Transition from Republic to Empire
Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the Roman Republic in the 6th century BC, though not outside the Italian Peninsula until the 3rd century BC. Thus, it was an "empire" (a great power) long before it had an emperor.[21] The Republic was not a nation-state in the modern sense, but a network of self-ruled towns (with varying degrees of independence from the Senate) and provinces administered by military commanders. It was governed by annually elected magistrates (Roman consuls above all) in conjunction with the Senate. The 1st century BC was a time of political and military upheaval, which ultimately led to rule by emperors.[24][25] The consuls' military power rested in the Roman legal concept of imperium, meaning "command" (typically in a military sense).[26] Occasionally, successful consuls or generals were given the honorary title imperator (commander); this is the origin of the word emperor, since this title was always bestowed to the early emperors.[g]
Rome suffered a long series of internal conflicts, conspiracies, and civil wars from the late second century BC (see Crisis of the Roman Republic) while greatly extending its power beyond Italy. In 44 BC Julius Caesar was briefly perpetual dictator before being assassinated by a faction that opposed his concentration of power. This faction was driven from Rome and defeated at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC by Mark Antony and Caesar's adopted son Octavian. Antony and Octavian divided the Roman world between them, but this did not last long. Octavian's forces defeated those of Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. In 27 BC the Senate gave him the title Augustus ("venerated") and made him princeps ("foremost") with proconsular imperium, thus beginning the Principate, the first epoch of Roman imperial history. Although the republic stood in name, Augustus had all meaningful authority.[29] During his 40-year rule, a new constitutional order emerged so that, upon his death, Tiberius would succeed him as the new de facto monarch.[30]
As Roman provinces were being established throughout the Mediterranean, Italy maintained a special status which made it domina provinciarum ("ruler of the provinces"),[31][32][33] and – especially in relation to the first centuries of imperial stability – rectrix mundi ("governor of the world")[34][35] and omnium terrarum parens ("parent of all lands").[36][37]
The 200 years that began with Augustus's rule is traditionally regarded as the Pax Romana ("Roman Peace"). The cohesion of the empire was furthered by a degree of social stability and economic prosperity that Rome had never before experienced. Uprisings in the provinces were infrequent and put down "mercilessly and swiftly".[38] The success of Augustus in establishing principles of dynastic succession was limited by his outliving a number of talented potential heirs. The Julio-Claudian dynasty lasted for four more emperors—Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero—before it yielded in 69 AD to the strife-torn Year of the Four Emperors, from which Vespasian emerged as the victor. Vespasian became the founder of the brief Flavian dynasty, followed by the Nerva–Antonine dynasty which produced the "Five Good Emperors": Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius.[39]
Fall in the West and survival in the East
The Western Roman Empire began to disintegrate in the early 5th century. The Romans fought off all invaders, most famously Attila,[48] but the empire had assimilated so many Germanic peoples of dubious loyalty to Rome that the empire started to dismember itself. Most chronologies place the end of the Western Roman Empire in 476, when Romulus Augustulus was forced to abdicate to the Germanic warlord Odoacer.[50][51][52]
Odoacer ended the Western Empire by declaring Zeno sole emperor and placing himself as Zeno's nominal subordinate. In reality, Italy was ruled by Odoacer alone.[50][51][53] The Eastern Roman Empire, called the Byzantine Empire by later historians, continued until the reign of Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Roman emperor. He died in battle in 1453 against Mehmed II and his Ottoman forces during the siege of Constantinople. Mehmed II adopted the title of caesar in an attempt to claim a connection to the former Empire.[54] His claim was soon recognized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but not by most European monarchs.
Government and military
The three major elements of the Imperial state were the central government, the military, and the provincial government. The military established control of a territory through war, but after a city or people was brought under treaty, the mission turned to policing: protecting Roman citizens, agricultural fields, and religious sites. The Romans lacked sufficient manpower or resources to rule through force alone. Cooperation with local elites was necessary to maintain order, collect information, and extract revenue. The Romans often exploited internal political divisions.[187]
Communities with demonstrated loyalty to Rome retained their own laws, could collect their own taxes locally, and in exceptional cases were exempt from Roman taxation. Legal privileges and relative independence incentivized compliance. Roman government was thus limited, but efficient in its use of available resources.
The Imperial cult of ancient Rome identified emperors and some members of their families with divinely sanctioned authority (auctoritas). The rite of apotheosis (also called consecratio) signified the deceased emperor's deification.[190] The dominance of the emperor was based on the consolidation of powers from several republican offices. The emperor made himself the central religious authority as pontifex maximus, and centralized the right to declare war, ratify treaties, and negotiate with foreign leaders. While these functions were clearly defined during the Principate, the emperor's powers over time became less constitutional and more monarchical, culminating in the Dominate.
The emperor was the ultimate authority in policy- and decision-making, but in the early Principate, he was expected to be accessible and deal personally with official business and petitions. A bureaucracy formed around him only gradually.[194] The Julio-Claudian emperors relied on an informal body of advisors that included not only senators and equestrians, but trusted slaves and freedmen. After Nero, the influence of the latter was regarded with suspicion, and the emperor's council (consilium) became subject to official appointment for greater transparency. Though the Senate took a lead in policy discussions until the end of the Antonine dynasty, equestrians played an increasingly important role in the consilium. The women of the emperor's family often intervened directly in his decisions.
Access to the emperor might be gained at the daily reception (salutatio), a development of the traditional homage a client paid to his patron; public banquets hosted at the palace; and religious ceremonies. The common people who lacked this access could manifest their approval or displeasure as a group at games. By the 4th century, the Christian emperors became remote figureheads who issued general rulings, no longer responding to individual petitions. Although the Senate could do little short of assassination and open rebellion to contravene the will of the emperor, it retained its symbolic political centrality. The Senate legitimated the emperor's rule, and the emperor employed senators as legates (legati): generals, diplomats, and administrators.[202]
The practical source of an emperor's power and authority was the military. The legionaries were paid by the Imperial treasury, and swore an annual oath of loyalty to the emperor. Most emperors chose a successor, usually a close family member or adopted heir. The new emperor had to seek a swift acknowledgement of his status and authority to stabilize the political landscape. No emperor could hope to survive without the allegiance of the Praetorian Guard and the legions. To secure their loyalty, several emperors paid the donativum, a monetary reward. In theory, the Senate was entitled to choose the new emperor, but did so mindful of acclamation by the army or Praetorians.
