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Navigating the Historical Labyrinth of Ancient Rome: Essay Topics

Welcome, intrepid time travelers and history enthusiasts! As we stand on the brink of another academic exploration, the historical labyrinth of Ancient Rome beckons us. Famous for its grandeur, societal advancements, and dramatic political turmoil, Rome offers a goldmine of captivating topics for your next argumentative essay. To help you on this journey, we present a robust selection of 99 exciting essay topics that span various aspects of Roman civilization.

Table of content

Peeling Back the Layers: Rome Uncovered

What makes Rome so special that it commands our attention more than two millennia after its founding? The city is a fascinating embodiment of countless narratives, where every stone and monument whispers tales of yesteryears.

The story of Rome is one of power and decline, glory and catastrophe. A city that rose from a humble settlement on the banks of the Tiber River to rule a vast empire stretching across three continents. It is an epic tale filled with influential leaders, grand political schemes, momentous battles, and artistic innovations that continue to shape our world.

A plunge into Roman history is akin to unraveling a complex web of interactions, directly and indirectly, affecting societies today. Their architectural innovations, from aqueducts to roads, set a precedent for urban infrastructure. The Roman legal system became a foundation for numerous global legal practices. Concepts of citizenship and governance, notions of entertainment, and even parts of our language owe much to Rome.

Moreover, Rome represents a pivotal point in religious history, being central to the spread of Christianity. The development and dissemination of Christian thought within the Roman Empire and the eventual adoption of Christianity as the state religion had enduring consequences on global religious landscapes.

In a broader sense, understanding Rome means understanding the roots of Western civilization. The rise and fall of this once-majestic Empire provide a window into our collective past, offering insights into humanity’s capacity for creativity, resilience, ambition, and even self-destruction.

Rome offers an abundant, complex, and fascinating field of study, a treasure trove of knowledge waiting to be discovered and appreciated. Unearthing the secrets of Rome is a journey, an intellectual adventure that promises to be as enriching as it is exciting. So, are you ready to join us as we traverse the annals of Roman history, picking up the echoes of the past to comprehend our present better?

Topics Galore: Categories for Your Consideration

To aid your exploration, we’ve organized these essay topics into five broad categories: Society and Culture, Politics and Leaders, Warfare and Conquests, Religion and Mythology, and Architecture and Innovations.

The Mosaic of Society and Culture

Step into the everyday life of a Roman citizen, explore their social norms and examine the pivotal Role of culture in shaping the Roman Empire.

Topic Examples:

• The Class Structure of Roman Society: Patricians and Plebeians
• The Evolution of Roman Law and Its Impact on Modern Legal Systems
• The Role of Women in Roman Society
• Slavery in Rome: A Comparative Analysis with Ancient Greece
• The Significance of Roman Festivals and Public Spectacles
• Gladiatorial Games: a Societal Necessity or Brutal Entertainment?
• The Impact of Roman Colonization on Indigenous Cultures
• The Role of Patronage in the Roman Arts
• Language Diversity in the Roman Empire: a Study of Vernacular Languages
• Roman Festivals: an Exploration of Seasonal Celebrations and Their Societal Implications
• The Roman Culinary Arts: From the Simple to the Extravagant
• The Influence of Greek Culture on Roman Society
• The Impact of Rome on Modern Western Civilization
• The Societal Impact of Roman Clothing and Fashion
• An Analysis of the Roman Education System
• Roman Theater: a Societal Mirror or Mere Entertainment?
• The Role of Sports and Recreation in Roman Society
• Roman Marriage Customs and Their Influence on Societal Structure
• Influence of Latin: from Roman Streets to Modern Linguistics
• Roman Literature and Its Reflection on Society
• Graffiti in Pompeii: a Snapshot of Roman Culture
• The Significance of Patron-Client Relationships in Roman Society
• The Societal Role of the Roman Baths
• Roman Dining Customs: a Look at the Convivium
• Examination of Roman Social Clubs and Associations
• Roman Funeral Rituals and Beliefs About Death
• Childhood in Rome: From birth to Adulthood
• Roman Slavery: a Study of Manumission and Freedmen
• The Impact of Greek Philosophy on Roman Society
• Urban Versus Rural Life in Roman Society
• The Contribution of Rome to Modern Theatre
• The Influence of Rome on Western Literature
• The Effect of Roman Tax Policies on Its Citizens
• Examination of Roman Housing and City Planning
• Trade and Commerce in the Roman Empire
• An Overview of Roman Education: From Wax Tablets to Schools
• Influence of Roman Laws on Today’s Legal Systems
• The Cultural Significance of Roman Mosaics and Frescoes
• An In-Depth Look at Roman Entertainment
• Roman Citizenship: Privileges and Responsibilities
• The Role of Public Speaking and Rhetoric in Roman Society
• Influence of Roman Numerals on Modern Numbering Systems
• Roman Jewelry: More than Mere Decoration
• The Life of a Roman Soldier: Expectations and Reality
• The Societal Implications of Roman Expansion
• The Significance of Roman Trade Routes
• The Role of Women in Different Sectors of Roman Society
• The Societal Influence of the Pax Romana
• The Importance of the Family Unit in Roman Society
• An Analysis of Roman Coinage and Its Symbolism
• The Societal Impact of the Roman Calendar
• Roman Music: Its Characteristics and Influence on Modern Music

The Grand Stage of Politics and Leaders

Dive into the tumultuous political arena of Rome and discover the individuals whose leadership shaped the Empire’s destiny.

• Julius Caesar: Revolutionary Leader or Tyrant?
• The Political Implications of Caesar’s Assassination
• The Influence and Impact of the Twelve Tables
• The Transition From the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire
• A Critique of Emperor Nero’s Reign
• The Political Structure of the Roman Empire: a Detailed Study
• The Role of the Roman Senate in the Governance of the Empire
• Analysis of Augustus’ Policies and Their Impact on Rome
• The Rise and Fall of Julius Caesar: a Critical Analysis
• The Political Genius of Emperor Augustus
• The Significance of the Roman Consuls
• An Analysis of the Political Reforms of the Gracchi Brothers
• A Critique of the Rule of Emperor Marcus Aurelius
• An Examination of the Roman Legal System
• The Legacy of Roman Law on Contemporary Legal Practices
• The Reign of Emperor Hadrian: Rome’s Grand Builder
• The Roman Republic vs. the Roman Empire: a Comparison
• The Political Impact of Rome’s Geographic Location
• The Role of the Praetorian Guard in Roman Politics
• Examination of Political Propaganda in Ancient Rome
• The Political Implications of Roman Citizenship
• Influence and Power: the Political Role of Roman Women
• The Effect of Roman Colonization on the Provinces
• Examination of the Political Climate During the Pax Romana
• The Political Strategy behind Roman Road Construction
• The Rule of Emperor Constantine and the Christian Shift
• An Analysis of the Reign of Emperor Diocletian
• Influence of Roman Political Ideologies on Western Political Thought
• Examination of Roman Provincial Administration
• The Influence of Roman Bureaucracy on Modern Administrative Systems
• The Role and Power of the Roman Assemblies
• Impact of the Roman Legal Code on International Law
• Political Conflicts and Their Impact on Rome’s Fall
• An Overview of the Roman Tax System
• The Rule of Emperor Trajan: Rome at Its Zenith
• Role of Foreign Policy in Rome’s Expansion
• The Societal Impact of the ‘Bread and Circuses’ Policy
• The Transition of Power: from Republic to Imperial Rule
• Examination of Treason Laws in the Roman Empire
• The Influence of Stoicism on Roman Leaders
• The Political Significance of the Roman Forum
• The Use and Misuse of Political Power in Rome
• The Influence of Roman Political Architecture
• An Examination of Roman Diplomacy
• The Influence of Emperor Justinian on Roman Law
• Roman Economy: a Source of Political Power?
• The Political Implications of the Roman Census
• The Impact of Corruption on the Decline of the Roman Empire
• Analysis of the Social Mobility in Roman Political Structures
• Examination of the Power Dynamics within the Roman Imperial Family
• The Impact of the “Princeps” Title on the Image of Roman Leadership
• The Role of Tribunes in the Roman Political Landscape

Epic Battles: Warfare and Conquests

Explore Rome’s military might, strategic brilliance, and the monumental conquests that expanded its boundaries.

• The Significance of the Punic Wars in Rome’s Rise to Power
• Roman Military Tactics: a Study of the Roman Legion
• The Impact of Rome’s Military Conquests on Its Economy and Culture
• The Reasons Behind the Fall of the Roman Empire
• The Role of the Roman Navy in the Expansion of the Empire
• A Comparative Study of Roman and Greek Military Strategies
• Analysis of the Barbarian Invasions and Their Effect on Rome
• The Causes and Effects of the Roman Civil War
• Rome vs. Carthage: a Comparative Study of Military Might
• The Military Strategies of Julius Caesar
• An Analysis of the Roman Siege Warfare
• The Military Significance of the Battle of Actium
• The Influence of Roman Military Tactics on Modern Warfare
• Examination of the Roman Siege of Jerusalem
• The Role of the Roman Navy During the Punic Wars
• The Influence of Roman Military Gear and Equipment
• Analysis of the Roman Military Training and Discipline
• Roman Logistics: a Key to Military Success
• The Societal Implications of Rome’s Military Victories
• The Role of the Military in Roman Politics
• The Impact of Rome’s Military Culture on Its Society
• The Roman Army: an Instrument of Imperialism
• The Effect of the Roman Military on Conquered Societies
• The Influence of Roman Fortifications on Modern Military Architecture
• A Study of the Roman Auxiliary Troops
• Analysis of the Roman Military Hierarchy
• The Significance of Roman Military Law
• The Role of Military Engineering in Roman Conquests
• The Strategic Importance of Roman Camps
• A Detailed Study of the Roman Cavalry
• Examination of the Roman Defenses along the Rhine and Danube
• An Analysis of the Roman Supply Lines and Logistics
• The Societal Impact of the Roman Military-Industrial Complex
• The Psychological Warfare Employed by the Romans
• A Study of Roman Battlefield Medicine
• The Role of Intelligence and Espionage in Roman Military Strategy
• The Influence of Roman Military Formations
• The Significance of Roman Veterans in Society
• A Study of the Roman Military Standard
• An Analysis of the Role of Mercenaries in the Roman Army
• The Military Innovations of the Romans
• The Impact of Rome’s War Economy on Society
• A Detailed Study of the Roman Military Roads
• The Influence of Roman Naval Warfare
• A Study of the Roman War Chariots
• An Analysis of the Military Decorations and Honors in Rome
• The Impact of Military Defeats on Rome’s Societal and Political Landscape
• The Influence of Military Infrastructure on the Expansion of the Roman Empire
• The Role of Strategic Fortifications in the Defense of the Roman Empire
• Roman Imperialism: A Study of the Motivations Behind Rome’s Territorial Expansions
• An Examination of Roman War Elephants
• The Impact of the Roman Military on the Spread of the Latin Language

Religion and Mythology: Unraveling the Intricacies of Divine Rome

Unravel the complexities of Roman religious beliefs and mythology and their influence on Roman society.

