# How Rome Treated its Conquered Nations

An episode of [Human History ASMR](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/6793196842), 9 Oct 2026, 1 h 11 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75561049/how_rome_treated_its_conquered_nations_human_voiced_no_ads.mp3



## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: Fire and blood. This is how a conqueror announces itself,
[0:06] Speaker 1: a sky glowing bright red above a defeated city's ruins,
[0:11] Speaker 1: and the screams of the vanquished mingle with the blare
[0:15] Speaker 1: of Roman trumpets. Thus was the scene in 146 BC,
[0:20] Speaker 1: after a bitter siege. The great city of Carthage is
[0:24] Speaker 1: no more. Its buildings smashed, its people slaughtered or put
[0:30] Speaker 1: in chains. The ancient sources tell us that 50,000 survivors
[0:36] Speaker 1: of Carthage were dragged away, kicking and screaming, sold into servitude.
[0:44] Speaker 1: This was Rome's grim calling card to those who defied
[0:48] Speaker 1: her will. It is a scene that would replay across
[0:52] Speaker 1: centuries as the Roman Republic, and later the Roman Empire,
[0:57] Speaker 1: expanded across the Mediterranean world. Yet Roman conquest was not
[1:02] Speaker 1: always a story of unending carnage alone. In the wake
[1:07] Speaker 1: of the legionary boots came new roads, aqueducts, law and order.
[1:14] Speaker 1: Towns sprouted from forums and baths. Some of the very
[1:18] Speaker 1: people who survived Rome's fury would later walk in Roman
[1:22] Speaker 1: togas and converse in Latin in their new markets. How
[1:30] Speaker 1: did the Romans truly treat the people that they conquered? Today,
[1:35] Speaker 1: we'll journey from the broken cities of Rome's enemies, along
[1:41] Speaker 1: the paved highways and marble temples of the new provinces,
[1:45] Speaker 1: examining the treatment of these conquered peoples, not just from
[1:50] Speaker 1: the Roman perspective, but that of their subjects too. And
[1:55] Speaker 1: we'll confront the brutal realities of enslavement, massacre and oppression,
[2:00] Speaker 1: without dressing it up. But we also need to consider
[2:04] Speaker 1: the governance, infrastructure, and opportunities that Roman rule brought. Our
[2:11] Speaker 1: aim is to explore critically the both sides of the coin,
[2:15] Speaker 1: I suppose, the iron fist and the gentle hand, drawing
[2:21] Speaker 1: on primary accounts from Romans and those who had to
[2:23] Speaker 1: endure the conquest. So, prepared to step into a world
[2:29] Speaker 1: where mercy was often scarce, but government, however harsh, was
[2:36] Speaker 1: systematically imposed. A world where the Pax Romana, the Roman peace,
[2:43] Speaker 1: was built on the foundation of the bones of the fallen.
[2:49] Speaker 1: But first, let me welcome you. Before we begin, let's
[2:53] Speaker 1: get acquainted. If you're new to the channel, I invite
[2:57] Speaker 1: you to click that subscribe button. And how about you
[3:00] Speaker 1: tell me where you're listening from? What time is it
[3:03] Speaker 1: in your part of the world? For those supporting on
[3:06] Speaker 1: the Patreon and those who've checked out the merch store,
[3:08] Speaker 1: you have my thanks. Now with that out of the way,
[3:12] Speaker 1: let's settle in for a deep dive back to ancient Rome.
[3:21] Speaker 1: There's no gentle way of putting it. Roman imperial expansion
[3:25] Speaker 1: was simply born in violence. When Roman legions overran an enemy,
[3:30] Speaker 1: the immediate aftermath for the defeated could be catastrophic. Ancient
[3:35] Speaker 1: chroniclers are replete with references to entire populations being slain
[3:40] Speaker 1: or enslaved in the first throes of conquest. Nowhere is
[3:46] Speaker 1: this grim reality clearer than in Julius Caesar's own account
[3:51] Speaker 1: of his wars in Gaul. 58 to 50 BC. Over
[3:56] Speaker 1: less than a decade, Caesar subjugated Gaul with ruthless efficiency. Plutarch,
[4:04] Speaker 1: summarizing Caesar's campaigns, records staggering figures. In those wars, Caesar, quote,
[4:11] Speaker 1: took by storm more than 800 cities, subdued 300 tribes,
[4:17] Speaker 1: and fought pitched battles with 3 million men. of whom
[4:22] Speaker 1: one million were slain and another million taken prisoner. Of course,
[4:29] Speaker 1: many of these prisoners were just sold into slavery, effectively
[4:33] Speaker 1: erasing entire communities from their homeland. These numbers may be inflated,
[4:38] Speaker 1: of course, by ancient drama or Roman pride, but even
[4:42] Speaker 1: if we allow for generous exaggeration, they certainly still managed
[4:46] Speaker 1: to convey the scale of devastation Primary accounts offer vivid
[4:51] Speaker 1: episodes that underpin these statistics. For example, after capturing the
[4:56] Speaker 1: Gallic stronghold of Avaricum in 52 BC, Caesar allowed his
[5:01] Speaker 1: soldiers to sack the town with virtually no restraint. Some 40,000 men, women,
[5:10] Speaker 1: and even children were killed in a single day. Not
[5:17] Speaker 1: even the elderly women or children themselves were spared, as
[5:22] Speaker 1: one of Caesar's commentaries describes. Caesar himself justifies such actions
[5:28] Speaker 1: as harsh reprisals, and even deterrents against rebellion to the Romans.
[5:35] Speaker 1: The terror they unleashed was a tool of conquest itself.
[5:42] Speaker 1: And don't forget the fate of Carthage, Rome's old rival.
[5:47] Speaker 1: That's another example of early Roman policy toward the defeated.
[5:50] Speaker 1: We go back a hundred years or so from where
[5:54] Speaker 1: Caesar is, in the Third Punic War, 149-146 BC. Rome
[6:00] Speaker 1: besieged Carthage to extinction. When the city fell, the Romans
[6:06] Speaker 1: systematically burned it to the ground. Contemporary Romans like Cato
[6:11] Speaker 1: the Elder had long ended every speech with the phrase,
[6:17] Speaker 1: Carthago delenda est, Carthage must be destroyed, and the Romans
[6:23] Speaker 1: meant it literally. Carthage's annihilation was as much of a
[6:28] Speaker 1: message to the rest of the world as it was
[6:30] Speaker 1: a military victory, a brutal warning to other peoples of
[6:34] Speaker 1: the price of resistance. The same year, 146 BC, saw
[6:41] Speaker 1: Corinth in Greece treated quite similarly. Sacked by another Roman army,
[6:47] Speaker 1: its treasures looted, its people killed or enslaved. Immediate conquest
[6:53] Speaker 1: under Roman Republic could thus approach genocide. The Romans believed
[7:00] Speaker 1: that those who resisted had pretty much forfeited all their
[7:03] Speaker 1: rights by ius belli, the law of war. A conquering
[7:08] Speaker 1: general was entitled to simply do as he pleased with
[7:12] Speaker 1: enemy lives and property. Mercy was extended only if expedient.
[7:19] Speaker 1: Cities that surrendered timely might be spared mass violence, at
[7:24] Speaker 1: least temporarily, whereas those who fought to the bitter end,
[7:29] Speaker 1: they were not so lucky. They were often met with
[7:32] Speaker 1: slaughter or enslavement as a kind of collective revenge. Punishment.
[7:40] Speaker 1: Enslavement in general, well, that was a common fate for
[7:43] Speaker 1: conquered peoples. It wasn't unique to the Romans, of course.
