The Pax Romana is famous for having provided a remarkable period of peace and stability, rarely seen before or since. Yet the Romans were first and foremost conquerors, imperialists who took by force a vast empire stretching from the Euphrates in the east to the Atlantic coast in the west. Their peace meant Roman victory and was brought about by strength and dominance rather than co-existence with neighbours. The Romans were aggressive and ruthless, and during the creation of their empire millions died or were enslaved.
But the Pax Romana was real, not merely the boast of emperors, and some of the regions in the Empire have never again lived for so many generations free from major wars. So what exactly was the Pax Romana and what did it mean for the people who found themselves brought under Roman rule?
Acclaimed historian Adrian Goldsworthy tells the story of the creation of the Empire, revealing how and why the Romans came to control so much of the world and asking whether the favourable image of the Roman peace is a true one. He chronicles the many rebellions by the conquered, and describes why these broke out and why most failed. At the same time, he explains that hostility was only one reaction to the arrival of Rome, and from the start there was alliance, collaboration and even enthusiasm for joining the invaders, all of which increased as resistance movements faded away.
A ground-breaking and comprehensive history of the Roman Peace, Pax Romana takes the reader on a journey from the bloody conquests of an aggressive Republic through the age of Caesar and Augustus to the golden age of peace and prosperity under diligent emperors like Marcus Aurelius, offering a balanced and nuanced reappraisal of life in the Roman Empire.
The Pax Romana is famous, for peace has been rare in the history of the world, which makes the centuries of stability and 'Roman Peace' from 27 BC to 180 AD all the more remarkable. Yet the Romans were conquerors, imperialists who took by force a vast empire stretching from the Euphrates in the east to the Atlantic coast in the west. Their peace came from Roman victory and was not about co-existence with neighbours, but strength and dominance. The Romans were aggressive and ruthless, and during the creation of their empire millions died or were enslaved.
Empires are no longer fashionable, and these days many scholars paint as dark a picture of life under Roman rule as they do of the years of Roman expansion. Pax Romana looks at how and why the Romans came to control so much of the world, and asks whether the old and favourable image of the Roman peace is a true one. This is also a tale of rebellions by the conquered, of why these broke out, why most failed, and how they became very rare. Hostility was only one reaction to the arrival of Rome, and from the start there was alliance, collaboration and an enthusiasm for joining the invaders, all of which increased as resistance movements faded away.
Roman rule and the Roman Peace changed the world, and nothing quite like it has ever again held sway for such a long time over so wide an area. The Pax Romana was real, not merely the boast of emperors, and some of the regions in the empire have never again lived for so many generations free from major wars. Adrian Goldsworthy's brilliant book vividly describes this unique achievement.
Two lessons for today stand out in the book: First, it is hard to make and keep a peace. Second, the greatest threat to the Pax Romana came not from foreigners but from the internal power struggles of the Romans themselves.
