With the increase in slavery, discontent among the peoples inhabiting the Roman Empire grew, and I in. BC. the wars of the inferior Italics against Rome and the slave uprisings, the most famous slave uprising led by Spartacus (74 - 71 BC), shocked all of Italy. It all ended with the establishment in Rome in 30 BC. the sole power of the emperor, based on armed force.

Growth of the Roman state

The era of Roman history from the middle of the III century. BC. until the end of the 1st c. BC. - the time of deep transformations of the previous structures, which led to the creation of a new image and essence of Roman society. In turn, the victorious wars of the Roman-Italian Union in the Mediterranean led to the capture of masses of slaves and huge funds that were invested in the economy and contributed to the rapid development of the economy, social relations and culture of the peoples of Italy. Roman-Italian society at the beginning of the 1st century. BC. entered a period of bloodshed civil wars, deep general crisis, first of all, political and state organization Roman Republic. The complex relationship between Italy and the provinces, between citizens and non-citizens, urgently required a new system of government. It was impossible to manage a world power with methods and apparatus suitable for a small community on the Tiber, but ineffective for a powerful state. The old classes, whose interests were reflected by the Roman Republic, by the end of the 1st century. BC. disappeared or degraded. There were new rich people, lumpen-proletariat, military colonists. The traditional polis-communal (republican) socio-political system was replaced by the Roman Empire. From the 30s BC. a new historical era begins in the history of the Roman state and the ancient world in general - the era of the Roman Empire, which replaced the Roman Republic. It brought with it relative civil peace and a certain easing of external aggression. The exploitation of the provinces assumes a more organized and less predatory character.

Many emperors encouraged urban construction and took care of the development of the cultural life of the provinces, the road system, and the introduction of a single imperial monetary unit. For the empire of the first two centuries, one can note the growth of technology, the development of crafts, the rise economic life, the growth of local trade. Provincial cities receive self-government. Many new urban centers are emerging. Thus, from 27 BC. and until 476 AD. Rome is going through a period of empire, which in turn breaks up into a period of principate (27 BC - 193 AD) and dominate (193-476 AD).

Principate

Empire period from the middle of the 1st c. BC. until the end of the 5th c. AD was divided into the principate, when all republican institutions formally continued to function, but in reality the power was in the hands of the princeps - the first citizen of the republic, in fact, the emperor, and the dominate (starting from the end of the 3rd century AD), when it was formed new system administration headed by the emperor. The period of the principate, or early empire, covers the time from 27 BC. before 193 AD [rule of the Yuliev dynasties - Claudius (27 BC - 68 AD), Flaviev (69-96), Antoninov (96-192)]. Augustus and his successors, being princeps of the senate, at the same time concentrated in their hands the highest civil and military power. Formally, the republican structure continued to exist: the senate, popular assemblies (comitia), magistracies, but the actual power was in the hands of the princeps. The emperor-princeps combined in his hands the powers of all the main republican magistracies: dictator, consul, praetor, people's tribune. Depending on the type of cases, he acted in one or another capacity: as a censor, he completed the senate; how the tribune canceled at his own will the actions of any authority, arrested citizens at his own discretion, etc.; how the consul and dictator determined the policy of the state, gave orders for the branches of government; how the dictator commanded the army, ruled the provinces, and so on. Thus, the transfer of government to the princeps occurred due to the empowerment of him with the highest power (lat. imperium - power), election to the most important positions, the creation of a bureaucracy separate from the magistracies, provided by the formation of the princeps' own treasury, and command of all armies. Sulla's dictatorship. In the 1st century BC. Rome was embroiled in a difficult Allied war for him and was forced to grant Roman citizenship to the entire population of Italy. The allied war brought neither Rome nor Italy true peace. The era of personal power, the era of dictatorships, was coming. The first dictator was the general Sulla, who, relying on an army devoted to him, established a regime of sole power, or dictatorship, in Rome. It was indefinite, which distinguished it from the republican dictatorship described above. In addition, Sulla arrogated to himself legislative functions and the right to arbitrarily dispose of the lives and property of citizens. He granted new rights to the senate, but sharply limited the powers of popular assemblies and deprived political functions tribunes. The dictatorship of Sulla meant the onset of a new historical era in Roman history, and above all - the end of the republic. Dictatorship of Julius Caesar. Sulla's abdication (79 BC) restored Rome's republican constitution, but not for long. Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) became the new Roman dictator. His reign came at a time after the slave uprising (74 BC) under the leadership of Spartacus, which clearly exposed the crisis of the republican form of government and the need for an authoritarian state. Elected in 59 BC Consul of Rome, Julius Caesar, heading the anti-Senatorial group, passed two land laws through the comitia, exercising direct violence against the Senate and rejecting the veto of the people's tribunes as insignificant. In a series of subsequent measures, Caesar won over to his side not only broad sections of the Roman people, but also the inhabitants of the provinces. In 46 BC Caesar put an end to his last opponents (the Pompeians) and was proclaimed dictator for a 10-year term, and in 44 for life.