[7:48] Speaker 1: More captive became chattel in Rome's thriving slave markets. In
[7:53] Speaker 1: one campaign after another, tens of thousands of prisoners might
[7:57] Speaker 1: be taken to feed the trade. This human prize was
[8:03] Speaker 1: actually integral to Rome's economy and society. galley slaves for
[8:09] Speaker 1: Roman ships, labourers for plantations, even gladiators for the arena,
[8:16] Speaker 1: or just household servants for rich families in Italy. The
[8:21] Speaker 1: conquered literally fuelled Roman prosperity with their person. Caesar's Gallic
[8:28] Speaker 1: War again provides illustration. After defeating the Gaulish chieftain Vercingetorix,
[8:35] Speaker 1: not only were many of his warriors sold off, But
[8:38] Speaker 1: Vercingetorix himself was paraded in Caesar's triumph in Rome and
[8:43] Speaker 1: then executed as a sacrifice to Roman victory. The provinces
[8:49] Speaker 1: of the empire eventually became a vast mosaic made up
[8:53] Speaker 1: of subjugated civilizations, many of whom had ancestors who entered
[9:00] Speaker 1: the empire in chains. An old-sighted estimate from Plutarch and
[9:05] Speaker 1: others is that Caesar's Gallic campaigns alone sent one million
[9:11] Speaker 1: Gauls into slavery. Even if partially accurate, the single decade-long
[9:18] Speaker 1: conquest fundamentally altered demographics and lives on an enormous scale.
[9:25] Speaker 1: And Gaul was just one theatre of Roman expansion. Similar
[9:30] Speaker 1: stories played out in Spain, North Africa, the Balkans, and
[9:35] Speaker 1: the eastern Mediterranean, as Roman power seemed to be unstoppable. Massacres, too,
[9:45] Speaker 1: they were just another tool of terror and control. Roman
[9:49] Speaker 1: commanders sometimes wiped out entire communities that resisted as a
[9:53] Speaker 1: grim lesson to others. The historian Tacitus, writing a century later,
[9:59] Speaker 1: puts a scathing observation into the mouth of a Caledonian
[10:03] Speaker 1: or Scottish chieftain named Calgarcus, who purportedly rallied his warriors
[10:09] Speaker 1: against the Romans with these words, to ravage, to slaughter,
[10:14] Speaker 1: to plunder. They give the lying name of empire. and
[10:20] Speaker 1: where they make a desert, they call it peace. Now
[10:26] Speaker 1: this famous line, they make a solitude desert and call
[10:30] Speaker 1: it peace, captures how Romans' peace was often achieved by
[10:35] Speaker 1: obliterating anyone or anything that stood against them. Caligarchus' speech,
[10:44] Speaker 1: as penned by Tacitus, goes on to describe the Romans
[10:48] Speaker 1: as the robbers of the world, who have exhausted the
[10:51] Speaker 1: land with their pillaging. Indeed, examples abound of Rome's shockingly
[10:56] Speaker 1: harsh reprisals. After quelling a revolt in Hispania, that is, Spain,
[11:02] Speaker 1: for those not acquainted, the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus in
[11:06] Speaker 1: the second century BC reportedly razed the town of Numantia
[11:11] Speaker 1: and enslaved the entire population. Centuries later, when Jerusalem fell
[11:17] Speaker 1: to Emperor Titus in AD 70, after a fierce Jewish revolt.
[11:23] Speaker 1: The result was similarly catastrophic. Josephus, a Jewish historian at
[11:29] Speaker 1: the time, claims that 1.1 million Jews perished in the
[11:34] Speaker 1: siege and the aftermath, and that 97,000 were taken captive,
[11:40] Speaker 1: many sold into slavery or forced to die in gladiatorial games.
[11:45] Speaker 1: Now these numbers are debated, of course, but they still
[11:49] Speaker 1: show the reality that Rome would not hesitate to decimate
[11:52] Speaker 1: a population to snuff out any resistance. From one end
[11:57] Speaker 1: of the empire to the other, to be conquered by
[12:01] Speaker 1: Rome often meant a period of hellish suffering, just the
[12:06] Speaker 1: price one pays for submission. But after the initial shock
[12:14] Speaker 1: of conquest, if any population remained in their homeland, they
[12:19] Speaker 1: found themselves under a new master. The Roman state. Immediate
[12:26] Speaker 1: post-conquest policies varied, of course, case by case, but a
[12:30] Speaker 1: general pattern seems to emerge. Rome often attempted a— I
[12:36] Speaker 1: suppose we can call it a carrot-and-stick approach— punish, on
[12:40] Speaker 1: one hand, and terrorize enough to prevent further rebellion, yet—
[12:45] Speaker 1: also begin co-opting local elites and structures to facilitate long-term control.
[12:53] Speaker 1: Once the swords grew silent and the shields were put away,
[12:58] Speaker 1: provincial organization began. A long game was beginning to be played.
[13:05] Speaker 1: Conquered territories were typically reorganized into provinces, each under a
[13:10] Speaker 1: Roman governor. initially often an ex-consul or ex-prator for one-year
[13:15] Speaker 1: terms during a republic, later imperial appointees serving as the
[13:19] Speaker 1: emperor's pleasure. These governors wielded immense power. They were the
[13:27] Speaker 1: highest judge, the tax collector, and the military commander. To
[13:33] Speaker 1: ensure order, Rome stationed legions or auxiliary units on the
[13:38] Speaker 1: newly won soil. Fortresses and garrisons sprang up, often built
[13:43] Speaker 1: atop the ruins of raised rebel strongholds. For instance, after
[13:48] Speaker 1: the brutal suppression of the Jewish revolt, the Romans established
[13:51] Speaker 1: a permanent legionary base on Jerusalem's ruins and eventually refounded
[13:58] Speaker 1: the city, calling it Aelia Capitolina. Similarly, in the newly
[14:05] Speaker 1: conquered Britain in the 1st century AD, Roman forts dotted
[14:09] Speaker 1: the landscape to keep tribes in check, and veterans were
[14:14] Speaker 1: settled in colonies like Camalodunum, modern-day Colchester, a constant reminder
[14:20] Speaker 1: of who held the power. And in some cases, during
[14:26] Speaker 1: the Republic, Rome exercised control indirectly, at least at first.
[14:33] Speaker 1: They might install or support client kings, local rulers who
[14:38] Speaker 1: were essentially vassals of Rome, expected to obey Roman interests.
[14:44] Speaker 1: This was common in the Eastern Mediterranean, where long-established kingdoms existed.
[14:49] Speaker 1: For example, after Pompey's campaigns in the East, the first
[14:53] Speaker 1: century BC, client kings like Herod the Great in Judea,
[14:58] Speaker 1: or various rulers in Anatolia, governed on Rome's behalf. These
[15:03] Speaker 1: local kings were allowed to retain their throne, on the
[15:08] Speaker 1: condition that they paid tribute, of course, kept order, and
[15:12] Speaker 1: allied with Rome's foreign policy. As long as you were
[15:16] Speaker 1: a good boy, you could get away with having some
[15:20] Speaker 1: kind of power. Just remember who the real boss is.
[15:26] Speaker 1: Of course, this is all a pretty pragmatic arrangement. The
[15:29] Speaker 1: conquered people might accept rule more readily from a familiar
[15:33] Speaker 1: native dynasty, and Rome got to save on the costs
[15:37] Speaker 1: of direct administration, at least in the short term. However,
[15:43] Speaker 1: such autonomy was tenuous and often short-lived. If a client-king
[15:48] Speaker 1: died without an heir or simply fell out of favour,
[15:53] Speaker 1: Rome would be a bit more pragmatic, just annex the
[15:57] Speaker 1: kingdom outright. For example, we look at the province of Syria.
[16:01] Speaker 1: This was formed when Rome absorbed the remains of the
[16:05] Speaker 1: Seleucid kingdom. one of the successor states of Alexander the Great.
[16:11] Speaker 1: Egypt was taken over as personal province of Augustus after
[16:14] Speaker 1: the defeat of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. That was the
[16:18] Speaker 1: end of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Over time, most client states
[16:23] Speaker 1: were gradually turned into full provinces. The transition, of course,
[16:27] Speaker 1: was not always a smooth one. when King Ariston of
[16:32] Speaker 1: the Hellenistic kingdom of Pergamum willed his realm to Rome
[16:36] Speaker 1: in 133, the Romans took over, and the locals did
[16:42] Speaker 1: not like it. They faced revolts like that of Aristogonus,
[16:48] Speaker 1: Aristonicus rather, before securing the territory as the province of Asia.
[16:55] Speaker 1: And once a province was established, Rome's priority was stability,
[17:01] Speaker 1: but also extraction of resources. In practice, this meant setting
[17:05] Speaker 1: up a provincial administration that blended Roman oversight with local collaboration.
