The Early Empire

Life under Augustus was rather good. People prospered and continued to do while those emperors who followed him provided astute leadership. This included enlisting the help and support of the educated nobility in the administration as well as freedmen from varied backgrounds. This variety of thought in government allowed for a good exchange of ideas.

In the provinces trade, travel and the acceptance of different traditions developed well under a strong central administration while that administration was not corrupt. Today we see that central administration has failed in China and Russia not because it was central administration but because it did not recognize the needs of the people. So too, one recognized that a dictatorship is the best form of government IF one can only find a dictator that has the welfare of the people first in his mind. This has yet to happen.

In the 2nd or 3rd century A.D., one could be a Roman citizen in Rome and in the provinces. Your traditions would be respected if different from those of Rome yet you were expected to vow allegiance to the emperor and to worship the figure of the emperor as a god, to Rome as a goddess and of course to pay taxes. As a result, there were rebellions at times which were serious and these were quelled in an equally serious and often severe manner...in hopes of discouraging further rebellions.

Early Christians were considered a sect of Jews and thus protected by law but soon they were perceived differently and considered dangerous. Claudius and Nero persecuted the Christians while other emperors were more tolerant. Yet the insistance on abjuring the faith and pagan sacrifice resulted in many Christians being martyred.

With the exception of Trajan, foreign policy was conservative and defensive. Trajan did indeed expand the borders agressively. The armies relied heavily on foreign mercenaries The eastern borders of the empire were under constant threat from the "neighbors" and defensive measures were a constrant drain of the empire's resources.

With the death of Marcus Aurelius and the ascension of his son Commodus to power, the imperial office lost the respect it had gained in previous years.

To Do: Make a list of the emperors...note which had been good for Rome and which had not.

Who was Marcus Aurelius and why is his name so well known?
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