Dreams of Augustus: The Story of the Roman Empire Read online

  Southern Spain (called Hispania by the Romans) was initially conquered from Carthage in the late 3rd century BCE. When Augustus came to power, the mountainous northern regions were still not entirely in Roman hands. While rich in natural resources, Spain itself was a backwater. Over time, however, cities sprang up. Besides the occasional problems in the mountainous regions, Spain was very peaceful and productive.

  France was Caesar's great conquest, and there was a good reason why it took so long to conquer: there wasn't much worth conquering. Like Spain, it was backwards and tribal. Unlike Spain, France had few natural resources worth exploiting. In addition, Caesar's genocidal war killed hundreds of thousands of its residents.

  Nevertheless, over time, France Romanized and made a clear break from its impoverished past. Since so many troops were stationed there, little towns of retired soldiers sprung up. These towns grew into great urban centers. In the time of Augustus, a little town was founded in northern France called Lutetia. Within a century, it would feature palaces, baths, temples and theaters. Today, Lutetia is called Paris.

  Aqueducts like this one in France carried water into cities from miles away.

  The rest of the Empire consisted of areas that had long seen prosperous civilizations come and go. North Africa and Egypt were rich and provided a significant surplus of grain. Roman territory in the Middle East included Palestine, Syria and Turkey were probably the richest and most urbanized parts of the empire. Over time, political power in the Roman Empire would shift towards this area.

  When you think of the ancient world, ancient Rome and ancient Greece are the most famous civilizations. While Greece was well past its glory days, it dominated the cultural melting pot that was the Roman Empire. Alexander the Great had brought Greek civilization to the Middle East three centuries before Augustus, and that legacy was very strong.

  There was a sort of weird fascination with Greece among the Romans. Roman writers, sculptors and philosophers all looked to the Greeks for inspiration. Even Roman aristocrats enjoyed taking little vacations to Athens and Sparta in much the same way as modern Americans will go visit Colonial Williamsburg for nostalgia’s sake.

  The Roman Empire was successful for so long because, for the first time in history, the most prosperous regions of Europe and the Middle East were linked together. Economic and cultural exchange would not be so high between these regions until the modern era. This provided the Empire with an economic base that allowed it to field impressive armies and gave it enough flexibility to suffer significant setbacks and still maintain its power.

  Over time, these provinces would become more and more influential. To Augustus, however, they were just conquered territories that needed administering. His prime concern was appealing three constituencies: the Senate, the mob in Rome and, most importantly, the army. How well he handled these three would determine whether he would die prematurely like Caesar or, even worse, cause another series of devastating civil wars.

  The end product was a system called the principate. To satisfy the Senate, Augustus created an elaborate veneer that the republic was still going strong and that he, Augustus, was like any other Roman. Augustus did not create a palace for himself. Rather, he lived about as modestly as a wealthy Roman could. Officially at least, all authority was in the hands of the Senate and people of Rome just like always.

  This was, of course, an illusion. The Senate used its 'power' to give Augustus direct control the provinces in which most of the Roman army was stationed. In 23 BCE, Augustus was granted additional authority over the Roman troops stationed in Rome itself. In addition, Augustus made Egypt into his own private holding. This not only gave Augustus an enormous amount of wealth, but also gave him control over Rome's grain supply.

  While this charade seems silly to us, it worked well enough to last for over two centuries. Old titles like Senator, Tribune, and Consul evolved into symbolic titles of social standing and nothing more. Real political power rested with Augustus. To the Romans, he was first citizen. To us, he was the first Roman Emperor. Luckily for Rome, Augustus wielded this power well.

  Roman politicians were excellent at using propaganda to their advantage. Augustus is seen here in military clothing acting as a wise, confidant leader.