[17:12] Speaker 1: The governor, backed by a small staff, could not rule
[17:16] Speaker 1: alone over millions of provincials. So, Romans often co-opted with
[17:23] Speaker 1: the local aristocracy. Those members of the conquered society that
[17:29] Speaker 1: were willing to work with their brand-new overlords. These local
[17:35] Speaker 1: elites might serve as municipal officials, tax collectors, or intermediaries
[17:40] Speaker 1: between the people and Rome. In return, they received a
[17:45] Speaker 1: few privileges, protection of their status, a share of the
[17:49] Speaker 1: tax revenues or graft, and often the fastest path to
[17:55] Speaker 1: Roman citizenship, not just for themselves, but for their families.
[18:00] Speaker 1: After all, Rome rewards those loyal to it. And this
[18:06] Speaker 1: was a crucial element of the Roman success, a talent
[18:10] Speaker 1: for integrating local leaders. For example, many of the Gallic
[18:16] Speaker 1: chieftains who had initially fought Caesar ended up within a
[18:21] Speaker 1: generation or two as Roman senators after their submission, their
[18:27] Speaker 1: sons educated in Latin and serving the Roman army or
[18:30] Speaker 1: military service, or civil service rather. And so in this way,
[18:36] Speaker 1: Rome gradually transformed former enemies into stakeholders within the imperial
[18:42] Speaker 1: system itself. Nevertheless, Roman provincial governance was not benevolent by
[18:48] Speaker 1: any modern standards, if we're going to judge by modern
[18:52] Speaker 1: standards at all, but even just by general good manners.
[18:57] Speaker 1: Perhaps we can judge it by that, governors held the
[19:00] Speaker 1: proconsular imperium. What is that? Essentially absolute authority in their province,
[19:09] Speaker 1: limited only by the fear of reprimand or prosecution upon
[19:15] Speaker 1: return to Rome. During the late Republic, some governors notoriously
[19:20] Speaker 1: abused this power, viewing provincial postings as a license to
[19:25] Speaker 1: extort wealth especially being so far away from Rome. You know,
[19:32] Speaker 1: while the boss isn't watching, you can get away with
[19:34] Speaker 1: pretty much anything, can't you? A famous case of that
[19:39] Speaker 1: is Gaius Veres, the governor of Sicily in the 70s BC.
[19:45] Speaker 1: His misrule was so extreme that the Sicilians appealed to Rome. Well,
[19:53] Speaker 1: Rome didn't want any revolts. They wanted to keep things peaceful.
[19:58] Speaker 1: The Pax Romana means something, right? Thus Veres was prosecuted
[20:03] Speaker 1: by Cicero, who detailed the governor's wholesale plundering. judicial murders
[20:10] Speaker 1: and just the general air of cruelty in Sicily. Cicero's
[20:15] Speaker 1: speeches in Verum paint a vivid picture of a provincial predator.
[20:22] Speaker 1: Beres allegedly stole priceless art and temple treasures, forced farmers
[20:26] Speaker 1: into ruin with excessive grain requisitions. And get this, he
[20:31] Speaker 1: even crucified a Roman citizen trader to silence dissent. And
[20:39] Speaker 1: by the way, crucifixion was usually, well, some different sort
[20:46] Speaker 1: of exceptions, but it was reserved for the lowest of
[20:51] Speaker 1: the low, the worst criminals, to do it to an
[20:54] Speaker 1: actual Roman citizen. That was actually an act illegal under
[20:58] Speaker 1: Roman law at the time of Verres, so this was
[21:02] Speaker 1: certainly a big deal. while various fled into exile to
[21:08] Speaker 1: escape conviction. This example shows the oppression provincials could face
[21:13] Speaker 1: under officials who were unscrupulous. A dark underside of Roman rule,
[21:20] Speaker 1: provinces existed to be exploited, and until the imperial period
[21:24] Speaker 1: brought tighter oversight, many governors did exactly that. Even under
[21:31] Speaker 1: the empire, corruption and brutality did not vanish. They were
[21:37] Speaker 1: simply somewhat more restrained by the emperor's watchful eye and
[21:43] Speaker 1: a more professional bureaucracy of equestrian procurators handling finances. Of course,
[21:51] Speaker 1: military occupation was the backbone of control. Nothing says subjugation
[21:56] Speaker 1: like soldiers patrolling the streets. Roman legions were often garrisoned
[22:01] Speaker 1: long-term in conquered regions. especially those prone to unrest or
[22:06] Speaker 1: on strategic frontiers. Their presence was a constant reminder of
[22:11] Speaker 1: the conquest, literal boots on the ground enforcing the Pax Romana.
[22:18] Speaker 1: For the local inhabitants, this could be a pretty heavy burden.
[22:23] Speaker 1: They were frequently obliged to provide supplies and lodging to troops,
[22:28] Speaker 1: a practice called hospitium, or the quartering of soldiers, which
[22:32] Speaker 1: could be costly and frankly invasive. The army also sometimes
[22:37] Speaker 1: commandeered local labour for building, making the roads, the fords,
[22:43] Speaker 1: defensive walls. Tacitus, again channelling the voice of a subjugated Briton,
[22:50] Speaker 1: notes bitterly that our very hands and bodies are worn
[22:55] Speaker 1: down by the toil of clearing forests and swamps for
[22:58] Speaker 1: the benefit of the Roman occupiers. The soldiers themselves could
[23:04] Speaker 1: be brutal or disciplined, depending on leadership, but instances of theft, abuse, assault,
[23:12] Speaker 1: or worse, were not uncommon, especially in the unsettled period
[23:18] Speaker 1: just after conquest. In Britain, we can take one example.
[23:23] Speaker 1: The initial Roman conquest, beginning AD 43 under Emperor Claudius,
[23:28] Speaker 1: faced fierce resistance. flaring into a full rebellion about 17
[23:33] Speaker 1: years later. The trigger for all this was Roman mistreatment
[23:38] Speaker 1: of the Iceni tribe after the death of their client king.
[23:44] Speaker 1: The Romans ignored the king's will, you see, which had
[23:47] Speaker 1: split his inheritance between his family and Rome, and they
[23:50] Speaker 1: just outright annexed his kingdom. According to Tacitus, when the
[23:56] Speaker 1: queen annexed When the Iceni queen, rather, Boudica, objected, the
[24:01] Speaker 1: Romans flogged Boudica and publicly assaulted her two young daughters
[24:07] Speaker 1: as a demonstration of dominance. They also called in heavy
[24:12] Speaker 1: debts that had been imposed on the tribe and seized
[24:16] Speaker 1: property from Iceni nobles. This outrage shows how a newly
[24:20] Speaker 1: conquered people might be treated. Effectively, it's no more a chattel,
[24:25] Speaker 1: until they were broken into obedience. Of course, the result
[24:31] Speaker 1: in this case was an explosion. Boudicca rose in revolt
[24:36] Speaker 1: from AD 60 to 61, rallying many Britons in a
[24:40] Speaker 1: furious attempt to expel the Romans. The rebels attacked Roman settlements,
[24:47] Speaker 1: torching Londinium and other towns. and killed an estimated 70,000
[24:52] Speaker 1: to 80,000 Romans and pro-Roman Britons in the process. This
[24:57] Speaker 1: was a serious revolt. Of course, Rome's response was swift
[25:02] Speaker 1: and merciless. Governor Suetonius Paulinus regrouped the legions and defeated
[25:08] Speaker 1: Boudicca's vastly larger force in a pitched battle. Tacitus notes
[25:14] Speaker 1: that the slaughter of Britons was so one-sided, that roughly 80,000
[25:19] Speaker 1: Britons lay dead on the field against only a few
[25:23] Speaker 1: hundred Roman fatalities, a result that effectively crushed organized resistance
[25:30] Speaker 1: in Britain. Boudicca herself, legend says, she took her own
[25:36] Speaker 1: life to avoid capture. In the aftermath, Roman retribution continued.
[25:42] Speaker 1: Archaeological evidence and accounts suggest that villages were destroyed and
[25:48] Speaker 1: the remaining pockets of resistance found and eradicated. Yet once
[25:54] Speaker 1: the rebellion was quelled, Governor Suetonius was actively recalled to Rome,
[26:00] Speaker 1: for fear that his harsh reprisals were somewhat counterproductive. The
[26:07] Speaker 1: next administrator, Julius Classicianus, advocated a somewhat more conciliatory reproach,
[26:14] Speaker 1: to encourage Britons to accept Roman rule rather than just
[26:17] Speaker 1: living in perpetual fear. What a novel idea that is.