After the Punic Wars, the Roman army comprised professional soldiers who volunteered for 20 years of active duty and five as reserves. The transition to a professional military began during the late Republic and was one of the many profound shifts away from republicanism, under which an army of conscript citizens defended the homeland against a specific threat. The Romans expanded their war machine by "organizing the communities that they conquered in Italy into a system that generated huge reservoirs of manpower for their army".[205] By Imperial times, military service was a full-time career. The pervasiveness of military garrisons throughout the Empire was a major influence in the process of Romanization.
The primary mission of the military of the early empire was to preserve the Pax Romana.[208] The three major divisions of the military were:
Through his military reforms, which included consolidating or disbanding units of questionable loyalty, Augustus regularized the legion. A legion was organized into ten cohorts, each of which comprised six centuries, with a century further made up of ten squads (contubernia); the exact size of the Imperial legion, which was likely determined by logistics, has been estimated to range from 4,800 to 5,280.[209] After Germanic tribes wiped out three legions in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, the number of legions was increased from 25 to around 30. The army had about 300,000 soldiers in the 1st century, and under 400,000 in the 2nd, "significantly smaller" than the collective armed forces of the conquered territories. No more than 2% of adult males living in the Empire served in the Imperial army. Augustus also created the Praetorian Guard: nine cohorts, ostensibly to maintain the public peace, which were garrisoned in Italy. Better paid than the legionaries, the Praetorians served only sixteen years.[212]
The auxilia were recruited from among the non-citizens. Organized in smaller units of roughly cohort strength, they were paid less than the legionaries, and after 25 years of service were rewarded with Roman citizenship, also extended to their sons. According to Tacitus[213] there were roughly as many auxiliaries as there were legionaries—thus, around 125,000 men, implying approximately 250 auxiliary regiments. The Roman cavalry of the earliest Empire were primarily from Celtic, Hispanic or Germanic areas. Several aspects of training and equipment derived from the Celts.[215]
The Roman navy not only aided in the supply and transport of the legions but also in the protection of the frontiers along the rivers Rhine and Danube. Another duty was protecting maritime trade against pirates. It patrolled the Mediterranean, parts of the North Atlantic coasts, and the Black Sea. Nevertheless, the army was considered the senior and more prestigious branch.
Territory ruled by Rome and period of Roman history
Roman Empire in AD 117 at its greatest territorial extent, at the time of
Roman territorial evolution from the rise of the city-state of Rome to the fall of the Western Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Romans conquered most of this during the Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of effective sole rule in 27 BC. The western empire collapsed in 476 AD, but the eastern empire lasted until the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
By 100 BC, the city of Rome had expanded its rule to most of the Mediterranean and beyond. However, it was severely destabilised by civil wars and political conflicts, which culminated in the victory of Octavian over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, and the subsequent conquest of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt. In 27 BC, the Roman Senate granted Octavian overarching military power (imperium) and the new title of Augustus, marking his accession as the first Roman emperor. The vast Roman territories were organized into senatorial provinces, governed by proconsuls who were appointed by lot annually, and imperial provinces, which belonged to the emperor but were governed by legates.[19]
The first two centuries of the Empire saw a period of unprecedented stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana (lit. 'Roman Peace'). Rome reached its greatest territorial extent under Trajan (r. 98–117 AD), but a period of increasing trouble and decline began under Commodus (r. 180–192). In the 3rd century, the Empire underwent a 49-year crisis that threatened its existence due to civil war, plagues and barbarian invasions. The Gallic and Palmyrene empires broke away from the state and a series of short-lived emperors led the Empire, which was later reunified under Aurelian (r. 270–275). The civil wars ended with the victory of Diocletian (r. 284–305), who set up two different imperial courts in the Greek East and Latin West. Constantine the Great (r. 306–337), the first Christian emperor, moved the imperial seat from Rome to Byzantium in 330, and renamed it Constantinople. The Migration Period, involving large invasions by Germanic peoples and by the Huns of Attila, led to the decline of the Western Roman Empire. With the fall of Ravenna to the Germanic Herulians and the deposition of Romulus Augustus in 476 by Odoacer, the Western Empire finally collapsed. The Eastern Roman Empire survived for another millennium with Constantinople as its sole capital, until the city's fall in 1453.[f]
Due to the Empire's extent and endurance, its institutions and culture had a lasting influence on the development of language, religion, art, architecture, literature, philosophy, law, and forms of government across its territories. Latin evolved into the Romance languages while Medieval Greek became the language of the East. The Empire's adoption of Christianity resulted in the formation of medieval Christendom. Roman and Greek art had a profound impact on the Italian Renaissance. Rome's architectural tradition served as the basis for Romanesque, Renaissance and Neoclassical architecture, influencing Islamic architecture. The rediscovery of classical science and technology (which formed the basis for Islamic science) in medieval Europe contributed to the Scientific Renaissance and Scientific Revolution. Many modern legal systems, such as the Napoleonic Code, descend from Roman law. Rome's republican institutions have influenced the Italian city-state republics of the medieval period, the early United States, and modern democratic republics.
Transportation and communication
The Empire completely encircled the Mediterranean, which they called "our sea" (Mare Nostrum).[267] Roman sailing vessels navigated the Mediterranean as well as major rivers. Transport by water was preferred where possible, as moving commodities by land was more difficult. Vehicles, wheels, and ships indicate the existence of a great number of skilled woodworkers.[269]
Land transport utilized the advanced system of Roman roads, called "viae". These roads were primarily built for military purposes,[270] but also served commercial ends. The in-kind taxes paid by communities included the provision of personnel, animals, or vehicles for the cursus publicus, the state mail and transport service established by Augustus. Relay stations were located along the roads every seven to twelve Roman miles, and tended to grow into villages or trading posts. A mansio (plural mansiones) was a privately run service station franchised by the imperial bureaucracy for the cursus publicus. The distance between mansiones was determined by how far a wagon could travel in a day. Carts were usually pulled by mules, travelling about 4 mph.[272]
Literacy, books, and education
Estimates of the average literacy rate range from 5 to over 30%.[436][437] The Roman obsession with documents and inscriptions indicates the value placed on the written word.[439][440][u] Laws and edicts were posted as well as read out. Illiterate Roman subjects could have a government scribe (scriba) read or write their official documents for them.[437][442] The military produced extensive written records.[443] The Babylonian Talmud declared "if all seas were ink, all reeds were pen, all skies parchment, and all men scribes, they would be unable to set down the full scope of the Roman government's concerns".[444]
Numeracy was necessary for commerce.[440] Slaves were numerate and literate in significant numbers; some were highly educated. Graffiti and low-quality inscriptions with misspellings and solecisms indicate casual literacy among non-elites.[447][v][98]
The Romans had an extensive priestly archive, and inscriptions appear throughout the Empire in connection with votives dedicated by ordinary people, as well as "magic spells" (e.g. the Greek Magical Papyri).[448]
Books were expensive, since each copy had to be written out on a papyrus roll (volumen) by scribes. The codex—pages bound to a spine—was still a novelty in the 1st century,[450] but by the end of the 3rd century was replacing the volumen.[451] Commercial book production was established by the late Republic, and by the 1st century certain neighbourhoods of Rome and Western provincial cities were known for their bookshops.[453] The quality of editing varied wildly,[454] and plagiarism or forgery were common, since there was no copyright law.