• The Role of Religion in Roman society
• The Influence of Greek Mythology on Roman Religious Beliefs
• The Cult of the Emperor: Its Inception and Impact
• The Role of Augurs and Oracles in Roman Society
• The Introduction and Spread of Christianity in Rome
• Analysis of Roman Gods and Their Societal Significance
• Mithraism in the Roman Empire: a Detailed Study
• The Impact of Roman Mythology on Roman Societal Norms
• The Significance of Sacrificial Rituals in Roman Religion
• Comparative Study of Roman and Greek Gods
• The Societal Role of Roman Priesthoods
• An Analysis of the Roman State Religion
• The Influence of Roman Religious Festivals on the Societal Structure
• The Role of Religion in Roman Military Campaigns
• An Examination of the Roman Funeral Rites
• The Impact of the Roman Belief in Omens and Divination
• The Societal and Political Implications of the Vestal Virgins
• The Role of Astrology in Roman Religion
• An Analysis of the Eastern Religions in Rome
• The Significance of Roman Temples in Society
• The Evolution of the Roman Pantheon
• The Transition from Roman Polytheism to Christian Monotheism
• The Impact of Roman Religious Tolerance
• Examination of the Religious Symbolism in Roman Art
• The Influence of Roman Religion on Roman Law
• A Detailed Study of Roman Religious Festivals
• The Effect of Christianity on Roman Society and Culture
• A Study of the Persecution of Christians in Rome
• An Examination of the Religious Implications of the Roman Imperial Cult
• The Relationship between Roman Religion and Philosophy
• The Cultural Implications of Roman Burial Practices
• The Role of Mythology in Roman Literature
• The Impact of Roman Religious Architecture
• The Role of Roman Religion in Public Life
• The Influence of Roman Mythology on Western Culture
• Examination of the Roman Religious Calendar
• The Role of Religious Syncretism in Rome
• The Societal Implications of Roman Oracles and Prophecies
• The Significance of Roman Mystery Cults
• An Analysis of the Religious Landscape of Rome
• The Impact of the Roman Catacombs on the Christian Religion
• A Study of the Religious Rites and Rituals in Roman Society
• The Role of Roman Religion in the Preservation of Rome’s Heritage
• An Examination of the Roman Beliefs about the Afterlife
• The Influence of Roman Religion on Roman Music and Theater
• A Detailed Study of the Capitoline Triad
• The Societal Implications of Roman Religious Sculptures and Carvings
• The Impact of Roman Religious Beliefs on Medical Practices
• Examination of Syncretism in Roman Religious Practices
• Influence of Roman Religious and Mythological Narratives on European Literature
• Roman Death Rituals: a Study of Belief in the Afterlife
• The Societal and Political Impact of the Cult of Isis in Rome

Architecture and Innovations: Standing on the Shoulders of Roman Giants

Delve into the architectural marvels of Rome and discover the innovations that advanced Roman society.

• The Architectural Grandeur of the Colosseum: an In-Depth Analysis
• The Significance of Roman Roads and Their Influence on Modern Infrastructure
• The Invention of Concrete and Its Impact on Roman Architecture
• The Design and Purpose of Roman Aqueducts
• A Comparative Study of Roman and Greek Architecture
• The Engineering Marvel of the Roman Sewage System: the Cloaca Maxima
• The Cultural Significance of Roman Baths
• The Architectural Significance of the Roman Arch
• The Role of the Roman Pantheon in Architectural History
• An Analysis of the Roman Domus: From Layout to Lifestyle
• The Influence of Roman Architecture on the Renaissance Period
• An Examination of Roman City Planning
• The Architectural and Cultural Significance of the Roman Basilicas
• The Societal Implications of the Roman Insulae
• A Study of the Construction Techniques of Roman Bridges
• The Innovation and Importance of the Roman Hypocaust System
• An Analysis of the Use of the Arch in Roman Architecture
• The Architectural Marvel of the Roman Thermae
• The Influence of Roman Architecture on Modern Stadium Design
• The Evolution of Roman Wall Painting Styles
• The Architectural Significance of the Roman Villa
• An Examination of the Engineering of the Roman Aqueducts
• The Societal Implications of Roman Road Construction
• A Study of the Roman Forum and Its Buildings
• An Analysis of the Principles of Roman Urban Planning
• The Influence of Roman Architecture on Western Civilization
• The Impact of Roman construction materials and Techniques
• The Use and Symbolism of Roman Sculpture in Public Spaces
• The Aesthetic and Functional Aspects of Roman Gardens
• The Architectural and Societal Importance of Roman Theatres
• The Influence of Roman Military Architecture on Modern Fortifications
• The Significance of the Appian Way
• An Analysis of the Roman Use of the Dome
• The Roman Use of Concrete and Its Influence on Modern Architecture
• The Societal Role of the Roman Circus
• An Examination of the Architectural Innovations in the Colosseum
• A Study of the Architectural Layout of a Roman Military Camp
• An Examination of the Impact of Roman Architecture on Religious Structures
• The Design and Functionality of the Roman Sewer System
• An Analysis of the Roman Use of Column Orders
• The Societal Implications of Roman Public Squares
• The Architectural Legacy of Emperor Hadrian
• A Study of the Architecture and Design of Roman Ports
• An Examination of Roman Lighthouses and Their Architectural Importance
• The Architectural and Societal Impact of Roman Catacombs
• The Influence of Roman Architecture on European Cathedrals
• An Analysis of the Architectural and Artistic Features of Roman Triumphal Arches
• Roman Engineering: a Study of the Design and Construction of Roman Harbors
• The Societal Implications of Roman Apartment Buildings (Insulae)
• Roman City Defenses: a Study of Walls and Fortifications
• The Architectural Significance of the Roman Triumphal Columns
• Roman Villas: a Study of Country Houses and Their Impact on Roman Society

As you embark on this journey through time, remember that the goal of an argumentative essay is to present a balanced view substantiated by solid research and evidence. Choose a topic that excites you, gather your evidence, and embark on an intellectual adventure into the heart of Ancient Rome.

Let the spirit of Rome guide your pen! Happy writing, history explorers!

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Ancient Rome Research Paper Topics

This comprehensive guide provides an exploration into the vast world of ancient Rome research paper topics , designed specifically for students studying history. The page begins with an elaborate assortment of 100 topics on ancient Rome, distributed across ten different categories, thus ensuring a varied and extensive selection for every research need. To further aid students, we provide a thorough guide on how to select the perfect ancient Rome research paper topic, followed by an instructive section on crafting an impactful research paper. In the next section, we introduce iResearchNet’s distinctive writing services, allowing students to commission a custom research paper on any topic within the sphere of ancient Rome.

100 Ancient Rome Research Paper Topics

Introduction: Embark on a captivating journey through the annals of Ancient Rome with our comprehensive list of research paper topics. Whether your interest lies in politics, culture, military conquests, or architectural marvels, Ancient Rome offers a treasure trove of subjects to explore. This extensive list of Ancient Rome research paper topics is divided into ten categories, each featuring ten intriguing topics. Immerse yourself in the rich tapestry of history and uncover the secrets of one of the greatest civilizations the world has ever known.

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Politics and Government

• The Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic: Causes and Consequences
• Julius Caesar: The Dictatorship and Its Impact on Roman Politics
• Augustus and the Transformation of Rome: From Republic to Empire
• The Roman Senate: Structure, Function, and Influence
• The Role of Women in Roman Politics: From Livia to Agrippina
• The Pax Romana: Achievements and Challenges of Roman Peace
• Roman Emperors: Evaluating Their Leadership and Legacies
• The Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: Factors and Consequences
• The Byzantine Empire: Continuity and Evolution of Roman Governance
• The Political Propaganda of Ancient Rome: Art, Architecture, and Literature

Society and Culture

• Social Classes in Ancient Rome: Patricians, Plebeians, and Slaves
• Roman Family Structure and Gender Roles: Power Dynamics and Expectations
• Education in Ancient Rome: Schools, Curriculum, and Philosophical Influences
• Entertainment and Leisure Activities in Ancient Rome: Gladiators, Chariot Races, and Theater
• Roman Cuisine and Dining Culture: Food, Feasts, and Banquets
• Roman Clothing and Fashion: Styles, Symbolism, and Social Significance
• Roman Baths and Their Social Functions: Hygiene, Rituals, and Recreation
• Roman Festivals and Religious Celebrations: Saturnalia, Lupercalia, and Vestalia
• Roman Slavery: Origins, Conditions, and Abolition Movements
• Roman Death and Funerary Practices: Rituals, Tombs, and Beliefs