  3

  The Limits of Empire

  Roman authority ultimately rested on the superiority of its legions. On flat, open ground, they were practically unbeatable. Each legionnaire was very heavily armed; they were given extensive training to fight effectively both as individuals and, more importantly, as a unit. Combined with the enormous resources that the Empire now possessed to support a massive military machine, the Romans could overwhelm any opponent.

  Augustus shrunk down the military substantially from their absurdly high civil war numbers. The Roman army was divided into legions, with each legion comprising of 5,000 troops. This was an all-volunteer army with a whopping 25 year term. Augustus maintained 25 legions in the army and supplemented it with auxiliary troops from the provinces. All totaled, the Roman army consisted of approximately 250,000 troops.

  How did the recruiters sell military service? They did so in the same way that they do today: lots of adventure, lots of travel, and the honor of defending your homeland. In addition, Roman soldiers usually acquired a lot of booty from military campaigns that they could sell to supplement their incomes.

  The 250,000 troops that Augustus had at his disposal allowed him to expand the Empire's borders on all fronts.

  Nevertheless, there was a limit to Roman expansion. Conquering territory was one thing, holding it was another. The rich kingdoms around the Mediterranean with their vibrant cities were well worth the expense of conquering and occupying. Caesar's conquest of tribal France was arguably not, although France at least had some settlements to speak of. With most of the area now surrounding the Empire comprised of forest and desert, the wisdom of expansion was questionable at best.

  With the richest territories under Roman control, the justification for expansion centered on creating defensible borders. In the south, the Roman Empire was bordered by the Sahara Desert. The Arabian Desert, Euphrates River and Kingdom of Armenia marked the eastern border. In Europe, the border was defined by the Danube River north of the Balkans and the Rhine River east of France. Northern Italy was protected by the Alpine Mountains.

  For the next five centuries, the foreign policy of the Roman Empire revolved around securing the Rhine, Danube and eastern frontiers. So long as those held, the Empire was secure.

  Rivers were a natural barrier against aggressors and they allowed the Romans to supply their garrisons efficiently using ships, which was the most efficient form of transportation before the modern era.

  In general, the Romans considered their neighbors to be barbarians. This was a phrase borrowed from the Greeks. To the Greeks, the language of foreigners sounded like jibberish, which they frequently mocked by saying “bar, bar, bar.”

  The Romans believed that they were superior to the barbarians. The Romans thought of themselves as civilized, rational and virtuous. In contrast, they viewed the barbarians as tribal, emotional heathens who constantly threatened to sweep in and destroy all that was good in the world.

  The only neighbor of Rome that could claim to be a rival empire was in the east. The Parthian Empire comprised of what is today Iran and Iraq. The Romans had tried to conquer it twice. The first attempt ended in a complete disaster with the death of a Roman consul, whose head was delivered to the Parthian king while attending the theater. The second attempt was a slightly more successful one by Marc Antony. Ultimately, however, the Romans were unable to conquer Parthia.

  The kingdom of Armenia acted as a buffer state between the two and was the ideal invasion rout for both empires. Because of this, a point of contention between the Romans and Parthians was whose puppet would be on the throne of Armenia. This would be the source for practically every conflict between Rome and Parthia from the time of Augustus onward.

  The
greatest challenge of all for Augustus was what to do about the region beyond the Rhine River known to the Romans as Germania. Contrary to the wishes of German nationalists, Germania at this time was not a nation but, rather, consisted of a bunch of independent tribes who cooperated with each other only for mutual defense (and not even that effectively for that). Julius Caesar had launched a raid into Germania during his campaign in France, and Roman troops had since then been cautiously launching more sustained campaigns.

  Starting in 12 BCE, Roman troops led by Nero Claudius Drusus successfully subdued a number of tribes across the Rhine. Germania's dense forests made the Roman army significantly less effective and open to ambush, yet Roman ingenuity overcame these obstacles and decisive victories were won over the divided Germanic tribes. Before Drusus’ sudden death in 9 BCE, the Romans established a number of forts in Germania and put in place multiple client kings.