[26:22] Speaker 1: But either way, this whole situation highlights a cycle often
[26:27] Speaker 1: seen in the Empire. Early heavy-handed oppression, leading to revolt,
[26:34] Speaker 1: which is then suppressed with overwhelming brutality, followed by an
[26:38] Speaker 1: effort of pragmatic, consolidation when it became clear that endless
[26:43] Speaker 1: cruelty could hinder the long-term goal of stable governance. Pretty
[26:48] Speaker 1: much Roman, the officials, saying, we're very sorry for the inconvenience,
[26:55] Speaker 1: we'll be nicer to you from now on. Now will
[26:59] Speaker 1: you please stop rioting and pay your damn taxes? But
[27:07] Speaker 1: all in all, you've got to remember that Conquest was
[27:11] Speaker 1: good business, especially for Rome. I mean, it had to be,
[27:16] Speaker 1: to justify the enormous expense of the constant warfare. Once subdued,
[27:22] Speaker 1: a population was expected to finance its own subjugation through
[27:28] Speaker 1: various forms of taxation and tribute. A bizarre twist of fate,
[27:33] Speaker 1: isn't it? Finance your own subjugation through paying taxes. That
[27:39] Speaker 1: sounds familiar. Yeah. Under the Republic, Rome commonly imposed an
[27:45] Speaker 1: indemnity on the defeated, a massive one-time payment, whether that
[27:51] Speaker 1: be in money, crops, or resources. That's the price for peace. Carthage,
[27:58] Speaker 1: for example, after the Second Punic War, had to pay
[28:02] Speaker 1: a huge indemnity for over fifty years, until the Romans
[28:07] Speaker 1: just decided to destroy it anyway in the Third Punic War.
[28:12] Speaker 1: But that's a story for another time, isn't it? Well,
[28:16] Speaker 1: in the Empire, regular taxation of provinces was the norm.
[28:21] Speaker 1: The fiscal systems varied by region and time, but typically
[28:25] Speaker 1: included taxes on land, produce and persons. In many provinces,
[28:31] Speaker 1: a land tax called tributum soli was levied on agricultural output.
[28:36] Speaker 1: and a head tax, tributum capitis, on individuals and households. Additionally,
[28:42] Speaker 1: customs duties, mine royalties and other taxes might apply. The
[28:47] Speaker 1: conquered peoples thus became contributors to the Roman treasury. Their
[28:51] Speaker 1: labour and their lands now served to enrich Rome. And
[28:58] Speaker 1: one striking feature of Roman taxation was that Roman citizens,
[29:02] Speaker 1: after a certain point, were largely exempt from direct taxes.
[29:09] Speaker 1: Following 167 BC, Rome stopped levying the tributum, the direct tax,
[29:14] Speaker 1: on citizens in Italy, instead relying on the wealth drawn
[29:18] Speaker 1: from overseas provinces. This meant the burden fell primarily on
[29:23] Speaker 1: non-Roman subjects to sustain the empire's finances, until citizenship was
[29:29] Speaker 1: later extended to virtually all free inhabitants in AD 212.
[29:34] Speaker 1: after which the tax structure had to be evolved again.
[29:39] Speaker 1: In the early imperial period, though, the provinces often experienced
[29:45] Speaker 1: heavy tax burdens. The collection of taxes was sometimes done
[29:50] Speaker 1: by Roman officials, but just as often Rome outsourced it
[29:54] Speaker 1: to private contractors, the publicani which I'm sure were the
[29:58] Speaker 1: most popular people in town. They were essentially tax farmers,
[30:05] Speaker 1: companies or syndicates, often of the equestrian class, that paid
[30:10] Speaker 1: the state for the right to collect taxes in a province,
[30:14] Speaker 1: then sought to extract as much as possible to make
[30:16] Speaker 1: a profit. The system, of course, as you can imagine,
[30:21] Speaker 1: was ripe for abuse. And the abuses did occur. During
[30:26] Speaker 1: the late Republic, Cicero lamented the rapacity of these publicani
[30:30] Speaker 1: in Asia Province, comparing them to wolves let loose among sheep.
[30:37] Speaker 1: In Judea, the hated figure of the publican in New
[30:42] Speaker 1: Testament stories, like Zacchaeus, reflects how despised these tax contractors
[30:48] Speaker 1: were among local populations. seen as corrupt agents who enrich
[30:53] Speaker 1: themselves by gouging their own people on behalf of a
[30:56] Speaker 1: foreign overlord. Taxation could provoke unrest, just as surely as
[31:02] Speaker 1: overt brutality could. One notable example, in AD 6, a
[31:08] Speaker 1: Roman census and a new tax assessment in Judea, after
[31:12] Speaker 1: it came under direct Roman rule, sparked a brief revolt
[31:16] Speaker 1: of Judas of Galilee. As recorded by Josephus, People bristled
[31:22] Speaker 1: at having to register their property, and all of a
[31:26] Speaker 1: sudden pay tribute to these pagan conquerors. It was both
[31:31] Speaker 1: an economic strain and an insult to their autonomy. Throughout
[31:37] Speaker 1: the provinces, heavy taxes could lead to bankruptcies of farmers,
[31:40] Speaker 1: and they did abandonment of villages or migration to escape
[31:45] Speaker 1: tax districts. Roman authorities were aware of these dangers. The
[31:50] Speaker 1: sensible governors tried to strike a balance between gathering revenue
[31:55] Speaker 1: and not completely destroying the economy. Which could reduce productivity,
[32:00] Speaker 1: of course, and incite rebellion. And we can't have that.
[32:05] Speaker 1: But not all governors were sensible. Some regions suffered under
[32:09] Speaker 1: what amounted to systematic plunder. For instance, when Julius Caesar
[32:14] Speaker 1: conquered Gaul, he not only looted a vast amount of
[32:17] Speaker 1: gold to pay off his debts and enrich Rome, but
[32:20] Speaker 1: the Gauls thereafter were subject to regular levies to support
[32:25] Speaker 1: the legions that occupied them. Once again, paying for your
[32:30] Speaker 1: own subjugation. Beyond official taxes, provinces were exploited for resources
[32:39] Speaker 1: in kind of less formalized ways. Conquered lands might be
[32:44] Speaker 1: confiscated by the state or given to Roman colonists. For example,
[32:48] Speaker 1: in North Africa, large swathes of fertile land seized from
[32:52] Speaker 1: the Carthaginians and Numidians became estates for Roman and Italian landowners,
[32:58] Speaker 1: forcing locals into tenant farming or day labor. In Spain
[33:04] Speaker 1: and the Balkans, rich mines of silver, gold and other
[33:09] Speaker 1: metals fell under Roman control. Local people often ended up
[33:14] Speaker 1: as the labour force extracting those resources for their new masters.
[33:20] Speaker 1: That combination of tribute, taxes and resource extraction meant that
[33:25] Speaker 1: a significant portion of a province's output was siphoned off
[33:31] Speaker 1: to benefit Italy or the armies of Rome. The prime
[33:36] Speaker 1: example of that was Egypt under the Empire. It was
[33:41] Speaker 1: considered the personal estate of the Emperor, with its grain
[33:45] Speaker 1: harvest largely destined to feed the masses in Rome, shipped
[33:49] Speaker 1: across the Mediterranean every single day. Egyptian farmers, in effect,
[33:55] Speaker 1: were working to fill the Roman public granaries. Any failure
[34:00] Speaker 1: in Nile floods, or overzealous tax collection, could mean famine
[34:05] Speaker 1: for them. While the quota to Rome increased, remained inflexibly high.
[34:13] Speaker 1: The provinces thus experienced Rome's rule in their daily bread.
[34:18] Speaker 1: A peasant in Gaul, or a peasant in Syria, a
[34:23] Speaker 1: few years after the conquest, might not encounter Roman soldiers
[34:27] Speaker 1: too often, but he would notice that each season a
[34:31] Speaker 1: chunk of his crop would be carted off as tax.
