Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age

Historian Holland (Dominion) provides a comprehensive chronicle of the latter half of the Pax Romana, a common shorthand for a long period of stability in the Western world from 27 BCE to 180 CE, when the Roman Empire ruled over a quarter of the world’s population. Beginning with the death of Nero and the tumultuous year 69 CE when four different emperors ruled in succession, Holland demonstrates how “the very quality that had originally won them their empire” and enabled ancient Romans to ensure the stability of the Pax—that is, “their aptitude for killing”—also threatened to be the empire’s undoing. Vespasian (the final of the four emperors) rebuilt Rome after it was damaged in the civil conflict of 69 CE. His successor Titus quelled the Judean uprising. The reign of the megalomanic Domitian, Titus’s successor, was rife with military conflicts across the empire, especially in Britain and the Balkans. Several years of struggle ensued until Trajan became emperor, ushering in nearly two decades of military conquest in the modern-day Middle East. His successor, Hadrian, toured the Roman world, settling numerous conflicts in the far reaches of the empire. Throughout his meticulous narrative, Holland demonstrates how the stability of the so-called peace was maintained through martial violence both in Rome and abroad. Roman history buffs will want to take a look. (Sept.)