  What had perhaps began as an effort to secure the Roman frontier turned into an effort to conquer the territory between the Rhine River and Elbe River.

  At the turn of the millennium, Roman troops led by Drusus’ brother Tiberius reached the Elbe River. Tiberius was a very competent military commander and was planning further campaigns that would have pacified Germania up to the Elbe. Unfortunately, there was an uprising in the province of Illyria (western Balkans) and Tiberius was called by Augustus to put it down. He was replaced by a governor notorious for his brutality named Publius Quinctilius Varus.

  Roman rule in Germania was dependent on the collaboration of the Germans themselves. One such collaborator was a chieftain of the Cherusci tribe named Arminius. Arminius was trained in the Roman army and became so distinguished that he was given Roman citizenship. His service in the Roman army didn't affect his love for his homeland, and Arminius was on the lookout for an opportunity to sabotage the Roman conquest of Germania.

  As Varus' rule became more and more unpopular, Arminius was able to secretly forge a coalition between various Germanic tribes. In the fall of 9 AD, the 25 year old Arminius orchestrated an uprising against the Romans. Varus reacted by marching three whole legions to put down the rebellion, and relied on Arminius' guidance to navigate the dense Germanic forest. Varus was approached by a Romanized German named Segestes who warned him about the danger Varus was walking into. He even went so far as to accuse Arminius of betraying the Romans. Varus, being the arrogant egoist that he was, ignored Segestes and proceeded to march three whole legions into a well-planned ambushed.

  As the army marched deeper into the forest, Arminius suddenly disappeared. The confused Romans then heard terrifying shouts from all sides. Before they could comprehend what was happening, a shower of arrows rained down on the legionnaires while waves of fierce warriors poured out from the trees. Arminius had planned the ambush perfectly; for the Romans, there was no escape.

  Roman advantages in discipline and maneuverability were nullified in the forest. It didn't take long before the troops closer to the middle realized that their fate was sealed. These men had to go through the horrifying experience of waiting for their death. In ancient warfare, death usually came in the form of bleeding to death, a slow, agonizing way to die.

  By the end of it, three whole Roman legions were completely wiped out in an area known as the Teutoburg Wald. Varus was among the dead.

  After the disaster, the Roman forts in Germania were cleaned out. A small band of survivors made it back across the Rhine, but somewhere between 15,000-20,000 troops were killed. The cost of raising more legions simply could not be handled by a treasury that was still reeling from civil war and a lack of loot from new conquests (Germania was so poor that there wasn't much loot to be had).

  The defeat was a devastating blow to Augustus. Upon hearing the news, it is said that Augustus banged his head against the walls of the palace and shouted “Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!” Martial law was even imposed in Rome to deal with any German immigrants that might rise up in the wake of the disaster. While Augustus would die claiming that the Roman border was at the Elbe, Varus' disaster would ensure that the Rhine River would define the empire's northern border for the next 400 years.

  German nationalists constructed this 386 meter tall monument during the 19th century to commemorate the defeat of Varus at the Teutoburg Forest. They claimed that it was a shining example of German unity.

  4

  The Succession

  In 39 BCE, Augustus was introduced to a lovely young woman from a good family named Livia. Augustus was immediately entranced by her; unfortunately, she was married and pregnant. However, such things were no barriers to the most powerful man in Rome, and soon she divorced her husband and even dragged him along to the wedding.

  Livia proved to be a very remarkable woman. At times brilliant, at times a little psychotic, she became a very powerful force in Rome and showed herself to be a very ambitious mother. Her single-minded obsession was in ensuring that one of her sons- the previously mentioned Drusus and Tiberius- became emperor after the death of her husband. Whatever that took, be it intrigue or even murder, she was willing to do.

  The succession would be a critical test for the Roman Empire, and having a smooth one would cement Augustus' legacy as the father of the Empire. Every succession in the previous century had resulted in chaos, death and poverty for the Empire. Augustus knew that for his empire to survive, he needed to break that trend.