[34:36] Speaker 1: or that he's paying in coin now to a tax
[34:38] Speaker 1: collector at a rate fixed by distant authorities whose names
[34:43] Speaker 1: he cannot even pronounce. For urban dwellers, Roman rule might
[34:48] Speaker 1: bring new tariffs at the market gates and requisitions of
[34:51] Speaker 1: supplies for officials or troops passing through. Sometimes communities were
[34:56] Speaker 1: required to provide a nonne, a regular supply of grain,
[35:01] Speaker 1: oil or other goods to support the war machine. When
[35:06] Speaker 1: extraordinary needs arose, let's say during a campaign or if
[35:11] Speaker 1: the emperor was raising funds for some kind of construction project,
[35:16] Speaker 1: additional levies could also be imposed. I don't think I
[35:20] Speaker 1: need to say it that these impositions were rarely popular.
[35:25] Speaker 1: Heavy taxation is cited by ancient authors as a cause
[35:29] Speaker 1: for several revolts or disturbances. For example, excessive debt and
[35:35] Speaker 1: taxes in Gaul contributed to unrest in the decades after Caesar.
[35:41] Speaker 1: And later, around AD 175, a peasant rebel in Egypt
[35:44] Speaker 1: known as Isidorus led uprisings in part due to fiscal oppression.
[35:51] Speaker 1: I mean, I can think of worse reasons to riot.
[35:55] Speaker 1: In extreme cases, populations dwindled. Some farmers saw their children
[36:01] Speaker 1: into slavery to pay taxes, or they simply fled. Over time,
[36:07] Speaker 1: Rome did adjust certain policies. Emperor Augustus, for instance, implemented
[36:13] Speaker 1: a more standardized census and tax system to curb the
[36:16] Speaker 1: worst abuses of tax farmers, shifting to direct collection by
[36:21] Speaker 1: imperial agents in many regions. And this brought some regularity
[36:27] Speaker 1: and maybe a little relief, but the fact remains conquered
[36:32] Speaker 1: peoples were now just a part of an imperial machine.
[36:36] Speaker 1: largely designed for the benefit of Rome and its own citizens,
[36:41] Speaker 1: and their economic output was a resource to be managed
[36:45] Speaker 1: for imperial prosperity. But don't worry. The conquest doesn't stop
[36:55] Speaker 1: at taxes and swords. It extended to identity and culture.
[37:02] Speaker 1: The Roman Empire was not just content with ruling the lands,
[37:05] Speaker 1: you see, it sought over time to mold them in
[37:08] Speaker 1: its own image. The Roman Way, this process which modern
[37:14] Speaker 1: scholars also are often called Romanization, involved the spread of
[37:19] Speaker 1: Roman and Italian language, customs, law, architecture, social practices among
[37:25] Speaker 1: the subject people. It was partly a deliberate policy and
[37:30] Speaker 1: partly an organic consequence of Roman presence. In the immediate
[37:35] Speaker 1: wake of conquest, choral imposition could be pretty blunt. The
[37:41] Speaker 1: Romans might outlaw certain local practices that they deemed to
[37:44] Speaker 1: be threatening. A vivid example of that is the suppression
[37:49] Speaker 1: of the Druids in Gaul and Britain. The Druids as
[37:53] Speaker 1: native priests and leaders were focal points of the Celtic
[37:57] Speaker 1: cultural resistance. Roman authorities under the Roman Emperor Claudius banned
[38:05] Speaker 1: Druidic rites and reportedly slaughtered Druid priests. In AD 60,
[38:11] Speaker 1: during the campaign that coincided with Boudicca's revolt, Suetonius Paulinus
[38:16] Speaker 1: attacked the island of Mona, that is, Angusae. a stronghold
[38:22] Speaker 1: of the Druids. And of course he massacred them all,
[38:26] Speaker 1: then cutting down their sacred groves. But to the Romans,
[38:31] Speaker 1: this was eliminating a spiritual rallying point for rebellion. To
[38:36] Speaker 1: the conquered Celts, it was an assault on the core
[38:39] Speaker 1: of their identity. Over the longer term, though, Romanization often
[38:46] Speaker 1: worked through more subtle and effective means rather than outright bans.
[38:51] Speaker 1: more of a, think of it like a gravitational pull,
[38:55] Speaker 1: rather than a forceful push. The Romans set about civilizing,
[39:01] Speaker 1: in their view, the new subjects by introducing the Roman
[39:04] Speaker 1: ways of life. They established cities in the Roman architectural style,
[39:10] Speaker 1: forums with grand columns, temples to Jupiter, Apollo, or even
[39:14] Speaker 1: the Emperor, bathhouses, amphitheaters for Roman games, and basilicas for administration.
[39:22] Speaker 1: In many cases existing native towns were reshaped with Roman
[39:26] Speaker 1: street grids and buildings. Along with physical infrastructure came the
[39:31] Speaker 1: Latin language, at least in the West, and a heavy
[39:35] Speaker 1: influx of Roman and Greco-Roman culture. Roman authorities encouraged local
[39:40] Speaker 1: elites to adopt Roman dress and habits. A telling passage
[39:46] Speaker 1: again comes from Tacitus, describing how his father-in-law, Agricola, as
[39:51] Speaker 1: a governor of Britain, late 1st century AD, used cultural
[39:56] Speaker 1: inducements on the Britons. Agricola provided the sons of native
[40:01] Speaker 1: chiefs a Roman education, praised them for speaking Latin well,
[40:07] Speaker 1: and awarded those who adopted Roman customs. The Britons, he notes,
[40:13] Speaker 1: began to wear the toga, and the toga, became a
[40:17] Speaker 1: bit of a fashion symbol. They were drawn to Roman
[40:20] Speaker 1: entertainment and luxuries too, baths, wine, feasts, and in their
[40:26] Speaker 1: naivety they called this civilization, though it was a part
[40:31] Speaker 1: of their own enslavement. Tacitus, wry observation, all this in
[40:38] Speaker 1: their ignorance they called it civilization, when it was but
[40:42] Speaker 1: part of their servitude. That captures a double-edged nature of Romanization,
[40:50] Speaker 1: don't you think? On one hand, the conquered peoples did
[40:55] Speaker 1: enjoy the new amenities and learning, and on the other hand,
[41:00] Speaker 1: these things they were enjoying were the very tools to
[41:03] Speaker 1: pacify them, to make them forsake their old independent spirit.
[41:09] Speaker 1: Of course, language was a key element. In Western Europe
[41:13] Speaker 1: and North Africa, Latin gradually became the dominant tongue, although
[41:17] Speaker 1: it often mixed with local languages. The Roman government conducted
[41:22] Speaker 1: business in Latin to deal with authorities or advance socially,
[41:27] Speaker 1: and the natives had to learn it. Over generations Latin
[41:32] Speaker 1: overtook Gaulish Celtic in Gaul and Brittonic Celtic in much
[41:35] Speaker 1: of Britain, though in rural areas local speech could persist
[41:39] Speaker 1: for centuries, and it did. But if you wanted to
[41:42] Speaker 1: do business in any way, well, you just had to
[41:45] Speaker 1: speak their language in the Eastern Mediterranean, where Greek was
[41:51] Speaker 1: already common, the Romans pragmatically used Greek as the lingua franca,
[41:57] Speaker 1: so Romanization there meant less about language and more about
[42:01] Speaker 1: law and, in general, just loyalty to the emperor. Throughout
[42:07] Speaker 1: the empire, the concept of Roman law was introduced, sometimes
[42:13] Speaker 1: coexisting with local laws. Provincials gradually came under the umbrella
[42:18] Speaker 1: of Roman legal processes, which, while admittedly harsh, no one's
[42:22] Speaker 1: going to argue with that, at least provided a structured
[42:27] Speaker 1: judicial system. For example, the right to appeal to the
[42:31] Speaker 1: emperor in certain cases, famously exercised by the Apostle Paul
[42:35] Speaker 1: as a Roman citizen. Law, just like infrastructure, was a
[42:41] Speaker 1: Roman contribution that had lasting impact But religion, too, was
[42:47] Speaker 1: an arena of cultural domination, but also fusion. Generally, Rome
[42:52] Speaker 1: was polytheistic and pretty tolerant of native gods. As long
[42:57] Speaker 1: as those gods could be somewhat syncretized with the Roman
[43:01] Speaker 1: ones and didn't inspire sedition. Often, Rome merged foreign deities
[43:07] Speaker 1: with their own. In Britain and Gaul, local gods were
[43:11] Speaker 1: identified with Roman equivalents. For example, a Celtic healing god
[43:16] Speaker 1: became assimilated to Apollo, a war god to Mars, things
[43:20] Speaker 1: like this. They built temples where Roman and local deities
[43:25] Speaker 1: were worshipped side by side. However, when religious practice challenged
[43:31] Speaker 1: imperial authority, Rome cracked down hard, as with Druidism or
[43:38] Speaker 1: later persecution of Christianity before it was accepted. A special
[43:43] Speaker 1: case was Judea. The Jewish people's monotheism and refusal to
[43:49] Speaker 1: participate in the imperial cult of emperor worship was a
[43:53] Speaker 1: cause of persistent friction, eventually erupting in the great revolts. Generally, though,
[44:02] Speaker 1: for most conquered peoples, adopting aspects of Roman religion, including
[44:07] Speaker 1: the cult of the emperor, became a part of showing loyalty.