The peculiarity of the Caesarist dictatorship is that the dictator had not only consular and tribune powers, but also censorship (from 46 BC) and the highest priestly. As commander of the army, Caesar received the title of emperor. The comitia, made dependent on Caesar, although they continued to exist, imitating the preservation of the republic, followed the instructions of the emperor, including those related to election to office. In addition, Caesar received the authority to dispose of the army and the treasury of the state, the right to appoint proconsuls in the provinces and recommend half of the candidates for magistrates in general, the right to vote first in the Senate, which was important, etc. A triumph for Caesar was the proclamation of him "father of the fatherland" with all the honors associated with this (a special chariot, a gilded chair, special clothes and shoes, etc.). The form of government created under Caesar - the principate - was further developed under his successor Octavian Augustus (27 BC - 12 AD). The founder of the empire, Octavian Augustus, received for the first time the title of princeps from the senate. Placed first on the list of senators, he received the right to be the first to speak in the Senate. The principate still retains the appearance of a republican form of government and almost all the institutions of the republic: popular assemblies are convened, the senate sits, consuls, praetors and popular tribunes are still elected. But all this is no more than a cover for post-republican political system. The emperor-princeps combined in his hands the powers of all the main republican magistracies: dictator, consul, praetor, people's tribune. Depending on the type of cases, he acted in one or another capacity: as a censor, he completed the senate; how the tribune canceled at his own will the actions of any authority, arrested citizens at his own discretion, etc.; how the consul and dictator determined the policy of the state, gave orders for the branches of government; how the dictator commanded the army, ruled the provinces, and so on. The people's assemblies, the main organ of power in the old republic, fell into complete decline. Cicero wrote on this occasion that gladiatorial games attracted Roman citizens more than comitia meetings. Bribery of senators, dispersal of meetings, violence against their participants, and other signs of the extreme degree of decomposition of the comitia became commonplace.

Emperor Augustus reformed the comitia in a democratic spirit (eliminated qualifying ranks, allowed absentee voting for residents of Italian municipalities), but took away judicial power from the assemblies - the most important of their former competencies. In addition, the comitia lost their original right to elect magistrates. First, a decision was made to test candidates for consulate and praetorship in a special commission composed of senators and equestrians, i.e. approbation. But after the death of Augustus, under his successor Tiberius, the election of magistrates was transferred to the competence of the senate. “Then for the first time,” wrote the Roman historian Tacitus, “senators began to elect officials, and not assemblies of citizens on the Field of Mars, for before that, although all the most important things were done at the discretion of the princeps, something was done at the insistence of tributary assemblies” (Tacitus. Annals. 1.14). Regarding legislation, Tacitus notes that the princeps replaced not only the senate and magistrates, but also the laws themselves (Annals. 1.21). This means, of course, that legislation has also become the business of the princeps. Already under Augustus, the senate was filled with provincial nobility, who owed everything to the princeps, and especially those horsemen who had reached the rank of senatorial. From an organ of power extending to the "city of Rome", the Senate has become a kind of all-imperial institution. But his position was humiliated, and his powers were limited. Bills that came to the Senate for approval came from the princeps, and their adoption was ensured by his authority. In the end, the unwritten rule arises and affirms "Whatever the princeps decides has the force of law." The right to elect the princeps himself belonged to the senate, but even this became a mere formality: in many cases the army decided the matter. focus higher institutions Empire was the "court", and it was the court of the princeps. It housed the Imperial Chancellery with legal, financial and other departments. Finances occupy a special place: never before has the state shown such ingenuity in finding sources of taxes as in the departments of the Empire, never before - before Augustus - was the tribe of imperial officials so numerous. The army became permanent and mercenary. The soldiers served for 30 years, receiving a salary, and upon retirement - a significant plot of land. The command structure of the army was completed from the senatorial and equestrian estates. An ordinary soldier could not rise above the position of commander of a centurion hundred.

By the fatal force of things, Rome was turned from a republic into a monarchy (empire). When the Roman civil community subjugated half the world, its organization ceased to correspond to its position. Both the popular assembly, which consisted of the Roman mob, and the senate, as an organ of the Roman aristocracy, expressed the will of one or another part of the metropolitan population, but not the will of the entire state. The state economy assumed an abnormal character of exploiting the entire state in favor of the capital. Neither the attempt of the Gracchi to transfer political power comitia, nor a similar attempt by Sulla with the Senate had, and could not have been successful. There was only one means of maintaining a republic in Rome - a system of representative government - but the idea of ​​\u200b\u200brepresentation was alien ancient world, Another story also affected here, the law, by virtue of which the predominance foreign policy over the internal inevitably leads to autocracy. The vitality of Rome was expressed in the fact that when its structure was affected by a discrepancy with the newly discovered tasks, it created for new needs new organ which gave him the opportunity to continue the great cause of uniting peoples and cultures. This body was the empire, which restored the balance between Rome and the provinces, more than the comitia or the senate, capable of directing military operations and complex diplomatic relations. The idea of ​​autocracy, already vaguely expressed in the activities of Marius, Sulla and Pompey, recognized itself in Julius Caesar and was finally implemented by Augustus.

