Pax Romana

Roman Empire at its greatest extent with the conquests of Trajan

Pax Romana (Latin for "Roman peace") was the long period of relative peace and minimal expansion by military force experienced by the Roman Empire in the first and second centuries AD. Since it was established by Caesar Augustus it is sometimes called Pax Augusta. Its span was approximately 200 years (27 BC to 180 AD).

Origins of the term

The concept of Pax Romana was first presented^{[citation needed]} by Edward Gibbon in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter II. Gibbon proposed a period of moderation under Augustus and his successors and argued that generals bent on expansion (e.g. Germanicus, Agricola and Corbulo) were checked and recalled by the Emperors during their victories favouring consolidation ahead of further expansion. Gibbon lists the Roman conquest of Britain under Claudius and the conquests of Trajan as exceptions to this policy of moderation and places the end of the period at the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180 AD, despite the conclusion of peace by the latter's son Commodus later in the same year. During the Pax Romana, the area of Roman rule expanded to about five million square kilometers (two million square miles).

Beginnings of relative peace

Lacking a good precedent of successful one-man rule, Augustus created a junta of the greatest military magnates and stood as the front man. By binding together these leading magnates in a coalition, he eliminated the prospect of civil war. The Pax Romana was not immediate, despite the end of the civil wars as long as fighting continued in Spain. Nevertheless, Augustus twice closed the Gates of Janus (the Roman ceremony to mark world Peace), first in 29 BC and again in 25 BC. At the time of the Ludi Saeculares in 17 BC the concept of Peace was publicized, and in 13 BC was proclaimed when Augustus and Agrippa jointly returned from pacifying the provinces. The Ara Pacis ceremony was no doubt part of this announcement.

Augustus faced a problem making peace an acceptable mode of life for the Romans, who had been at war with one power or another continuously for 200 years.^[1] Romans regarded peace not as an absence of war, but the rare situation that existed when all opponents had been beaten down beyond the ability to resist.^[2] Augustus' challenge was to persuade Romans that the prosperity they could achieve in the absence of warfare was better for the Empire than the potential wealth and honor acquired when fighting a risky war. Augustus succeeded by means of skillful propaganda. Subsequent emperors followed his lead, sometimes producing lavish ceremonies to close the Gates of Janus, issuing coins with Pax on the reverse, and patronizing literature extolling the benefits of the Pax Romana.^[1]

Minor conflicts

Despite the term, the period was not without armed conflict, as Emperors frequently had to quell rebellions. Additionally, both border skirmishes and Roman wars of conquest happened during this period. Trajan embarked on a series of campaigns against the Parthians during his reign and Marcus Aurelius spent almost the entire last decade of his rule fighting against the Germanic tribes. It is indicative of totalitarianism that during the perpetual bloodshed of the third century AD, so many emperors issued Pax coins, as if by proclaiming prosperity and Pax Romana they could effectively overcome the realities of the civil wars, failed economy, and general destruction.

Nonetheless, as the interior of the Empire remained largely untouched by warfare, the Pax Romana was an era of relative tranquility in which Rome endured few major civil wars as severe as the perpetual bloodshed of the third century AD, nor serious invasions, or killings, such as those of the Second Punic War three centuries prior. The greatest crisis was the Year of Four Emperors in AD 69, followed by a few rebellions (against Claudius, Domitian,

Similar terms

Given the prominence of the concept of Pax Romana, historians have coined variants of the term to describe systems of relative peace that have been established, attempted or argued to have existed, usually under the hegemony of one power or of an idea. See list below.

See also

Tianxia

References

External links

• www.unrv.com/early-empire/pax-romana.php
• Pax Romana Discussion group

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