What emperor of Rome truly began the Roman Empire?

Answer 1

That would be Caesar's nephew Augustus; under his rule, Rome's territory expanded considerably. The crucial difference between the Roman Empire, previous and later ones, was their penchant for organizing everything, and, the emperors seeing themselves not as individuals, but lines in a chain. Where for example in other parts of the world rulers were selfish, and it was all about "the great so and so," and "the mighty this or that," Roman emperors were less about individual achievement, and more about "Rome." Other empires, before and after, expanded more rapidly, but as the cliche'd saying goes "easy come, easy go." Additionally, following Augustus' reign, Rome did not expand her territories for another 100 years.

The Roman method of conquest was this;

1) Organize and train the army.

2) Scout the land until, if at all possible, Roman generals know it BETTER than the natives.

3) Rely on fortification warfare; the Romans would set up a position, and build a wooden fort. They would basically set up fortifications at key topographic locations, and strike from such places. Because of this conquests were often slow, but nevertheless lasting, and effective.

4) Win over the locals by convincing them of the superiority of Roman culture, if they agree, recruit, train and re-educate them, if they disagree exterminate them. Contrary to popular belief, the Romans were not racist; there were in fact black soldiers in the Roman army. They were, nevertheless, elitist; you were worth more if you were a citizen of Rome, than if you weren't. See, within the Roman empire you had the following social classes;

- the emperor

- the nobility which composed the senate

- citizens of rome

- roman women

- subjects of the empire, all the free peoples

- dead bottom were the slaves (regardless of race)

in other words the closest thing one could attain to noble status, was to be made a citizen of Rome. A citizen of Rome, had more priveleges where trade routes and markets were concerned, than someone who was a mere subject. As a subject you were subject to taxation, imprisonment without a trial, trials to the Romans were just a formality where subjects where concerned, a formality that could be ignored, and, if a Roman governor wanted to, they could rob you blind and confiscate all of your property. See, people with citizenship status, were protected from that. The reason why ashkenazi Jews overwhelmingly descend from the tribe of Levi, is because their ancestors colluded with the Romans; the animosity Jesus had towards the temple priests was more than just about religious views. Where virtually all members of the tribe of Levi were officially citizens of Rome, the members of the tribe of Judah were SUBJECTS of the Roman empire. Consequently if things turned to maneur, the Levites could run away at their leisure, while the members of the tribe of Judah were stuck there to be butchered. Regarding such a history, be mindful of when people play victim for manipulation.