Development of Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome developed from a small prehistoric settlement on the Tiber River in Latium in central Italy into an empire that encompassed all of the Mediterranean world, and the civilization that resulted formed the basis for modern Western civilization. The history of Rome can be divided into three major epochs: the kingship from the legendary foundation of Rome to 509 BC; the republic from 509 BC to 31 BC; and the empire, which survived until Rome finally fell to the German chieftain Odoacer in AD 476. The genius of the Romans lay in the military, in government administration, and in the law, and they valued crafty diplomacy as much as military discipline. The Romans conquered Greece, adopting Greek culture and transmitting it to the medieval world. Unlike the Greeks, they did not develop a philosophical theory of state and society. Instead, they were the practitioners of power and law, and Roman civil law, which reached its peak under the emperors, excelled in precision of formulation and logic of thought. Historians have offered different explanations for the imperial expansion effort undertaken by Rome, some feeling it was either conscious, willful, aggressive, or a matter of defense. An analysis of some of these views will be used to assess the approach taken by William V. Harris in his book on the subject.

Harris notes the nature of the issue when he indicates that some historians assert that the Romans generally had no desire to expand their power, at least n

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r localized attack. The protection that was provided was by indirect and nonmilitary means, and this was a benefit to the empire as a whole: By virtually eliminating the burden of maintaining continuous frontier defenses, the net, "disposable" military power generated by the imperial forces was maximized. hence, the total military power that others could perceive as being available to Rome for offensive use--and that could therefore be put to political advantage by diplomatic means--was also maximized. Thus the empire's potential military power could be converted into actual political control at a high rate of exchange. Defensive or not, the Roman army was much in use, and historians have speculated about the reason for the many wars into which the Romans became enmeshed. Finley believes that the state of war was not intended for expansion as such but was rather seen as a part of the natural order: Regardless of ideological nuances, it was universally accepted in antiquity that war is a natural condition of human society. Neither historians nor philosophers ever asked the question, Why war?, although after Herodotus and Thucydides had led the way they regularly examined the reasons and pretexts for the outbreak of a par

Category: History - D