How Rome Turned Subjects into Citizens and Citizens into Believers
How Citizenship, Prosperity, And Civic Pride Sustained An Empire
Many people are fatigued from hearing about the greatness of Rome. The trite nature and ubiquity of the Romans in historical education makes many people either refuse to listen or simply ignore all Roman history. This is a blunder by those who refuse to be receptive to the lessons of the Romans. The Roman Empire was one of the greatest empires to ever exist on the historical record.
Anyone who has ever seriously studied the Roman Empire, or even inquired about it for five minutes, is impressed at the level of accomplishment and achievement Rome was able to produce in a time when technology was primitive. Even though Rome could not rival the technology of our time, the civilizational progress of the Romans has had lasting effects on every great empire that followed it.
It is also a common mistake to read the Romans as a modern blueprint for civilization. Of course there are many lessons we must take from them, but we cannot allow these lessons to become narrow and rigid. We must apply the ideas of Rome in our own time, just as they pulled civilization forward in their own time.
The idea that will be explored today is how Rome was able to make and maintain citizens of Italy and of the farthest reaches of the empire, from Britannia to Alexandria. It is also of utmost importance that we understand what united the Roman citizens who came from distant regions and cultures, and folded them into contributing provinces within Rome.
The many consume. The few study.
You’ve been reading the abridged version of our content. To continue reading this essay upgrade your subscription today and also receive…
Access to Foundational Works — PT’s exclusive long-form series unavailable to free readers
New full essays every Tuesday and Thursday, with potential weekend pieces
Direct Influence what we write about next in the subscriber-only chat
Full archive access (50+ essays)— every essay, every framework, every structural analysis PT has published
Upgrade for only $8 a month or $80 a year.
