III.

1st-Century Consolidation and Expansion

Rome's future as an imperial power was affirmed by Augustus, who set out to stabilize and formalize the rather haphazard and vaguely defined boundaries of Roman possessions. This objective was approached in two ways, according to circumstance: either by direct military conquest or, more subtly, by encouraging client kingdoms in strategic buffer zones, where the services of friendly local rulers could be bought or otherwise gained, and would offer a measure of security along the borders. This policy was used particularly to ally Rome to some of the sophisticated dynasties of the east, buying protection against the Scythian and Parthian peoples who threatened Asia Minor. Further east, however, legions were stationed in Syria to make a permanent frontier of the Euphrates and the edge of the Arabian Desert.

In Europe, the land of Gaul, which had been conquered by Julius Caesar, was organized into four provinces, and the older possessions in Spain into three. Attempts to find tenable frontiers for the Rhine and Danube provinces, however, were less straightforward, and attempts to push beyond the Rhine, and so to remove the threat posed by the Germanic peoples, led to one of Rome's most humiliating defeats when an army under Publius Quinctilius Varus was virtually wiped out in the Teutoberg Forest (the clades Variani; literally, “the catastrophe of Vares”). The eventual Roman withdrawal to the natural frontier suggested by the great rivers left the provinces of Upper and Lower Germany with a total of eight legions, with a further seven in the Danube provinces—an indication of Roman concern about the security of this border. Augustus, however, had been so shattered by the humiliation of the loss of Germany that he instructed his successor, Tiberius, not to increase further Rome's territories.

The machinery of empire consolidated by Augustus was inherited by his successors. Tiberius (ruled ad 14-37) annexed the client kingdom of Cappadocia (annexation being a policy commonly applied when clientage arrangements for any reason broke down). The next significant territorial expansion, however, was the invasion of Britain, in ad 43, under Claudius. Partly justified in commercial terms and partly as a move to prevent British support of potentially rebellious Gauls, this adventure was probably largely a quest for personal prestige by the emperor, who played an active personal part in the conquest and consolidation. Although some difficulty was experienced in establishing a safe northern boundary (eventually to be established by the building of Hadrian's Wall, which became the ultimate northern boundary of the empire), Britain rapidly became drawn into the Roman provincial modes of life, with several flourishing cities, including Camulodunum (now Colchester), the original provincial capital, and many minor towns. Claudius took a close interest in the provinces of the empire and did much to extend Roman citizenship by founding coloniae and municipiae, especially in Gaul. He also introduced measures to draw provincials into the higher ranks of Roman administration, particularly into the Senate: this did much to underline the increasing parity of the provinces with the Italian homeland, to which they were previously completely subordinate.

The Julio-Claudian dynasty came to an end with the murder of Claudius's deranged successor, Nero, in ad 68. The following year of dynastic struggle has been graphically named “the year of the four Emperors”. From the turmoil emerged the able Vespasian, first of the Flavian Emperors. He and his sons Titus and Domitian ruled successively until 96, and maintained the empire. New territory was added in Germany, east of the Rhine, and the eastern frontiers were greatly improved and strengthened. The empire was not, however, to grow for much longer: forces were at work, both internally and externally, which were to bring about the protracted end of the Roman Empire.