Roman emperor Octavian Augustus ("Augustus from Prima Porta"). 1st century statue according to R.H.

But Rome's transition from republic to empire did not take place all at once, but through a whole series of gradual, more or less legal changes. In this regard, the entire five-century history of the Roman Empire can be divided into two periods - before and after Diocletian. The first period embraces the first three centuries of the Christian era; the empire of that time was not a monarchy, but a special kind republican magistracy, similar to a consulate or tribunate, and bearing a special name principate. Roman emperor, or princeps was an official elected for life, and this life only distinguished him from the former republican magistrates. Moreover, his very power was a combination of two purely republican magistracies: proconsulates and tribunate. He was limited in his sovereignty by the dualism of institutions, since next to him was the senate: under the authority of the Roman emperor then were only those provinces that lay on the borders or were under martial law - in the peaceful provinces the senate disposed of. hallmark principate is the formal absence of heredity; like any magistracy, it was awarded to each person according to popular choice(in fact, the people played an insignificant role here - the choice depended on the senate, and even more often on the army).

Such was the state-legal basis of the Roman principate; if in practice the emperor was the sovereign master of the state, if in fact the senate was his obedient instrument, and power for the most part passed from father to son, then in theory there was neither sovereignty nor heredity. And this limited power did not take shape in Rome immediately, but gradually, during the reign of Augustus and Tiberius. From Caligula to Diocletian, this theoretical background imperial power is not expanding, although in fact the principate, relying on the army and the masses, little by little penetrates into all branches of government. The character of the Roman Empire changed radically in the second period - in the last two centuries of its existence (284 - 476). In order to free her from the influence of soldiers and the senate, Diocletian outwardly gave her the character of autocracy and, through an artificial form of adoption, laid the foundation for heredity, and Constantine, introducing a Christian element into her, converted her into a monarchy "by God's grace."

Roman Emperor Mark Ulpius Trajan (98-117)

Despite the weakness or baseness of their individual members, the first four dynasties (Julia 31 BC - 68 AD, Flavius ​​68 - 96, Trajan 98 - 117, Hadrian 117 - 138 years, Antonina 138 - 192, Severa 193 - 235), in general, satisfied the needs by which the empire was called to life. The main attention of the best of them was directed to domestic politics to maintain the power of Rome in the conquered countries, to pacify and Romanize the provinces, and in the external - to protect the borders from the invasion of the barbarians. Augustus did especially much in both respects: by establishing the “Roman peace” (pax romana), by laying roads, by strict supervision of the governors, he greatly contributed to the economic and cultural development of the provinces, and by conquering the Danubian countries and fighting the Germans, he contributed to the security of the borders. Tiberius showed the same attention to the needs of the provinces. The Flavii restored order in the empire, shaken by the previous turmoil, completed the conquest of Palestine, subdued the revolt of the Gauls and Germans, and romanized Britain, just as Augustus romanized Gaul. Trajan Romanized the Danubian region, successfully fought against the Dacians and Parthians, while Adrian, on the contrary, completely focused his attention on the affairs of internal administration, constantly toured the provinces, monitored the activities of the administration and improved the bureaucracy, which was initiated by Claudius. The reign of Marcus Aurelius took place in the defense of the Roman Empire against the Parthians and Germans and in the pacification of Syria. after the unrest, he restored order and completed the Romanization of Britain, and his son, the cruel Caracalla, completed the great work begun by Caesar - he granted Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the provinces.

Roman emperor Hadrian (117-138)

The first half of the third century is a transitional epoch between the first and second periods in the history of the Roman Empire; the troubles of that time sharply revealed the precariousness of the entire state system. The selectivity of the Principate made him a toy in the hands of the army from which he emerged. From the death of Commodus (A.D. 192) begins the reign of soldiers, who, for profit or caprice, install and overthrow emperors. Moreover, the preponderance of the provincial troops over the Romans is more and more evident, due to the decline in militancy and political spirit in the Romans and Italics. This preponderance was revealed in the fact that, beginning with Septimius Severus, only provincials, non-Romans, were elevated to the throne. In connection with this phenomenon, there is another thing - the weakening of the unity of the Roman Empire, the desire of the provinces for supremacy in the state or for independence. In the middle of the III century. Rome finally falls under the influence of the provinces: each provincial army nominates its own emperor, the number of emperors reaches 20 - the so-called "epoch of 30 tyrants" begins. The consequence of this state of affairs was a terrible turmoil, which was not slow to take advantage of external enemies: the Persians, Goths, Allemanians attack the empire from all sides, defeat the troops, rob cities and villages, and each province, with its emperor at the head, acts at its own risk. and in their own interests, not at all caring about the whole. The great commander Aurelian succeeded in 270 on a short time restore the unity of the Roman Empire and repel external enemies, but the need for extensive reform of the state was obvious.

Roman emperor Septimius Severus (193-211). Antique bust from the Munich Glyptothek

Plan

Introduction

ChapterI. The emergence of the state in ancient Rome.

Development of the ancient state.

Reforms of Servius Tullius.

ChapterII. Formation of the Roman Republic.

ChapterIII. The fall of the republic and the transition to the empire.

