History of the Roman Empire

The study of the Roman Empire’s political, military, social, economic, and cultural development from its establishment through the fall of its western half and the continuation of its eastern half.

Roman Republic: The ancient Roman state governed by elected magistrates and assemblies before the establishment of imperial rule. Its institutions and expansion shaped the empire that replaced it.
Roman imperial cult: A set of public religious practices that honored emperors and the imperial household. It linked local civic life and religious ceremony to imperial authority.
Pax Romana: A long period of relative stability across much of the Roman Empire, conventionally dated from Augustus to Marcus Aurelius. It captures the empire’s consolidation and relative peace during its first two centuries.
Byzantine Empire: The eastern Roman Empire, whose capital was Constantinople and whose government continued into the fifteenth century. Its rulers and inhabitants continued the Roman imperial state after the West fell.
Julius Caesar: A Roman general and politician whose dictatorship helped precipitate the Republic’s collapse. His rise and assassination intensified the crisis that preceded Augustus’s rule.
Roman army: The military forces that defended and expanded Roman territory under the Republic and Empire. Its legions secured frontiers and could also determine who became emperor.
Year of the Four Emperors: The civil war of 69 CE in which four claimants successively held imperial power. It exposed how armies and provincial support could decide succession.
Roman law: The legal rules and institutions developed in ancient Rome and later compiled under Justinian. Roman legal traditions shaped later European and other legal systems.
Augustus: The first Roman emperor, who established a durable political settlement after decades of civil war. His reign marks the conventional beginning of the Roman Empire.
Roman provinces: Territorial administrative units governed by Roman officials outside Italy. Provincial government translated central authority into local administration.

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The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireNarrower topic: Gibbon’s narrative became a landmark in the modern historiography of Rome.