Roman Empire's expansion and military dominance across centuries

¶ … Roman Empire. There are three references used for this paper.

The Roman Empire managed to maintain its stronghold for five hundred years in the west, and nearly one thousand year in the East. It is interesting to explore why their dominance lasted so long, and to compare the Roman ways of Empire building with those of the Assyrians.

Beginning of an Era

The Romans "built up one of the biggest and strongest empires the world has ever seen (Suggitt). It took many years for Rome to achieve this distinction, which provides truth to the "old saying 'Rome was not built in a day'. In 700 BC Rome was just a tiny Italian village, and over time the Romans took over the land around them. By the year AD 117 they controlled almost the entire world, as it was known at the time (Suggitt)."

A Powerful Army

The Romans were able to successfully grow and extend their conquests due to a "mixture of military skill and good government. The Roman army gradually became the most effective fighting force in the ancient world, outdoing its enemies in every aspect of warfare (Suggitt)."

During the Roman Empire reign of 1000 years, there were a number of changes which occurred in the army. When the Rome originally came into power, its strength lay in the "large supply of strong farmers, led by tough and practical nobles. The first soldiers were all Romans who owned property, but as the empire grew, many of the farmers disliked fighting away from home for a long time. In the 2nd century BC the rules were changed so that the soldiers no longer had to own property, and poorer men could join the army as a full-time career (Suggitt)."

Over time, there were improvements made concerning conditions and pay. The army also possessed all of the components necessary to be a strong military force such as "good leaders, training, discipline, weapons, armor, equipment, and numbers. During the wars with Carthage the Romans also built up a large and effective navy (Suggitt)."

Successful Transitions

The Romans were sensitive to the needs of the people they conquered, and searched for ways to make the transition peaceful, such as increasing the wealth of towns through improved trade, fair governing methods and allowing the people to become Roman citizens. Those who were conquered were also allowed to keep their own leaders, weapons, and style of fighting.

The majority of those conquered were "poor farmers who lived in tiny villages. They were impressed by the wealth and civilization of the Romans, who built stone temples, baths, markets, and theaters. The Romans had a high level of technology, and built roads across their empire, making more trade possible between the different provinces of the empire (Suggitt)."

Being Practical

The Romans successfully built their empire through practical means. They understood the importance of the ideas of those they conquered and admired them, especially the Greeks. They "adopted foreign ideas into the Roman way of life rather than trying to stamp out the old way of life of their subjects, and allowed conquered peoples to worship their gods alongside the Roman ones (Suggitt)."

Romans and Assyrians

The Roman empire began and continued to grow non-stop for 1000 years, unlike the Assyrians whose history can be divided into six separate periods. These "periods are:

Emergence: beginnings to 2400 BC

First Golden Age: 2400 BC to 612 BC

First Dark Age: 612 BC to 33 AD

Second Golden Age: 33 AD to 1300 AD

Second Dark Age: 1300 AD to1918 AD

Diaspora: 1918 to the present (www.aina.org/aol/peter/brief.htm). ADVANCE d 5

Unlike the Roman Empire, which enjoyed continual prosperity, the Assyrian empire, like many "Eurasian agrarian empires, became victims of a 'high equilibrium trap'. These empires commonly realized economic and political growth, and then after attaining a relatively high standard of living, became stagnated (Melleusih)." This economic and political stagnation eventually played a key role in their downfalls.

Conclusion

The Roman Empire began as a small village and over the course of 1000 years, became one of the largest empires known to man. It was able to realize this growth through a strong army and navy, and through its treatment of those conquered. While the Romans found the key to endurance at the time, other empires such as the Assyrians found it a struggle to survive both politically and economically.