As we go about our day minding our own business in most probably a democratic city with ~50–200 years of ruling, can we pause for awhile to remember that the Roman Empire once ruled a good part of the world for a really long time?
The Empire ruled its vast territory spanning continents and seas for around 1480 years, from 27 B.C.E to 1453 C.E. I somehow need you to be kinda blown away by how incredible that feat is.
Let’s compare them to the other longest running empires in the world.
None of the runner-up empires even hit half of the time the Romans ruled their large kingdom.
Besides empires, we can also look at the longest running dynasties in China.
- Han Dynasty: ~429 years
- Tang Dynasty: ~289 years
- Ming Dynasty: ~276 years
Still, none of them came close to match that of the Roman Empire. Unlike changing emperors during the Roman Empire, each dynasty in China had its own culture, language, ruling and could be said to be distinct epochs.
Moreover, these dynasties weren’t Empires governing vast territories spanning continents, they were ruling over its ‘own land’ — although arguably fighting with the Manchurians and Mongols around them. Still.
So yes, the Roman Empire, considering Byzantine Empire to be part of it, lasted a really long time.
Another reason why the Roman Empire is such a fascinating deal is the size of the empire. At its peak, the Roman Empire covered territories from Britain to North Africa to the Middle East.
In order to take over those land and maintain them, one can imagine the engineering might and the power of their army. They pioneered architecture greatness in bridges, aqueducts and other structures that we still see today.
We also know that the Romans had huge influence in the law, governance, and literature of our society today.
My dad used to give random remarks about Roman Empire during our chats — to which i conveniently brush them aside because i didn’t know much. My first real ‘initiation’ to the Mediterranean side of the world was when I first visited Italy during my semester exchange in Milan.
I sent a photo of some Roman ruins back home, to which my dad replied
‘昔日不可一世的古罗马帝国已经变成这样了’
My stupid response: ‘这整个城市竟然是意大利的首都。 都没看见城市/CBD’
Him: ‘当然啦！罗马帝国曾经是当时的超级强国’
Where does it start and end?
The Roman Empire didn’t start until the end of the Roman Republic. The Empire then split up to Western and Eastern Roman Empire, where the latter was then renamed as Byzantine Empire, before it got replaced by Ottoman Empire.
Roman Republic (510 — 40 B.C.E) For ~550 years, Rome was run by representative democracy, advised by a circle of upper-class patricians (equestrians, knights, senators) ruling over plebians.
Of course, plebians revolted against patricians. As Rome’s territory grew over the Italian peninsula, there were more distinct party factions, civil wars ensued, and Julius Caesar emerged as prominent statesmen. Caesar defeated Pompey, became dictator, but was soon assassinated.
His nephew Augustus defeated the conspirators and declared himself as the first Roman Emperor.
Roman Empire — From 27 B.C.E, Rome shifted to centralized imperial authority. This was the start of the Empire. Under Augustus’ rule, the Empire prospered. For ~300 years, Roman Empire’s territory expanded with each emperor, dominating Britain and central Europe. But the cost of maintaining this vast Empire became arduous — logistically, and politically.
Eastern and Western Roman Empire — At 286 C.E, Roman Emperor Diocletian thought it would be easier to have 2 administrators to govern each side. Emperor Constantine defeated the Eastern Emperor and reunited Roman Empire and is known for christianizing the entire Empire.
Western Roman Empire dissolves (405–480 C.E) German forces removed Emperor Augustus in 476 C.E, leaving only the Eastern Roman Empire thriving.
Eastern Roman Empire/Byzantine Empire becomes the ‘Roman Empire’. At 330 C.E, Constantine chose Constantinople as its ‘New Rome’ capital for Eastern Roman Empire. This regime was subsequently renamed as the Byzantine Empire and it continued for another ~1000 years. This is where most of what constitutes ‘Roman Empire’ falls under.
Eventually, the Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 C.E.
Ottoman Empire lasted 600 years then dissolved in 1922.
So when we say Roman Empire, in terms of time, we’re most likely referring to the Byzantine Empire that ruled for much of the ~1,480 years across Europe and North Africa.
Western vs Eastern Roman Empire
The Roman Empire started with Rome, of course.
All the political, social and cultural activity started there. Rome was naturally the capital. They spoke Latin, and followed Roman catholic practices.
Some would dismiss the split of ‘East vs West’ Roman Empire. Most of the wealth, economic activity and Roman population resided in the East. They posit that Emperor Diocletian wanted to rid Roman Empire of the liability of the West by splitting them up to focus on the East.
But the Roman Empire expanded too quickly and gained vast territory before its administrators, logistics and political system could keep up. It began to have multiple co-administrators to govern different parts of the Empire. The Eastern Empire spoke Greek, and was dominated by Eastern Orthodox religion amidst a confluence of other influence.
There were a lot of civil unrest, both internal within the empires, across East vs West factions, as well as external threats from barbaric mass and new tribes that they inherited when they took over the territories.
Emperor Constantine eventually defeated both the Western and Eastern Emperor at that time and became the sole Emperor, bringing Roman Empire back to a unified Empire.
In 330 C.E., Constantine heralded Constantinople in Eastern Europe as the ‘New Rome’. He mass-built churches in the city, and welcomed Christians. Eventually, the rise of Constantinople eclipsed Rome, and the Western capital fell to German forces.
Even though the Western Roman Empire dissolved first before the Eastern Roman Empire, it’s interesting to note that those countries (France, Switzerland, etc) ended up becoming more economically prosperous and peaceful than the Eastern Roman countires (Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Israel). Italy was captured by Byzantine Empire.
Could this be because of the rapid industrialization or modernization in Western Europe after the Middle Ages?
Or did the Ottoman Empire’s ruling resulted in a economic regression in those territories?
Ottoman Empire
A small note on Ottoman Empire.
The Byzantine Empire was entirely upended by the Islam-based Ottoman Empire.
The Ottoman Empire spread the Turkish culture and Islam religion across the countries it ruled. However, it was also considered a multi-ethnic empire that tolerated diverse cultures and religions (Muslims, Christians, Jews).
Although they were the first movers in gun powder, they were slow to adopt rifles and machine guns. This proved deadly when they decided to enter World War I against the allies.
Here we have a poignant example of how ‘success is not final, and failure is not fatal’.
The Byzantine Empire ‘won’ the succession of the mighty Roman Empire, while the Western Roman Empire had dissolved so much earlier. However, the Western powers modernized and grew so rapidly after, while the Easter countries fell backward.
So, briefly, crudely, this was how the Roman Empire started, expanded, split up, and ended.
Unrelated note: I really appreciate how Dad was knowledgeable about this side of history despite having received little to no formal education. These bits of discussions we had probably accelerated my interest on this by a fair bit.
