The Roman Empire is widely admired as a model of civilisation. However, in this compelling new study Neil Faulkner argues that in fact, it was nothing more than a ruthless system of robbery and violence. War was used to enrich the state, the imperial ruling classes and favoured client groups. In the process millions of people were killed or enslaved.
Within the empire the landowning elite creamed off the wealth of the countryside to pay taxes to the state and fund the towns and villas where they lived. The masses of people – slaves, serfs and poor peasants – were victims of a grand exploitation that made the empire possible. This system, riddled with tension and latent conflict, contained the seeds of its own eventual collapse.
Note on ancient monetary values - Maps
The people of Romulus: the Latin chiefdom, c. 750–625 BC
City of the Tarquins: the Etruscan city-state, c. 625–509 BC
Sixty years of strife: the patrician regime, c. 509–449 BC
Hubris and Nemesis: the divided Republic, c. 449–367 BC
The conquest of Central Italy: the Latin and Samnite Wars, 343–290 BC
The conquest of Southern Italy: the Pyrrhic War, 280–275 BC
The conquest of Sicily: the First Punic War, 264–241 BC
Enemy at the gates: the Second Punic War, 218–202 BC
The conquest of the Mediterranean: the Macedonian Wars, 200–146 BC
A failed revolution: the Gracchi, 133–122 BC
A popular general: the supremacy of Marius, 107–88 BC
A reactionary general: the supremacy of Sulla, 88–79 BC
The rising sun: the supremacy of Pompey, 77–60 BC
Crossing the Rubicon: the First Triumvirate, the Civil War, and the dictatorship of Caesar, 59–44 BC
A new Caesar: the Second Triumvirate, 43–31 BC
The new order: the reign of Augustus, 30 BC–AD 14
The limits of power: the Julio-Claudian emperors, AD 14–68
The limits of Empire: the year of four emperors and the Flavian dynasty, AD 69–96
A brief golden age: Trajan, Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, AD 98–161
The military monarchy: Marcus Aurelius, Commodus and Septimius Severus, AD 161–211
The Anarchy: from Caracalla to Diocletian, AD 211–284
The Late Roman counter-revolution: Diocletian, the Tetrarchy and Constantine the Great, AD 284–337
Town and country in decline: the House of Constantine and the House of Valentinian, AD 337–378
End of Empire: from Theodosius to Romulus Augustulus, AD 379–476