[44:12] Speaker 1: The imperial cult Worship of the Emperor's genius or spirit
[44:18] Speaker 1: was actively promoted in the province. Local notables would compete
[44:23] Speaker 1: to serve as priests of the Emperor or to host
[44:26] Speaker 1: festivals in his honour, simultaneously elevating their own status while
[44:30] Speaker 1: they're at it, and so in this way religious life
[44:33] Speaker 1: was harnessed to imperial propaganda. The everyday social customs of
[44:41] Speaker 1: the conquered peoples gradually shifted under Roman influence. Clothing styles changed.
[44:48] Speaker 1: The toga or the tunic replaced native garb in many contexts,
[44:51] Speaker 1: at least for the elite. Housing in Roman style, villas
[44:56] Speaker 1: with baths and mosaics appeared where wealthy natives embraced Roman tastes.
[45:02] Speaker 1: Native forms of art were replaced or blended with Roman motifs.
[45:07] Speaker 1: Education in the Roman curriculum, rhetoric, philosophy, literature, largely Greco-Roman content,
[45:14] Speaker 1: became available especially for the sons of elites, producing new
[45:18] Speaker 1: generations who thought like Romans. These changes were more pronounced
[45:25] Speaker 1: in the urban centres and among the upper classes. Out
[45:28] Speaker 1: in the countryside, an Iberian or Syrian peasant might still
[45:32] Speaker 1: follow the traditional ways. But the direction was set. Rome
[45:38] Speaker 1: strove to make its subjects culturally Roman, to cement their
[45:42] Speaker 1: political subjugation. Despite this, cultural domination was never absolute. In
[45:51] Speaker 1: many cases it was a two-way exchange. The Romans, as
[45:55] Speaker 1: practical as ever, allowed local traditions to continue if they
[45:59] Speaker 1: posed no threat. In Egypt, for example, the priesthood of
[46:04] Speaker 1: Isis and local religious rites, continued alongside the cult of Augustus.
[46:10] Speaker 1: In Gaul, the common people likely still spoke Gaulish for generations,
[46:15] Speaker 1: even as the aristocrats Latinized. There was also resistance in
[46:19] Speaker 1: subtler forms, you see. People clung to their identities under
[46:23] Speaker 1: the Roman veneer. Yet by and large, Romanization succeeded in
[46:28] Speaker 1: many regions, to the point that by the later empire,
[46:31] Speaker 1: provincial-born citizens often saw themselves as proudly Roman. By the
[46:37] Speaker 1: second century AD, an educated Gaul like Claudius Aristarchus could
[46:42] Speaker 1: write a poetic Pangiric, praising Rome's civilized virtues. By the
[46:48] Speaker 1: fourth century, St. Augustine in North Africa, though of Punic descent,
[46:54] Speaker 1: wrote in impeccable Latin, and was a Roman citizen in
[46:58] Speaker 1: outlook and law. The old identities had not completely vanished,
[47:03] Speaker 1: don't get me wrong, but they had been subsumed under
[47:07] Speaker 1: a large Roman identity, which was exactly Rome's long-term plan
[47:12] Speaker 1: for securing loyalty of the provinces. Of course, it's very
[47:19] Speaker 1: easy and equally necessary, sure, to emphasize the terrible aspects
[47:24] Speaker 1: of Roman conquest, but if you want to fully understand
[47:27] Speaker 1: Roman's rule, you have to ask the other question, what
[47:30] Speaker 1: did Roman domination provide to the conquered In fact, after
[47:35] Speaker 1: all the killing had stopped, many of the subjugated people
[47:39] Speaker 1: came to accept and even appreciate Roman rule. So there
[47:43] Speaker 1: must have been something. Part of the answer lies in
[47:46] Speaker 1: the tangible benefits that Rome brought, even as byproducts of
[47:51] Speaker 1: serving its own interest. The first of these was infrastructure
[47:56] Speaker 1: on an unprecedented scale. Roman engineers built a vast network
[48:01] Speaker 1: of roads across the empire. the famous Roman roads, paved
[48:06] Speaker 1: highways that connected once isolated regions. These roads were built
[48:11] Speaker 1: for the legions to move quickly, but they also spurred
[48:15] Speaker 1: trade and mobility for ordinary people. Merchants could transport goods
[48:20] Speaker 1: faster and more securely than ever before. Ideas and information
[48:25] Speaker 1: travelled across these roads too. And, it was said, all
[48:30] Speaker 1: roads lead to Rome. and indeed the conquered peoples found
[48:33] Speaker 1: themselves linked to a continental system. Bridges spanned rivers, aqueducts
[48:40] Speaker 1: carried clean water to cities that had never had it before,
[48:45] Speaker 1: and harbours were constructed, or just improved to facilitate commerce.
[48:51] Speaker 1: The ruins of these works, by the way, roads, bridges, aqueducts,
[48:55] Speaker 1: can still be seen today, all the way from Britain
[48:59] Speaker 1: to Syria. Now, if that's not a testament to the
[49:02] Speaker 1: Empire's investment in infrastructure, I don't know what is. Then,
[49:09] Speaker 1: of course, there was urbanisation. The Romans prided themselves on
[49:13] Speaker 1: their city life. Very cosmopolitan. And they dotted the Empire
[49:19] Speaker 1: with cities modelled after Rome. New provincial capitals and colony
[49:23] Speaker 1: towns were established, from Augusta Trivordum, the Trier in Gaul,
[49:29] Speaker 1: to Camulodunum in Britain, to Caesarea in Palestine, often complete
[49:36] Speaker 1: with amenities like bath complexes, amphitheatres for entertainment, forums for
[49:41] Speaker 1: markets and civic business. The presence of these amenities did
[49:46] Speaker 1: improve quality of life for those with access. A provincial
[49:50] Speaker 1: inhabitant might enjoy public baths, a novelty for many in
[49:55] Speaker 1: some regions, attend gladiatorial games or chariot races in a
[50:00] Speaker 1: local arena, or simply benefit from the security of the
[50:05] Speaker 1: brand new city walls now surrounding them. Romans also bought
[50:10] Speaker 1: their advanced techniques in sanitation and construction. Some cities got
[50:15] Speaker 1: sewers or a fresh water supply, producing disease, at least
[50:20] Speaker 1: within the urban environment. Economically, the empire created a huge
[50:26] Speaker 1: free trade zone, within its borders, that is. Once local
[50:32] Speaker 1: wars ceased and banditry was curtailed by Roman patrols, trade
[50:36] Speaker 1: flourished between regions. A merchant in Asia could ship grain
[50:41] Speaker 1: or wine to Gaul and receive Spanish olive oil or
[50:44] Speaker 1: Egyptian linen in return, all under the protection of the
[50:48] Speaker 1: Pax Romana. Many provincials prospered by tapping into these new markets.
[50:56] Speaker 1: The empire standardized currency to a degree the denarius and
[51:00] Speaker 1: later Antoninianos, become widely spread and used in later periods,
[51:07] Speaker 1: making commerce a hell of a lot easier. A common
[51:11] Speaker 1: legal framework within contract laws, protections for properties, etc. also
[51:15] Speaker 1: encouraged business. And over time, some provinces became truly wealthy
[51:21] Speaker 1: under Rome because of these new systems. Let's take North Africa,
[51:27] Speaker 1: for instance, where they became a breadbasket exporting tons of grain.
