a gladiator and announced that he would become the consul of that year, his mistress gave him a glass of poisoned wine, and then he was strangled by a wrestler sent by the leader of the Guards.
After Commodus died, the guards put Pertinax, the city leader, on the throne. Pertinax is just a puppet. When he tried to clean up the military discipline, he was immediately killed by the guards. After Roland's death, the Guards will announce the auction of the throne, and whoever pays more can become emperor. After many people's competition and bargaining, Julie Annous bought the throne at a price satisfactory to the guards. But Julie Annous has no followers, he is just a puppet, and the provincial army is even more dismissive of him. Syrian Governor nazir took the lead in proclaiming himself emperor. Then Severus, the governor of Pannonia and a North African, rebelled and invaded Rome. The Senate declared Severus emperor and killed Julie Annous. Severus also executed all the original guards for treason and formed a new and larger guard with his soldiers.
Seville dynasty
Severus proclaimed himself, and immediately went to war with nazir, who had proclaimed himself. 194, nazir was defeated by yisu. 197, Severus defeated the rebellious British Governor Albinus in Lyon, 193 ended the civil war. Severus, as a soldier, once acted arbitrarily and ignored the Senate, removing the elders from important positions one by one and replacing them with uneducated knights. Severus' rule was supported by the army. He expanded the Roman army to an unprecedented extent, most of them were foreigners, tried every means to win over the army, paid high salaries to the army, and rewarded the army without stint. Severus achieved great success in the military. In addition to ending the civil war, it defeated the Parthians in 199 and merged into Mesopotamia. Severus raised the imperial power to the supreme level. His jurist said that Severus was not bound by all laws, but was the master of anyone, and the empire was his property. In 2008, Severus sent troops to Britain and made little progress. 2 1 1 was seriously ill and died in York. His last words to his two sons were: "May your brothers live in harmony and make the soldiers rich, leaving others alone."
After Severus died, two sons, caracalla and Gaeta, acceded to the throne at the same time. Within a year, caracalla killed Gaeta. Caracalla was another tyrant who killed his brother and his companions, his wife and father-in-law, and many famous people. Caracalla continued Severus' policy of giving preferential treatment to the army. In order to increase income and expand tax sources, caracalla issued caracalla Priests Order in 2 12, granting Roman citizenship to all freemen in the empire. In 2 17, caracalla was killed by guards when he went to Pattaya. Then, Mark Linus, the leader of the guard, became emperor on his own, and Diaduminian was emperor. Mark Linus was the first emperor in Roman history who was not an elder but a knight. After Mark Linus succeeded to the throne, he ended the war with Parthia under extremely unfavorable conditions and cut the military expenditure, which led to the dissatisfaction of the army. In 2 18, Severus' wife and sister Julia Misa instigated a rebellion, and Mark Linus and Diadurmian were killed.
Misa made her grandson Elbagarus, who was only 13 years old, emperor, and Rome began the era of women in power. Elbagarus worships the God of the East and has a bad relationship with the Senate. In 222, Misha killed Elbagarus for his dissolute behavior, and made his other grandson, 14-year-old Alexander Severus emperor. Alexander Severus, the relationship between the emperor and the Senate has improved. Crisis broke out again on the imperial border. In 23 1 year, Alexander Severus marched eastward to Persia, and the situation improved slightly, and it was necessary to rush to the western front to resist the Germans. In 235, the army rebelled and Alexander Severus was killed.
The climax of the crisis in the 3rd century.
