Roman Empire

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Timeline of development and extinction

IV-V AD: Cambridge University's study of the causes of the fall of the empire

On December 14, 2022, the University of Cambridge in the UK published the results of a new study shedding light on the causes of the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Huns' invasions of Eastern and Central Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries AD were long seen as the initial crisis that caused the so-called Great Migration of Peoples. Ultimately, this turned into the fall of the Roman Empire. As British scientists now say, the events of that time can be directly related to extreme climatic conditions.

The reason for the fall of the Roman Empire is revealed

Specialists in 2022 received data on annual climate changes over the past 2000 years, reconstructing the rings of trees. It turned out that Hungary was going through unusually dry periods in the 4th and 5th centuries. Temperature fluctuations and the absence of precipitation from 420 to 450 were supposed to reduce crop yields and worsen the situation with pastures for animals outside the Danube and Tisza floodplains. And this could force the Hun peoples to develop new strategies for survival in the context of food shortages and growing economic problems.

{{quote'Tree ring data gives us a great opportunity to connect climatic conditions with human activities from year to year. We found that periods of drought recorded in biochemical tree ring signals coincided with increased raids in the region, the researchers said. }} Isotopic analysis of the discovered skeletons indicates that the Hunnic peoples responded to sharp changes in the climatic situation by migration. Amid a shortage of vital resources, the settled population was forced to move to more favorable regions. At the same time, as researchers note, some Hunnic peoples sharply changed their social and political organization, in fact, turning into raiders.^[1]

320: A virtual 3D copy of Ancient Rome accessible to everyone has been created. What he was before the collapse of the empire

In early November 2023, a virtual 3D model of Ancient Rome was opened, which allows you to explore the capital of the Roman Empire during its heyday. Anyone can admire the famous monuments, including the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Terms of Caracalla and the Roman Forum, as they might have been in 320 AD. At this time, Rome was one of the most populous cities in Europe with a population of 1 million people and 7,000 buildings.

The author of the project is digital archaeologist Bernard Frischer of the Luddy School of Computer Science, Computer Engineering and Engineering at Indiana University Bloomington. The idea of ​ ​ recreating Ancient Rome in a virtual format was born to Frisher in 1974, when he was a fellow of the Roman Prize in Classics at the American Academy in Rome. Then he visited the Museum of Roman Civilization, saw a physical model of Ancient Rome and decided that he could create an improved computerized version of it. The project, dubbed Rome Reborn: Flight over Ancient Rome, was helped by educational technology company Flyover Zone. 3D copy of Ancient Rome access at this link.

A virtual 3D model of ancient Rome has been opened

The urban reconstruction of ancient Rome is as scientifically accurate as the surviving fragmentary evidence allows. As new data becomes available, project participants complete their model and add details. The virtual city can be studied from the ground or from a bird's eye view.

The Rome Reborn: Flight over Ancient Rome project is supposed to be useful for educational purposes. For example, teachers can organize virtual tours for their students. In turn, travelers and amateur archaeologists will be able to explore great cultural heritage sites without leaving their homes.^[2]

I-III centuries: Legionnaires

Roman helmets in the I-III centuries.

Diploma of the Roman Legionnaire

This is what a fragment of a diploma that was issued to a Roman auxilia warrior after graduating from 25 years of service looks like. According to this 4 by 4 cm bronze plate, the veteran received Roman citizenship, as all his wives received, with whom the warrior met during the campaigns (although this was prohibited) and, of course, children.

The document had another second part, which was connected to the first using a hinge. There, probably, other privileges of the servant were noted. Specifically, this diploma was found in 2019 in the territory of the former Thrace in the ancient city of Deultum (Debelt), where Legio VIII Augusta has been housed since Octavian. The find dates back to the 2nd century AD, the era of Emperor Hadrian.

223 AD

A Roman toilet carved from chariot marble, Italy, 211-224 CE.