ChapterIV. The Roman Empire.

Social and state system.

Principate.

Conclusion

List of used literature.

Introduction.

The history of ancient Rome is the last stage in the development of the ancient world, covering the time from the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. (754/3 BC - the traditional date of the founding of the city of Rome) until the end of the 5th century AD. (476 AD - the fall of the Western Roman Empire). Certain periods should be distinguished in its development. VSH - III centuries AD there was a process of formation of the early Roman slave society; in SH in BC – In AD, its further development takes place from a small community on the Tiber to the strongest Italian and then Mediterranean power. For W in AD characterized by the onset of the economic, social, political crisis of the Roman state, which in the 15th–5th centuries AD. followed by a period of prolonged decline.

Literary data on the emergence of Rome are legendary and contradictory. This is noted by the ancient authors themselves. So, for example, Diosinius of Halicarnassus says that "there are many disagreements both on the question of the time of the founding of the city of Rome, and on the personality of its founder." The most common was the version cited by Livy: the founder of Rome was a descendant of the Trojan Aeneas, who came to Italy.

Studying the history of Roman society - tracing the main patterns of its economic, social, political and cultural development and the identification of specific features inherent only in ancient Rome is of particular interest. The leading problems of the course of ancient history (defining the peculiarities of the economic development of the slave-owning society, the institution of slavery, the social and class struggle, the forms of slave-owning states) received the most clear form and completeness in Roman time 1 .

The history of civilization, as you know, begins with the Ancient East. Its new and higher level is associated with the development of the ancient (Greco-Roman) society, which was formed in the south of Europe in the Mediterranean basin. The ancient civilization reaches its apogee and greatest dynamism in the 1st millennium BC. - at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. It was to this time that the impressive successes of the Greeks and Romans in all spheres of human activity, including political and legal, belong. It is antiquity that humanity owes many masterpieces of literature and art, achievements of science, law and philosophy, unique examples of democratic statehood.

Chapter I. The Emergence of the State in Ancient Rome.

Development of the ancient state.

The time of the founding of the city of Rome, which historical tradition associates with the names of the legendary Romulus and Remus and refers to 753 BC, is characterized by the processes of decomposition of the primitive communal system among the tribes that settled near the Tiber River. The unification through wars of the three tribes of the ancient Latins, Sabines and Etruscans led to the formation of a community in Rome .. Members of the oldest Roman families were called patricians.

The development of cattle breeding and agriculture led to the emergence of private property. Slavery also arises, the sources of which are wars, and at the same time the beginnings of the class division of society.

In childbirth, rich aristocratic families stand out. The best land plots, which are still considered the collective property of the community, pass to them. They also receive a large share of military booty. At the same time, a separate social group of impoverished community members, accepted into the newcomer clans, and, sometimes, freed slaves, also appears. Being personally free, but limited in their rights, they were under the patronage of patrician patrons, for which, in turn, they had to provide them with property and personal services.

Favorable for cattle breeding and agriculture, climatic conditions, advantageous geographical position in terms of exchange and trade, and wars attracted to Rome an ever-increasing newcomer population from neighboring tribes. They were not part of the Roman community 2 .

The alien population that found itself outside the Roman tribal community was called the plebs. The plebs were also replenished at the expense of former members who went bankrupt and lost contact with the community. The plebeians remained free, but were limited in property and personal rights. They could receive land plots only from the free part of the communal land fund, did not have the right to marry members of the community, and were deprived of the opportunity to participate in the management of its affairs.

At the head of the Roman community was an elected leader - the river. Although by tradition he was called a king (hence the "period of kings"), his powers were limited. They were reduced mainly to the military, priestly and judicial.

The governing body was the council of elders of the clans - the senate. General issues were considered at the people's assembly. However, his decisions could be rejected by the Senate and the Rex. The latter could issue generally binding decrees.

The community included 300 genera, united in 30 curia, which, in turn, were included in 3 tribes. Each curia in the assembly was represented only by soldiers (100 on foot and 10 on horseback) and had one vote.

The paramilitary nature of the Roman tribal organization allowed it to maintain its closed character for some time. But processes were developing in Rome that were bound to hasten her downfall. The plebeians appear - rich artisans and merchants, who begin to play an ever-increasing role in the economy of Rome. At the same time, the number of poor plebeians is increasing, many of whom become unpaid debtors of the patricians and fall into debt bondage. The impoverished part of the plebs, under the conditions of the growing number of slaves, becomes even more dangerous for the Roman community by force.

The situation was complicated by the fact that the Romans were forced to recruit plebeians to participate in military campaigns. The developing discrepancy between the large role that the plebs began to play in the life of Rome and its powerless position gave rise to the struggle of the plebeians for equal rights with members of the Roman tribal community, weakened by internal contradictions, represented by its leading force - the patricians. It ended in victory, which destroyed the closed Roman tribal organization and thus cleared the way for the formation of the state.

Thus, the emergence of the state in ancient Rome was the result of the general processes of decomposition of the primitive communal system, generated by the development of private property, property and class differentiation. But these processes were accelerated by the struggle of the plebeians for equality with members of the Roman community, which finally destroyed the foundations of the tribal system of Ancient Rome.

