Ex. 4. Can you locate the Roman Empire? Compare it with the territory of modern Italy.

Ex. 5. Among the names given in Ex. 1 choose the most prominent Romans. Enlarge the list of the people who played an important part in the development of the Roman Empire.

II. Text XI

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

 

According to legend, the city of Rome was founded by Romulus in 753 ВС. It was originally a monarchy, but its last king, an Etruscan, was ousted in 509 ВС, which marked the beginning of the Republic. Located in central Italy, surrounded by Etruscans, Sabines and Greek settlers, the Romans were exposed to a wide variety of outside influences from the earliest times. The Etruscan influence on Archaic Rome is clearly evident in its terracotta and cast bronze artwork, temple architecture and aristocratic, clan-based society. Another strong influence came from the Greek colonies in Sicily and southern Italy: the Romans worshipped many of the same gods as the Greeks; their alphabet derived from that of the Greeks; they struck coins modeled on Greek prototypes; they shared in the economic life of the Greek colonies and much of their art was inspired by Greek models.

Between the sixth and fourth centuries ВС, the Romans slowly extended their power base in Italy through conquest, treaty and alliance. From the third century, however, their horizons began to expand rapidly. The fall of the great naval power Carthage in 146 ВС following the lengthy Punic wars laid the foundations of Roman North Africa, later consolidated with the annexation of Egypt after the battle of Actium in 31 ВС. At the same time, further conquests in the eastern Mediterranean brought many former Greek territories under Roman rule.

Closer contact with the Greek world through the Greek slaves, hostages and merchants who came to Rome led to a second wave of Greek influence in philosophy, literature, religion and especially the visual arts: most artists in the Roman world were Greeks or Near Easterners trained in Hellenistic traditions. Nonetheless, just as the bustle of Roman urban life, with its baths, theatres and gladiatorial shows, its aggressive electioneering and violent politics, was unique in the ancient world, so the Roman arts retained a distinct identity. Portrait sculpture, for instance, was especially developed, both on a grand scale, as in the life-sized statues of statesmen and generals, and in the humbler portraits found on private funerary monuments.

However, the Republic that achieved this unique blend of cultures eventually became a victim of its own success as its leaders' ambition grew. Finally, in 49 ВС, Julius Caesar defeated his rivals and became dictator; the resulting civil war led to the establishment of a monarchy, or 'Principate', under Augustus, Caesar's nephew and heir. By the time Augustus was declared emperor in 27 ВС, Rome controlled the entire Mediterranean region, from Spain and Morocco in the west to Syria in the east. This culturally diverse empire was held together by the figure of the emperor: religion, poetry, sculpture, even the writing of history, all reflected his central role.

Britain was the northernmost outpost of the empire. Its conquest began in AD 43, and the south of the country was soon thoroughly romanized. Urban centers such as London, Gloucester, Bath and Verulamium (St. Albans) provided many of the comforts of Rome, while the countryside was dotted with the country estates and villas of the wealthy. However, the island was never wholly subdued, and remained a heavily militarized frontier province. In the second century AD both Hadrian and Antoninus Pius built great walls in the north, not simply as barriers against hostilities, but also as a means of imposing order on the surrounding area. The third century was a period of turmoil, during which a long series of civil wars and disasters on its frontiers led to great instability within the empire. Reunited under Diocletian at the end of the century, Rome recovered its strength under the emperor Constantine. In AD 313, with the Edict of Milan, Constantine changed the position of the Christian church overnight through his official recognition of Christianity. Formerly suppressed, it now became one of the pillars of state, and aristocrats and officials rushed to profess its teachings. Christian symbolism appeared on silverware, mosaics and pottery, although scenes and images from the pagan legends long embedded in the popular imagination were never completely ousted. The army, too, was eventually won over to the new faith, as it had once been by the secretive eastern cults of Isis and Mithras.

Since the end of the third century, the eastern and western halves of the Empire had been administered separately. In 330 Constantine moved his seat of government east to Constantinople, which survived as the capital of the Byzantine empire for another thousand years. In the west, however, Rome was increasingly unable to cope with the pressure of invasions by Franks, Goths and Vandals. Finally, in 476, the last emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by the German general Odoacer.

The pax Romana — the peace that existed throughout the vast Roman empire in the first and second centuries AD - was largely dependent on the efficient army that protected its borders. Recruited from throughout the empire, soldiers were organized into legions comprising three to six thousand infantrymen supported by cavalry, military engineers, craftsmen and administrators.

Their commanding generals were more often career politicians than professional soldiers. When not on campaign, soldiers were based in forts. The letters and artifacts recovered from the fort at Vindolanda, near Hadrian's Wall, provide vivid insights into the daily lives of the foreign soldiers garrisoned there. These letters from Roman soldiers at the fort were written in ink on a wooden tablets.

Notes

 

1. The Roman Empire comprises the countries of Europe and the Near East, which were ruled from Rome from around 44 ВС until around AD 395, when it was split into two. The West Roman Empire lasted until around 476 and the East Roman Empire until the 15th century.

 

2. Study the usage: Rome - Roman - a Roman - the Romans.

 

The word Roman is used when we speak about ancient Rome or its empire, or of the city of Rome, e.g. Roman roads.

The Roman alphabet is used in English and many other European languages, as opposed to those of Greek, Arabic, Cyrillic, etc.

Romance languages are the languages grown out of Latin, the language of ancient Rome, e.g. French, Spanish, Italian are Romance languages.

Roman numerals are the signs used for numbers in ancient Rome, as opposed to Arabic numerals.

 

3. The word Rome is often used in various sayings even nowadays:

 

to fiddle while Rome burns means to concern oneself with small matters while some­thing important is happening (from the story of Nero who played the fiddle while the city of Rome was burning).

 

Read two more sayings. Can you explain their meaning? Do you know any other sayings with the word Rome?