Military and Warfare

• The Roman Army: Organization, Structure, and Strategies
• Roman Military Campaigns: Conquest of Gaul, Britannia, and Dacia
• Roman Weapons and Armor: Technological Advances and Battlefield Innovations
• Naval Warfare in Ancient Rome: The Roman Navy and Mediterranean Dominance
• The Roman Legion: Training, Equipment, and Battle Formations
• Roman Military Leaders: Hannibal, Scipio Africanus, and Julius Caesar
• The Battle of Actium: Octavian versus Mark Antony and Cleopatra
• Roman Siege Warfare: Engineering, Tactics, and Fortifications
• The Decline of the Roman Army: Mercenaries and Barbarian Invasions
• The Roman Military in the Late Empire: Reforms, Decline, and Transformation

Art and Architecture

• Roman Architecture: From the Colosseum to the Pantheon
• Roman Sculpture: Portraits, Mythological Figures, and Idealized Forms
• Mosaics in Ancient Rome: Techniques, Themes, and Symbolism
• Roman Frescoes: Villa Decoration and Narrative Paintings
• Roman Engineering Marvels: Aqueducts, Roads, and Bridges
• Roman Temples and Religious Architecture: Design, Rituals, and Influence
• Roman Public Spaces: Forums, Basilicas, and Civic Centers
• Roman Private Residences: Villas, Atriums, and Domus
• Roman Urban Planning: Streets, Infrastructure, and Public Works
• Roman Gardens and Landscapes: Horticulture, Villa Features, and Symbolism

Religion and Mythology

• Roman Gods and Goddesses: Pantheon, Attributes, and Worship
• Roman Mythology: Stories, Heroes, and Legends
• Cults and Mystery Religions in Ancient Rome: Mithras, Isis, and Bacchus
• Roman Funerary Practices and Beliefs about the Afterlife
• Roman Temples and Sanctuaries: Sacred Spaces and Rituals
• The Roman Calendar: Festivals, Rites, and Religious Observances
• Oracles and Divination in Ancient Rome: Augury, Omens, and Prophecy
• Imperial Cult and the Deification of Emperors
• Roman Religion and its Influence on Daily Life
• Rituals and Symbolism in Roman Religious Practices

Literature and Philosophy

• Roman Epic Poetry: Virgil’s Aeneid and its Influence
• The Philosophy of Stoicism: Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius
• Roman Historiography: Livy, Tacitus, and Suetonius
• Ovid’s Metamorphoses: Mythology and Literary Innovation
• Roman Satire: Horace, Juvenal, and the Critique of Society
• Roman Playwrights: Plautus, Terence, and the Evolution of Roman Drama
• The Philosophy of Epicureanism: Lucretius and the Pursuit of Pleasure
• Roman Poets: Catullus, Propertius, and Tibullus
• The Influence of Greek Literature on Roman Writers
• Roman Philosophy: Cicero, Seneca, and the Pursuit of Virtue

Economy and Trade

• Roman Trade Networks: The Mediterranean and Beyond
• Agriculture and Rural Life in Ancient Rome: Farms, Villages, and Land Ownership
• Roman Currency and Banking: Coinage, Commerce, and Financial Systems
• Roman Markets and Trade Practices: Merchants, Guilds, and Contracts
• Slavery and the Roman Economy: Labor, Production, and Economic Impact
• Roman Industries: Glassmaking, Pottery, Textiles, and Metalwork
• Mining and Natural Resources in Ancient Rome: Extraction and Utilization
• Roman Taxation and Fiscal Policies: Revenue Collection and Economic Stability
• Urbanization and the Growth of Roman Cities: Infrastructure and Urban Economy
• Commerce and Luxury in Ancient Rome: Imported Goods and Consumer Culture

Science and Technology

• Roman Engineering Achievements: Aqueducts, Roads, and Bridges
• Roman Medicine and Healthcare Practices: Physicians, Remedies, and Public Health
• Ancient Roman Mathematics and Geometry: Contributions and Applications
• Roman Architecture and Structural Innovations: Vaults, Domes, and Concrete
• Roman Aqueducts: Design, Construction, and Water Distribution
• Astronomy in Ancient Rome: Observatories, Celestial Navigation, and Astrology
• Roman Inventions and Technological Advancements: From Military to Civilian Applications
• Ancient Roman Agriculture and Agricultural Technologies
• Roman Engineering and Infrastructure: Baths, Sewage Systems, and Public Works
• The Legacy of Roman Technology: Influence and Impact on Future Civilizations

Daily Life and Leisure

• Roman Homes and Living Conditions: Houses, Apartments, and Insulae
• Roman Clothing and Fashion: Styles, Materials, and Social Significance
• Roman Food and Cuisine: Diet, Ingredients, and Culinary Practices
• Roman Games and Spectacles: Chariot Races, Gladiatorial Contests, and Theaters
• Roman Education and Schooling: Curriculum, Teachers, and Students
• Roman Baths and their Social Functions: Hygiene, Recreation, and Socializing
• Roman Entertainment: Theater, Music, Dance, and Performances
• Roman Weddings and Marriage Customs: Ceremonies, Traditions, and Legal Aspects
• Roman Children and Family Life: Upbringing, Rituals, and Education
• Roman Holidays and Festivals: Celebrations, Customs, and Traditions

Decline and Legacy

• The Crisis of the Third Century: Political Instability and Economic Challenges
• The Fall of the Western Roman Empire: Factors and Consequences
• The Eastern Roman Empire: Survival, Byzantium, and Cultural Preservation
• The Roman Empire and Christianity: Rise, Conversion, and Religious Transformation
• The Impact of Barbarian Invasions on the Roman Empire
• The Fall of Rome and the Transformation of Europe
• Roman Law and its Influence on Modern Legal Systems
• The Roman Legacy in Art, Architecture, and Literature
• Roman Influences on Western Civilization: Language, Governance, and Cultural Practices
• The Rediscovery and Interpretation of Ancient Rome in the Renaissance

Delve into the depths of Ancient Rome with this comprehensive list of research paper topics. Explore the diverse aspects of Roman civilization, from politics and government to art and architecture, religion and mythology, and much more. Let your curiosity guide you as you unravel the mysteries and achievements of one of history’s greatest civilizations.

Ancient Rome: Exploring the Range of Research Paper Topics

Welcome to the fascinating world of Ancient Rome, a civilization that left an indelible mark on human history. In this section, we will embark on a comprehensive exploration of the vast range of research paper topics that Ancient Rome offers. From politics and governance to society, culture, art, architecture, religion, warfare, and more, the history of Ancient Rome provides a rich tapestry of subjects to explore and analyze. Let’s dive into the depths of this extraordinary civilization and uncover its enduring legacy.

• Politics and Governance : Ancient Rome was known for its unique political system, transitioning from a republic to an empire. Research paper topics in this category may include the Roman Republic’s founding, its constitutional framework, the roles and powers of various political offices, the evolution of the Roman Senate, and the transformation of Rome into an empire under the emperors. Delve into the political ideologies, conflicts, and key figures that shaped Rome’s governance.
• Society and Social Structures : Ancient Roman society was structured hierarchically, with distinct social classes and complex societal dynamics. Research paper topics in this category may explore themes such as social classes in Ancient Rome, the lives of slaves and freedmen, the role of women in society, family structure and values, education, social mobility, and the influence of Roman law on social interactions. Analyze the complexities of Roman society and its impact on the lives of its citizens.
• Culture, Arts, and Entertainment : Ancient Rome was a hub of artistic and cultural achievements. Research paper topics in this category can delve into various aspects of Roman culture, including literature, theater, music, dance, festivals, and spectacles. Explore renowned writers such as Virgil, Horace, and Ovid, examine the development of Roman theater, and investigate the influence of Greek culture on Roman arts. Uncover the vibrant cultural scene that defined ancient Roman life.
• Architecture and Engineering : The Romans were celebrated for their magnificent architecture and engineering feats. Research paper topics in this category may focus on iconic structures such as the Colosseum, the Pantheon, aqueducts, and Roman baths. Explore the architectural styles, construction techniques, and the role of public works in Roman society. Investigate the integration of architecture with urban planning and the lasting impact of Roman engineering on future civilizations.
• Religion and Mythology : Religion played a central role in ancient Roman life, with a pantheon of gods and goddesses shaping religious practices and beliefs. Research paper topics in this category may include the Roman pantheon, religious rituals and festivals, the influence of Greek mythology on Roman religion, the rise of mystery cults, and the introduction of Christianity. Analyze the interplay between religion, politics, and society in Ancient Rome.
• Military and Warfare : The Roman military was renowned for its discipline, strategy, and conquests. Research paper topics in this category can explore the organization and structure of the Roman army, military campaigns, battles, weapons and technology, and the relationship between the military and the state. Examine the military’s role in expanding and defending the empire and its impact on Roman society.
• Economy and Trade : Ancient Rome boasted a robust economy fueled by trade, agriculture, and craftsmanship. Research paper topics in this category may delve into topics such as Roman trade routes, economic policies, currency, agriculture, industries, and the impact of slavery on the economy. Explore the economic factors that contributed to Rome’s rise and sustained its empire.
• Daily Life and Customs : Discover the daily lives and customs of the people of Ancient Rome. Research paper topics in this category may include Roman cuisine, clothing and fashion, housing and urban planning, education, leisure activities, family life, and social customs. Uncover the nuances of Roman daily life and its reflection of broader social and cultural norms.
• Intellectual Contributions : Ancient Rome produced remarkable intellectual contributions that shaped Western thought. Research paper topics in this category can focus on philosophy, rhetoric, law, and scientific advancements. Explore the philosophies of Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Neoplatonism, examine the influence of Roman law on legal systems, and investigate scientific achievements and technological innovations.
• Legacy and Influence : Analyze the enduring legacy and influence of Ancient Rome on subsequent civilizations. Research paper topics in this category may include the impact of Roman governance, language, architecture, law, and culture on later societies. Examine the concept of “Romanization” and how Rome’s legacy shaped the development of Europe and beyond.