Collectors amassed personal libraries, and a fine library was part of the cultivated leisure (otium) associated with the villa lifestyle. Significant collections might attract "in-house" scholars, and an individual benefactor might endow a community with a library (as Pliny the Younger did in Comum).[458] Imperial libraries were open to users on a limited basis, and represented a literary canon.[459] Books considered subversive might be publicly burned,[460] and Domitian crucified copyists for reproducing works deemed treasonous.[461]
Literary texts were often shared aloud at meals or with reading groups.[462] Public readings (recitationes) expanded from the 1st through the 3rd century, giving rise to "consumer literature" for entertainment. Illustrated books, including erotica, were popular, but are poorly represented by extant fragments.
Literacy began to decline during the Crisis of the Third Century. The emperor Julian banned Christians from teaching the classical curriculum, but the Church Fathers and other Christians adopted Latin and Greek literature, philosophy and science in biblical interpretation.[467] As the Western Roman Empire declined, reading became rarer even for those within the Church hierarchy, although it continued in the Byzantine Empire.
Traditional Roman education was moral and practical. Stories were meant to instil Roman values (mores maiorum). Parents were expected to act as role models, and working parents passed their skills to their children, who might also enter apprenticeships. Young children were attended by a pedagogue, usually a Greek slave or former slave, who kept the child safe, taught self-discipline and public behaviour, attended class and helped with tutoring.
Formal education was available only to families who could pay for it; lack of state support contributed to low literacy.[474] Primary education in reading, writing, and arithmetic might take place at home if parents hired or bought a teacher. Other children attended "public" schools organized by a schoolmaster (ludimagister) paid by parents. Vernae (homeborn slave children) might share in-home or public schooling. Boys and girls received primary education generally from ages 7 to 12, but classes were not segregated by grade or age. Most schools employed corporal punishment. For the socially ambitious, education in Greek as well as Latin was necessary. Schools became more numerous during the Empire, increasing educational opportunities.
At the age of 14, upperclass males made their rite of passage into adulthood, and began to learn leadership roles through mentoring from a senior family member or family friend. Higher education was provided by grammatici or rhetores. The grammaticus or "grammarian" taught mainly Greek and Latin literature, with history, geography, philosophy or mathematics treated as explications of the text. With the rise of Augustus, contemporary Latin authors such as Virgil and Livy also became part of the curriculum. The rhetor was a teacher of oratory or public speaking. The art of speaking (ars dicendi) was highly prized, and eloquentia ("speaking ability, eloquence") was considered the "glue" of civilized society. Rhetoric was not so much a body of knowledge (though it required a command of the literary canon) as it was a mode of expression that distinguished those who held social power. The ancient model of rhetorical training—"restraint, coolness under pressure, modesty, and good humour"—endured into the 18th century as a Western educational ideal.
In Latin, illiteratus could mean both "unable to read and write" and "lacking in cultural awareness or sophistication". Higher education promoted career advancement.[491] Urban elites throughout the Empire shared a literary culture imbued with Greek educational ideals (paideia). Hellenistic cities sponsored schools of higher learning to express cultural achievement. Young Roman men often went abroad to study rhetoric and philosophy, mostly to Athens. The curriculum in the East was more likely to include music and physical training. On the Hellenistic model, Vespasian endowed chairs of grammar, Latin and Greek rhetoric, and philosophy at Rome, and gave secondary teachers special exemptions from taxes and legal penalties.[495] In the Eastern Empire, Berytus (present-day Beirut) was unusual in offering a Latin education, and became famous for its school of Roman law. The cultural movement known as the Second Sophistic (1st–3rd century AD) promoted the assimilation of Greek and Roman social, educational, and esthetic values.[497]
Literate women ranged from cultured aristocrats to girls trained to be calligraphers and scribes.[498] The ideal woman in Augustan love poetry was educated and well-versed in the arts.[500] Education seems to have been standard for daughters of the senatorial and equestrian orders. An educated wife was an asset for the socially ambitious household.[498]
Literature under Augustus, along with that of the Republic, has been viewed as the "Golden Age" of Latin literature, embodying classical ideals. The three most influential Classical Latin poets—Virgil, Horace, and Ovid—belong to this period. Virgil's Aeneid was a national epic in the manner of the Homeric epics of Greece. Horace perfected the use of Greek lyric metres in Latin verse. Ovid's erotic poetry was enormously popular, but ran afoul of Augustan morality, contributing to his exile. Ovid's Metamorphoses wove together Greco-Roman mythology; his versions of Greek myths became a primary source of later classical mythology, and his work was hugely influential on medieval literature.[502] The early Principate produced satirists such as Persius and Juvenal.
The mid-1st through mid-2nd century has conventionally been called the "Silver Age" of Latin literature. The three leading writers—Seneca, Lucan, and Petronius—committed suicide after incurring Nero's displeasure. Epigrammatist and social observer Martial and the epic poet Statius, whose poetry collection Silvae influenced Renaissance literature,[503] wrote during the reign of Domitian. Other authors of the Silver Age included Pliny the Elder, author of the encyclopedic Natural History; his nephew, Pliny the Younger; and the historian Tacitus.
The principal Latin prose author of the Augustan age is the historian Livy, whose account of Rome's founding became the most familiar version in modern-era literature. The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius is a primary source for imperial biography. Among Imperial historians who wrote in Greek are Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Josephus, and Cassius Dio. Other major Greek authors of the Empire include the biographer Plutarch, the geographer Strabo, and the rhetorician and satirist Lucian.