After Alexander Severus's death, the army immediately made Maximinus Trax emperor. Maximinus Trax came from humble origins and was despised. He treated the Senate and the people cruelly. As a result, in 238, the Senate secretly instructed the guards to kill him. Then in the same year, the Senate introduced four emperors, all of whom were killed. Golding III, who ascended the throne at that time, 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 the celebration of the founding of Rome in 1000. In 249, Philip of Arabia was killed by the rebellious general Zeus. Dixieus died in the war with the Goths in 25 1 year. During the reign of Gallus who succeeded to the throne, a persistent plague broke out. Gallus died at the hands of soldiers in 263. Valerian and Gallienus, who succeeded to the throne, had to lead two armies, one against Persians in the east and the other against Germans in the west, which opened the way for the empire to be divided into two parts. In 259, Alexandre Dumas, the general of the Rhine region, proclaimed himself emperor and established the Gaul Empire, including most parts of Gaul, Britain and Spain. In 260, Valeriana was captured while fighting the Persians. In 267, Baal Milla in the east became independent, which split some eastern provinces. At this time, the chaos in the Roman Empire reached its acme, and the central government was almost paralyzed. The emperor not only faced foreign enemies, but also suppressed the rebel army and the people's uprising. In addition, the army constantly established new emperors, hoping to get more rewards. If the reward is not generous, the emperor will be killed. In 268, Gallienus reformed the army, and all the generals broke away from other positions and became professional troops. A new reserve army was established and stationed in Milan, which was the military capital of the empire. The reformed army later successfully repelled ostrogoths's attack.
Emperor Illyria
Gallienus was killed by his men less than a year after the military reform, and Claudius II ascended the throne. He defeated Alamanni first, and then defeated the powerful Gothic army, so he was called "Gothic Conqueror". In 270, after Claudius II died of the plague, Aureliano ascended the throne. It was he who unified the Roman empire and was named "the restorer of the world". He attacked the Goths again in Pannonia, ending their invasion. Then he led the army eastward, recovered Asia Minor and Syria from Baal Milla, then invaded Baal Milla, captured Queen Sinobia of Baal Milla, and razed Baal Milla to the ground in 273. In the same year, Aureliano defeated Titrix I, the Gaul monarch, and brought Gaul, Britain and Spain back into the empire. On the Triumph, Aureliano showed Chinobia and Tittrikush. In order to strengthen the defense, Aureliano built a new wall of 20 kilometers long and 6 meters high for Rome, and abandoned Dasia to take advantage of the natural barrier of the Danube. In 275, Aureliano was killed when he went to Persia, and the Senate elected Tahitis as the emperor, which was the last time the Senate elected the emperor. Tahitis was killed less than a year after he took office, and the army promoted Probus as emperor. Probus smashed the German invasion of Gaul in three ways and expelled the Vandals from the Balkans. In 282, after the murder of Probus, carus, who ascended the throne, attacked the Germans again in the north, attacked Persia, and once occupied Taixi Peak. After carus's sudden death in 283, his younger brother Carinus succeeded to the throne. In 284, Diocletian, the leader of the Guards, defected and defeated Kalinus near Belgrade to become the ruler of the empire.
Four emperors ruled by * * *
After Diocletian proclaimed himself emperor, he changed the head of state system into an imperial system. The monarch wears a crown, precious silk robes and gold and silver jewelry, and his subjects need to bow down to the monarch. In addition, the monarch is worshipped as a god. For example, Diocletian called himself the incarnation of Jupiter. In addition, Diocletian was ruled by four emperors. There were two emperors in the east and west, one was the chief named Augustus and the other was the deputy named Caesar. The supreme power belonged to Diocletian. It also stipulates that the deputy is the adopted son-in-law of the chief executive and will give way to the deputy after serving for 20 years. In this way, Augustus Diocletian of the East was stationed in Nicomedes, ruling Thrace, the East, Asia, Egypt and Bentu, and Caesar Galerius was stationed in Thessaloniki, ruling Macedonia and Mercia. West Augustus Maxim was stationed in Milan, ruling Italy, Letian, Illyria and Africa, while Caesar Constantine I was stationed in Trier, ruling Britain, Gaul and Spain. Diocletian also reduced the size of provinces, divided more than 100 provinces, and established administrative districts, with more than a dozen provinces as one administrative district, and local governors did not hold military posts.
Diocletian reformed the army and divided it into border guards and patrol troops. Border guards are used to resist foreign invasion, and patrol troops are used to suppress people's uprisings and rebels. He also reduced the size of the legion and increased the number of legions sent. Because 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 introduced a new tax system. In terms of poll tax, it is stipulated that adult men have one head and women have half a head. Land tax is levied according to the type and area of grain fields or orchards, urban residents are taxed according to various industries, and officials, veterans and slaves are exempt from taxes. In order to ensure the tax source, Diocletian promulgated laws to prohibit farmers from moving freely, and craftsmen and businessmen changed careers, even stipulating that they must inherit their father's business. Diocletian also changed the monetary system and adjusted prices, but none of them succeeded.
