The Roman Empire Research Discussion and Feedback

The Roman Empire

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Olivia Loehr posted Jul 19, 2020 4:32 PM

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The Roman Empire is one of the most remembered civilizations in the contemporary imagination. Rome was rumored to have been founded by Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of Mars, the God of War. Romulus and Remus founded Rome on the banks of the Tiber river. Romulus became the first king of Rome, after killing his brother (Holland, 2017).

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(“The Editors”, 2020)

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Rome transitioned from a monarchy to a republic in 509 B.C. As the empire expanded in size, its political institution was defined by a struggle between patricians and plebeians. There was a hierarchy of political power, not unlike the spoils system of the United States’ political structure; most of the senators available for reelection were descended from original senators in the time of Romulus (Holland, 2017).

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Ultimately, Rome collapsed in pieces. It was an extremely large empire, and ill-equipped to manage such a large territory; it began to lose its provinces, one by one. Near the end of its reign, the Roman empire also began to experience significant cultural conflict. Christianity, a newly introduced monotheistic religion, contrasted sharply with the polytheistic system of Roman religion, which gave the Roman emperor a god-like status (Holland, 2017)

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The emperor Constantine ended up splitting the Roman empire into a western side, and an eastern side. The eastern Empire spoke Greek, developed Christian values, which led to a further distinction between peoples on the basis of religion and language. Unlike the western Empire, the eastern Empire thrived economically. The eastern Empire was located in an advantageous position for trade; the Western empire was economically weakened by the new split. The western empire soon fell at the hands of various invading tribes (“The Fall”, n.d.).

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Archaeological evidence suggests the diet of dockworkers in a Roman port city changed dramatically towards the end of the Roman empire. Their diets once indicated a diversified food supply, and good standards of nutrition, but this seems to change by 455 A.D. (Hays, 2019) This is important to note, because populations that are poorly-nourished are more likely to be dissatisfied with their systems of governance. It is likely that malnutrition contributed to political tensions within the nation.

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Modern society could learn important lessons about maintaining an empire from the fall of Rome. The United States, for example, is a particularly large empire, which has not yet established a functional system of negotiating relations between state and federal powers. The collection of states within the U.S. are vastly different, in terms of geology, culture, and, in some regions, language. The commonalities between states seem to be that states share an economic system. It is interesting to imagine what the union of a country founded on similar economic values will look like as increasing economic and geologic instability reveals more inequality and differences in quality of life on the basis of race and class. If a nation is unable to sustain its people, nutritionally, there will be increasing social and political instability. If it is unable to manage a large territory, the empire may dissolve.

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There are many locations in the Roman empire which would benefit from having an evaluation done by a cultural resource management agency. If I was part of a cultural resource management team, I would recommend specific preservation of ancient roads, waterways, and port-cities. Because of the location of the Roman Empire, it was heavily involved in the trade of its time. Focusing on these three aspects of how goods were transported could prove valuable, when reconstructing how the Roman empire communicated with its provinces, and how prolific the spread of goods was from trading cities to more rural regions. I imagine the collapse of the Roman empire has a lot to do with its management of its territories and provinces; understanding the routes which connected Rome to its provinces could offer valuable information.

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References:

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Hays, B. (2019, June 14). Dockworkers’ dietary changes reflect the decline of the Roman Empire. Retrieved July 19, 2020, from https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2019/06/14/Dockworkers-dietary-changes-reflect-the-decline-of-the-Roman-Empire/5461560514627/

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Holland, B. (2017, January 23). Rome, Rise and Fall. Retrieved July 19, 2020, from https://www.history.com/news/history-vault-rome-rise-and-fall

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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2020, January 29). Roman Empire. Retrieved July 19, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/place/Roman-Empire

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The Fall of the Roman Empire. (n.d.). Retrieved July 19, 2020, from https://www.ushistory.org/civ/6f.asp