A Smaller History of Rome / from the Earliest Times to the Establishment of the Empire

by William Smith; Eugene Lawrence

Spain, rich in gold and silver, in fine wool, and a prolific soil, traded largely with Rome. The valley of the Bætis, or Guadalquiver, was renowned for its uncommon fertility. Many of the Spaniards had already adopted the language and manners of their conquerors. Spain was divided into three provinces, Bætica, Lusitania, and Hispania Tarraconensis. Gades, or Cadiz, was one of the richest cities of the empire, and, according to Dion Cassius, had received the privilege of Roman citizenship from Julius Cæsar, whom its people had aided against Pompey's officers. The tribes in the northwest of Spain, however, were savage and unquiet, and their language, the Basque, which still exists, shows that they were never perfectly conquered by the Romans.

The northern coast of Africa, opposite to Spain, was held by Juba, a native prince, while the Roman province of Africa embraced ancient Carthage, together with a considerable territory around it. This province possessed a large trade. Cyrenaica, to the eastward, included the island of Crete, and was termed a prætorian province.

Egypt was ruled by a governor, who was always taken from the equestrian order. Two legions only were stationed in that province. Being the centre of the trade between Italy and the Indies, Egypt accumulated great wealth, and was renowned for its extensive commerce. It exported large quantities of corn to Italy, and also papyrus, the best writing material then known. The two finest kinds of papyrus were named the Augustan and the Livian. Alexandria, the sea-port of Egypt, was the second city of the empire. Its commerce was immense; and its museum, colleges, library, and literary men made it also the centre of Greek literature. Alexandria, too, was famous for its superstition and its licentiousness: the festivals and rites of Serapis had long excited the contempt of the wiser Romans.

The trade between Alexandria and the Indies was carried on through two routes: one was the famous canal which, begun by Pharaoh Necho, was completed under the government of the Ptolemies. Leaving the Nile near the southern point of the Delta, the canal, after a somewhat circuitous course, joined the Red Sea at the town of Arsinoe, near the modern town of Suez. Another route was overland from Coptos, on the Nile, across the desert, to Berenice and Myos Hormos. Along this road wells were dug or reservoirs of water provided, and thus an easy communication was kept up with the East. Heavy duties, however, were laid upon all goods entering or leaving Alexandria, and its extensive trade afforded a great revenue to the government.

From Egypt to the Ægean Sea, various provinces were created in Syria and Asia Minor. The most extensive of these were the two provinces of Syria and Asia, which were governed by lieutenants of the emperor. Judea retained a nominal independence, under the government of Herod; Jerusalem was adorned by Herod with magnificent buildings; and Antioch, Tyre, and several other eastern cities were still prosperous and luxurious. They were, however, heavily taxed, and suffered from the tyranny and exactions of their Roman rulers.

Greece, in the age of Augustus, seems to have been a scene of desolation. It was divided into two provinces, Macedonia and Achaia, both belonging to the jurisdiction of the Senate and the people. Greece had suffered greatly during the civil wars, and had never recovered its ancient prosperity. The peninsula was partly depopulated. Laconia had long lost its importance, and Messenia and Arcadia were almost deserted. Corinth and Patræ, however, were flourishing Roman colonies; Thebes was a mere village; Athens still retained its literary renown, and was always a favorite resort for cultivated Romans; but its harbor was deserted, its walls thrown down, and the energy of its people forever gone.

Macedonia had suffered equally with Greece, and no trace remained of its former power. Thus we find that the civilized world, at the accession of Augustus, was every where marked by desolation and decay.

The Roman empire, at this period, was bounded on the north by the Euxine, the Danube, the Rhine, and the British Channel; westward it reached to the Atlantic; on the south it was confined by the deserts of Africa, and on the east by Assyria and Mesopotamia. The Mediterranean Sea was wholly within the empire, and afforded an easy mode of communication with the different provinces.

The government which Augustus now established was designed to preserve the memory of the republic, while the real power remained with the emperor alone. The people were deprived of all their former importance; the Comitia were only suffered to pass upon laws proposed by the Senate, which was now wholly under the control of the emperor. Consuls and other magistrates were still chosen annually, and Augustus, in the earlier years of his reign, was accustomed to solicit votes for his favorite candidates, who, however, were always elected; later he contented himself with furnishing them with a written recommendation. The Senate met twice in every month, instead of three times, as was the former custom, except during September and October, when no meetings were held. The provinces were governed by proconsuls, several of whom were appointed by the Senate and the people; but all of them were carefully observed by the emperor. Rome itself was governed by a prefect, whose duty it was to preserve the public peace.

In this manner Augustus, by the aid of his proconsuls, held a despotic rule over all his dominions. He controlled the Senate, too, through his authority as censor, and appointed or deposed its members; and he raised the property qualification of each Senator to about $50,000. A large part of the people of the capital were maintained by the free distribution of corn; but Augustus reduced the number from 320,000 to 200,000, providing for the poorer citizens by settling them in new colonies, and his measures seem to have produced general contentment.