Perhaps the greatest difficulty the conquered faced, however, was the loss of autonomy -- but even this was not too terrible. The Romans did not set out to crush the conquered, but to unite them; thus, a certain amount of autonomy was still permitted.
The conquerors/generals, of course, differed. Julius Caesar, perhaps the greatest Roman general (and the one who opened the door to a succession of emperors), gave back to the citizens of Rome what he won in conquest. For this he was greatly loved. One of the difficulties of being a general, on the other hand, was knowing when to check your ambition. Caesar crossed the Rubicon and changed the course of history because he preferred to rule rather than take orders. Others like Marius and Sulla caused much bloodshed because their ambition got in the way of their better sense.
As for Emperors, they had perhaps the hardest lot of all: governing an entire empire. This was no easy thing. The first emperor, Caesar Augustus spent much time...
Succeeding emperors had to face the rising tide of the Christian religion which was winning converts from the pagan religion of Rome. Many emperors persecuted the Christians or lapsed into states of corruption due to the overwhelming power that was at their fingertips. Marcus Aurelius tried to retain some sort of composure by practicing stoicism, and Constantine after him changed the course of history again by ceasing all persecution against Christianity. In the final analysis, the Emperor was responsible for the lives of all his subjects and every decision he made affected people halfway across the world. His decrees would trickle down to the governors below him and out into the provinces. His armies had to fight tribes from outside who attacked. He also needed defending from attackers within his own empire.
Works Cited
Spielvogel, Jackson. Western Civilization: A Brief History. Boston, MA: Wadsworth,
2012. Print.