From the 2nd to the 4th centuries, Christian authors were in active dialogue with the classical tradition. Tertullian was one of the earliest prose authors with a distinctly Christian voice. After the conversion of Constantine, Latin literature is dominated by the Christian perspective. In the late 4th century, Jerome produced the Latin translation of the Bible that became authoritative as the Vulgate. Around that same time, Augustine wrote The City of God against the Pagans, considered "a masterpiece of Western culture".[505]
In contrast to the unity of Classical Latin, the literary esthetic of late antiquity has a tessellated quality. A continuing interest in the religious traditions of Rome prior to Christian dominion is found into the 5th century, with the Saturnalia of Macrobius and The Marriage of Philology and Mercury of Martianus Capella. Latin poets of late antiquity include Ausonius, Prudentius, Claudian, and Sidonius Apollinaris.
The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, and attributed their success to their collective piety (pietas) and good relations with the gods (pax deorum). The archaic religion believed to have come from the earliest kings of Rome was the foundation of the mos maiorum, "the way of the ancestors", central to Roman identity.[507]
Roman religion was practical and contractual, based on the principle of do ut des, "I give that you might give". Religion depended on knowledge and the correct practice of prayer, ritual, and sacrifice, not on faith or dogma, although Latin literature preserves learned speculation on the nature of the divine. For ordinary Romans, religion was a part of daily life. Each home had a household shrine to offer prayers and libations to the family's domestic deities. Neighbourhood shrines and sacred places such as springs and groves dotted the city. The Roman calendar was structured around religious observances; as many as 135 days were devoted to religious festivals and games (ludi).[509]
In the wake of the Republic's collapse, state religion adapted to support the new regime. Augustus justified one-man rule with a vast programme of religious revivalism and reform. Public vows now were directed at the wellbeing of the emperor. So-called "emperor worship" expanded on a grand scale the traditional veneration of the ancestral dead and of the Genius, the divine tutelary of every individual. Upon death, an emperor could be made a state divinity (divus) by vote of the Senate. The Roman imperial cult, influenced by Hellenistic ruler cult, became one of the major ways Rome advertised its presence in the provinces and cultivated shared cultural identity. Cultural precedent in the Eastern provinces facilitated a rapid dissemination of Imperial cult, extending as far as Najran, in present-day Saudi Arabia.[w] Rejection of the state religion became tantamount to treason.
The Romans are known for the great number of deities they honoured. As the Romans extended their territories, their general policy was to promote stability among diverse peoples by absorbing local deities and cults rather than eradicating them,[x] building temples that framed local theology within Roman religion. Inscriptions throughout the Empire record the side-by-side worship of local and Roman deities, including dedications made by Romans to local gods.[511] By the height of the Empire, numerous syncretic or reinterpreted gods were cultivated, among them cults of Cybele, Isis, Epona, and of solar gods such as Mithras and Sol Invictus, found as far north as Roman Britain. Because Romans had never been obligated to cultivate one god or cult only, religious tolerance was not an issue.[512]
Mystery religions, which offered initiates salvation in the afterlife, were a matter of personal choice, practiced in addition to one's family rites and public religion. The mysteries, however, involved exclusive oaths and secrecy, which conservative Romans viewed with suspicion as characteristic of "magic", conspiracy (coniuratio), and subversive activity. Thus, sporadic and sometimes brutal attempts were made to suppress religionists. In Gaul, the power of the druids was checked, first by forbidding Roman citizens to belong to the order, and then by banning druidism altogether. However, Celtic traditions were reinterpreted within the context of Imperial theology, and a new Gallo-Roman religion coalesced; its capital at the Sanctuary of the Three Gauls established precedent for Western cult as a form of Roman-provincial identity.[513] The monotheistic rigour of Judaism posed difficulties for Roman policy that led at times to compromise and granting of special exemptions. Tertullian noted that Judaism, unlike Christianity, was considered a religio licita, "legitimate religion". The Jewish–Roman wars resulted from political as well as religious conflicts; the siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD led to the sacking of the temple and the dispersal of Jewish political power (see Jewish diaspora).
Christianity emerged in Roman Judaea as a Jewish religious sect in the 1st century and gradually spread out of Jerusalem throughout the Empire and beyond. Imperially authorized persecutions were limited and sporadic, with martyrdoms occurring most often under the authority of local officials.[514] Tacitus reports that after the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64, the emperor attempted to deflect blame from himself onto the Christians.[515] A major persecution occurred under the emperor Domitian[516] and a persecution in 177 took place at Lugdunum, the Gallo-Roman religious capital. A letter from Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia, describes his persecution and executions of Christians.[517] The Decian persecution of 246–251 seriously threatened the Christian Church, but ultimately strengthened Christian defiance.[518] Diocletian undertook the most severe persecution of Christians, from 303 to 311.[15]
From the 2nd century onward, the Church Fathers condemned the diverse religions practiced throughout the Empire as "pagan". In the early 4th century, Constantine I became the first emperor to convert to Christianity. He supported the Church financially and made laws that favored it, but the new religion was already successful, having moved from less than 50,000 to over a million adherents between 150 and 250.[520] Constantine and his successors banned public sacrifice while tolerating other traditional practices. Constantine never engaged in a purge,[521] there were no "pagan martyrs" during his reign,[522] and people who had not converted to Christianity remained in important positions at court.[521]: 302 Julian attempted to revive traditional public sacrifice and Hellenistic religion, but met Christian resistance and lack of popular support.[523]
Christians of the 4th century believed the conversion of Constantine showed that Christianity had triumphed over paganism (in Heaven) and little further action besides such rhetoric was necessary.[525] Thus, their focus was heresy.[526][527] According to Peter Brown, "In most areas, polytheists were not molested, and apart from a few ugly incidents of local violence, Jewish communities also enjoyed a century of stable, even privileged, existence".[527]: 641–643 [528] There were anti-pagan laws, but they were not generally enforced; through the 6th century, centers of paganism existed in Athens, Gaza, Alexandria, and elsewhere.[529]
According to recent Jewish scholarship, toleration of the Jews was maintained under Christian emperors. This did not extend to heretics: Theodosius I made multiple laws and acted against alternate forms of Christianity,[531] and heretics were persecuted and killed by both the government and the church throughout Late Antiquity. Non-Christians were not persecuted until the 6th century. Rome's original religious hierarchy and ritual influenced Christian forms,[533] and many pre-Christian practices survived in Christian festivals and local traditions.