The history of Ancient Rome offers a wealth of research paper topics that invite exploration, analysis, and critical thinking. From politics and governance to society, culture, arts, religion, warfare, and more, the legacy of Ancient Rome continues to captivate scholars and inspire curiosity. Engage in the fascinating study of Ancient Rome as you embark on your research journey and unravel the mysteries and complexities of this remarkable civilization.

Choosing Ancient Rome Research Paper Topics

Selecting a captivating and research-worthy topic is crucial when delving into the vast field of Ancient Rome. With its rich history and diverse aspects, Ancient Rome offers a plethora of fascinating research paper topics to explore. In this section, we will provide you with expert advice to help you choose the most compelling and engaging topics that align with your interests and academic goals. By following these tips, you will be well-equipped to embark on a rewarding research journey into the world of Ancient Rome.

• Narrow down your area of interest : Ancient Rome encompasses a wide range of topics, so it’s essential to narrow down your area of interest. Consider whether you are more intrigued by the political, social, cultural, artistic, military, or economic aspects of Ancient Rome. Identifying your specific area of interest will help you focus your research and choose a topic that truly captivates you.
• Conduct preliminary research : Before finalizing your research topic, conduct preliminary research to gain a broad understanding of the available literature and existing research. This will help you identify current gaps, debates, and areas that require further exploration. Explore scholarly books, articles, and reputable online resources to familiarize yourself with the key themes and debates in Ancient Roman studies.
• Explore lesser-known aspects : While topics such as Julius Caesar, the Roman Empire, and Roman architecture are popular, consider exploring lesser-known aspects of Ancient Rome. This can include specific historical events, marginalized groups, regional influences, or unique cultural practices. By delving into these less-explored areas, you can contribute new insights to the field of Ancient Roman studies.
• Consider interdisciplinary approaches : Ancient Rome intersects with various disciplines, offering opportunities for interdisciplinary research. Consider incorporating perspectives from archaeology, anthropology, literature, art history, sociology, or even environmental studies. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, you can enrich your research and gain a comprehensive understanding of the topic.
• Analyze primary and secondary sources : To ensure the credibility and depth of your research, make use of primary and secondary sources. Primary sources include ancient texts, inscriptions, and archaeological findings, while secondary sources encompass scholarly works and interpretations. Analyzing both types of sources will provide a well-rounded understanding of your chosen topic and enable you to develop a nuanced argument.
• Explore comparative studies : Ancient Rome had significant interactions with other civilizations, such as Greece, Egypt, and Carthage. Consider exploring comparative studies that examine the similarities and differences between Ancient Rome and other ancient civilizations. This comparative approach can shed light on broader historical trends and provide a unique perspective on the Roman world.
• Engage with current debates and theories : Ancient Roman studies are dynamic, with ongoing debates and evolving theories. Stay updated with current scholarship and engage with these debates in your research paper. Explore conflicting viewpoints, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different arguments, and contribute your own analysis and interpretation to the scholarly discourse.
• Incorporate archaeological evidence : Archaeological discoveries continue to uncover new insights into Ancient Rome. Incorporating archaeological evidence in your research can enhance the authenticity and depth of your study. Explore archaeological sites, artifacts, and material culture to complement your analysis of historical texts and sources.
• Consider geographical and chronological focus : Ancient Rome spanned a vast territory and existed over a long period. Consider narrowing your research by focusing on specific regions or time periods within the Roman Empire. This can allow for a more nuanced analysis of regional dynamics, cultural variations, or significant historical moments.
• Consult with your instructor or advisor : Seek guidance from your instructor or academic advisor when selecting your research topic. They can provide valuable insights, suggest relevant literature, and help you refine your research question. Their expertise will ensure that your topic aligns with the learning objectives of your course and meets the academic standards expected.

Choosing the right research topic is essential for a successful and fulfilling exploration of Ancient Rome. By narrowing down your area of interest, conducting preliminary research, considering interdisciplinary approaches, and engaging with current debates, you will be well-prepared to embark on your research journey. Remember to consult primary and secondary sources, incorporate archaeological evidence, and consider comparative and geographical perspectives. By following these expert tips, you will select a captivating and research-worthy topic that allows you to delve deep into the captivating world of Ancient Rome.

How to Write an Ancient Rome Research Paper

Writing a research paper on Ancient Rome requires careful planning, meticulous research, and effective organization. In this section, we will provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to write an outstanding research paper that explores the fascinating world of Ancient Rome. By following these tips, you will be equipped with the necessary tools to produce a well-researched and compelling piece of academic writing.

• Understand the assignment requirements : Before diving into the writing process, carefully read and understand the assignment requirements. Identify the specific research question or topic, word count, formatting guidelines, and any other instructions provided by your instructor. This will ensure that your research paper meets the expectations and requirements of the assignment.
• Conduct comprehensive research : To write a thorough and informative research paper, conduct comprehensive research on your chosen topic. Utilize academic databases, libraries, reputable online resources, and primary sources to gather relevant information. Take detailed notes, ensuring to cite your sources accurately, as this will facilitate the organization of your research.
• Develop a clear thesis statement : A strong thesis statement is the foundation of a successful research paper. It provides a concise and arguable claim that guides the direction of your research and supports your arguments. Craft a clear thesis statement that reflects the specific aspect of Ancient Rome you are investigating and the main argument you will present in your paper.
• Outline your research paper : Creating a well-structured outline is essential for organizing your thoughts and ensuring a coherent flow of ideas in your research paper. Divide your paper into sections, such as introduction, literature review, methodology, analysis, and conclusion. Within each section, outline the main points, subtopics, and supporting evidence that you will include.
• Write a compelling introduction : The introduction should captivate your readers’ attention and provide an overview of your research topic. Start with a hook that grabs the reader’s interest, provide some background information on Ancient Rome, and end with a clear thesis statement that outlines the main argument of your paper. Make sure to contextualize your research within the broader field of Ancient Roman studies.
• Conduct a thorough literature review : Before presenting your own analysis, conduct a thorough literature review to familiarize yourself with existing scholarship on your topic. Identify key debates, theories, and gaps in the current research. Cite and engage with relevant academic sources to situate your research within the broader scholarly conversation.
• Analyze and interpret your findings : Based on your research and analysis, present your findings and interpretations in a clear and logical manner. Use evidence from primary and secondary sources to support your arguments and provide critical analysis. Consider the cultural, political, social, and economic factors that influenced Ancient Rome and weave these insights into your analysis.
• Include visual and textual evidence : Ancient Rome is rich in visual and textual evidence, such as archaeological artifacts, inscriptions, and ancient texts. Incorporate relevant visual and textual evidence in your research paper to enhance the authenticity and credibility of your arguments. Use images, maps, and citations from ancient sources to provide a comprehensive understanding of your topic.
• Use proper citation and referencing : Accurate citation and referencing are crucial to avoid plagiarism and give credit to the original authors. Follow the appropriate citation style, such as APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, or Harvard, as specified by your instructor. Ensure consistency in formatting, citation style, and bibliography throughout your research paper.
• Write a concise and impactful conclusion : In your conclusion, summarize your main arguments, restate your thesis statement, and highlight the significance of your research findings. Emphasize the broader implications of your research and suggest avenues for future exploration. Leave your readers with a lasting impression and a sense of the importance of studying Ancient Rome.

Writing an Ancient Rome research paper requires thorough research, careful organization, and effective communication of your findings. By following these steps, you will be able to craft a compelling and well-structured research paper that explores the intricacies of Ancient Rome. Remember to develop a clear thesis statement, conduct comprehensive research, analyze and interpret your findings, and provide proper citation and referencing. With these guidelines in mind, you will be well on your way to producing an outstanding research paper on Ancient Rome.

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The absence of the Roman Empire fueled Western civilization, Stanford scholar says

Nothing like the Roman Empire ever emerged again – which was a good thing, says Stanford historian Walter Scheidel. Here, he explains why.

Why the Roman Empire fell is often discussed in history classes and textbooks. But new research by Stanford historian Walter Scheidel considers an angle that has received little scholarly attention: Why did it – or something similar to it – never emerge again?

Stanford historian Walter Scheidel calls the fall of Rome the “great escape.” (Image credit: Daniel Hinterramskogler)

Scheidel discusses in a new book why the Roman Empire was never rebuilt and how pivotal its absence was for modern economic growth, the Industrial Revolution and worldwide Western expansion. Freed from the clutches of an imperial monopoly, Europeans experimented and competed, innovated and collaborated – all preconditions for the world we now inhabit, he said.

Scheidel, the Dickason Professor in the Humanities and a Catherine R. Kennedy and Daniel L. Grossman Fellow in Human Biology, is author of Escape from Rome: The Failure of Empire and the Road to Prosperity (2019). He also edited The Science of Roman History: Biology, Climate and the Future of the Past (2018).

The collapse of the Roman Empire is considered by many to be one of the greatest disasters in history. But you argue that Rome’s dramatic collapse was actually the best thing that ever happened. How so?

The disintegration of the Roman empire freed Europe from rule by a single power. Imperial monopolies provided peace and stability, but by seeking to preserve the status quo also tended to stifle experimentation and dissent. When the end of empire removed centralized control, rival political, military, economic and religious constituencies began to fight, bargain and compromise and – in the process – rebuilt society along different lines.

Those 1,500 years (all the way up to World War II) were full of conflicts as Europe splintered into a violently competitive state system. But for all the suffering it caused, this fragmentation and competition fostered innovation that eventually gave rise to unprecedented change in knowledge production, economic performance, human welfare and political affairs. This path to modernity was long and tortuous, but also unique in the world.

In contrast to other large-scale empires – such as the successive dynasties in China – the Roman empire never returned to Europe. Why was that?

