Transcription
[Music] Romulus, look at him. Under his auspices will be found Rome in all her glory, whose Empire shall cover the Earth and whose Spirit shall rise to the heights of Olympus. Rome and its Emperors believed that they held a golden and divinely decreed destiny to build an Empire that would span the world. To contemporaries, Rome had achieved this aspiration with an Empire that encompassed most of Europe, Asia, the Mediterranean, and parts of the African coast. It might seem that such an expansive geographical space would make the Empire fragile. However, the Roman system was maintained for over 400 years.
Join me in today's video as we explore what kind of tactics were employed by the Empire to both colonize and keep control over vast amounts of land. Rome, as a conquest state, leaned heavily on its military forces, so it's no surprise that it lay at the heart of Rome's imperial system. The Roman military is famed for their tactics and weaponry, which enabled the Empire's expansion. The equipment of Roman soldiers included the gladius, a sword, the galea, which is a helmet, and the pilum, which were all adapted and adjusted over time to make for more effective use. For example, the pilum, a javelin, was designed to be strong enough to pierce a shield, but also the top part became unusable upon impact to avoid it being used against the thrower. The Romans also made great use of projectiles and other siege weaponry, such as ballistics, catapults, and archers, as well as slingshots, which release glandes, which were small lead projectiles that made whirling sounds in the air when released. These, paired with the various tactics which the Roman military used, such as the testudo formation and the defensive setup of military encampments, all served Roman imperialism and military expansion.
But what really underpinned the Roman Empire was the size and structure of its army. The Roman army was split into two wings: the legions and the auxiliaries. The legions were composed entirely of Roman citizens. The number of Roman legions was in flux over the imperial period, but overall, it seemed to range from 25 to 33 units, which roughly had from 5,000 to 6,000 men each. Each legion was further divided up into small subdivisions known as centuries, which allowed for organization and coordination. The auxiliaries, on the other hand, were composed of non-Roman citizens and provided much of the cavalry and archers alongside other infantry. Unlike the legions, auxiliaries were organized into smaller units from 500 to 1,000 men, which allowed them to be much more mobile.
What united all Roman soldiers, however, was the rigorous enlistment and training programs and the sacred oath, which tied them to 25 years of service. It was through this process that the Roman authorities essentially created an extensive and well-trained force of soldiers who were legally and socially bound to act as a machine of colonization. This occurred most obviously through conquest, with the military the driving force behind taking territory. For example, Egypt and the rest of the Ptolemaic territory upon the defeat of Cleopatra and Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium.
Rome's army was also utilized to maintain these vast territories after they were conquered through multiple means. Firstly, Rome's army was used when internal rebellions arose. For example, the Pannonian-Dalmatian revolt in the area known as Illyricum, in the western banks of the Balkans. The revolt broke out in the first decade of the new millennium CE in response to Roman colonial rule. The revolt was led by a chieftain called Bato, who amassed enough of a force to pose a power threat to the Romans, who were only eventually able to put down the revolt due to the disciplined fighting techniques of the Roman army and the strategy of Emperor Tiberius. Rome's military furthermore helped to maintain the Empire because they physically policed Rome's vast frontiers, which was especially vital in areas which were contested, such as the area that bordered Germania near the Danube, known as the Limes Germanicus, which was defended via a chain of military forts. Sometimes the Romans even built physical barriers, such as Hadrian's Wall, which was manned by auxiliary troops. The military also built and lived inside the provinces through the various garrison towns situated throughout the Empire, such as Abus, York, Vindobona, Vienna, Acinnum, Budapest. These systems were able to work because Roman authorities stationed troops abroad, away from their home territories, in order to avoid insurrection, and thus ensured that they acted in the interests of the Empire. Thus, garrison towns provided a physical and permanent military presence. They acted as a nucleus from which colonial control could be enforced from, thus highlighting the key role that the Roman military had in the upkeep of the Empire.
Rome did not just rely on military might, however, to maintain and expand its Empire. Firstly, administration was key to the Roman system, especially taxation, which was organized based on information gathered through census-taking. Tax was taken in various forms: poll tax, taxation on land, as well as indirect taxation on trade. It could be taken in currency or precious metals, but it often was taken in the form of foodstuffs, mostly grain. This was key to the long-term survival of Rome because through this taxation, institutions such as the military were sustained and food was governed to feed the population of the growing imperial center.
