General Summary
By 47 BCE Caesar had won the civil war against Pompei, and soon became
dictator, planning a major reconstruction of republican government. He was
assassinated in 44, however, by a conspiracy of senators acting to save the
Republic. Marcus Antonius then stepped forward as major claimant to power,
while the Senate coalesced around Octavian, an heir listed in Caesar's will.
After indecisive battles, the two put off final conflict in a second
triumvirate, including Lepidus. Finally, the former two broke, and in 30 BCE,
Octavian defeated Mark Antony at Actium. In the next twenty years, Octavian
(now named Augustus) created the Principate, a new form of Roman government
giving increased powers to a non-elective Princeps who would evolve into Emperor
by the mid-first century CE.
Tiberius took over as Princeps in 14 CE, having established a solid military
reputation in the Rhine area. His rule was characterized by increasingly
withdrawn and autocratic power. His successor, Caligula, went quickly
insane, prompting the Praetorian Guard to murder him and proclaim Claudius
Emperor in 41 CE. Less glamorous than his predecessors, Claudius did contribute
to increased regularization of imperial administration, and enfranchised new
elements into the roman elite, such as equestrians and some Gaulic chieftains.
He in turn was succeeded by Nero in 55, who, after five good years, rapidly
declined into a murderous depravity. After executing some of the Empire's best
generals and senators, he committed suicide in 69, while four generals were in
open revolt, and Judaea was in arms against imperial control. Germanic tribes
were also acting up.
After Nero, four claimants to power emerged. Vespasianus (r. 69-79), the
commander in Judaea, emerged as victor from this Year of the Four Emperors. He
established the Flavian dynasty, represented by his sons Titus (80-81) and
Domitian (r. 81-96). A more sober administration emerged, bringing more
equestrians into service, with the Emperors themselves not originating in Rome.
Conflicts with Germanic tribes such as the Quadi and Marcomanni indicated
the future difficulties, while Dacian marauding
in the Danube region provided opportunities for Roman conquest, realized under
Nerva (96-98) and Trajan (98-117).
The most popular Roman Emperor after Augustus, Trajan also engaged in eastern
conquests against Parthia, yet died before the troubled regions could be
adequately secured. His successor, Hadrian (117-138), abandoned Parthian
expansion, yet maintained gains in Dacia and Moesia, allowing the gradual
process of Romanization and Latinization to begin. In his attempts to
administratively regularize all regions in the Empire and rationalize Italy's
judicial districts, he incurred the resentment of Italian elites, and died
unpopular, for this as well as for his lack of conquest. The reign of Antoninus
Pius (138-161) showed Rome entirely at peace and with great wealth, though the
economy remained under-developed and extractive. All the while, German tribes
had been migrating west and congesting the Danubian and Rhine border areas.
From the 160s, the Emperor Marcus Aurelias was forced to deal with
Marcomanni, Sarmatian, and Quadi incursions across the Rhine and Danube in
numbers never seen before. Though ultimately able to beat them back, the
campaigns increased in cost, made field generals more popular and restive, and
were a sign of looming problems.