Stanford Professor Walter Scheidel says the fall of the Roman Empire enabled the rise of Western civilization. (Image credit: bwzenith / Getty Images)

An overly simple answer would be that all later attempts to restore universal empire on European soil failed. But was that just an accident? I argue that it wasn’t: there were powerful environmental reasons for Europe’s lasting fragmentation. Europe lacks large river basins that supported centralized power elsewhere and it is shaped by mountain barriers and exceptionally long coastlines that carve it up into smaller units. Perhaps most importantly, Western Europe is far removed from the great Eurasian steppe, grasslands that used to house warlike nomads who played a critical role in the creation of large empires in Russia, the Middle East, and South and East Asia. Although these features did not determine historical outcomes, they nudged European state formation onto a different trajectory of greater diversity.

What made the Roman Empire so successful?

If Europe wasn’t fertile ground for empire-building, we may wonder why the Roman Empire existed at all. The Romans succeeded by exploiting a set of conditions that were hard or even impossible to replicate later on. Through shrewd manipulation of civic obligations, material rewards and alliances, their leadership managed to mobilize vast numbers of ordinary farmers for military operations at low cost.

Rome also benefited from modest levels of state formation in the western Mediterranean and the fact that larger kingdoms farther east were busy fighting each other. This allowed them to overpower and swallow other societies one by one. In later periods, by contrast, Europe was full of competing states that prevented any one of them from subduing all the others.

What were the efforts to rebuild the Roman Empire, and why did they fail?

Such efforts began almost immediately when the eastern Roman Empire tried to recover the western provinces that had fallen to Germanic conquerors. Two-hundred-and-fifty years later, the Frankish ruler Charlemagne styled himself as a Roman emperor, and later in the Middle Ages an unwieldy entity known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation appeared on the scene. However, none of these projects succeeded in re-creating an empire of Rome’s size, power or durability.

Later efforts by the Habsburgs and by Napoleon to establish some degree of hegemony over Europe failed as well. Several factors were responsible for this. In the Middle Ages, the erosion of royal power and taxation brought about by the rise of landed aristocracies interfered with state building. By the early modern period, the European state system had already become too deeply entrenched to be dislodged by any one power and would-be conquerors were reliably stymied by alliances that checked their ambitions.

You devote your epilogue to Monty Python’s tongue-in-cheek question, “What have the Romans ever done for us?” So what does the modern world owe to the ancient past?

We usually focus on the legacies of Roman civilization that are still visible today, from the Romance languages, the Roman writing system and many proper names to the Julian calendar, Roman law, architectural styles, and, last but by no means least, the various Christian churches. All of these continue to shape our lives.

But when it comes to explaining why the world has changed so much over the last couple of centuries, the single most important contribution of the Roman Empire turns out to have been that it went away for good and nothing like it ever returned. This rupture was critical in allowing the right conditions for transformative change to emerge over time. Sometimes the most important legacy is the one we cannot see!

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4 The Core of Roman Strategy

• Published: August 2022
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Rome’s grand strategy was not much different from that of any other Empire. It consisted of maintaining the integrity and stability of the Empire; protecting the Empire from external enemies; and expanding the borders of the Empire—when possible and profitable—with an eye to expanding the Empire’s influence where physical expansion was not possible. The one major addition was ensuring the survival of the emperor. To achieve these strategic goals, Rome maintained a military force of unprecedented size and capability. It also developed a systemic strategic plan that allowed Rome to conserve troops through the employment of extensive fortifications along its thousands of miles of frontiers. Finally, it placed its legions in locations where they were logistically supportable—able to support one another, to guard the frontiers, and to take advantage of rivers and seas to rapidly move huge concentrations of forces to any threatened point in the Empire.

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Empire and Political Cultures in the Roman World. Key Themes in Ancient History

Carlos noreña , university of california, berkeley. [email protected].

This slim volume scores big on the bang-for-the-buck scale. In just over 200 pages, written in her characteristically jaunty style, Emma Dench covers a dizzying array of topics, expertly and often provocatively, not only providing the sort of high-level introductory overview for which the Key Themes series was designed, but also advancing a coherent and compelling program for how we should understand “the local experience of change attendant on empire in the Roman world” (1). Dench does not argue a concrete thesis, but do not be fooled: this is very much a thesis-driven account of cultural change—or, rather, of a particular facet of that change. The argument is mostly implicit, however, and not organized to prove a set of claims, but rather to illustrate, through example and interpretation, the significant heuristic payoff derived from granular analysis of the infinitely variable local articulations of what she calls “statehood,” “peoplehood,” and “grouphood” in the Roman empire (16). It is one of those very rare books that will be genuinely useful for newcomers and experts alike.

The Introduction and Epilogue together set the book in context and sketch an agenda for future work. The framing is important, and we will return to it below. The substantive core of the book is arranged in five chapters. The first, “Toward a Roman Dialect of Empire” (18-46), explores how modes of sovereignty that were marked in some way as “Roman” were conceptualized and articulated at the labile interface between Roman and non-Roman sources of power. Dench delineates a spectrum from highly charged moments of “translation” at such interfaces (for which the dissolution of the Macedonian kingdom in 167 BCE serves as a paradigmatic case, 24 ff.), through spectacle and performance contexts in which Roman symbolism (Latin, official documents, architecture, iconography, and so on) was mobilized in both pro- and (NB) anti-Roman assertions of authority (29-39), to a coalescing of what she calls the “rule-book mentality” (40), expressed, juridically, by means of town charters, magistracies, and Roman citizenship.

The second chapter, “Territory” (47-73), continues with the broad theme of Roman and non-Roman interfaces, shifting the focus from discourse to space. Dench synthesizes the latest work on roads, frontiers, provinces, borders, colonization, urbanization, and centuriation, urging us (quite rightly) not to view Roman territoriality through the prism of the modern nation-state (52). She is especially good on the transformative impact of Pompey and Caesar—both in the rise of a territorial conception of empire (54-5) and in the intensification of city-foundation (68-9)—and on how large-scale construction in frontier zones animated a resonant “fortress empire” ideology (56-62).

Material conditions and the hard edges of coercive power are addressed, respectively, in chapters three (“Wealth and Society,” 74-104) and four (“Force and Violence,” 105-33). Discussion begins (ch. 3) with the relationship between Roman imperialism and economic exploitation (76-87). The review of Hopkins’ influential “taxes and trade” model perhaps underplays the role of monetization and the distinction between aggregate and per- capita growth, and there is not enough here on the changing personnel of the imperial extraction apparatus, especially the proliferation of financial procurators (80 ff.). Nor will all readers agree that Finley’s thesis on the primitivism of the Roman economy “has been substantially upheld in recent decades” (79). There are, however, useful discussions of taxation, the census, and coinage (82-7); the material basis of political participation, especially in democratic government in the Greek East (87-95); and the specifically Roman articulation of wealth and social order (95-101). Her analysis of the Roman regulation of theater seating (96-98), which she identifies as a “first principle of the socio-specific privilege-system associated with Roman rule” (98), is outstanding. She also offers (ch. 4) an extended analysis of warfare and coercion, considering not only the “performative and spectacular uses of violence” authored by the Roman state (111), from executions and proscriptions to monuments, triumphs, and trophies (111-14), but also the operations of the Roman army and the variable impacts of soldiers on the social fabric of local communities (114-24). We are reminded throughout what it must have been like to live in this climate of imperial coercion, which could trigger hostile rejection (116), nightmares and alienation (119-20), and defiance and martyrdom (132-3).

“Time,” the fifth and final substantive chapter (134-54), considers how local modes of time-reckoning, and local conceptions of both past and future time, were shaped by Roman power. Local use of calendars modeled on those specific to the city of Rome, and therefore “useless” elsewhere (Rüpke), reflects a naturalization and deep internalization of Roman norms (142-3), while the self-conscious adoption of what Dench calls “Caesar time,” in the form of both imperial and consular dating schemes, reveals the extent to which the coming of Rome disrupted the rhythms of daily life (143-7). The chapter concludes with conceptions of past and future. Writing in an ethnographic tradition in which questions about peoplehood were often framed with reference to origins, Greek authors came to represent Romanness in universalizing and totalizing terms, an index of how Rome “swamps local pasts and reconfigures and underwrites peoplehood” (150). Celebrations of local pasts could always be mobilized against Rome, however, and ideas about future time were sometimes expressed in apocalyptic terms (153-4). The discussion is characteristic of the book as a whole in its sensitivity to nuance, context, and complexity.

Studies addressing the many topics covered in this book, often treated under the rubric of “Romanization,” continue to proliferate, and Dench is a reliable guide to this bibliography. Indeed, the book will be an excellent first port of call for students looking to get up to speed on this material. Several features of Dench’s approach set her book apart from others in this crowded field. First, she situates the Roman empire in the wider context of other ancient Mediterranean empires (with occasional glances to early China), drawing attention, for example, to other imperial rituals (31-2), economies of violence (107-110), and interventions in local time-reckoning (136), especially in the imperial systems of ancient West Asia. This contextualization is an effective safeguard against a recurrent exceptionalism in the scholarship on the Roman empire. Nor does she lose sight of the violence and domination within which processes of acculturation were always embedded. This is another important corrective, since imperial coercion, force, fear, and alienation are often underplayed (or even ignored) in cultural histories of the Roman world.

More novel and distinctive is Dench’s sustained attention to the Republican period, on the one hand, and to cultural change in Italy (and not just during the Republic), on the other. As she points out, much of the most influential scholarship has focused on either the Republic or the Empire; on either Italy or the provinces; or on either Roman politics and administration or provincial cultures (9-16). She traces these stubborn dichotomies back to Mommsen (10, n. 15), and then blows them up by seamlessly weaving her discussion in and out of these conventional silos. Nor is it any surprise, given her own areas of expertise, that many of the most arresting insights in the book emerge in discussions of the Republican period (e.g., on how the Republic, as a social and political form, was related to kingship, discursively, both by antithesis and by analogy, 23-8; on the problem of territoriality in a republican empire, 52-5; on the peculiar dynamics of Roman intervention in the Greek world in the 2nd century BCE, 87-94), or in treatments of evidence for political cultures in the Italian peninsula (e.g., the Ostian monument of C. Cartilius Poplicola, the eight-time duumvir and three-time censor of Ostia, 40-3; the urban form and political organization of Roman colonies in Italy, 63-71; the well-known inscription detailing the operations of the collegium of Diana and Antinous at Lanuvium, 101-4). Dench also illuminates the provincial cultures of the imperial period, of course, but the space devoted to Italy and to the Republican period gives the book an unusual, and welcome, orientation amongst the many other studies of acculturation in the Roman world.