Diocletian abdicated in 305 after 20 years in office, and so did Maxim. In the west, Constantine I, the enthroned monarch, died in England just over a year after his reign, and his son Constantine I succeeded him. When Constantine I ascended the throne, he only occupied Britain and Gaul, and the rest were under the control of Maximus' son Maximus. 3 12 years, defeated Maxitius and unified the west. In the East, after the death of Galerius in 3 1 1, Signius, who ascended the throne, defeated Maximinus Deya, who occupied Egypt and some Asian territories, and unified the East. In 3 13, Constantine I and Leigh Signius issued the decree of Milan, declaring Christianity legal. 3 14 there was a conflict between them and there was no draw. In 323, the two men fought again, Leonius was defeated, and Constantine became the sole ruler of the empire.
Constantine dynasty
When Constantine the Great began to rule, he was very busy throughout the empire. He adopted a method similar to Diocletian's, and appointed his three sons Constantine II, Constantine II and Constantine II as Caesar, which were part of various ruling empires. Constantine ruled the Balkans and the Black Sea, Constantine II ruled Spain, Gaul and Britain, Constantine II ruled the East and Egypt, and Constantine ruled Italy and Africa. Constantine reformed the administrative divisions and divided the whole country into four administrative regions, with administrative regions under it and provinces under it. Economically, he continued Diocletian's policy, defined hereditary occupations and fixed farmers on the land, and promulgated laws reaffirming slave owners' right to kill slaves. Militarily, Constantine abolished the praetorian guard and replaced it with the paladin cavalry guard, and recruited a large number of barbarians into the army. Constantine forcibly recruited soldiers by terrorist means, and those who refused to be soldiers might be executed. Constantine also worked hard to establish a new capital, Constantinople, next to the Bosphorus, known as New Rome. The construction of Constantinople cost countless dollars, and it took only six years until 330. In terms of religion, Constantine convened the Nicaean Conference in 325, which confirmed many basic Christian doctrines and condemned Arioux Doctrine as heresy. In 337, Constantine was seriously ill and was baptized before his death.
After Constantine's death, the Roman Empire broke out in a scuffle for the throne. Constantine II, Constantine and Ma Genan Tius were killed one after another, and Constantine II became the sole ruler in 353. In 36 1 year, Julian, the rebellious church brother of Constantine II, rebelled. Constantine II died when he conquered Julian, and Julian came to power. Influenced by neo-Platonism, Julian pursued an anti-Christian policy after taking office, vigorously assisted polytheism, Judaism and Christian heresy, attacked Christianity, burned and robbed churches, and drove Christians out of the army and schools. Julian himself wrote a book to attack Christianity. In other ways, Julian achieved economic success and stopped inflation. Defeat the Germans militarily, invade Persia and occupy Taixi Peak. Julian was killed in Persia in 363. Jubian, who ascended the throne, cancelled Julian's anti-Christian policy.
Valentini dynasty
In 364, Valentinian I, an officer of the Danube River, was made emperor by the army, and then he ceded the Eastern Empire to his brother Vallans. Valentinian I was in Milan and Vallans was in Constantinople. In 376, Valentinian I died and Valentinian II succeeded him. In 378, Vallans was killed in the battle between Adrijana Castle and the Goths, and then the east was ruled by Grati Ann and Diodosi. When Gracian died in 383, Dior West made peace with the Goths and allowed them to settle in China, join the army and serve as officials. He let Valentinian II in the west cede him a piece of land and defeated Magnus maximos and Flaviu Victor, usurpers in the west, in 388. In 392, Valentinian II was killed in Vienna.
Theodosian dynasty
In 392, after Theodosius I was killed in Valentinian II, he declared Christianity as the state religion and opposed all paganism and heresy. After defeating the western usurper Eugenius in 394, Theodosius I became the sole ruler of the empire, which was the last unification of the Roman Empire. When Dior died in 395, he divided the empire into two parts, giving the east to his eldest son, Cadiou, and the west to his youngest son, Honorius.