The victory of the plebeians and the emergence of the state in ancient Rome are associated with the reforms of Rex Servius Tullius, dated to the 6th century BC. BC.

Reforms of Servius Tullius.

The reforms of Servius Tullius laid the foundation for the social organization of Rome on property and territorial principles. The entire free population of Rome - both members of the Roman clans and the plebeians - was divided into property categories. The division was based on the size of the land plot owned by a person. Those who had a full allotment were included in the first category, three-quarters of the allotment - in the second, and so on. In addition, a special group of citizens was singled out from the first category - horsemen, and landless - proletarians were separated into a separate, sixth category.

Each category exhibited a certain number of armed men, from which centuries were formed - hundreds. Horsemen were centuries of cavalry, 1-3 ranks - heavily armed infantry, 4-5 ranks - lightly armed infantry. The proletarians fielded one unarmed centuria. The total number of centuries was 193. Of them. 18 centuries of equestrians and 80 centuries of the first category accounted for more than half of all centuries 4 .

The most important thing in this part of the reforms was that the centuries became not only a military, but also a political unit. From the time of the reforms, along with curate people's assemblies, people's assemblies began to be convened by centuries (centuriate comitia), where each centuria had one vote and voting traditionally began with centurions of equestrians and the first category, and if they were unanimous, naturally, ended with this. Solution National Assembly according to the centuriae, it received the force of law, and this assembly pushed the people's assembly by curiae into secondary roles.

The second part of the reforms is the division of the free population according to the territorial principle. In Rome, 4 urban and 17 rural territorial districts were formed, behind which they retained the old name of the tribes - tribes. The tribe included both patricians and plebeians who lived in it, obeying its headman. He collected taxes from them. Somewhat later, territorial tribes also began to convene their own meetings (tributary comitia), in which each tribe had one vote. Their role for a long time remained secondary, but the division of the population into tribes, in which patricians and plebeians had the same duties, testified to the appearance in the organization of public power in Rome of a territorial, rather than consanguineous principle of its action.

The reforms of Servius Tullius, thus, completed the process of breaking the foundations of the tribal system, replacing it with a new socio-political structure based on territorial division and property differences. Including the plebeians in the "Roman people", allowing them to participate in the centuriate and tributary popular assemblies, they contributed to the consolidation of the free, ensured their dominance over the slaves. The emerging state became a form of such consolidation and domination. But at the same time, state power was also directed against the free proletarians.

The reforms attributed to Servius Tullius summed up the most important stage in the process of state formation, but did not complete it. This process developed both through the transformation of the authorities inherited from the tribal organization, and through the creation of new ones. It was based on the further consolidation of the free into the ruling class, which required the final elimination of past differences between patricians and plebeians. The reforms of Servius Tullius allowed the plebeians to participate in popular assemblies, but did not completely eliminate their political and social restrictions. The next two centuries in the history of Rome are characterized by the continuation of the struggle of the plebeians for equal rights with the patricians.

There are two main stages in this struggle. In the 5th century BC. the plebeians succeeded in limiting the arbitrariness of officials, who, by tradition, were patricians. For these purposes, in 494 BC. Tribune of the Plebs was created. The plebeian tribunes, elected by the plebeians in an amount of up to 10 people, did not have managerial power, but had the right to veto - the right to prohibit the execution of the order of any official and even the decision of the Senate. The second important achievement of the plebeians is the publication in 451-450. BC. The laws of the XII tables, which limited the ability of patrician magistrates to arbitrarily interpret the norms of customary law. These laws testify to the almost complete equalization of plebeians with patricians in civil rights - the very word "plebeian", judging by the exposition of the text of the Laws that has come down to us, is mentioned in them only once in connection with the preservation of the ban on marriages between plebeians and patricians. However, this ban soon in 445 BC. was abolished by the Law of Canulei.

The second stage belongs to the IV century. BC, when the plebeians won the right to hold public office. In 367 B.C. The law of Licinius and Sextius established that one of the two consuls (high officials) was to be elected from the plebeians, and a number of laws of 364-337. BC, they were granted the right to occupy other government positions. In the same century, laws were also issued that contributed to the consolidation of the plebeians and patricians.

The end of the struggle of the plebeians for equality was the adoption in 287 BC. The Law of Hortensia, according to which the decisions of the plebeian assemblies by tribes began to apply not only to the plebeians and, therefore, received the same force of law as the decisions of the centuriate assemblies.

The Roman Empire (ancient Rome) left an incorruptible trace in all European lands, where only its victorious legions set foot. The stone ligature of Roman architecture has survived to this day: walls that protected citizens along which troops moved, aqueducts that delivered fresh water to the townspeople, and bridges thrown over stormy rivers. As if all this wasn't enough, the legionaries were building more and more structures - even as the empire's frontiers began to recede. During the era of Hadrian When Rome was much more concerned with the consolidation of the lands than with new conquests, the unclaimed military prowess of warriors, cut off from home and family for a long time, was wisely directed in another creative direction. In a sense, the whole European owes its birth to the Roman builders, who introduced many innovations both in Rome itself and beyond. The most important achievements of urban planning, which had the goal of the public good, were sewerage and water pipes, which created healthy conditions life and contributed to the increase in population and the growth of the cities themselves. But all this would not have been possible if the Romans had not invented concrete and did not start using the arch as the main architectural element. It was these two innovations that the Roman army spread throughout the empire.