Where the book is very much a part of this historiographical moment, however, is in its insistence on the local, in all of its complexity and specificity, as the essential lens through which to view the making of political cultures in the Roman world. This interpretive stance is clear throughout the book, evident in Dench’s treatment of this or that episode, artefact, or process, in which we are shown, again and again, the “messiness of the contexts within which Roman imperial institutions developed” (29) and the “complexity of entangled phenomena” (156). Nor is the tight focus on the local just a matter of getting things right at the level of empirical detail. What Dench really wants to draw out is local agency, not only in the day-to-day running (in effect) of the Roman empire (e.g., 34-5, 158-9), but also in the production of meaning, especially in terms of her trio of analytical categories, statehood, peoplehood, and grouphood. Only through careful attention to local structures and agencies, she argues, can we avoid “minimizing the friction, interference, mishearing, and redirection of energy that needs to be reintroduced lest the machine becomes too close to the dystopian, science-fiction vision of The Matrix ” (35).

The book can be seen, then, at least in part, as a “middle-ground” account of local culture in the Roman empire (cf. 46, with n. 43, drawing on Wright’s influential study of European and Native American colonial encounters in the Great Lakes region), but it is one in which cultural production and local identity operates without reference to any one, totalizing vision of Romanness.

Dench frames her account, perhaps surprisingly, through a discussion of Haverfield’s Romanization of Roman Britain (four editions, 1905-23) that is largely sympathetic, and that could even be read, at a stretch, as a rehabilitation of this much criticized work, “remarkable for its sophistication” in its use of anthropology and material culture (2-4), and “ahead of its time” in its “eschewal of a top-down model of the Roman empire” (155). The crucial departure from Haverfield comes with Dench’s careful segregation of things and ideas, too often conflated in The Romanization of Roman Britain , and above all with her highlighting of plurality. For whereas Haverfield’s slippage from things to (a too narrow set of) ideas led to a conceptualization of “Romanization” as the “erasure of local difference” (3), Dench places local difference at the heart of her vision of political cultures in the Roman world. As she puts it, “The plural ‘cultures’ of my title signals the centrality of plural languages and idioms within the Roman imperial world, along with the presence of competing states and systems of authority and belief” (16). As a result there is very little in the way of “being” or “becoming” Roman here.

Empire and Political Cultures in the Roman World is bound to be very widely read and influential on the next generation of Roman cultural historians, and that bodes well for future work in this field. It may be that Dench slightly understates the degree to which most local cultures in the Roman world were broadly patterned, at least in form, from one end of the empire to the other, and the ways in which all local cultures necessarily intersected with a single, metropolitan, Roman imperial culture. But we can never understand that patterning, and that intersection, if we do not interpret these local cultures with real sensitivity to the particularities and specificities of any one time, place, experience, and subjectivity. Dench has given us an excellent tool kit to do just that.

Essay Questions | Teacher Resource | The Roman Military

Essay questions pertaining to the roman empire.

Here is a list of essay questions that not only provoke creative thought, but require thought and research beyond simple cutting and pasting from a text-book.

• The Roman Empire flourished under a direct dictatorship. How?
• How different would Europe be today if Carthage had won the Second Punic War?
• How do the strategies of Ancient Rome mirror strategies used by modern armies? How do they differ?
• The Roman Empire could not have flourished without it's direct connection to the Mediterranean. Agree or disagree?
• Rome's downfall was because of an ignorance of infrastructure and a too rapid expansion.
• Christianity would not be as pronounced today if Rome hadn't adapted it, Agree or disagree?
• How does the treatment of slaves in Rome differ from the treatment of slaves in [Greece, Africa, Central and South America, America before the Civil War]?
• You are a Roman farmer in Gaul in 49 BC, how do you feel about Caesar's power? Cite pros and cons.
• Was Rome's decline rapid and unexpected? Or were there warning signs, and it was slow decline? Explain.
• During Pax Romana how would the people feel about their Empire? W hat are the similarities with post-WW2 America?
• Was Rome's downfall simply a matter of time? Or was it a or a series of specific events?
• Rome borrowed heavily from Greek culture, where are these influences most evident?
• The third and final Punic war wasn't really necessary. Agree or disagree.
• Was the division of the Empire good or bad for the Empire?
• The Roman Empire was called "A Nation of soldiers", how was the Roman attitude towards violence affected by the high number of warriors?
• How did the Empire face the number of cultures surrounding them? To what extent were they influence and to what extent did they ignore cultures.
• Rome's religion was simply a tool to control the masses. Agree or disagree.
• Compare the growth of Rome to another great Empire, such as the Gupta Empire or Ancient Egypt.
• Did Rome have a 'caste' system? How strong were the borders between 'castes'?

Making Arguments and Writing Theses

What is an argument?

An argument takes a stand on an issue that is  debatable . It seeks to  persuade  an audience of a point of view in much the same way that a lawyer argues a case in a court of law. It is  NOT  a description or a summary.

• This is an argument: “Although it may seem that internal discord and external barbarian invasions were separate problems for the Roman Empire in the fourth century, these developments were fundamentally interrelated and formed the single most important explanation for the long-term decline of Rome.”
• This is not an argument: “In this paper, I will elucidate the reasons for the collapse of the Roman Empire in the two tumultuous centuries leading up to the sack of its capital city in 410 by the notorious Visigoth king Alaric.”

What is a thesis?

A thesis statement states the  main argument  of your project and describes, briefly,  how you will prove your argument .  In other words, it also states how you will organize your body of evidence in support of the argument.

• This is an vague argument, and not yet a thesis: “The Roman Empire fell due to multiple interrelated reasons.”
• This is a thesis: “The barbarian invasions from the late third to the early fifth century were a direct result of policy changes by the Roman government responding to political struggles within the empire, culminating in the collapse of the Roman Empire at the hands of the Germanic tribes from the north.”

A thesis makes a specific statement to the reader about what you will be trying to argue. Your thesis can be more than one sentence, but should not be longer than a paragraph.  Do not state evidence or use examples in your thesis paragraph.  

A Thesis Helps You and Your Reader

Your  blueprint for writing:

• Helps you focus and clarify your ideas.
• Provides a “hook” on which you can “hang” your topic sentences.
• Can (and should) be revised as you further refine your evidence and arguments. New evidence often requires you to change your thesis.
• Gives your paper a unified structure and point.

Your  reader’s  blueprint for reading:

• Serves as a “map” to follow through your paper.
• Keeps the reader focused on your argument.
• Signals to the reader your main points.
• Engages the reader in your argument.

Tips for Writing a Good Thesis

• Find a Focus :  Choose a thesis that explores an aspect of your topic that is important to you, or that allows you to say something insightful about your topic. For example, if your project seeks to analyze women’s domestic labor during the late fifteenth century, you might decide to focus on the products they produced at home.
• Look for Patterns : After determining a general focus, go back and look more closely at your evidence. As you re-examine your evidence and identify patterns, you will develop your argument and some conclusions. For example, you might find that as men’s access to professional training increased, women made fewer textiles at home, though they generally retained their production of butter and ale.

Strategies for Developing a Thesis Statement

Here are four ways to begin to develop your thesis. These will not necessarily result in a finished product, but will give you a place to start.

Strategy 1:  Spend time ruminating over your topic. Make a list of the ideas you want to include in the essay, and then think about how to group them under several different headings. Often, you will see an organizational plan emerge from the sorting process.

Strategy 2:  Write a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the essay you plan to write.

Main Idea :  Women’s domestic labor during the later Middle Ages contributed to the growth of the early industrial economy in Europe.

Strategy 3:  Use a formula to develop a working thesis statement (which you will need to revise later). Here are a few examples:

• Although most readers of _________ have argued that _________, closer examination shows that _________.
• ________ used _________ and _________ to prove that _________.
• Historical event “X” is a result of the combination of _________, _________, and _________.

Strategy 4:  Since your project instructions asks you to develop a specific historical question, turn the question into an assertion and give reasons for your statement.

Research Question : How did women’s domestic labor change between 1348 and 1500? How were changes in their work important to late medieval economic culture in Germany?

Beginning thesis : Between 1348 and 1500 women’s domestic labor changed as women stopped producing home-made textiles, although they continued to produce butter and ale. With the cash women earned from the sale of butter and ale they purchased cloth imported from Flanders and Italy, which in turn, helped increase early industrial production in those areas.

These strategies all should help you develop two characteristics all thesis statements should have: they state an argument and they reveal how you will make that argument. Your thesis probably still needs revising but these strategies may provide a good start.

Refine, Refine, Refine

As you work on your project, your ideas will change and so will your thesis. Here are examples of weak and strong thesis statements.

• Unspecific thesis : “Francis of Assisi was an important figure in the development of Christian attitudes about nature.”

  This thesis lacks an argument. Why was Francis an important leader?

• Specific thesis : “Francis of Assisi offered a new interpretation of Christian asceticism that responded to the frustrations felt my many urban dwellers with the commercial economy of the thirteenth century, while using simple religious language that attracted people who were uncomfortable with impenetrable scholastic theology of the period.”

This thesis has an argument: Francis’s interpretation of Christianity became popular  because  it satisfied two different frustrations felt by many people in thirteenth-century Europe.

• Unspecific thesis : “At the end of the fifteenth century French women faced difficulty when they attempted to enter universities.”

No historian could argue with this general statement and uninteresting thesis.

• Specific thesis : “At the end of the fifteenth century French women experienced misogynist attacks from scholastics when they petitioned to enter universities  primarily   because  theologians were concerned with protecting the monopoly that males had on priesthood, which was required for entry into academia.”