[51:33] Speaker 1: Syria and Egypt were bustling with industry and trade. The
[51:37] Speaker 1: elite of these provinces grew rich and lived lifestyles comparable
[51:40] Speaker 1: to Roman elites, building fine houses and endowing cities with monuments.
[51:48] Speaker 1: And then, in general, you had security, another benefit doubted
[51:52] Speaker 1: by Rome. By conquering and then subduing all rival powers
[51:57] Speaker 1: around the Mediterranean, Rome created an environment relatively free of
[52:02] Speaker 1: large-scale warfare within the empire for over two centuries. This
[52:08] Speaker 1: period often termed the Pax Romana, that Roman peace from
[52:11] Speaker 1: 27 BC to about 180 AD. To be sure, this
[52:17] Speaker 1: peace was brutally enforced. Calcarchus' quote about a desert being
[52:23] Speaker 1: called peace once again comes to mind if you remember it,
[52:25] Speaker 1: that Caledonian general. but for many ordinary people it did
[52:31] Speaker 1: mean an escape from the constant inter-tribal warfare or raids
[52:35] Speaker 1: that had simply been a fact of life before. A
[52:39] Speaker 1: Gallic farmer in the first century AD, whose grandfather had
[52:43] Speaker 1: been constantly caught in tribal skirmishes, might now have a
[52:47] Speaker 1: much more peaceful life. His only worry now was keeping
[52:51] Speaker 1: up with the taxes. Pirates that once infested the seas
[52:56] Speaker 1: were largely eliminated after Pompey's campaign in 67 BC, and
[53:01] Speaker 1: that made sea travel far safer. The Romans maintained a
[53:05] Speaker 1: postal system to the cursus publicus, that while for official
[53:10] Speaker 1: use incidentally improved communication in the provinces. One Greek orator
[53:15] Speaker 1: in the 2nd century, Aelius Aristides, lavishly praised Rome for
[53:21] Speaker 1: making the world habitable and safe as follows. so that
[53:25] Speaker 1: one can travel from one end of the empire to
[53:28] Speaker 1: the other without fear, as if passing through a single nation.
[53:34] Speaker 1: It sounds pretty good, right? This might be hyperbole, but
[53:38] Speaker 1: it reflects a sentiment that many provincial subjects, especially those
[53:43] Speaker 1: far from the original conquest violence eventually held, that Rome
[53:49] Speaker 1: had imposed a welcome form of order on a previously
[53:54] Speaker 1: chaotic world. And Roman citizenship, well, that was another little
[54:01] Speaker 1: goody that over time blunted the sting of conquest. Initially,
[54:06] Speaker 1: citizenship was reserved for Italians and a few local nobles
[54:10] Speaker 1: outside of Italy. But gradually, Rome extended this privilege. By
[54:17] Speaker 1: serving 25 years in the auxiliary forces, I know right,
[54:21] Speaker 1: 25 years, A provincial could earn citizenship for himself and
[54:26] Speaker 1: his children. Wealthy provincials might be granted citizenship as a
[54:30] Speaker 1: favour or in exchange for service. Citizenship was highly coveted
[54:36] Speaker 1: because it came with social status and legal advantages. For example,
[54:42] Speaker 1: the exemption from some taxes. And you wouldn't be getting
[54:46] Speaker 1: crucified if you were a Roman either. They wouldn't allow
[54:50] Speaker 1: you to do that, do you? You also got the
[54:52] Speaker 1: right to vote in Roman elections, although voting was pretty
[54:55] Speaker 1: impractical for those far away. You know, you still get it.
[55:02] Speaker 1: But as generations passed, more provincials became citizens. Entire communities
[55:08] Speaker 1: were enfranchised for loyalty. The famous Edict of Caracalla in
[55:12] Speaker 1: AD 212 finally granted citizenship to all free inhabitants of
[55:18] Speaker 1: the empire. By that time, the concept of Rome had
[55:23] Speaker 1: expanded dramatically. A Syrian, a Gaul, a Numidian, where they
[55:28] Speaker 1: could all proudly call themselves a Roman, without necessarily having
[55:33] Speaker 1: a drop of Italian blood between them. And this inclusion
[55:38] Speaker 1: was a big step in helping to secure the Empire's unity.
[55:42] Speaker 1: It was a pretty long time from being shackled prisoner
[55:47] Speaker 1: of war to a respected Roman citizen but Rome made
[55:52] Speaker 1: that journey possible for the conquered a strategy to prevent
[55:56] Speaker 1: rebellion by offering a stake in the system Tacitus knows
[56:01] Speaker 1: that by praising their eloquence and talent Agricola induced the
[56:05] Speaker 1: sons of British chiefs to want to be Roman more
[56:09] Speaker 1: than they wanted to be British in effect dangling the
[56:12] Speaker 1: prospect that if you can't beat us join us at
[56:16] Speaker 1: least you'll have a share in the glory then And finally,
[56:22] Speaker 1: there is the subjective benefit of assimilation into a wider world.
[56:27] Speaker 1: For those open to it, Roman rule was an entry
[56:30] Speaker 1: ticket into the rich Greco-Roman civilization. Conquered people gained access
[56:36] Speaker 1: to the works of Greek art and literature, the philosophy
[56:39] Speaker 1: of Athens, the jurisprudence of Rome. They might partake in
[56:45] Speaker 1: grand spectacles at amphitheaters, or join legions and see far-off lands.
[56:51] Speaker 1: The empire, for all its oppression, created opportunities for talent
[56:55] Speaker 1: to rise regardless of origin. Consider that by the 2nd
[57:00] Speaker 1: century too, emperors themselves had come from the provinces. Oh,
[57:05] Speaker 1: let's think. Septimius Severus from North Africa. Off the top
[57:12] Speaker 1: of my head, Hadrian and Trajan. They were from Spain too.
[57:19] Speaker 1: Of course, this would have been pretty unthinkable in earlier centuries.
[57:22] Speaker 1: You just would not have seen it. How can we
[57:24] Speaker 1: have a Roman emperor that is not Roman? But of course,
[57:28] Speaker 1: now everyone gets to be Roman, as long as you're
[57:32] Speaker 1: in the Empire and behave yourself. You see, that change
[57:38] Speaker 1: itself is evidence of how thoroughly some conquered peoples became
[57:43] Speaker 1: integrated and even dominant within the Empire's elite. Rome's harsh
[57:49] Speaker 1: conquest eventually gave way to an imperial kind of cosmopolitanism.
[57:53] Speaker 1: A talented youth from Gaul could become a philosopher in Athens,
[57:57] Speaker 1: or a general on the Danube, or a governor in Egypt.
[58:02] Speaker 1: The sky was the limit, as long as you were
[58:04] Speaker 1: in the empire. And such mobility and cultural fusion were
[58:09] Speaker 1: pretty positive by-products of empire. Though they were enjoyed by
[58:15] Speaker 1: a minority, but at least you still had a chance.
[58:19] Speaker 1: You wouldn't get it in many other empires that conquered you,
[58:22] Speaker 1: that's for sure. So while the victims of Roman conquest
[58:26] Speaker 1: suffered immensely, their descendants, if they survived and adapted, might
[58:32] Speaker 1: find that Roman rule brought a measure of order, connectivity,
[58:36] Speaker 1: and even prosperity that in some cases exceeded what had
[58:40] Speaker 1: existed before. It's no wonder that Roman historians like Livy
[58:45] Speaker 1: or Later authors like Aristides spoke of Rome's conquest as
[58:49] Speaker 1: the spread of civilization. Many provincials eventually agreed, at least superficially,
[58:57] Speaker 1: taking pride in their forums, baths, and theatres as symbols,
[59:02] Speaker 1: that they too were part of the Roman peace. As
[59:07] Speaker 1: one Judean contemporary sarcastically quipped in the recorded in the Talmud,
[59:12] Speaker 1: Avoda Zara 2a, the Romans have built marketplaces, bridges and barhouses.
