Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
How About Them Romans?
ProvenceislitteredwithRomanruins.Manyscholarsclaimthebest-preservedancientRo-
manbuildingsarenotinItaly,butinFrance.Theseancientstoneswillcomposeanimport-
ant part of your sightseeing agenda in this region, so it's worth learning about how they
came to be.
Classical Rome endured from about 500
B.C.
through
A.D.
500—spending about
500 years growing, 200 years peaking, and 300 years declining. Julius Caesar conquered
Gaul—which included Provence—during the Gallic Wars (58-51
B.C.
), then crossed the
Rubicon River in 49
B.C.
to incite civil war within the Roman Republic. He erected a
temple to Jupiter on the future site of Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral.
Theconceptofone-manrulelivedonwithhisgrandnephew,Octavian(whomhehad
also adopted as his son). Octavian killed Brutus, eliminated his rivals (Mark Antony and
Cleopatra), and united Rome's warring factions. He took the title “Augustus” and became
the first in a line of emperors who would control Rome for the next 500 years—ruling like
a king, with the backing of the army and the rubber-stamp approval of the Senate. Rome
morphed from a Republic into an Empire: a collection of many diverse territories ruled by
a single man.
Augustus' reign marked the start of 200 years of peace, prosperity, and expansion
known as the
Pax Romana.
At its peak (c.
A.D.
117), the Roman empire had 54 million
people and stretched from Scotland in the north to Egypt in the south, as far west as Spain
and as far east as modern-day Iraq. To the northeast, Rome was bounded by the Rhine
andDanubeRivers.OnRomanmaps,theMediterraneanwaslabeled
MareNostrum
(“Our
Sea”). At its peak, “Rome” didn't just refer to the city, but to the entire civilized Western
world.
The Romans were successful not only because they were good soldiers, but also be-
cause they were smart administrators and businessmen. People in conquered territories
knew they had joined the winning team and that political stability would replace barbarian
invasions. Trade thrived. Conquered peoples were welcomed into the fold of prosperity,
linked by roads, education, common laws and gods, and the Latin language.