Several states claimed to be the Roman Empire's successor. The Holy Roman Empire was established in 800 when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Roman emperor. The Russian Tsardom, as inheritor of the Byzantine Empire's Orthodox Christian tradition, counted itself the Third Rome (Constantinople having been the second), in accordance with the concept of translatio imperii.[534] The last Eastern Roman titular, Andreas Palaiologos, sold the title of Emperor of Constantinople to Charles VIII of France; upon Charles' death, Palaiologos reclaimed the title and on his death granted it to Ferdinand and Isabella and their successors, who never used it. When the Ottomans, who based their state on the Byzantine model, took Constantinople in 1453, Mehmed II established his capital there and claimed to sit on the throne of the Roman Empire.[535] He even launched an invasion of Otranto with the purpose of re-uniting the Empire, which was aborted by his death. In the medieval West, "Roman" came to mean the church and the Catholic Pope. The Greek form Romaioi remained attached to the Greek-speaking Christian population of the Byzantine Empire and is still used by Greeks.[536]
The Roman Empire's control of the Italian Peninsula influenced Italian nationalism and the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) in 1861.[537]
In the United States, the founders were educated in the classical tradition,[538] and used classical models for landmarks in Washington, D.C..[539][540][541][542] The founders saw Athenian democracy and Roman republicanism as models for the mixed constitution, but regarded the emperor as a figure of tyranny.[543]
Links to related articles
Tap Empire là một trò chơi clicker nhàn rỗi không giống bất kỳ trò chơi nào khác. Nhấn để kiếm tiền và tăng cấp doanh nghiệp của bạn trong trình nhấp tự động nhàn rỗi gia tăng ngẫu nhiên này trong khi bạn vượt qua các cấp độ theo phong cách saga chứa đầy những thách thức và phát minh độc đáo!Trò chơi clicker nhàn rỗi cho phép bạn chơi chỉ bằng cách chạm! Nhấn để kiếm tiền vàng, nhấn để tăng cấp và nhấn để tự động hóa doanh nghiệp của bạn khi bạn tiến bộ thông qua các đế chế vô tận và mở khóa nâng cấp galore. Tập đoàn Empire kết bạn với nhà phát minh thiên tài Kim và người cộng sự đáng tin cậy Piggy B, một ông trùm kinh doanh với tình yêu vàng sẽ khiến công việc kinh doanh của bạn phát triển mạnh!Đế chế nhàn rỗi mà bạn xây dựng tiếp tục phát triển và mở rộng, ngay cả khi bạn không chơi. Nhấn để kiếm tiền và phát triển doanh nghiệp của bạn thành một đế chế triệu phú (hoặc thậm chí là tỷ phú). Các trò chơi nhàn rỗi có thể tự chơi khi bạn đi xa, vì vậy đội robot của bạn sẽ giúp bạn thu thập vàng ngay cả khi bạn không chơi.Tăng cấp doanh nghiệp của bạn và làm giàu trong công cụ kiếm tiền tự động nhàn rỗi này và chinh phục cấp độ sau khi bạn nghiên cứu, thu thập và nâng cấp. Chinh phục đế chế sau khi đế chế trong khi bạn trở nên giàu có và phát triển doanh nghiệp của bạn thành một thiên đường doanh nhân tỷ phú nhàn rỗi sử thi!Nhấn, tự động hóa, phát triển mạnh - thật đơn giản!TÍNH NĂNG TAP EMPIRE:TRÒ CHƠI IDLE CLICKER TYCOON• Nhấn để kiếm tiền vàng và kiếm tiền• Tăng cấp, nâng cấp và tự động hóa doanh nghiệp của bạn• Làm giàu với một nhà phát minh thiên tài• Tăng cấp độ tăng dần làm cho bạn giàu hơn và doanh nghiệp của bạn thậm chí còn tốt hơn!• Các trò chơi nhàn rỗi tiếp tục chơi ngay cả khi bạn cách xa để bạn không bao giờ bị tụt lại phía sauTRÒ CHƠI SAGA• Phiêu lưu qua cấp độ sau cấp độ của những thách thức mới• Ông trùm kinh doanh chiến đấu Ông Bossworth• Phát lại đế chế và thiết lập thời gian tốt nhất mớiTAP TƯ VẤN• Cổng thông tin xuyên thời gian với một con lợn đáng yêu• Mở khóa và nâng cấp cửa hàng• Xây dựng độc quyền trong một cuộc phiêu lưu tapper tự động• Mở khóa thành tích và kiếm được sức mạnh tuyệt vờiLàm giàu, tăng cấp, nâng cấp và tăng cường các cửa hàng của bạn để kiếm tiền ngay cả khi bạn ngoại tuyến hoặc đi xa trong trò chơi nhấp chuột tự động nhàn rỗi gia tăng này! Trở thành một ông trùm kinh doanh, tăng cường sự độc quyền của bạn, trải nghiệm câu chuyện và mang về nhà thịt xông khói với Kim và Piggy B ngay hôm nay!
Lần cập nhật gần đây nhất
This grand event celebrated a remarkable achievement – 23 businesses were assessed and accredited, all boasting impressive scores ranging from 92% to 96% in the accreditation process.
This accomplishment reaffirms the area's status as a vibrant and secure destination of choice. The Empire Casino has proudly achieved the Best Bar None accreditation for the second year running.
This initiative, endorsed by Heart of London and backed by the Home Office, honours the commitment of licensed venues to maintain exceptional industry standards, fostering safer environments. It also aids customers in identifying well-managed pubs, bars, clubs, and other vital hospitality establishments, which play a pivotal role in the West End's economic landscape.
Kabupaten Jepara merupakan salah satu Kabupaten di Provinsi Jawa Tengah. Kabupaten Jepara terletak di pantura timur Jawa Tengah, dimana bagian barat dan utaranya dibatasi oleh laut. Bagian timur wilayah ini berupa pegunungan. Luas wilayahnya adalah ± 1.004,16 km2. Batas-batas administrasi Kabupaten ini adalah sebagai berikut:
Sebelah Utara : Laut JawaSebelat Timur : Kab. Pati dan Kab. KudusSebelah Selatan : Kabupaten DemakSebelah Barat : Laut Jawa
Kabupaten Jepara merupakan Kabupaten yang terletak di pantura timur Jawa tengah dimana bagian barat dan utara berbatasan dengan laut. Di Kabupaten Jepara terdiri dari 183 desa dan 11 kelurahan yang tersebar di 16 Kecamatan. Berikut adalah peta dan nama-nama kecamatan dan kelurahan yang terdapat di Kabupaten Jepara:
Kecamatan BangsriKelurahan Bangsri, Banjar Agung, Banjaran, Bondo, Guyangan, Jerukwangi, Kedungleper, Kepuk, Papasan, Srikandang, Tengguli, dan Wedelan.
Kecamatan BatealitKelurahan Bantrung, Batealit, Bawu, Bringin, Geneng, Mindahan, Mindahan Kidul, Ngasem, Pekalongan, Raguklampitan, dan Somosari.
