Roman Historia

Arminius after the battle of Teutoberg Forest Under the reign of Augustus Caesar, the first Roman Emperor, the people of Rome had witnessed an unprecedented number of conquests and victories. From the Balkans to Egypt, vast new territories had been added to the empire at breakneck speed - and nowhere was this more apparent than in Germany. Between the Rhine and the Elbe, the legions of Augustus were able to seize new territories within Germany, with their native populations pacified and at times even Romanized. By 9 AD, it appeared as though Augustus would prove to be the grand conqueror of the Germanic people. However, that year, as winter set in and the air began to cool, Roman control over Germany would find itself shattered into pieces. Augustus in Germany The northern Germanic peoples of Europe had long remained a foe of Rome. The thought of giant, long haired and uncivilised barbarians was enough to inspire both fear and disgust in the Roman mind, with the region ...

By the first century BC, Rome had managed to establish itself as the uncontested master of the Mediterranean - controlling the sea from Spain (Hispania) to the Aegean and beyond. Although Roman military might had successfully fought its way through all challengers, Rome faced a very different proposition when it came to that of its latest challenge in the 60s BC - piracy. Piracy in the Roman World Piracy was nothing new to the Romans. Pirates had remained a constant threat in the Mediterranean throughout various points in history - disrupting trade, taking slaves and holding prominent prisoners for ransom. However, in the 2nd century BC, Roman conquest in the eastern Mediterranean had left a power vacuum that pirates were able to exploit and subsequently expand their operations. The conquest of Rhodes by Rome, a state that had previously acted as a counter to piracy in the region, had allowed piracy to pick up pace during this period. In particular, Cilicia (in modern day ...