Paper Example - Pax Romana

Commonly referred to as Roman Peace, it was a period of stability and relative peace across the Roman Empire lasting for over 200 years (Horowitz, & Irving, 87-98). It was started with the reign of Augustus in 27 BCE with an aim to guarantee law, order, and security within the Roman Empire. Augustus, together with his successors, declared to assure this even if reaching the point of separating the Roman Empire from the rest of the world or also extending its borders through military conquest and intervention. Throughout the existence of the Roman Empire and Republic, Rome continued to expand its boundaries despite the Punic Wars conquest. This article discusses the political, social, economic, geographic, religious, and climate significance of Pax Romana.

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Political

Augustus established a sound government. He stabilized the frontline of public buildings creating a government that lasted for centuries by setting up civil service. He paid employees to manage government affairs, including the grain supply and tax collection across the Empire (Wilfand, & Yael, 1-29). He replenishes the senate, and his administration was administered by both the former slaves and civil servants. Many government job opportunities were created for those who were unemployed, which was called public service. There was also a developed uniform system of law in making justice throughout the Empire. There had been peace and prosperity issues on the Emperors and succession that depended on the orderly transfer of power. When the Emperor died, there was always the possibility of the civil war because there was no written law in Rome that outlined the selection of a successor. It was this problem that made the leaders, who were called the Five Good Emperors, came up with the choice of the heir as the successor of the Emperor.

Social

Throughout the Empire, life becomes more stable; there was an increased emphasis on family life, which developed a stable and prosperous social life. The new administration ruling the provinces came along with a streamline equitable tax system regime eliminating away the corrupt tax collectors. Policy reforms were established which governed both military and colonists over the social life of citizens. The policy reforms led to infrastructural and marked development, which improved the social status of people in all provinces.

Economic

The Empire developed a uniform money system, which helped it to expand its trade with other nations. A standard coinage called denarius was used throughout the Empire, making trade across different parts much more comfortable (Horowitz, & 87-98). Safer roads were constructed, which helped in increasing travel and improvement of business, thus generating more resources from trade activities. Rome developed a vast trading network, ships traveling through the Mediterranean from the east were covered by the Roman Navy. As a result of this trade, Corinth, Ephesus, and Antioch cities were able to grow and develop. The agricultural sector also expanded. Almost 90 percent of people engaged in farming because most of the Romans survived on their local area produce. Citizens were not left behind, prosperity and stability of the Empire were much reflected in the stabilized economic living standards of the people.

Geographic

The borders of the Roman Empire were approximately 10, 000 miles. By the end of the second century A.D., many cultures, customs, and languages had been reached, starting from Spain to Mesopotamia and from North Africa to Britain (Stein-Smith, & Kathleen 1253-126). Besides the first Punic Wars conquest of territorial boundaries, the Empire added land in the Middle East, North Africa, and Balkans. Throughout the reign of Caesar, Augustus, Claudius, and Marcus Aurelius, the Empire became one of the largest that had ever existed before. It grew more considerable as compared to Persia, Assyria, and even challenging the Great Alexander.

Religious

Rome was always tolerant of matters concerning religion. Christians were not suspected when it came to the issues of disturbing peace; they were allowed to evangelized and worship (Wilfand, & Yael, 1-29). During the time of Christ and the Church, the world experienced peace under Roman authority. God could not have chosen angels to spread the gospel, but the people of the world like Phillip. The early Christian was allowed to travel freely from place to in spreading the gospel. Occasionally there could be miraculous intervention such as the case of Philip being taken to another site after his sharing in Ethiopia. Sometimes the gospel was spread using written materials in the form of letters, which could be carried over miles. The Roman military cut down road crimes and sea piracy on the Mediterranean, making safe travel by the missionaries.

Climate

During the reign of Emperors, climate underwent significant changes that occurred at different rates. The changes started from apparent fluctuating up to the late Empire. There was a sub-Atlantic period that was characterized by cool summers and rainy winters, at the same time experiencing severe winters of 398 BC resulting from completing freezing of Tiber (Stein-Smith, & Kathleen 1253-126). During subsequent centuries, winter was associated with flooding apart from the usual ice. During the reign of Augustus, unusual changes occurred on climate, making it warmer, and the aridity of North Africa speeded. Roman Spain had three major phases, the humid interval in550-190 B.C., followed by an arid range of 190 BC to 150 AD, followed by another humid 150 - 350 AD. Army in Spain was forced to march during the night due to extreme heat that was experienced in 134 BC.

Conclusion

The Pax Romana played a major significance in Roman peace. Despite many challenges, Rome emerged as one of the peaceful and superior Emperor, all being attributed by the reign of emperors and their successors. Augustus made it all possible for the Empire to gain a stable political government. Achieving this, all other factors were found in line because one of the political environments is calm, other factors like the economy also stabilized.

Works Cited

Horowitz,& Irving Louis. "George Santayana: Aristocratic Pax Romana." The Idea of War and Peace. Routledge, 2017. 87-98.

Stein-Smith,& Kathleen. "The Romance Advantage-The Significance of the Romance Languages as a Pathway to Multilingualism." Theory and Practice in Language Studies 8.10 (2018): 1253-1260.

Wilfand, &Yael. "How Great Is Peace": Tannaitic Thinking on Shalom and the Pax Romana." Journal for the Study of Judaism 1.aop (2019): 1-29.