Kecamatan DonorojoKelurahan Bandungharjo, Banyumanis, Blingoh, Clering, Jugo, Sumber Rejo, Tulakan, dan Ujungwatu.
Kecamatan JeparaKelurahan Karangkebagusan, Panggang, Potroyudan, Bapangan, Saripan, pengkol, Jobokuto, Ujungbatu, Kauman, Bulu, Demaan, Kuwasen, Mulyoharjo, Wonorejo, Bandengan, dan Kedungcino.
Kecamatan KalinyamatanKelurahan Bakalan, Bandungrejo, Banyuputih, Batukali, Damarjati, Kriyan, Manyargading, Margoyoso, Pendosawalan, Purwogondo, Robayan, dan Sendang.
Kecamatan KarimunjawaKelurahan Karimunjawa, Kemojan, Parang.
Kecamatan KedungKelurahan Bugel, Bulakbaru, Dongos, Jondang, Kalianyar, Karangaji, Kedungmalang, Kerso, Menganti, Panggung, Rau, Sowan Kidul, Sowan Lor, Sukosono, Surodadi, Tanggultlare, Tedunan, dan Wanusobo.
Kecamatan KelingKelurahan Bumiharjo, Damarwulan, Gelang, Jlegong, Kaligarang, Kelet, Keling, Klepu, Kunir, Tempur, Tunahan, dan Watuaji.
Kecamatan KembangKelurahan Balong, Bucu, Cepogo, Dermolo, Dudakawu, Jinggotan, Kaliaman, Kancilan, Pendem, Sumanding, dan Tubana.
Kecamatan MayongKelurahan Bandung, Buaran, Bungu, Datar, Jebol, Kuanyar, Mayong Kidul, Mayong Lor, Ngroto, Pancur, Paren, Pelang, Pelemkerep, Pule, Rajekwesi, Sengonbugel, Singorojo, dan Tigajuru.
Kecamatan MlonggoKelurahan Jambu, Jambu Timur, Karanggondang, Mororejo, Sekuro, Sinaggul, Srobyong, dan Suwawal.
Kecamatan NalumsariKelurahan Bategede, Bendanpete, Blimbingrejo, Daren, Dorang, Gemiring Kidul, Gemiring Lor, Jatisari, Karangnongko, Muryolobo, Nalumsari, Ngetuk, Pringtulis, Tritis, dan Tunggulpandean.
Kecamatan Pakis AjiKelurahan Bulungan, Kawak, Lebak, Mambak, Plajan, Slagi, Suwawal Timur, dan Tanjung.
Kecamatan PecangaanKelurahan Gemulung, Gerdu, Kaliombo, Karangrandu, Krasak, Lebuawu, Ngeling, Pecangaan Kulon, Pecangaan Wetan, Pulodarat, Rengging, dan Troso.
Kecamatan TahunanKelurahan Krapyak, Mantingan, Demangan, Mangunan, Petekeyan, Platar, Semat, Lanon, Sukodono, Senenan, Tegalsambi, Telukawur, Ngabul, Kecapi, dan Tahunan.
Kecamatan WelahanKelurahan Brantaksekarjati, Bugo, Gedangan, Gidangelo, Guwosobokerto, Kalipucang Kulon, Kalipucang Wetan, Karanganyar, Kedungsarimulyo, Kendengsidialit, Ketilengsingolelo, Sidigede, Telukwetan, Ujungpandan, dan Welahan.
Kabupaten Jepara memiliki relief yang beraneka ragam, terdiri dari daratan tinggi(sekitar Gunung Muria dan Gunung Clering) dan daratan rendah di sekitar pantai (Pantai Kartini, Bandengan, Bondo, dll.). Kondisi topografi antara 0-1.301 m di atas permukaan air laut. Penggunaan lahan sebagian besar untuk perumahan, persawahan, perkebunaan, tambak, industri, pariwisata, pertambangan, lahan kritis dan lain-lain.
Pengadilan Tinggi Agama Gorontalo
Jl. Tinaloga No.5 Kelurahan Dulomo Selatan, Kota Utara, Gorontalo
Telp: 0435-8591389 Fax: 0435-831625
Email : [email protected]
Labour and occupations
Inscriptions record 268 different occupations in Rome and 85 in Pompeii. Professional associations or trade guilds (collegia) are attested for a wide range of occupations, some quite specialized.[179]
Work performed by slaves falls into five general categories: domestic, with epitaphs recording at least 55 different household jobs; imperial or public service; urban crafts and services; agriculture; and mining. Convicts provided much of the labour in the mines or quarries, where conditions were notoriously brutal. In practice, there was little division of labour between slave and free,[109] and most workers were illiterate and without special skills.[278] The greatest number of common labourers were employed in agriculture: in Italian industrial farming (latifundia), these may have been mostly slaves, but elsewhere slave farm labour was probably less important.[109]
Textile and clothing production was a major source of employment. Both textiles and finished garments were traded and products were often named for peoples or towns, like a fashion "label". Better ready-to-wear was exported by local businessmen (negotiatores or mercatores). Finished garments might be retailed by their sales agents, by vestiarii (clothing dealers), or peddled by itinerant merchants. The fullers (fullones) and dye workers (coloratores) had their own guilds. Centonarii were guild workers who specialized in textile production and the recycling of old clothes into pieced goods.[q]
Trade and commodities
Roman provinces traded among themselves, but trade extended outside the frontiers to regions as far away as China and India. Chinese trade was mostly conducted overland through middle men along the Silk Road; Indian trade also occurred by sea from Egyptian ports. The main commodity was grain. Also traded were olive oil, foodstuffs, garum (fish sauce), slaves, ore and manufactured metal objects, fibres and textiles, timber, pottery, glassware, marble, papyrus, spices and materia medica, ivory, pearls, and gemstones. Though most provinces could produce wine, regional varietals were desirable and wine was a central trade good.[276]
Provincial government
An annexed territory became a Roman province in three steps: making a register of cities, taking a census, and surveying the land. Further government recordkeeping included births and deaths, real estate transactions, taxes, and juridical proceedings. In the 1st and 2nd centuries, the central government sent out around 160 officials annually to govern outside Italy. Among these officials were the Roman governors: magistrates elected at Rome who in the name of the Roman people governed senatorial provinces; or governors, usually of equestrian rank, who held their imperium on behalf of the emperor in imperial provinces, most notably Roman Egypt.[219] A governor had to make himself accessible to the people he governed, but he could delegate various duties. His staff, however, was minimal: his official attendants (apparitores), including lictors, heralds, messengers, scribes, and bodyguards; legates, both civil and military, usually of equestrian rank; and friends who accompanied him unofficially.
