Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day!

“Rome wasn’t built in a day!” It is an elegant way of saying that accomplishing things takes time. It is also a fancy way for government officials to explain their inadequacy. Yet, using it can be a double-edged sword, I can tell you from personal experience.

One time, during my days as a corporate executive, I used the phrase to deflect an uncomfortable question during a town hall-style meeting. My self-satisfied smile was wiped out by the guy’s genuine retort, “So, how long did it take?”

I was tempted to explain that it took thousands of years—and the process is still ongoing—but I doubt anyone would wait for millennia to get a pay raise. So, I kept my mouth shut until today. 🙂

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Table of Contents

1. Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day
   1. The Broad Periodization of the Roman State
      1. The Kingdom
      2. The Republic
      3. The Empire
   2. What to Expect from My Blog?

Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day

While the city itself is an important European center to this day, the Roman State lasted 2206 years, from its semi-legendary founding to the Eastern Roman Empire’s demise. That’s 10 times longer than the history of the United States of America!

Please note that I said nothing about the revenant Holy Roman Empire; that would mean another 1000 years.

As you can imagine, Rome went through tremendous changes over the centuries.

Lucius Lucretius Strabo, the main character of my books, lived 1000 years after the founding of Rome, so many things happened before his days. And many more were to come.

All this being said, I will try to answer the question by taking the readers of my blog on a journey through the ages.

The Broad Periodization of the Roman State

For hints regarding the topics I will try to cover, let’s take stock of the broad periods of Roman history:

The Kingdom

• Rome’s founding myths can rival some of Hollywood’s epic productions.
• The Roman Kingdom saw the birth of Rome’s iconic institutions. It also planted the seeds of Romans’ love for political and individual freedoms.

The Republic

• The Early Roman Republic was a tale of survival in a harsh neighborhood. It was also a time of growing internal conflict.
• The Middle Roman Republic was a time of epic struggles and eventual success.
• The Late Roman Republic serves as the setting of many modern Roman-themed novels. It was the time of Marius and Sulla, Spartacus and Crassus, Clodius and Milo, Caesar and Pompey, Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, to mention just a few. It witnessed slave rebellions, foreign invasions, and civil wars. Periods of stability interrupted by resurgent chaos were the norm.

The Empire

• The Principate (Early Roman Empire). Eventually, the chaos of the late Republic was replaced by an autocratic Empire disguised in a Republican form. Apart from a couple of decades of utter craziness during emperors Caligula and Nero—and two civil wars—this was the time of the famous Pax Romana.
• The 3^rd Century Crisis. It started 40+ years after the events of my first Strabo book, Vox Populi. Barbarian invasions, endless civil wars between Rome’s generals, and economic ruin were the hallmarks of the period.
• The Dominate (Late Roman Empire). It was a time of revival after the previous crisis. During this period, the Empire’s center of gravity gradually shifted from the impoverished West to the wealthy East. The Empire became more decentralized, with the regional capitals overshadowing the once-proud city of Rome.
• The Split. The Empire’s final split took place in 395 AD. From that moment on, the Eastern Roman Empire evolved into a distinct civilization that outlived its Western sister by 1000 years.
• The Fall of the Western Roman Empire. The accepted date is 476 AD, although some historians claim—not without merit—that the following Ostrogothic Kingdom was, in fact, a period of cultural, economic, and administrative revival of the Roman State in Italy and the adjacent territories.

What to Expect from My Blog?

As you can see, there are a lot of topics to touch upon.

I can’t promise that I’ll cover everything or do them in a strict chronological order. At the end of the day, I am a historical fiction writer and not an academic or professional historian.

However, I’ll do my best to help you discover many things about the Romans in an informal, conversational way. Thus, you and I will keep ourselves entertained between the publishing of Strabo’s different adventures.

Let’s get started!