Furthermore, the Roman administrative system aided the Empire's survival, as the Empire was divided into provinces, which was headed by a governor who either was elected for the position or given authority by the emperor. There is no doubt, however, that the governor's authority came from the center of Rome. This devolvement of certain aspects of government from the emperor to a province's official sustained the Roman Empire because power was not overstretched; it remained concentrated and consistent across space. However, what made the Roman administrative system so successful was that it incorporated existing elites into the Roman system through diplomacy. This often took place through a reciprocal relationship with local elites, given wealth and gifts in order to win their support. In terms of statistics, these elites made up less than 3% of the imperial population, but they owned 40% of its liquid wealth. In return for material benefits, elites essentially became Rome's vessels, maintaining order for a political center that was at times hundreds of miles away.
To best capture how this relationship worked on the ground, let us look at a specific case: Britain. Client relationships were particularly key to Roman presence in Britain, as is seen in the events of conquest. It took two attempts at an invasion, first from Julius Caesar and then from Emperor Claudius, before Britain was colonized and brought under Roman control. One tactic that the Romans used to build a presence in Britain was through the use of client kings and the creation of civitates, which brought some tribes under Roman domain before the Claudian invasion, such as the Belgae, Trinantes, and Regni. This aided the conquest of Britain because Romans had a foothold in certain areas from which they could expand from. These client relationships with Rome persisted, as can be seen with Fishbourne, a grand Roman-style palace which was believed to have been built to reward a client king, perhaps Cogidubnus, for loyalty to the Claudian invasion. Fishbourne was built in the height of Roman luxury, using stones and mosaics. It has a private bath and plumbing, alongside an extensive garden, parts of which have been reconstructed today. This highlights how imperial authorities utilized various luxuries that they made it seem like only they could provide: olive oil, wine, bathhouses, citizenship, law and order. Through these lavish gifts and access to great wealth, local elites saw the material benefits of joining the Roman Empire, which gave them a vested interest in upholding a system at their local level, even if it did not serve the interests of ordinary people. This allowed the Empire to maintain its position in the face of hardship and rebellion.
Perhaps the most systematic way, however, that Rome was able to preserve its control over such a large geographical space was through the process of Romanization. Romanization was essentially when provinces who had their own previous customs and traditions were assimilated into the Roman way of life. We must keep in mind that this was not the positive process which it is often presented to be, since Romanization creates a false binary of barbarism and civilization to justify Rome's colonial action. This Romanization worked in every aspect of society. Firstly, physical space was quite literally Romanized, with Roman-style road systems being implemented across the Empire. For example, Watling Street in Britain and Via Appia, which was a road used in the province of Gaul. These roads aided the preservation of the Roman Empire because they provided routes for trade, travel, and armies, which connected the remote parts of the Empire to the wider infrastructure. Furthermore, physical space was Romanized through the construction of urban settlements along Roman lines at all corners of the Empire, from Trier in Northern Gaul to Aquileia in Croatia. Most of these urban settlements had similar features, such as forums, basilicas, amphitheaters, and public baths. This urban planning not only helped to homogenize the provinces but it also socially enforced Roman culture, acting as a physical reminder of the power of Rome in the face of subjugated populations.
Cultural Romanization was equally as important to the maintenance of the Empire. The spread of the Latin language was vital to this, since Latin not only became the language of administration and law but of elite culture. Roman food, bathing practices, and dress styles were also diffused throughout the provinces, as is clear from surviving evidence. Worship of Roman deities also took place alongside local deities in temples which were built by Roman authorities. This was in particular key to the Imperial cult, in which Emperors were deified and worshipped as gods. Every Roman citizen was expected to participate in worship, offerings, and sacrifices to these deified Emperors, with many historians regarding this as vital to projecting Rome's power and creating a level of standardization in religious practices across the Empire. Sometimes local deities were even combined or adopted for Rome's purposes. An example of this being Sulis Minerva, which combined Roman and Celtic goddesses, or the cult of Mithras, which originated in Iran but came to be used as a mystery cult for Roman males. Furthermore, internal aspects of people's lives became Romanized too. Production systems changed, as can be seen with the spread of the villa system. Household structures and social roles changed too, adhering to Roman expectations. Women, for example, sometimes found themselves more subjugated than they were prior to conquest. Romanization was key to the overall survival of the Empire because it was through the changes in behavior, dress, language, and so on, that it became fashionable to be seen as Roman. In the long term, local populations started to see themselves as Roman, thus they would not rise up against a system which they saw themselves as existing inside, which allowed the Roman Empire to have such large geographical borders.
In conclusion, Rome colonized and kept control of its Empire through various means: the military, administration, reciprocal relationships, and Romanization. But all of these tactics were not separate occurrences; they worked in tandem to build a reputation for Rome, an image that it was unbreakable, divinely supported, and everlasting, which perhaps was the foremost thing which upheld the Empire for so long. But this longevity came at a cost: the loss of local ways of life, colonialism, slavery, and the overall subordination of millions of people.
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