[59:18] Speaker 1: They do it for their own needs, but look how
[59:21] Speaker 1: it benefits everyone. It's a grudging acknowledgement that alongside the sword,
[59:29] Speaker 1: Rome also wielded the builder's trowel and the administrator's pen.
[59:34] Speaker 1: It reshaped the conquered societies in ways that would endure.
[59:41] Speaker 1: Of course, despite the potential benefits of Roman rule, the
[59:44] Speaker 1: oppression was never really forgotten by the conquered. Many of
[59:49] Speaker 1: them were not willing to acquiesce without a good fight,
[59:52] Speaker 1: either initially or generations later. And the history of the
[59:56] Speaker 1: empire itself is punctuated by revolts large ones and small ones.
[1:00:01] Speaker 1: It serves as a testament to how harshly the rule
[1:00:04] Speaker 1: could be felt, and how strongly and deeply people desired freedom.
[1:00:12] Speaker 1: We've already discussed Boudicca's uprising in Britain, and of course
[1:00:15] Speaker 1: the Jewish revolts. These were among the most famous insurrections,
[1:00:20] Speaker 1: both fuelled by multiple grievances, taxes, persecution, loss of land,
[1:00:26] Speaker 1: all sorts of unpleasurable things. and both met with ferocious
[1:00:31] Speaker 1: Roman retaliation. But there were others. In Gaul, only a
[1:00:36] Speaker 1: few years after Caesar's conquest, a leader named Julius Sarcovia
[1:00:40] Speaker 1: led a revolt of the Gaulish nobles under Tiberius's reign
[1:00:44] Speaker 1: in AD 21, protesting heavy debts and the arrogance of
[1:00:48] Speaker 1: Roman officials. And guess what? It was pretty well and
[1:00:53] Speaker 1: truly crushed, but it still indicated this lingering resentment. In
[1:00:59] Speaker 1: North Africa, Takvarinas, a Numidian insurgent, waged a guerrilla war
[1:01:04] Speaker 1: against Rome during Augustus' later years, rallying his people against
[1:01:09] Speaker 1: the new taxes and garrisons. Rome had to send a legion,
[1:01:14] Speaker 1: and eventually eliminate him after several campaigns. A minor inconvenience.
[1:01:20] Speaker 1: A blip on the radar, really, for them. In the
[1:01:23] Speaker 1: Eastern Empire, regions like Anatolia and Egypt periodically saw local
[1:01:28] Speaker 1: rebellions or riots, often down to anger at greedy governors
[1:01:32] Speaker 1: or religious tensions exacerbated by Roman interference. But perhaps the
[1:01:38] Speaker 1: most revealing aspect of these revolts is what the rebels
[1:01:41] Speaker 1: said about what they fought. Once again, we talk from
[1:01:47] Speaker 1: Tacitus' point of view. and he gives us, in addition
[1:01:52] Speaker 1: to Caligarchus' stirring speech, another speech that is placed in
[1:01:57] Speaker 1: the mouth of Boudicca, where she allegedly reminded her people
[1:02:01] Speaker 1: that the Romans who, quote, called themselves the masters of
[1:02:05] Speaker 1: the world, will spare neither our children nor our old men,
[1:02:08] Speaker 1: and that Britons were essentially fighting for their very existence
[1:02:13] Speaker 1: and liberty. Cassius Dio, a later historian, similarly describes Boudicca
[1:02:20] Speaker 1: exhorting her warriors to consider how much better it is
[1:02:23] Speaker 1: to die free than to live as slaves under the
[1:02:26] Speaker 1: Roman rule. In Judea, rebel leaders like Simon Bar Kokhba
[1:02:32] Speaker 1: in the Second Jewish Revolt, AD 132-35, cast their struggle
[1:02:37] Speaker 1: as a war of national liberation, trying to restore independence
[1:02:41] Speaker 1: from an idolatrous empire that had trampled their faith and nation.
[1:02:47] Speaker 1: So over and over we see the conquered framing Rome
[1:02:50] Speaker 1: as brutal oppressors, which from their perspective, well, it's kind
[1:02:56] Speaker 1: of hard to argue against. Maybe, but, you know, some
[1:03:02] Speaker 1: places that Rome conquered, perhaps they were as savage and
[1:03:06] Speaker 1: perhaps they needed to be civilized. Who knows? Who knows
[1:03:10] Speaker 1: what they were doing? If we're going to believe some
[1:03:11] Speaker 1: of the things we read in Tacitus about what these
[1:03:15] Speaker 1: places were, and give it a little bit of credence.
[1:03:20] Speaker 1: Certainly arguments that can be made in either direction. Roman
[1:03:24] Speaker 1: authors sometimes acknowledge the perspective of the conquered too, even
[1:03:28] Speaker 1: if indirectly, and the fact that Tacitus, a Roman senator,
[1:03:32] Speaker 1: pens the line, they make a desert and call it peace. Well,
[1:03:36] Speaker 1: that's pretty telling on its own. I suggest that even
[1:03:39] Speaker 1: Romans could critique the moral cost of building the Pax Romana.
[1:03:45] Speaker 1: In the early 1st century BC, the Italian allies in
[1:03:48] Speaker 1: the Social War, who had been Rome's partners, revolted when
[1:03:53] Speaker 1: they felt the injustice of being treated as inferiors, and
[1:03:57] Speaker 1: their rallying cry was the demand for citizenship and fair treatment,
[1:04:01] Speaker 1: which Rome eventually granted after a fair bit of bloodshed.
[1:04:07] Speaker 1: Thus resistance took not only violent form, but also political.
[1:04:12] Speaker 1: People's petition for rights or relief Sometimes the threat of
[1:04:16] Speaker 1: rebellion was enough to force concessions, and it did. But
[1:04:21] Speaker 1: it's also important to note that not all resistance was
[1:04:25] Speaker 1: open or military. Cultural resistance persisted in subtle ways. Secret
[1:04:31] Speaker 1: adherence to banned religions, the oral preservation of native histories
[1:04:35] Speaker 1: and languages, and the passive non-compliance with Roman edicts. Some
[1:04:41] Speaker 1: provincial subjects became infamous to Romans for their stubborn, clinging
[1:04:46] Speaker 1: to barbaric ways. For example, the mountain tribes of Asturia
[1:04:52] Speaker 1: and Cantabria in Spain were never fully Romanized despite being conquered.
[1:04:59] Speaker 1: They would periodically cause trouble and were seen as restive.
[1:05:05] Speaker 1: The free Germans beyond the Rhine were also a constant
[1:05:08] Speaker 1: reminder that not everyone fell under Roman sway. In AD 9, Arminius,
[1:05:15] Speaker 1: a Germanic prince, raised as a Roman ally, turned on
[1:05:19] Speaker 1: Rome and ambushed three legions in the Teutoburg forest, completely
[1:05:23] Speaker 1: wiping them out. This calamity halted Roman expansion into Germania.
[1:05:31] Speaker 1: Those German tribes remained unconquered too, and Tacitus later even
[1:05:35] Speaker 1: romanticized them as freedom-loving primitives in his work Germania. So clearly,
[1:05:43] Speaker 1: the ideal of freedom from Rome held a powerful appeal,
[1:05:49] Speaker 1: even to those who had tasted some benefits of Roman alliance.
[1:05:53] Speaker 1: As for Arminius, he had served in the Roman army
[1:05:56] Speaker 1: and earned citizenship, but he threw it all away for
[1:06:01] Speaker 1: that little chance to defend his people's independence. And to
[1:06:06] Speaker 1: this very day, he's honoured as a hero in Germany. Well,
[1:06:14] Speaker 1: thank you very much for listening. I hope we all
[1:06:17] Speaker 1: learned something today. What do you think? Is it better
[1:06:22] Speaker 1: to have that somewhat barbaric freedom, if we're going to
[1:06:27] Speaker 1: use the Romans' words? Or is it better to have stability,
[1:06:33] Speaker 1: but live under safety? Who knows? Thank you to the
[1:06:39] Speaker 1: top dear patrons and supporters. Thank you so much. And
[1:07:11] Speaker 1: I will see you in the next video. Let's all
[1:07:14] Speaker 1: have a nice rest. Let's all meditate on what we've learned.
[1:07:19] Speaker 1: And lots of love to you all. Good night.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.