Introduction

The poet Martial once observed, Eheu fugaces anni (Alas, for the fleeting years). His words are quite meaningful when applied to the Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire. The first edition of this book was published nearly eight years ago. Surprisingly, it remains the only comprehensive A-to-Z reference to the more than 500-year period of Roman imperial civilization. This new edition seeks to build on the original encyclopedia and is marked by considerable revision, improvement, and updating. The extent of the changes will become evident to anyone familiar with the older edition, but the essential task of this work remains unchanged. The encyclopedia covers the most important personalities, terms, and sites that played a part in Roman evolution from the period of Julius Caesar and the Gallic Wars (59-51 b. c.e.) to the fall of the empire in the West (476 C. E.).

As was noted in the last edition, the subject of Roman history, even a seemingly limited aspect such as the imperial epoch, is a complex one. It involves a host of subjects, figures, ideas, and interrelated themes. Even the answering of simple questions proves extremely difficult, due to the amount and variety of information scattered in hundreds of volumes. This reference work thus seeks to provide easy-to-use and readable entries that might be able to shed a little light on a great many topics of interest to readers all over the world.

Among the many changes that are introduced in this edition are new maps and illustrations, the inclusion of suggested reading lists for a large number of individual entries, and an expanded reading list at the end of the book. The volumes selected for these lists are intended for the general reader and are deliberately editions that appeared in the English language. Nevertheless, the volumes chosen represent some of the most up-to-date works available for the specific topics, and all of them are recommended to anyone interested in expanding studies on specific aspects of Roman civilization.

Readers will also note that there has been a change of dating style throughout the text. In keeping with the preferred method of dating for modern historical works, the system of dates according to B. C. (before Christ) and a. d. (anno Domini, “in the year of the Lord”) has been changed to b. c.e. (before the common era) and C. E. (of the common era). The intention is to make this book consistent with other works on the subject and for purposes of consistent dating in the Facts On File database. The editorial revision of the dating system is undertaken despite the personal preferences of the author.

In terms of individual entries, there are many new topics included in this book, such as China, food and drink, clothing, law, women in Roman society, and transportation; equally, other entries have been expanded for greater depth of coverage and to make them more reflective of contemporary scholarship. Among the broadened topics are philosophy, legions, Christianity, industry, and the calendar.

Clearly, the size and the sheer number of the entries may prove a daunting challenge to readers unfamiliar with the subject. With this in mind, several steps have been taken to make this book as user-friendly as possible. Following this introduction, readers will find a time line covering the major events that are treated in the text. It is recommended that these charts be studied first, to make the general history of Rome clearer and to place it in a proper historical context. The time line serves as the first bridge to the entries that receive more detailed treatment in the A-to-Z section. A brief glossary of terms and words frequently used in the encyclopedia appears in the back of the book and can be used to introduce the reader to a few concepts and the many titles that are so much a part of imperial Roman history. Familiar with these, the reader can better understand the material offered in each entry.

In the encyclopedia itself, the reader may find it useful first to refer to a number of broad, highly explanatory entries that will provide a firm basis on which to investigate subjects of a more complex or specific nature. The following chart should aid in this discovery of the various aspects of Roman life:

Included in the back matter are a chronological listing of the emperors and genealogies of the major imperial dynasties and families. After exploring the general entries noted above, the reader might turn to the entries concerning the emperors or other individuals, such as Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great, who were not emperors but had a decisive influence on the late Republic. These biographies will take the reader through every era of Roman history, reflecting the times they influenced and the times that, in turn, shaped them. Several emperors were among the greatest statesmen or generals in history (Augustus, Marcus Aurelius, Diocletian, and Constantine), while others were excellent examples of political aberration (Gaius Caligula, Nero, and Elagabalus). These entries will also be helpful in introducing other topics and areas of interest.

There is an abundance of Roman writings to draw upon for information about the Roman Empire, sources that are useful in painting a clear, accurate, and interesting picture of the imperial epoch. While many ancient writings have been lost to the modern world, a vast number have survived. During the period that historians once termed the “Dark Ages” (fifth-10th centuries), a name given to this era by Petrarch, knowledge of the classical world was preserved by the monks and the Byzantine Empire. Of equal importance was the work of Arab scholars, who translated the classical manuscripts; thus, when the European scholars turned once again to the classical period, a vast body of material awaited them. Through the monks, the Greek scholars of the Eastern Empire, and the association of Latin and Arab writers and translators in Spain and Italy and in Palestine during the Crusades, what had seemingly been lost forever returned to take part in the intellectual rebirth that characterized the Renaissance. Today it would be impossible to conduct research into the Roman world without utilizing the body of classical writings available.

Most of the sources of historical note are covered in the encyclopedia, not only because they were written by interesting literary figures, but also because many of these figures, such as Tacitus, Ammianus Marcellinus and Dexippus, led very active lives. The study of these authors is also valuable in understanding the political and private circumstances under which they wrote and functioned, and in achieving an awareness of historical events and personalities. Equally, many of these writers composed their works from a particular perspective or with political aims in mind.