Other officials were appointed as supervisors of government finances. Separating fiscal responsibility from justice and administration was a reform of the Imperial era, to avoid provincial governors and tax farmers exploiting local populations for personal gain. Equestrian procurators, whose authority was originally "extra-judicial and extra-constitutional", managed both state-owned property and the personal property of the emperor (res privata). Because Roman government officials were few, a provincial who needed help with a legal dispute or criminal case might seek out any Roman perceived to have some official capacity.[222]
Roman courts held original jurisdiction over cases involving Roman citizens throughout the empire, but there were too few judicial functionaries to impose Roman law uniformly in the provinces. Most parts of the Eastern Empire already had well-established law codes and juridical procedures.[109] Generally, it was Roman policy to respect the mos regionis ("regional tradition" or "law of the land") and to regard local laws as a source of legal precedent and social stability.[109] The compatibility of Roman and local law was thought to reflect an underlying ius gentium, the "law of nations" or international law regarded as common and customary.[224] If provincial law conflicted with Roman law or custom, Roman courts heard appeals, and the emperor held final decision-making authority.[109][o]
In the West, law had been administered on a highly localized or tribal basis, and private property rights may have been a novelty of the Roman era, particularly among Celts. Roman law facilitated the acquisition of wealth by a pro-Roman elite.[109] The extension of universal citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Empire in 212 required the uniform application of Roman law, replacing local law codes that had applied to non-citizens. Diocletian's efforts to stabilize the Empire after the Crisis of the Third Century included two major compilations of law in four years, the Codex Gregorianus and the Codex Hermogenianus, to guide provincial administrators in setting consistent legal standards.[225]
The pervasiveness of Roman law throughout Western Europe enormously influenced the Western legal tradition, reflected by continued use of Latin legal terminology in modern law.
Taxation under the Empire amounted to about 5% of its gross product. The typical tax rate for individuals ranged from 2 to 5%. The tax code was "bewildering" in its complicated system of direct and indirect taxes, some paid in cash and some in kind. Taxes might be specific to a province, or kinds of properties such as fisheries; they might be temporary. Tax collection was justified by the need to maintain the military,[229] and taxpayers sometimes got a refund if the army captured a surplus of booty. In-kind taxes were accepted from less-monetized areas, particularly those who could supply grain or goods to army camps.
The primary source of direct tax revenue was individuals, who paid a poll tax and a tax on their land, construed as a tax on its produce or productive capacity. Tax obligations were determined by the census: each head of household provided a headcount of his household, as well as an accounting of his property. A major source of indirect-tax revenue was the portoria, customs and tolls on trade, including among provinces. Towards the end of his reign, Augustus instituted a 4% tax on the sale of slaves,[233] which Nero shifted from the purchaser to the dealers, who responded by raising their prices.[234] An owner who manumitted a slave paid a "freedom tax", calculated at 5% of value.[p] An inheritance tax of 5% was assessed when Roman citizens above a certain net worth left property to anyone outside their immediate family. Revenues from the estate tax and from an auction tax went towards the veterans' pension fund (aerarium militare).
Low taxes helped the Roman aristocracy increase their wealth, which equalled or exceeded the revenues of the central government. An emperor sometimes replenished his treasury by confiscating the estates of the "super-rich", but in the later period, the resistance of the wealthy to paying taxes was one of the factors contributing to the collapse of the Empire.
The Empire is best thought of as a network of regional economies, based on a form of "political capitalism" in which the state regulated commerce to assure its own revenues. Economic growth, though not comparable to modern economies, was greater than that of most other societies prior to industrialization. Territorial conquests permitted a large-scale reorganization of land use that resulted in agricultural surplus and specialization, particularly in north Africa. Some cities were known for particular industries. The scale of urban building indicates a significant construction industry. Papyri preserve complex accounting methods that suggest elements of economic rationalism, and the Empire was highly monetized. Although the means of communication and transport were limited in antiquity, transportation in the 1st and 2nd centuries expanded greatly, and trade routes connected regional economies. The supply contracts for the army drew on local suppliers near the base (castrum), throughout the province, and across provincial borders. Economic historians vary in their calculations of the gross domestic product during the Principate.[241] In the sample years of 14, 100, and 150 AD, estimates of per capita GDP range from 166 to 380 HS. The GDP per capita of Italy is estimated as 40[242] to 66%[243] higher than in the rest of the Empire, due to tax transfers from the provinces and the concentration of elite income.
Economic dynamism resulted in social mobility. Although aristocratic values permeated traditional elite society, wealth requirements for rank indicate a strong tendency towards plutocracy. Prestige could be obtained through investing one's wealth in grand estates or townhouses, luxury items, public entertainments, funerary monuments, and religious dedications. Guilds (collegia) and corporations (corpora) provided support for individuals to succeed through networking.[179] "There can be little doubt that the lower classes of ... provincial towns of the Roman Empire enjoyed a high standard of living not equaled again in Western Europe until the 19th century".[244] Households in the top 1.5% of income distribution captured about 20% of income. The "vast majority" produced more than half of the total income, but lived near subsistence.[245]
The early Empire was monetized to a near-universal extent, using money as a way to express prices and debts.[247] The sestertius (English "sesterces", symbolized as HS) was the basic unit of reckoning value into the 4th century,[248] though the silver denarius, worth four sesterces, was also used beginning in the Severan dynasty. The smallest coin commonly circulated was the bronze as, one-tenth denarius.[250] Bullion and ingots seem not to have counted as pecunia ("money") and were used only on the frontiers. Romans in the first and second centuries counted coins, rather than weighing them—an indication that the coin was valued on its face. This tendency towards fiat money led to the debasement of Roman coinage in the later Empire. The standardization of money throughout the Empire promoted trade and market integration.[247] The high amount of metal coinage in circulation increased the money supply for trading or saving.[252] Rome had no central bank, and regulation of the banking system was minimal. Banks of classical antiquity typically kept less in reserves than the full total of customers' deposits. A typical bank had fairly limited capital, and often only one principal. Seneca assumes that anyone involved in Roman commerce needs access to credit. A professional deposit banker received and held deposits for a fixed or indefinite term, and lent money to third parties. The senatorial elite were involved heavily in private lending, both as creditors and borrowers.[253] The holder of a debt could use it as a means of payment by transferring it to another party, without cash changing hands. Although it has sometimes been thought that ancient Rome lacked documentary transactions, the system of banks throughout the Empire permitted the exchange of large sums without physically transferring coins, in part because of the risks of moving large amounts of cash. Only one serious credit shortage is known to have occurred in the early Empire, in 33 AD;[254] generally, available capital exceeded the amount needed by borrowers. The central government itself did not borrow money, and without public debt had to fund deficits from cash reserves.