This thesis statement asserts that theologians attacked women who wanted a formal education  because  they feared that  if  women were allowed into universities they would be granted clerical status, which might threaten the male monopoly on priesthood.

Making an Argument

Your thesis is defenseless without you to prove that its argument holds up under scrutiny. Your reader expects you to provide all of the evidence to prove your thesis. There are two categories of evidence that you can use:

• Primary sources: treatises, letters, diaries, newspaper accounts, government documents, an organization’s meeting minutes and pamphlets.
• Secondary sources: articles and books that explain and interpret historical events.

How can you use this evidence?

• Make sure the examples you select from your available evidence address your thesis.
• Use evidence that your reader will deem credible. This means sorting through your sources, and identifying the clearest and fairest. It also means paying careful attention to the credibility of the source. This is especially important when dealing with web-based sources. Be sure to understand the biases and shortcomings of each piece of evidence. When in doubt consult with your professor or teaching assistant.
• Avoid broad generalizations that your reader may question by appealing to specific evidence.
• Use evidence to address an opposing point of view. How do your sources give examples that refute another historian’s interpretation?

Home — Essay Samples — History — Ancient Rome — The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Fall of The Roman Empire

• Categories: Ancient Rome

About this sample

Words: 732 |

Published: Dec 5, 2018

Words: 732 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Works Cited

• Fall of the Roman Empire. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.rome.info/history/empire/fall/
• Gibbon, E. (n.d.). The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Vol. 2).
• Wasson, D. (2014). Diocletian. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/Diocletian/
• Theodosius I. (n.d.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodosius-I-Roman-emperor
• Cameron, A. (2013). The Last Pagans of Rome. Oxford University Press.
• Ward-Perkins, B. (2006). The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization. Oxford University Press.
• Heather, P. (2006). The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History. Pan Books.
• Goldsworthy, A. (2009). How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower. Yale University Press.
• Bury, J. B. (2011). History of the Later Roman Empire : From the Death of Theodosius I to the Death of Justinian. Dover Publications.
• Ward, J. (2018). Rome's Last Citizen: The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar. St. Martin's Griffin.

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Roman Empire: Research Proposal

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Creating a Research Proposal

Have a good idea of what your thesis will be.   You may need to tweak your thesis as you go along, but when you do your proposal, you should have a fairly specific question to ask and an idea of what you think the answer might be. For example:

How are the early lawmakers of Rome portrayed in the primary sources?  Early Roman lawmakers are portrayed as idealised Republican heroes in the works of Roman historians.

For the sample proposal below, the question and answer are:

Did the Romans plan to conquer North Africa primarily or in part in order to control the olive trade? Since the olive trade was crucial to the Roman economy and the soil in Italy was becoming depleted, the Romans conquered North Africa partially to gain control over its fertile, olive-producing regions. [This thesis turned out to be disproven, by the way!]

Gather your sources .  This is an historiographical paper. That means you can't only tell the story or recount the facts; you have to look at how your sources treat the question.  What primary sources will you use? Why are they the best ones? What secondary sources ABOUT the primary sources have you found? You need a biography and critique of each of your primary authors or works. What sources have you found to explain the general topic? By the time you present your proposal, you should have compiled at least a partial bibliography.

Sample Research Proposal with Bibliography

Rome, North Africa, and the Olive Trade

      In the Mediterranean world of 200-40 B.C, olives and olive products were of primary importance for everything from food to sheep dip.  As Rome’s population grew, the agricultural potential of Italy was inadequate to provide sufficient supplies of these commodities.  Among the things that made the conquest of Africa attractive to Rome were its fertile agricultural areas that could produce large quantities of olives and were close to shipping routes .

      The cultivation and use of olives and olive by-products is well-attested in works by Cato the Elder, [1] Varro, [2] and Columella, [3] all with the title On Agriculture . Their detailed instructions on propagating, cultivating, harvesting, and processing olives will give us a picture of land use, farm management, agricultural technology, and labor requirements as well as information about olives and olive trees in particular.

      Geography is an important factor in this study from two points of view.  First, from an agricultural standpoint, we will look at the availability of arable land in Italy and North Africa. Vernon Carter and Tom Dale have discussed how landforms, land use, and soil management all play crucial roles in civilization, since the strength of any society depends fundamentally on how well it can feed its citizens. [4]   Poor soil management, leading to exhaustion of fertile soil, has often been a significant factor in migration and colonization.  We will examine in this paper whether, by the end of the Republic, Italian arable lands had been damaged enough to make colonization of fertile areas in North Africa a desirable goal.  Second, from a commercial point of view, we will look at the convenience and accessibility of trade routes between Italy and agricultural centers of North Africa. Archaeological reports such as that by L. Ben Lazreg and D. J. Mattingly will inform this discussion, [5] as will books such as Sabloff and Lamberg-Karlovsky’s Ancient Civilization and Trade. [6]

      The development of shipping and harbors is another area we must investigate.  The types of ships available for trade, their harbor requirements, and cargo loading and off-loading facilities would have determined the feasibility of large-scale trade between Rome and North Africa.  Articles such as George Houston’s “Ports in Perspective” will provide archaeological evidence about shipping, harbors, and amphorae for olive oil, all relevant to the olive trade in this period. [7]

      Once we have established that olives were important, that Italy’s soil was becoming exhausted while North Africa was still fertile, and that trade from olive-producing areas to Rome was feasible, we must establish whether, in fact, that trade took place and whether it was a conscious factor in Roman designs upon North Africa.

[1] Marcus Porcius Cato, On Agriculture , transl. William Davis Hooper (London: Heinemann, 1960)

[2] Marcus Terrentius Varro, On Agriculture ,  transl. William Davis Hooper (London: Heinemann, 1960)

[3] Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella, On Agriculture , transl. Harrison Boyd Ash (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968).

[4] Vernon Gill Carter and Tom Dale, Topsoil and Civilization , Rev. ed. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1974).

[5] L. Ben Lazreg and D. J. Mattingly, Leptiminus (Lamta): A Roman Port City in Tunisia, Report no. 1 (Journal of Roman Archaeology supplementary series no. 4. Ann Arbor: Journal of Roman Archaeology, 1992).

[6] Jeremy A. Sabloff and C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, Ancient Civilization and Trade (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1975).

[7] George W. Houston, “Ports in Perspective: Some Comparative Materials on Roman Merchant Ships and Ports” ( American Journal of Archaeology v. 92, no. 4, Oct. 1988), 553-564.

Preliminary Bibliography

  Primary Sources

Bellum Africum [in] Caesar: Alexandrian War; African War; Spanish War. Translated by A.G. Way (Loeb Classical Library)        Cambridge , Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1955 (2001 printing).

Cato, Marcus Porcius. On Agriculture . Translated by William Davis Hooper (Loeb Classical Library) London : Heinemann, 1960.

Columella, Lucius Junius Moderatus. On Agriculture . Translated by Harrison Boyd Ash (Loeb Classical Library) Cambridge ,        Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1968.

Meijer, Fik and Onno van Nijf, eds. Trade, Transport, and Society in the Ancient World: A Sourcebook . London : Routledge,       1992.

Sallust. Jugurthine War .

Varro, Marcus Terrentius. On Agriculture . Translated by William Davis Hooper (Loeb Classical Library) London : Heinemann,       1960.

Secondary Sources

  Brothwell, Don. R. and Patricia Brothwell. Food in Antiquity: A Survey of the Diet of Early Peoples . New York : Praeger, 1969.

Carter, Vernon Gill and Tom Dale. Topsoil and Civilization . Rev. ed. Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, 1974.

Levy, Jean-Philippe. The Economic Life of the Ancient World . Translated by John G. Biram. Chicago : University of Chicago       Press, 1967.

Oliver, Edmund Henry. Roman Economic Conditions to the Close of the Republic . Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 1907.

Tannahill, Reay. Food in History . New York : Stein and Day, 1973.

Whittaker, C. Land, City, and Trade in the Roman Empire . Aldershot , Eng. & Brookfield , Vt. : Variorum, 1993.

Journal Articles

  Boardman, John [et al.]. “The Olive in the Mediterranean .” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B,       Biological Sciences, v. 275, no. 936, The Early History of Agriculture (Jul. 27, 1976), 187-196.

Fulford, Michael. “Economic Interdependence Among Urban Communities of the Roman Mediterranean.” World Archaeology , v.       19, no. 1: Urbanization (June 1987), 58-75.

Fussell, G. E. “Farming Systems of the Classical Era.” Technology and Culture , v. 8, no. 1 (Jan. 1967), 16-44.

Haywood, Richard M. “The Oil of Leptis.” Classical Philology , v. 36, no. 3 (July 1941), 246-256.

Houston, George W. “Ports in Perspective: Some Comparative Materials on Roman Merchant Ships and Ports.” American       Journal of Archaeology , v. 92, no. 4 (Oct. 1988), 553-564.

Johnston, Harry H. “The Importance of Africa .” Journal of the Royal African Society , v. 17, no. 67 (Apr. 1918), 177-198.

Millar, Fergus. “The Mediterranean and the Roman Revolution: Politics, War and the Economy.” Past and Present , no. 102 (Feb.       1984), 3-24.

Rostovtzeff, Michael I. “The Hellenistic World and its Economic Development.” American Historical Review , v. 41, no. 2 (Jan.       1936), 231-252.

Townsend, Prescott W. “The Oil Tribute of Africa at the Time of Julius Caesar.” Classical Philology , v. 35, no. 3 (July 1940),       274-283.

Tyree, E. Loeta. and Evangelia Stefanoudaki. “The Olive Pit and Roman Oil Making.” The Biblical Archaeologist , v. 59, no. 3       (Sept. 1996), 171-178.

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The History Hit Miscellany of Facts, Figures and Fascinating Finds

Democracy vs. Grandeur: Was Augustus Good or Bad for Rome?

Graham Land

30 jul 2018.

