LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Roman Empire
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The death of the Roman Empire is one of the perennial mysteries of world history. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Peter Heather proposes a stunning new solution: Rome generated its own nemesis. Centuries of imperialism turned the neighbors it called barbarians into an enemy capable of dismantling the Empire that had dominated their lives for so long. Heather is a leading authority on the late Roman Empire and on the barbarians. In The Fall of the Roman Empire, he explores the extraordinary success story that was the Roman Empire and uses a new understanding of its continued strength and enduring limitations to show how Europe's barbarians, transformed by centuries of contact with Rome on every possible level, eventually pulled it apart. He shows first how the Huns overturned the existing strategic balance of power on Rome's European frontiers, to force the Goths and others to seek refuge inside the Empire. This prompted two generations of struggle, during which new barbarian coalitions, formed in response to Roman hostility, brought the Roman west to its knees.
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The government of the Roman Empire was an Autocracy, with the head of state being the Emperor, upon whom all power was concentrated. The succession to the imperial throne was a rather deadly affair, and could all too easily lead to a period of crisis and civil war. Usually the eldest son, or in the absence of one, the nearest male relative of the former emperor, was the logical choice and the succession was mostly a dynastic affair. During the Nervan-Antonian dynasty the heirs to the throne were not biological, but adopted sons, being well-respected and popular politicians, senators or generals. It can be argued that those cases were the result of a lack of a direct male heirs, rather than an attempt to appoint on the basis of merit. Still, it did end up creating the line of emperors commonly known as the Five Good Emperors.
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The Roman Empire came into existence long before it had emperors. Before the Punic Wars, the republic of Rome ruled much of Italy, having overcome first their Italic neighbours in the centre, then the Greeks of the south (Magna Graecia, 272 BCE). With the defeat of Carthage Rome acquired Carthaginian territories overseas, such as Spain (212) and Africa (146). Over the next two hundred years successive conquests brought them Greece (146) and Asia Minor (129). Julius Caesar conquered Gaul (51), and Egypt (30) fell in the civil wars after the deaths of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. The empire was largely complete when the first emperor, Augustus, took power (27): important provinces added in the imperial period were Britannia, Mesopotamia, and Judaea.
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To understand the fall of the Roman Empire you must understand several major changes that took place. They include over-indulgence, corruption, pride, and piety (among many other things). One of the significant changes occurred within the Roman military. As the Roman Empire grew and the early Roman soldiers completed their tour of duty (released from service to Rome and the legions), the Roman army became in need of new replacement soldiers. Soon mercenaries (Barbarians) were hired and combined with the defeated captive soldiers of other countries to serve in the Roman army. Desertion meant immediate execution.
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After watching The Legacy of the Roman Empire, ask students to discuss what they learned about the Roman Empire. Ask them to describe the government in Rome before the empire was established. (It was a republic, in which elected senators made laws.) Who is the general who helped build the empire by conquering Gaul (modern-day France) and became a powerful dictator of Rome? (Julius Caesar) Who was the emperor in 27 B.C. at the beginning of the Roman Empire? (Augustus) What effect did the growing empire have on Rome? (It became powerful and wealthy.) What was Pax Romana?
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In the early years of the Roman Empire, each province was given its own constitution, agreed and loosely supervised by the Senate in Rome. For each province a governor was appointed; although, in theory, the tenure of governors lasted one year, in practice, their terms of office were often extended. By the time of Augustus, a hierarchy of provinces had developed: some, considered “public provinces”, were administered by proconsular governors, appointed by the Senate, with no responsibility for the command of troops. The remainder were imperial provinces, effectively governed by appointees of the emperor. For the more peaceful and stable imperial provinces, in which no more than a single legion of troops was based, the governor was a former praetor (magistrate); the more heavily garrisoned provinces were ruled by governors drawn from the ranks of former consuls (chief magistrates). There were ... some provinces in which the governor was of equestrian rank (drawn from the lower echelons of the Roman nobility): Judaea, annexed in 6
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