Ancient Peoples

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21990, 14 January 1937, Page 5 (Supplement)

Ancient Peoples

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

The Romans were great soldiers as their victories over the other Italian tribes and over the Carthaginians had shown. During the 200 years before Christ, the Roman armies under such famous generals as Marius, Sulla, Pompey and Julius Caesar conquered almost all

the known world. Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Persia, Spain, Gaul, Britain and Egypt were all brought under the control of Rome. Throughout this great empire the armies built ' magnificent roads, walls and bridges and at important points, Roman towns grew up with stately villas, temples, halls of justice, baths and theatres. Even now in England, France, Germany, Asia and Egypt enough remains of

many such places to T give us quite a clear idea of what they, were likfe. The chief r problem that faces all great Empires is that of governing their conquered lands. The republican . system which had developed in Rome proved quite unsuited to the task of ruling a vast empire. Gradually it became clear that if peace and ordqr,were,to,be established, the leader of the army must also possess the power - of government. Then followed . a period of bitter quarrels : between

rival generals, the quarrels leading to civil wars. Finally, about 30 years before Christ, Octavius, the nephew of Julius Caesar, established himself as the first of a line of Emperors. Remembering, however, that his uncle had been assassinated because he was sus-

pected of planning to make himself king, Octavius styled himself Augustus rather than Emperor, and was careful to preserve in appearance at any rate, the power of the senate and the elected officers of state, \ The reign of Augustus was a peaceful and' prosperous time for the world. He appointed as governors over the provinces, men who ruled wisely and well, and al-

lowed to all free born men, within the , empire the privileges of Roman citzenship. This meant that they could be tried in Roman courts according to Roman law and could even appeal for trial by the Emperor himself, as did St. Paul when he felt that he would not receive justice -in Palestine. Augustus boasted that he had found; Rome a city of . brick and left it a city of marble.: Certainly the Rome of his time, receiving tribute - from .nearly every; other country,' visited by people of all

races and languages and with ships trading all over the known world, was very different from the simple little town of republican days. All kinds of public buildings . were constructed, great forums where business was carried on, temples, theatres, palaces, triumphal arches, baths and libraries. To some extent Roman architecture imitated that of Greece. An enlarged and elaborated form of the _ Greek temple, a rectangular building surrounded by rows of ' pillars, was used for many purposes, as, indeed, it still is to-day. But the Romans had inherited from the old Etruscans the use of the arch and they knew how to make a very strong concrete, so that they could also construct buildings with curved surfaces and vaulted roofs. Sculpture flourished in Rome though it was again mainly imitative of the thousands of Greek statues and carvings which had been brought to Rome after the conquest of Greece. Indeed, it has been said that although Rome was actually the conqueror, Greece soon made a spiritual conquest of. Rome. The stern, unimaginative, orderly Romans were not slow to recognise the superiority of the , Greeks in learning and the arts. Many of them even learned to read Greek and they generally entrusted the teaching of their children to Greek slaves. Gradually a Roman literature was built up, inspired by Greek writers. Men like Virgil, Horace and Livy showed that noble use could also be made of the Latin langua'ge. This was further proved by great speakers,... particularly Cicero, who developed in the law courts powers of oratory which have never been surpassed. But. the arts and graces of the Roman civilisation belonged only to the noble and wealthy families. The common people and the hordes of slaves brought back by the conquering armies were a wild, uncouth mass. With the importation of slave labour, thousands of small Roman farmers and artisans became unemployed and had to live on free distributions of corn made by. the State or by wealthy citizens. To keep these people from discontent and rioting magnificent processions and displays were frequently held in the city and chariot races and gladiatorial shows were organised for the crowd?. The combat, often to the death, between gladiators, or between gladiators and wild animals, was an immensly popular sport among all classes. Various factors'led eventually to the collapse of this last of the ancient empires. Yet. for nearly 500 years, Rome dominated the world so completely that in many ways, and especially in our legal systems and methods of government, we still feel her influence today. —C.W. This is the last of the series of articles on ancient peoples.

BOOK REVIEWS

This splendid game is. a variation of consequences. You invent a title of a book, say “The Beetle in the Dark” and then turn down the paper and pass it on. Next you write a sub-title, say “Or 366 New Ways of Cooking Cauliflower.” Then pass on and, write the author’s name, next an extract from the book, poetry or prose, next another extract (for contrast), next an extract from, a review, next name of the reviewing newspaper or journal and the last two rounds a repetition' of this (for contrast). Try this game.