Emperors of the Antonine and Severan dynasties debased the currency, particularly the denarius, under the pressures of meeting military payrolls.[248] Sudden inflation under Commodus damaged the credit market. In the mid-200s, the supply of specie contracted sharply.[248] Conditions during the Crisis of the Third Century—such as reductions in long-distance trade, disruption of mining operations, and the physical transfer of gold coinage outside the empire by invading enemies—greatly diminished the money supply and the banking sector.[248] Although Roman coinage had long been fiat money or fiduciary currency, general economic anxieties came to a head under Aurelian, and bankers lost confidence in coins. Despite Diocletian's introduction of the gold solidus and monetary reforms, the credit market of the Empire never recovered its former robustness.
The main mining regions of the Empire were the Iberian Peninsula (silver, copper, lead, iron and gold);[4] Gaul (gold, silver, iron);[256] Britain (mainly iron, lead, tin),[257] the Danubian provinces (gold, iron);[258] Macedonia and Thrace (gold, silver); and Asia Minor (gold, silver, iron, tin). Intensive large-scale mining—of alluvial deposits, and by means of open-cast mining and underground mining—took place from the reign of Augustus up to the early 3rd century, when the instability of the Empire disrupted production.[citation needed]
Hydraulic mining allowed base and precious metals to be extracted on a proto-industrial scale.[259] The total annual iron output is estimated at 82,500 tonnes.[260] Copper and lead production levels were unmatched until the Industrial Revolution.[261][262][263][264] At its peak around the mid-2nd century, the Roman silver stock is estimated at 10,000 t, five to ten times larger than the combined silver mass of medieval Europe and the Caliphate around 800 AD.[263][265] As an indication of the scale of Roman metal production, lead pollution in the Greenland ice sheet quadrupled over prehistoric levels during the Imperial era and dropped thereafter.
Sculpture and sarcophagi
Examples of Roman sculpture survive abundantly, though often in damaged or fragmentary condition, including freestanding statuary in marble, bronze and terracotta, and reliefs from public buildings and monuments. Niches in amphitheatres were originally filled with statues,[409] as were formal gardens. Temples housed cult images of deities, often by famed sculptors.
Elaborately carved marble and limestone sarcophagi are characteristic of the 2nd to 4th centuries.[412] Sarcophagus relief has been called the "richest single source of Roman iconography", depicting mythological scenes or Jewish/Christian imagery as well as the deceased's life.
Initial Roman painting drew from Etruscan and Greek models and techniques. Examples of Roman paintings can be found in palaces, catacombs and villas. Much of what is known of Roman painting is from the interior decoration of private homes, particularly as preserved by the eruption of Vesuvius. In addition to decorative borders and panels with geometric or vegetative motifs, wall painting depicts scenes from mythology and theatre, landscapes and gardens, spectacles, everyday life, and erotic art.
Mosaics are among the most enduring of Roman decorative arts, and are found on floors and other architectural features. The most common is the tessellated mosaic, formed from uniform pieces (tesserae) of materials such as stone and glass. Opus sectile is a related technique in which flat stone, usually coloured marble, is cut precisely into shapes from which geometric or figurative patterns are formed. This more difficult technique became especially popular for luxury surfaces in the 4th century (e.g. the Basilica of Junius Bassus).
Figurative mosaics share many themes with painting, and in some cases use almost identical compositions. Geometric patterns and mythological scenes occur throughout the Empire. In North Africa, a particularly rich source of mosaics, homeowners often chose scenes of life on their estates, hunting, agriculture, and local wildlife. Plentiful and major examples of Roman mosaics come also from present-day Turkey (particularly the (Antioch mosaics[419]), Italy, southern France, Spain, and Portugal.
Decorative arts for luxury consumers included fine pottery, silver and bronze vessels and implements, and glassware. Pottery manufacturing was economically important, as were the glass and metalworking industries. Imports stimulated new regional centres of production. Southern Gaul became a leading producer of the finer red-gloss pottery (terra sigillata) that was a major trade good in 1st-century Europe. Glassblowing was regarded by the Romans as originating in Syria in the 1st century BC, and by the 3rd century, Egypt and the Rhineland had become noted for fine glass.[421]
In Roman tradition, borrowed from the Greeks, literary theatre was performed by all-male troupes that used face masks with exaggerated facial expressions to portray emotion. Female roles were played by men in drag (travesti).[422] Roman literary theatre tradition is represented in Latin literature by the tragedies of Seneca, for example.
More popular than literary theatre was the genre-defying mimus theatre, which featured scripted scenarios with free improvisation, risqué language and sex scenes, action sequences, and political satire, along with dance, juggling, acrobatics, tightrope walking, striptease, and dancing bears.[423] Unlike literary theatre, mimus was played without masks, and encouraged stylistic realism. Female roles were performed by women.[424] Mimus was related to pantomimus, an early form of story ballet that contained no spoken dialogue but rather a sung libretto, often mythological, either tragic or comic.[425]
Although sometimes regarded as foreign, music and dance existed in Rome from earliest times. Music was customary at funerals, and the tibia, a woodwind instrument, was played at sacrifices.[427] Song (carmen) was integral to almost every social occasion. Music was thought to reflect the orderliness of the cosmos. Various woodwinds and "brass" instruments were played, as were stringed instruments such as the cithara, and percussion.[427] The cornu, a long tubular metal wind instrument, was used for military signals and on parade.[427] These instruments spread throughout the provinces and are widely depicted in Roman art.[429] The hydraulic pipe organ (hydraulis) was "one of the most significant technical and musical achievements of antiquity", and accompanied gladiator games and events in the amphitheatre.[427] Although certain dances were seen at times as non-Roman or unmanly, dancing was embedded in religious rituals of archaic Rome. Ecstatic dancing was a feature of the mystery religions, particularly the cults of Cybele and Isis. In the secular realm, dancing girls from Syria and Cadiz were extremely popular.
Like gladiators, entertainers were legally infames, technically free but little better than slaves. "Stars", however, could enjoy considerable wealth and celebrity, and mingled socially and often sexually with the elite.[433] Performers supported each other by forming guilds, and several memorials for theatre members survive.[434] Theatre and dance were often condemned by Christian polemicists in the later Empire.[435]