Such was the case with the first-century-C. E. historian Velleius Paterculus (who flattered Emperor Tiberius) and with many of the books in the Augustan histories (the Scriptores Historiae Augustae). The reader should be warned that many of these sources were biased, exaggerated, or inaccurate. Where possible, they have been described as such, either in the entry on the writer himself or in the entry where the source was used. The inclusion of such material, however, when used with caution, can be of great value in providing an additional source on a topic or a different point of view. Authors naturally vary in their usefulness. Suetonius, while including excellent details about the early emperors and Julius Caesar, has been criticized by classicists as a gossipmonger. Tacitus was a moralist who, in his Annals, bemoaned the moral decline of Rome; but his brilliance as a historian made him one of the foremost figures in Roman literature. A few other notable historical writers were Dio, Ammianus Marcellinus, and Josephus. Readers are encouraged to consider the sources as a starting point from which to launch long-term additional study of the writers themselves, beginning with the works used in this encyclopedia. Excellent translations of the classical authors are available today, both the Latin and the Greek.

Aside from the authors noted above, mention must be made of the extensive sources provided scholars through coinage, inscriptions, archaeological work and architectural and artistic remains. Most of these are quite useful for research: two of the best tomes are the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL) and the Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (in Latin) two volumes (PLRE I or II), compiled by scholars, archaeologists, and classicists. Excellent, detailed studies such as these serve as vital repositories of information, preserving inscriptions and references to ancient writings. They are less accessible to the average reader but are nevertheless essential to research. There are, finally, periodicals and magazines of immense value, such as the Journal of Roman Studies (JRS) and Archaeology (Arch.). These are readily available to the public and are recommended enthusiastically.

It is also necessary to discuss one of the pervasive elements of this encyclopedia: Readers will find frequent mention of Hellenism and Hellenic traditions adopted by the Romans. The Romans found in much of Greek culture the qualities and skills that they themselves could emulate. Rome adopted and Latinized elements of Hellenic civilization (which flourished in the fifth-fourth centuries B. C.E.), including its pantheon of gods and key facets of literature, art, and science. The acceptance of Hellenism came gradually, despite the legendary founding of Rome by Aeneas of Troy During the era of the Republic (founded in 509 B. C.E.), Romans accepted more and more the abundance of Greek tradition and, to their credit, were the first to realize the excellence and timeless nature of Greek works. Through them the Hellenic heritage was preserved, made available not only to the Romans but also to the entire world. Because of this factor, the cultural history of the West was to be enriched during the Renaissance, with the rediscovery of classical knowledge.

It is important to acknowledge the Romans’ debt to the Greeks. Cicero and Caesar studied in Greece; Lucretius acknowledged Greek superiority; and Hadrian was more of a Greek in many ways than he was a Roman. Marcus Aurelius wrote his correspondence in Greek, not in Latin. The increasing Hellenization of the Roman Empire was visible in the late third century, with the decline of Rome and the division of the empire by Diocletian. As Rome proved strategically indefensible to the threats on its frontiers, the heart of the empire gravitated eastward, culminating in the decision of Constantine the Great to build his capital at Byzantium, the city renamed Constantinople. The Eastern Empire, based in Constantine’s metropolis, began along Latin lines but within centuries was fully imbued with the Hellenic flavor of the region and its history The dynamism of the Latin that had forged the empire deteriorated in the West, to be amalgamated with the even more vital Germanic peoples who were overrunning it. In the East, the fading

Latin culture received a major strengthening by grounding itself in Hellenism, which it earlier had admired grudgingly and adopted gradually. Greek life and traditions allowed the Eastern Empire to reject outright the Germanic influences so dominant in the West during the later imperial era, thereby granting a stay of execution to the Roman Empire itself. While the Western Empire ended in broad terms in 476, the Eastern or Byzantine would endure until 1453, a testament to how much was owed to Hellenism and how important it was to the civilization that had conquered Greece and the known world.

Mention also must be made, of course, of the Latin culture that was spread from the borders of Britain to the waters of the Nile to the shores of the Black Sea. Much as Rome inherited many Hellenistic characteristics from Greece, so did it impart upon much of the occupied Roman world its own Latin traditions. Roman law and justice formed the basis of much of Western legal thinking. Roman architecture served as an inspiration to the medieval builders, who cultivated deliberately the earlier imperial style in the appropriately named Romanesque era of art and architecture. Latin, the language of the empire, allowed imperial citizens to be understood by their fellow subjects or contemporaries, even from distant lands they had never seen or about which they knew nothing. Such was the universality of the Roman Empire. While the empire in the West fell out of Roman hands in 476 C. E., its culture and institutions lived on in the barbarian peoples who had seemingly conquered it.

Finally, there are several individuals to whom a special debt of gratitude is owed for their very kind and generous assistance in the completion of this book. Among them are Fr. Felix Just, S. J.; Warren Esty; John Lavender of Historical Coins, Inc.; Rosa di Salvo of the Hulton Archive; Jane Cavolina; Tyler Ottinger; and Deirdre Mullane, the editor of the first edition and the person who first helped to bring this book to life. Additional thanks are given to my perpetually patient agent, Martha Casselman, and her talented assistant, Judith.

Above all, I would like to give heartfelt thanks to Claudia Schaab, editor at Facts On File, who first suggested that it was time for a revised edition of the encyclopedia to be undertaken. While there were moments when she no doubt pondered whether this project would ever be completed, she made the entire experience an enjoyable one, and I remain honored to have been granted a small role in preserving the history and the legacy of so magnificent and so dreadful a civilization.