  Given that the Romans still had a strong distaste of monarchy, Augustus had to ensure that his successor had acquired enough success to justify his succession beyond family ties. As Augustus went through one successor after another, he used military commands and governorships to augment their resumes.

  When Augustus fell ill in 23 BCE, the issue of succession was brought to the forefront. Marcus Agrippa, his commander at Actium, was seen as the logical successor. He was the only man at the time that could command the respect of the military and therefore avoid a civil war. To cement his position, Agrippa was married to Augustus' daughter from another marriage named Julia and given the responsibility to govern the eastern provinces.

  Agrippa died in 12 BCE at the age of 51, having produced 5 children with Julia. With the death of Agrippa, Augustus had no natural successor. He himself had no sons, and his only daughter was now a widow.

  It was at this time that he turned to Livia's sons. At first, Drusus was Augustus' favorite. In 12 BCE, Drusus was given command in Germania and had great success there; unfortunately, he died prematurely in 9 BCE.

  Tiberius was next. He was a man who seems to have been a reluctant leader at best. It seems, in fact, that he would have preferred to have lived a peaceful life of luxury. Nevertheless, time and again, he took up responsibilities that were forced upon him and performed his duty competently. However, over time, he would become more and more bitter over his lot in life to the point where those around suffered.

  After Agrippa's death, Tiberius was forced to divorce a woman whom he loved deeply to marry Julia. This arrangement was devastating for Tiberius, and it left a deep mark on him. From this point on, Tiberius became known for his overly serious, unhappy personality. He was not someone that you wanted to invite to a party.

  Nevertheless, he did make an effort to make his new marriage work. Unfortunately for him, his wife did not reciprocate. By 6 BCE, Tiberius had had enough with Julia and imperial politics in general and retired to the island of Rhodes. Julia didn't much mind the loss of her husband and proceeded to sleep with what seemed like every man that she could find.

  To Livia, this was an unacceptable state of affairs. With Tiberius gone, two of Agrippa's sons became heirs apparent after Augustus adopted them. Luckily for her- and the gossipers of the time pointed out how lucky it was for her- both of them died. Augustus now had no choice but to recall Tiberius from his self-imposed exile in 4 CE. After a pep talk from the emperor and, probably more importantly, from his mother, Tiberius was adopted by Augustus, given fancy titles and granted an important military comm
and. Livia had succeeded; her boy was going to become the next emperor of Rome.

  The entrance of another man threatened this arrangement. Before his death, Drusus had fathered a number of children, one of which was a boy named Germanicus (his full name was Germanicus Julius Caesar). As Germanicus grew into a man, he became a great celebrity in Rome. Germanicus was not necessarily a better commander than Tiberius, but his energy and charisma gave him the love and admiration of his troops. Stories about his deeds spread throughout Rome, and many began to talk about him succeeding Augustus.

  Germanicus, the darling of Rome

  While Germanicus was Livia's grandson, her ambition still centered around the ascension of Tiberius to the throne. As Augustus began flirting with the idea of adopting Germanicus and making him his heir, Livia pulled out all the influence she could muster to dissuade her husband. In the end, Augustus satisfied himself with forcing Tiberius to adopt Germanicus as his son and as, presumably, his heir.

  So it was that when Augustus finally died in August of 14, two generations of successors were firmly in place. Augustus had grown up during the dying gasps of an old, unworkable order. For many years he contributed to its dysfunction, only to create a new structure to replace it. The political system he established would sustain itself for over two centuries; the borders of his empire would hold for over four. Had he not delegated power as well as he did; had he not lived as long as he did, perhaps the Roman Empire would have once again been thrown into chaos. For the 60 million people in the Roman Empire, it was a blessing that he had governed so well.

  For the first time in 500 years, absolute authority in the Roman state was transferring peacefully from one man to another. All eyes looked to Tiberius to see what would happen next.