The Expansion and Territory of the Roman Empire

The Roman Empire. Arguably the most powerful empire ever to exist. Though many things made the Romans such a strong and influential nation, the acquisition of, and subsequent occupation of territory can be thought of as one of the larger factors. The drive to conquer more territory and the ever-expanding sphere of influence that the Romans thereafter enjoyed, changed many things besides the physical make-up of the Empire.

At its maximum height of territorial control, the Roman Empire stretched from the forests of northern England to the far deserts at Egypt’s southern border, from the hills of Spain in the west to past the mighty Tigris in Mesopotamia in the east. With such a large and diverse landscape and people underneath their rule, it is only to be expected that the Romans would be affected by this expansion.

 

                                    (Figure 1. Greatest extent of the Roman Empire (Bennett))

A large implication of the addition of new lands and people groups was the effect on trade and the imperial markets throughout the Empire. One such implication was that by the first century A.D., prices in Rome and the rest of the Empire were strongly related (Geraghty 1044). Meaning that if there was a drought in the grain fields of Egypt, grain prices greatly rose in the rest of the Empire as well. There were also vast changes in the amount of commodities available for the Romans to use as more people groups were conquered. The amount of slaves, for example, in the Roman Empire (which were both tradable goods and mouths to feed) grew from approximately 500,000 in 200 B.C. to somewhere between 1.2 and 2 million by 1 B.C., making them almost 30% of the population in  Italy alone (Geraghty 1043). This caused a change in the market as many more slaves were available for purchase, causing prices to decline.

Conquering places like Egypt and parts of the Middle East also gave the Romans access to alternate trade routes. This in particular gave them access to the Indian Ocean, which allowed them to trade with places like China, India, and parts of Iran (Fitzpatrick 29-30). This allowed them to bring in goods both more cheaply and of a type not before seen. They also brought in a great amount of wealth, like gold and silver, which greatly affected the economy (Fitzpatrick 34).

Laws and government were affected by the expansion of territory as well. The system of laws adapted from spoken rules governed by priests and patriarchs, to a more civil system with judges and set rules (Spitzer 1226). An interesting aspect of laws was that the Romans quickly realized they could not force complete new rules on conquered people. So most “new Romans” were governed by a mix of local, provincial, and empire wide laws (Spitzer 1226).

The Roman Empire continued to grow until they were forced to make concessions and peace with their enemies, like the Persians and the Huns, because of internal conflict (Barnett 78). These concessions cost the Romans territory, and once it was lost, they seldom got it back. This was especially true in the Middle East versus the Persians, where after a failed invasion by Emperor Julian, they lost Mesopotamia, which they would never again claim (Barnett 77-78).

Some argue that the expansionistic type view the Romans held was barbaric, and used as a means to prey upon those who are weaker (Tuori 213-214). That the very nature of it was evil and cruel (Tuori 213-215). But without the continued adding of territory, bringing along with it new people, new ideas, and new resources, the Roman Empire would have, and eventually did, stagnate and fall apart. The Empire was built on the captured territory and it was one of the main reasons for the Romans long lasting success.

The transition of Rome as it conquered more territory from a small village to a powerful city-state to an empire that connected almost all of the civilized world was significant. But how that expansion affected the other aspects of the Romans’ lives is what holds the greatest significance.

 

Works Cited

Barnett, G. (2005). EMPEROR JULIAN'S Mesopotamian Invasion. Military History, 22(3),

50-78.

Bennett, J. Trajan: Optimus Princeps. 1997. Fig. 1.

Fitzpatrick, M. P. (2011). Provincializing Rome: The Indian Ocean Trade Network and Roman

Imperialism. Journal of World History, 22(1), 27-54.

Geraghty, R. M. (2007). The Impact of Globalization in the Roman Empire, 200 BC—AD 100.

Journal of Economic History, 67(4), 1036-1061.

Spitzer, H. (1980). Does Rome Have a Lesson for Us?. American Bar Association Journal,

            66(10), 1226.

Tuori, K. (2009). Alberico Gentili and the Criticism of Expansion in the Roman Empire. The

Invader's Remorse. Journal of the History of International Law, 11(2), 205-219.