Since stone arches could withstand enormous weight and they could be built very high - sometimes two or three tiers - engineers working in the provinces easily overcame any rivers and gorges and reached the farthest edges, leaving behind strong bridges and powerful aqueducts (aqueducts). Like many other structures built with the help of Roman troops, the bridge in the Spanish city of Segovia, through which the water passes, has gigantic dimensions: 27.5 m in height and about 823 m in length. Extraordinarily tall and slender pillars, built of roughly hewn and unfastened granite blocks, and 128 graceful arches leave an impression not only of unprecedented power, but also of imperial self-confidence. This is a marvel of engineering, built around 100 tons. e., steadfastly withstood the test of time: until recently, the bridge served as the water supply system of Segovia.

How it all began?

Early settlements on the site of the future city of Rome arose on the Apennine Peninsula, in the valley of the Tiber River, at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. According to legend, the Romans are descended from the Trojan refugees who founded the city of Alba Longa in Italy. Rome itself, according to legend, was founded by Romulus, the grandson of the king of Alba Longa, in 753 BC. e. As in the Greek policies, in the early period of the history of Rome, it was ruled by kings who actually enjoyed the same power as the Greeks. Under the tyrant king Tarquinius Gordom happened popular uprising, during which royal power was destroyed and Rome became an aristocratic republic. Its population was clearly divided into two groups - the privileged class of patricians and the plebeian class, which had much less rights. A member of the oldest Roman family was considered a patrician, only the senate (the main government body) was elected from the patricians. A significant part of its early history is the struggle of the plebeians for the expansion of their rights and the transformation of members of their class into full Roman citizens.

Ancient Rome differed from the Greek city-states, because it was in completely different geographical conditions - a single Apennine peninsula with vast plains. Therefore, from the earliest period of its history, its citizens were forced to compete and fight with the neighboring Italic tribes. The conquered peoples obeyed this great empire either on the rights of allies, or simply included in the republic, and the conquered population did not receive the rights of Roman citizens, often turning into slaves. The most powerful opponents of Rome in the IV century. BC e. there were Etruscans and Samnites, as well as separate Greek colonies in southern Italy (Greater Greece). And yet, despite the fact that the Romans were often at enmity with the Greek colonists, the more developed Hellenic culture had a noticeable impact on the culture of the Romans. It got to the point that the ancient Roman deities began to be identified with their Greek counterparts: Jupiter - with Zeus, Mars - with Ares, Venus - with Aphrodite, etc.

Wars of the Roman Empire

The most tense moment in the confrontation between the Romans and the South Italians and Greeks was the war of 280-272. BC e., when Pyrrhus, the king of the state of Epirus, located in the Balkans, intervened in the course of hostilities. In the end, Pyrrhus and his allies were defeated, and by 265 BC. e. The Roman Republic united all of Central and Southern Italy under its rule.

Continuing the war with the Greek colonists, the Romans clashed in Sicily with the Carthaginian (Punic) power. In 265 BC. e. the so-called Punic Wars began, which lasted until 146 BC. e., almost 120 years. At first the Romans led fighting against the Greek colonies in eastern Sicily, primarily against the largest of them - the city of Syracuse. Then the seizures of already Carthaginian lands in the east of the island began, which led to the fact that the Carthaginians, who had a strong fleet, attacked the Romans. After the first defeats, the Romans managed to create their own fleet and defeat the Carthaginian ships in the battle of the Aegates. Peace was signed, according to which in 241 BC. e. all of Sicily, considered the breadbasket of the Western Mediterranean, became the property of the Roman Republic.

Carthaginian dissatisfaction with the results First Punic War, as well as the gradual penetration of the Romans into the territory of the Iberian Peninsula, which was owned by Carthage, led to a second military clash between the powers. In 219 BC. e. the Carthaginian commander Hannibal Barki captured the Spanish city of Sagunt, an ally of the Romans, then passed through southern Gaul and, having overcome the Alps, invaded the territory of the Roman Republic itself. Hannibal was supported by part of the Italian tribes, dissatisfied with the rule of Rome. In 216 BC. e. in Apulia, in a bloody battle at Cannes, Hannibal surrounded and almost completely destroyed the Roman army, commanded by Gaius Terentius Varro and Aemilius Paul. However, Hannibal could not take the heavily fortified city and was eventually forced to leave the Apennine Peninsula.

The war was moved to northern Africa, where Carthage and other Punic settlements were located. In 202 BC. e. The Roman commander Scipio defeated the army of Hannibal near the town of Zama, south of Carthage, after which a peace was signed on the terms dictated by the Romans. The Carthaginians were deprived of all their possessions outside Africa, they were obliged to transfer to the Romans all warships and war elephants. Having won the Second Punic War, the Roman Republic became the most powerful state in the Western Mediterranean. The Third Punic War, which took place from 149 to 146 BC. e., was reduced to finishing off an already defeated enemy. In the spring of 14b BC. e. Carthage was taken and destroyed, and its inhabitants.