Rome’s first Emperor, Augustus Caesar (63 BC – 14 AD) ruled for over 40 years; expanding territory and establishing many institutions, systems and customs that would endure for many hundreds of years.

Expanding on the dictatorial ambitions of his adopted father, Gaius Julius Caesar , Augustus deftly facilitated the transformation of Rome from a patrician republic to an empire led by a single powerful monarch.

But was Augustus’ prosperous reign a boon for Rome or a massive leap backwards into despotism?

Answering such a question is of course never simple.

Coin depicting Augustus (left) and his successor Tiberius (right). Credit: CNG (Wikimedia Commons).

‘Democracy’ vs. monarchy

Those who value any form of democracy or republicanism — no matter how limited and corrupt — over autocratic systems like the Roman Empire are for the most part making an ideological argument. While ideological points indeed have merit, they are often trumped by practical realities.

That is not to say that the erosion and end of the Republic did not have a real effect on Rome’s democratic mechanisms, however lean and faulty — it snuffed them out forever.

Here we take the position that democracy is inherently something favourable over autocracy. We are not arguing between the merits of the two, but rather asking — with hindsight — if the actions of Augustus were positive or negative for Rome.

Rome was primed for monarchy

After the shaky First Triumvirate , support was thrown behind Julius Caesar precisely because it was believed he would bring back the political system as it was during the Republic. Instead, in 44 BC, he was made life-long dictator, which turned out to be a very short time, as he was murdered by his peers on the Senate floor only a couple of months later.

Augustus (then Octavian) gained favour in much the same way. He garnered support by referring to himself as princeps (‘first among equals’) and paying lip service to republican ideals like libertas or ‘freedom’.

Rome needed a strong leader

Augustus as Pontifex Maximus or High Priest of Rome.

40 years of stability and prosperity should be considered a good thing. Augustus reformed the tax system, greatly expanded the Empire and protected and integrated trade, which brought wealth back to Rome. He also founded enduring institutions such as a fire brigade, police force and a standing army.

Due to Augustus’ cultural efforts, Rome became more beautiful, with stunning temples and other architectural monuments that would impress any visitor. He was also a patron of the arts, especially poetry.

Augustus’ cult of personality was partly based on the conservative traditional Roman values of virtue and social order. While his propaganda was not always accurate, it could be argued that he gave hope to the people of Rome and instilled in them a measure of almost spiritual civic pride.

Once the Republic was gone it was never coming back

History demonstrates that the presence of any level of democracy makes additional progress more likely. Although Roman democracy was dominated by the patrician (gentry) class, certain events during the Republic marked a move towards a more egalitarian system of power sharing with the plebeians, or commoners.

Yet, it should be noted that while Rome seemed to be travelling in a democratic direction, only citizens (patrician and plebeian) could hold any political power. Women were considered property, while slaves — one third of Italy’s population by 28 BC — had no voice.

With the establishment of an emperor as autocratic ruler, Rome’s main political tension of patricians vs. commoners — known as the ‘Struggle of the Orders’ — was forever changed. The patrician Senate was put on a path toward irrelevance, ultimately achieved by t he reforms of Emperor Diocletian in the late 3 rd century AD.

Furthermore, the powers of the plebeian assemblies, the Roman legislative branch that was operated on the principle of direct democracy, ended with the death of the Republic. Therefore Augustus’ reign signalled the death of nearly all vestiges of Roman democracy.

Myth and glory vs. people power

The Temple of Augustus in Vienne, south-eastern France.

In summary, Augustus did bring prosperity, grandeur and pride to Rome, but he effectively killed a 750-year experiment of democracy, beginning with the Kingdom and developing in the years of the Republic. Importantly, archaeological evidence suggests that the wealth and extravagance of the Empire was not experienced by the common residents of Rome, who suffered greatly from poverty and disease.

While Roman democracy was never perfect and far from universal, it at least gave some power to the citizenry and promoted democratic ideals. And though Julius Caesar started hundreds of years of dictatorial despotism, it was Augustus who solidified autocracy into an imperial institution .

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David French

Trump Is No Savior

By David French

Opinion Columnist

It is fitting that the biggest movie in the world this year is the story of a messiah gone wrong.

I’m speaking, of course, about Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” sequel, the story of a savior who broke bad in a specific way: He manipulated prophecy to unleash the religious fervor of an entire people against a hated foe.

The “Dune” movies present a beautifully shot, marvelously acted, fantastical tale set in a distant future, but they’re very much grounded in the dark reality of human nature here and now. When people are angry and afraid, they will look for a savior. When that anger and fear is latched to faith and prophecy, they will yearn for a religious crusade.

There’s a version of this same story playing out in the United States, but because the anger and fear are so overwrought, the prophecies so silly, and the savior so patently absurd, we may be missing the religious and cultural significance of the moment. A significant part of American Christianity is spiraling out of control.

The signs are everywhere. First, there’s the behavior of the savior himself, Donald Trump. On Monday of Holy Week, he compared himself to Jesus Christ, posting on Truth Social that he received a “beautiful” note from a supporter saying that it was “ironic” that “Christ walked through his greatest persecution the very week they are trying to steal your property from you.”

On Tuesday, he took to Truth Social to sell a $60 “ God Bless the USA Bible ” (the “only Bible endorsed by President Trump”), an edition of the King James Bible that also includes America’s founding documents. “Christians are under siege,” he said. The Judeo-Christian foundation of America is “under attack,” Trump claimed, before declaring a new variant on an old theme: “We must make America pray again.”

Two weeks ago, Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, told a Christian gathering that Democrats “want full and complete destruction of the United States of America.” Kirk is a powerful Trump ally. He has millions of followers on social media and is hoping to raise more than $100 million in 2024 to help mobilize voters for Trump.

“I do not think you can be a Christian and vote Democrat,” Kirk said, and “if you vote Democrat as a Christian, you can no longer call yourself a Christian.”

All of this is unfolding against the backdrop of so-called prophetic utterances that place Trump at the center of God’s plan to save America. According to these prophecies, Trump is God’s choice to lead America out of spiritual darkness, to save it from decline and despair. In this formulation, to oppose Trump is to stand against the will of God.

There are Trump prophecy books and a Trump prophecy movie . The prophecies can be very strange. The prophet will speak as though God talked to him or her directly. In this widely watched video , for example, the prophet says, “Donald Trump will be in power once more” and “he will reign again; it’s only a matter of time.” In this prophecy , the prophet says there is “actually a scripture appointed for the day” that Trump was born. As he explains the prophecy, the crowd applauds; its belief is palpable.

At the same time, ancient hatreds are re-emerging in the Christian far right. On March 22, the Daily Wire, a right-wing website founded by Ben Shapiro, fired Candace Owens , one of its most popular personalities. Like Kirk, she has millions of followers on social media. She is not a fringe figure. Owens engaged in a series of antisemitic statements , which included the claim that a “small ring of specific people … are using the fact that they are Jewish to shield themselves from any criticism” and “ they will kill people before they allow that ring to be exposed .”

In response to the end of her relationship with the Daily Wire, both Owens and many of her followers began to post “Christ is king,” a sentiment aimed directly at Shapiro, an Orthodox Jew. It’s one thing to declare “Christ is king” in church as a sign of personal devotion and belief. It’s quite another to aim that comment at a Jewish man as a declaration of religious supremacy.

It is true, thankfully, that a vast majority of American evangelicals do not and would not ever wield Christ’s name as a weapon against their Jewish neighbors. In fact, a number of conservative and right-wing Christians called out the “Christ is king” smear. But the argument that “most Christians aren’t MAGA” or “the majority of evangelicals abhor antisemitism” is cold comfort when MAGA and its antisemitic fringe are as prominent as they are in Christian public discourse. It’s also cold comfort when it’s evangelicals who helped push Trump over the finish line in the Republican primary race.

The MAGA method is clear. First, it whips up its people into a religious frenzy. It lies to convince them that the Democrats are an existential threat to the country and the church. It tells worried Christians that the fate of the nation is at stake. Then, just as it builds up the danger from the Democrats, it constructs an idol of Trump, declaring his divine purpose and spreading the prophecies of his coming return. He is to be the instrument of divine vengeance against his foes, and his frenzied foot soldiers are eager to carry out his will. They march eagerly to culture war, flying the flag of the House of Trump.

Sadly, all of this spilled into the open on Holy Week, the very week when the actual example of Jesus Christ should thoroughly rebuke MAGA’s fear and MAGA’s will to power. Christ came to a nation that was groaning under the weight of a real oppressor, the Roman Empire. At every turn, he rejected the effort to transform him into a political leader or, worse, a warlord.

When crowds gathered, he would often remove himself to pray . Rather than stoking their fear and anger, he’d heal the sick. Sometimes his words even alienated the crowd , causing it to drift away. Even though the people of Israel faced oppression that the American church can scarcely comprehend, he did not pick up the sword. Nor did he bend the knee to the Roman regime. In the end, he died on a cross, rejected by Romans and Israelites alike.

When he conquered death and hell and rose from the grave, he didn’t come back for vengeance. He spoke to his small band of followers, then ascended again, leaving them to revolutionize the hearts of men, not conquer the kingdoms of the earth.

He left behind an upside-down faith. In Christ’s kingdom, the last are first. You love your enemies. You pray for those who persecute you. His teachings consistently contradict our will to power. They frustrate our very human desire for vengeance. They channel religious devotion into compassion, not ferocity, and compassion should define our lives.

Jesus was emphatic. In Matthew 25 , Jesus said he would know his followers as people who served: “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me; I was in prison and you visited me.” And how do we serve Jesus in that way? Christ’s answer was clear: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

One does not hate one’s way into the kingdom of God. If our hearts are so cold that we fail to exhibit those virtues, it does one no good to respond, “But Lord, I posted ‘Christ is king’ to troll my enemies.”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

David French is an Opinion columnist, writing about law, culture, religion and armed conflict. He is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and a former constitutional litigator. His most recent book is “Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation .” You can follow him on Threads ( @davidfrenchjag ).