115 g: Emperor Traian's military campaigns

Military campaigns of the Roman Emperor Trajan in 101-115

33: The first banking crisis in history

The very first financial crisis occurred in the first century CE in the Roman Empire. In 33, the financial sector of the empire was engulfed in a powerful panic due to lack of liquidity due to several reasons in different parts of the ancient world: due to a storm, three merchant ships with goods drowned in the Red Sea, an uprising began in Greece at several enterprises...

These events led to a massive withdrawal of money from the Roman banking house of Quintus Maximus, the flight of capital quickly spread to other bank houses, in a matter of days a financial panic began in the whole empire from France to Egypt - banks one after another declared bankruptcy.

The liquidity crisis was promptly resolved thanks to the policy of "quantitative easing" of the emperor Tiberius: the banking system was pumped up with liquidity from the imperial treasury in the amount of 100 million sesterces (an ancient Roman silver coin, the denomination of which was designated by the abbreviation IIS. According to one version, this designation became the prototype of the US dollar sign - $), which at the current exchange rate was about $2 billion. Tiberius also reduced the interest rate to zero for three years. Thus, the liquidity crisis was eliminated within a few weeks. It is striking that until 2 thousand years ago, remote parts of the ancient world were so closely ^[3].

14 g.

According to 2018 estimates.

2 BC: During the reign of Octavian Augustus, the road through the Iberian Peninsula, which received his name, is modernized

After the reign of the Roman emperor Octavian Augustus, when between 8 and 2 B.C.E., the Vía Exterior road, approximately 1,500 km long, was widened and improved, it was named after the emperor, the Augustow Road.

44 BC: The Murder of Julius Caesar

In 44 BC, fearing Caesar's increased power, a group of conspiratorial senators led by Brutus stabbed him directly in the Senate.

After that, a commemorative dinary was released, on which Brutus is depicted on one side, and on the other - two daggers (denoting murder), a peel cap (free man sign) and the inscription EID MAR (March Ides, i.e. March 15 - the day of the murder).

Since subsequently Caesar's successors dealt with Brutus and company, coins became rare. To this day, 60 pieces have survived - two of gold, the rest are silver. This is one of the most expensive coins - in July 2011, one copy was sold for more than half a million dollars.

312 BC: Construction of the Appian Road

The Appian road was built in 312 BC. e. under the censor of Appia Claudius Tzek. Passed from Rome to Capua, later was carried out to Brundisius. Through it, communication between Ancient Rome and Greece, Egypt and Asia Minor was established.

Along the Appian road there are many monuments: tombs and villas of the republican and imperial periods, Christian and Jewish catacombs, medieval towers and fortifications, often built on the ruins of Roman monuments, Renaissance and Baroque buildings.

Roman civilization was the first to begin systematic planning for the construction of a network of communications. Having created a system of roads longer than 140 thousand km, Rome was connected to almost all provinces of the empire as the center of cultural, political and commercial life.

Roads in the Roman Empire

This instrument of Romanization allowed military control, commercial and craft development of cities and made possible the very existence of the Roman state.

471 BC: The first case of decimation

Decimation is the highest measure of disciplinary punishment in the Roman army, which is the death penalty of every tenth by lot.

It was usually appointed for the loss of the banner, rebellion and even desertion. The earliest documented case of decimation dates back to 471 BC. e., when Rome fought with the Volsk (mentioned by Titus Livy).

In decimation, the unit being punished was divided into dozens, regardless of rank and service life. Each dozen threw lots, and the one on whom he fell out was executed by his own nine comrades, stabbing him with swords or spears, and sometimes stoning him with stones or batons. Later, the execution was carried out by lictors - representatives of the authorities, who also play the role of executioners. Sentenced first by sequins with rods, and then beheaded. The surviving soldiers were also punished: in their diet, wheat was replaced by barley, they were forbidden to sleep inside the camp. Then they were distributed to other legions for replenishment.

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