Defensive walls of the Roman Empire

The relief from Trajan's Column depicts a scene (see left) from the time of the Dacian wars; legionnaires (they are without helmets) are building a camp camp out of rectangular pieces of turf. When Roman soldiers found themselves in enemy lands, the construction of such fortifications was common.

“Fear gave birth to beauty, and ancient Rome miraculously changed, changing the previous - peaceful - policy and starting to hastily build towers, so that soon all seven of its hills sparkled with the armor of a continuous wall”- so wrote one Roman about the powerful fortifications built around Rome in 275 to protect against the Goths. Following the example of the capital big cities throughout the Roman Empire, many of which had long "stepped over" the boundaries of the former walls, hastened to strengthen their defensive lines.

The construction of the city walls was an extremely labor-intensive work. Usually, two deep ditches were dug around the settlement, and a high earthen rampart was heaped between them. It served as a kind of layer between two concentric walls. External the wall went into the ground by 9 m, so that the enemy could not dig, and at the top was provided with a wide road for sentinels. inner wall rose a few more meters to make it difficult to shell the city. Such fortifications were almost indestructible: their thickness reached 6 m, and blocks of stone were fitted to each other with metal brackets - for greater strength.

When the walls were completed, it was possible to proceed with the construction of the gate. Above the opening in the wall, a temporary wooden arch was constructed - formwork. On top of it, skillful masons, moving from both sides to the middle, laid wedge-shaped slabs, forming a curve of the vault. When the last stone was laid - the castle, or key - stone, the formwork was removed, and next to the first arch, they began to build a second one. And so on until the entire passage to the city was under a semicircular roof - the Box Vault.

Guard posts at the gates, guarding the peace of the city, were often real small fortresses: there were military barracks, stocks of weapons and food. In Germany, the so-called one has been perfectly preserved (see below). Instead of windows, there were loopholes on its lower logs, and round towers rose on both sides - so that it would be more convenient to fire at the enemy. During the siege, a powerful lattice fell on the gate.

The wall built in the 3rd century around Rome (19 km long, 3.5 m thick and 18 m high) had 381 towers and 18 gates with descending bars. The wall was constantly renovated and strengthened, so that it served the City until the 19th century, that is, until the improvement of artillery. Two-thirds of this wall is still standing today.

The majestic Porta Nigra (that is, the Black Gate), rising 30 m in height, personifies the power of imperial Rome. The fortified gates are flanked by two towers, one of which is significantly damaged. Once the gate served as an entrance to the city walls of the 2nd century AD. e. to Augusta Trevirorum (later Trier), the northern capital of the empire.

Aqueducts of the Roman Empire. Imperial City Road of Life

The famous three-tiered aqueduct in Southern France (see above), thrown across the Gard River and its low valley - the so-called Gardes Bridge - is as beautiful as it is functional. This structure, stretching 244 m in length, daily delivers about 22 tons of water from a distance of 48 km to the city of Nemaus (now Nimes). Garda bridge is still one of the most wonderful works of Roman engineering.

For the Romans, who were famous for their achievements in engineering, they were especially proud of aqueducts. They brought about 250 million gallons of fresh water to ancient Rome every day. In 97 AD e. Sextus Julius Frontinus, superintendent of the water supply system of Rome, rhetorically asked: "Who dares to compare with the idle pyramids or some worthless - albeit famous - creations of the Greeks, our water pipes - these great structures, without which human life is unthinkable?" At the end of its greatness, the city acquired eleven aqueducts, through which water ran from the southern and eastern hills. Engineering turned into real art: it seemed that graceful arches easily jumped over obstacles, besides decorating the landscape. The Romans quickly "shared" their achievements with the rest of the Roman Empire, and you can still see the remnants of numerous aqueducts in France, Spain, Greece, North Africa and Asia Minor.

To provide water to the provincial cities, whose population had already depleted local supplies, and to build baths and fountains there, Roman engineers laid channels to rivers and springs, often tens of miles away. Flowing down at a slight slope (Vitruvius recommended minimum slope 1:200), precious moisture ran through stone pipes that ran through the countryside (and were mostly hidden into underground tunnels or moats, repeating the outlines of the landscape) and eventually reached the city limits. There, water was safely supplied to public reservoirs. When rivers or gorges crossed the path of the pipeline, the builders threw arches across them to maintain the former soft slope and maintain a continuous flow of water.

In order to keep the angle of incidence of the water constant, surveyors again resorted to thunder and chorobate, as well as to a diopter, which measured horizontal angles. Again, the main burden of the work fell on the shoulders of the troops. In the middle of the II century AD. one military engineer was asked to understand the difficulties that arose in the construction of the aqueduct in Salda (in present-day Algeria). Two detachments of workers began to dig a tunnel in the hill, moving towards each other from opposite directions. The engineer soon realized what was the matter. “I measured both tunnels,” he wrote later, “and found that the sum of their lengths exceeded the width of the hill.” The tunnels just didn't meet. He found a way out by drilling a well between the tunnels and connecting them so that the water began to flow as it should. The city honored the engineer with a monument.

