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Republic
Gradual expansion of power,
Republican form of government
Advanced legal system
Advanced engineering and military technology.
Empire
Initial expansion
Protecting Romes borders
Authoritarian Rule of the Emperor
-Not the collected compromises of the senate, instead the will of the emperor, the will of one man Nero...Crazy
Pax (peace) Romana: 100 years of people & prosperity
5 good Emperors
Nerva (96 AD - 98 AD)
Trajan (98 AD - 117 AD)
Hadrian (117 AD - 138 AD)
Antonius Pius (138 AD - 161 AD)
Marcus Aurelius (161 AD - 180 AD)
Rise of Christianity
Major Economic Decline
220 AD - Han Dynasty Falls
Ends trade on Silk Road which had lasted for 400 years.
Outsourcing - more local unemployment
Cheap goods flowing into Rome, the stop of these cheap goods, allow with over population and enlarged bureaucracy. Caused economic crisis, inflation.
Inflation - prices rise because money is worth less.
Technological standstill, many theories.
Slave labor (no need for better technology)?
Lead poisoning?
Plague ?