Internal position of the Roman Empire

The further strengthening of the external power of the Roman Republic was simultaneously accompanied by a deep internal crisis. Such a large territory could no longer be governed in the old way, that is, with the organization of power characteristic of a city-state. In the ranks of the Roman military commanders, commanders emerged who claimed to have full power, like the ancient Greek tyrants or the Hellenic rulers in the Middle East. The first of these rulers was Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who captured in 82 BC. e. Rome and became a sovereign dictator. Sulla's enemies were ruthlessly killed according to the lists (proscriptions) prepared by the dictator himself. In 79 BC. e. Sulla voluntarily relinquished power, but this could no longer return him to his former administration. A long period of civil wars began in the Roman Republic.

External position of the Roman Empire

Meanwhile, the stable development of the empire was threatened not only by external enemies and ambitious politicians who fought for power. Periodically, slave uprisings broke out on the territory of the republic. The largest such rebellion was the performance led by the Thracian Spartacus, which lasted almost three years (from 73 to 71 BC). The rebels were defeated only by the combined efforts of the three most skillful commanders of Rome of that time - Mark Licinius Crassus, Mark Licinius Lucullus and Gnaeus Pompey.

Later, Pompeii, famous for its victories in the East over the Armenians and the Pontic king Mithridates VI, entered the fray for supreme power in a republic with another famous military leader- Gaius Julius Caesar. Caesar from 58 to 49 BC e. managed to capture the territories of the northern neighbors of the Roman Republic - the Gauls, and even carried out the first invasion of British Isles. In 49 BC. e. Caesar entered Rome, where he was declared a dictator - a military ruler with unlimited rights. In 46 BC. e. in the battle of Pharsalus (Greece), he defeated Pompey, his main rival. And in 45 BC. e. in Spain, under Munda, he crushed the last obvious political opponents - the sons of Pompey, Gnaeus the Younger and Sextus. At the same time, Caesar managed to enter into an alliance with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, in fact subordinating her vast country to power.

However, in 44 BC. e. Gaius Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of Republican conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. Civil wars in the republic continued. Now their main participants were the closest associates of Caesar - Mark Antony and Gaius Octavian. First, together they destroyed the killers of Caesar, and later they entered into a fight with each other. Antonia during this last stage of the civil wars in Rome supported Egyptian queen Cleopatra. However, in 31 BC. e. at the battle of Cape Actium, the fleet of Antony and Cleopatra was defeated by the ships of Octavian. The queen of Egypt and her ally committed suicide, and Octavian, finally to the Roman Republic, became the unlimited ruler of a gigantic power that united almost the entire Mediterranean under its rule.

Octavian, in 27 BC e. who took the name Augustus "blessed", is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, although this title itself at that time meant only supreme commander who won a significant victory. Nobody officially abolished the Roman Republic, and Augustus preferred to be called a princeps, that is, the first among senators. And yet, under the successors of Octavian, the republic began to more and more acquire the features of a monarchy, closer in its organization to the eastern despotic states.

The empire reached its highest foreign political power under the emperor Trajan, who in 117 AD. e. conquered part of the lands of the most powerful strong enemy of Rome in the east - the Parthian state. However, after the death of Trajan, the Parthians managed to return the occupied territories and soon went on the offensive. Already under Trajan's successor, Emperor Hadrian, the empire was forced to switch to defensive tactics, building powerful defensive ramparts on its borders.

Not only the Parthians disturbed the Roman state; raids by barbarian tribes from the north and east became more and more frequent, in battles with which the Roman army often suffered painful defeats. Later Roman emperors even allowed individual groups barbarians to settle on the territory of the empire, provided that they protect the borders from other hostile tribes.

In 284, the Roman emperor Diocletian made an important reform that finally transformed the former Roman Republic into an imperial state. From now on, even the emperor began to be called differently - “dominus” (“lord”), and at the court a complex ritual was introduced, borrowed from the eastern rulers. At the same time, the empire was divided into two parts - Eastern and Western, each of which was headed by a special ruler who received the title of Augustus. He was assisted by a deputy called Caesar. After some time, Augustus was supposed to transfer power to Caesar, and he himself retired. This more flexible system, along with improved provincial administration, saw this great state endure for another 200 years.

In the IV century. Christianity became the dominant religion in the empire, which also contributed to strengthening the internal unity of the state. Since 394, Christianity has been the only permitted religion in the empire. However, if the Eastern Roman Empire remained a fairly strong state, then the Western weakened under the blows of the barbarians. Several times (410 and 455), barbarian tribes captured and ravaged Rome, and in 476 the leader of the German mercenaries, Odoacer, overthrew the last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, and declared himself the ruler of Italy.

And although the Eastern Roman Empire was preserved as a single country, and in 553 even annexed the entire territory of Italy, it was still a completely different state. It is no coincidence that historians prefer to call him and consider his fate separately from history of ancient rome.