Government and military of the roman empire
The three main elements of the Imperial Roman state were the central government, the military and the provincial government. The military took control of an area through the means of war, but after a city or people was brought under treaty, the military mission was changed to policing. This policing meant protecting the Roman citizens, the agricultural fields that fed them and the religious sites. Communities with demonstrated loyalty with Rome retained their laws, could collect their own taxes locally and in exceptional cases were exempt from Roman taxation. Roman government was limited, but efficient in its use of the resources available to it.
central government
The dominance of the emperor was based on the combination of certain powers from several republican offices. The emperor also made himself the central religious authority as Pontifex Maximus, and centralised the right to declare war, ratify treaties and to negotiate with foreign leaders. These functions were clearly defined in the Principate, which stretched from the reign of Augustus to the Crisis of the Third Century. But these functions became less constitutional and more regal in the Dominate, which extended from the end of Third Century Crisis to the collapse of the Western Empire. So the emperor of the Roman Empire had the main authority to policy- and decision making and in the early Principate, he was expected accessible to individuals from all walks of life, and to deal personally with official businesses and petitions. So the administration formed around him gradually. The women of the emperor's family normally intervened in his decisions. Plotina influenced both her husband Trajan and his successor Hadrian. By the fourth century, as urban centres were decaying, the Christian emperors became remote ciphers. Although the senate could do little short of assassination and open rebellion to contradict the emperor's will, it survived to retain its symbolic governmental centrality during the Principate. The senate legalised the emperor's rule, and the emperor the experience of senators as legates to serve as generals, diplomats and bureaucrats. The practical source of an emperor's power and authority was the military. So the legionaries had to swear an annual military oath of loyalty to the emperor. Usually the death of an emperor caused confusion and crisis in the empire. Most emperors indicated their own successors such as a close family member or an adopted heir. No emperor could hope to survive, much less to reign, without the allegiance and loyalty of the Praetorian Guard and of the legions. The Senate was also entitled to choose the new emperor mindful of the ovation of the military and the Praetorians.
Military
The soldiers of the Imperial Roman Army were professional who volunteered for twenty years of active duty and five as reserves. The Roman Army only became professional in the Late Republic. At this time, the army had soldiers that were on duty full-time. There were major divisions in this highly skilled army: the garrison at Rome, which included the Praetorian Guard and the vigiles who functioned as police and fire-fighters; the provincial army, which consisted of the Roman Legions and auxiliaries which was provided by the provinces; and last but not least, the Roman Navy.
Augustus reformed the military by changing and regularised the army literally. Each legion comprised of ten cohorts, each of which consisted of six centuries and even each century was divided up into ten squads. The exact size of a legion always varied over the years so the number ranged from 4,800 to 5280. In 9 AD, the Germanic tribes wiped out three full legions in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest and this event reduced the number of legions to twenty five. For the next three hundred years, this number would always be a little below and above thirty. In the 1st century AD, the army had around 300,000 soldiers and was under 400,000 by the 2nd century AD. So at this time, only two per cent of adult males living in the Empire were in the Imperial Roman Army. The Praetorian Guard was also created by Augustus which consisted of nine cohorts to maintain public peace in Italy. The Praetorians were better paid than the legionaries, and served only sixteen years. The auxiliaries were recruited from the non-citizens and were organised into smaller units which were roughly cohort strength. After twenty five years of service, the auxiliaries were rewarded with Roman citizenship which was extended down to their descendants.
The Roman Navy not only provided the supply and transport of the Legions but also helped in the protection of the frontiers along the rivers Rhine and Danube. The Navy also protected the maritime trade routes from the threat of pirates and these routes were patrolled throughout the whole of the Mediterranean Sea, parts of the North Atlantic Coasts and the Black Sea. Nevertheless the Roman Army was considered the senior and more influential branch of the Imperial Roman state.
Augustus reformed the military by changing and regularised the army literally. Each legion comprised of ten cohorts, each of which consisted of six centuries and even each century was divided up into ten squads. The exact size of a legion always varied over the years so the number ranged from 4,800 to 5280. In 9 AD, the Germanic tribes wiped out three full legions in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest and this event reduced the number of legions to twenty five. For the next three hundred years, this number would always be a little below and above thirty. In the 1st century AD, the army had around 300,000 soldiers and was under 400,000 by the 2nd century AD. So at this time, only two per cent of adult males living in the Empire were in the Imperial Roman Army. The Praetorian Guard was also created by Augustus which consisted of nine cohorts to maintain public peace in Italy. The Praetorians were better paid than the legionaries, and served only sixteen years. The auxiliaries were recruited from the non-citizens and were organised into smaller units which were roughly cohort strength. After twenty five years of service, the auxiliaries were rewarded with Roman citizenship which was extended down to their descendants.
The Roman Navy not only provided the supply and transport of the Legions but also helped in the protection of the frontiers along the rivers Rhine and Danube. The Navy also protected the maritime trade routes from the threat of pirates and these routes were patrolled throughout the whole of the Mediterranean Sea, parts of the North Atlantic Coasts and the Black Sea. Nevertheless the Roman Army was considered the senior and more influential branch of the Imperial Roman state.
Provincial government
A territory that was recently taken over became a province in three simple steps: making a record of cities, taking a census of the population, and surveying the land. In the 1st and 2nd centuries, around a hundred and sixty officials was sent out each year govern outside Italy. Among these officials were the Roman governors who were magistrates elected at Rome who governed senatorial provinces which were provinces in the Principate that had governors that were elected by the Senate or there were governors outside senatorial control such as people who controlled Roman Egypt and these particular governors were of the equestrian rank. A governor's official attendants included lictors, heralds, messengers, scribes and bodyguards. Other officials were appointed as supervisors of government finances. A provincial who needed help in a legal argument or a criminal case might seek out any Roman who received any official capacity including centurions all the way down to the lowly military police because Roman government officials were few in number.
roman law
Roman courts held an original area of authority over cases involving Roman citizens throughout the Roman Empire. Most of the Eastern Empire already had well-established law codes and forensic procedures. Generally, it was Roman policy to respect the regional tradition and to regard local laws as a source of legal criterion and social stability. If the particulars of provincial law conflicted with Roman law or custom, Roman courts heard appeals and the emperor held final authority to render decisions. The extension of universal citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Roman Empire required the major application of Roman law. When Diocletian was trying to stabilise the laws after the Crisis of the Third Century and this included two major assemblages of law called the Codex Gregorianus and the Codex Hermogenianus. These guided provincial administrators to set consistent legal matters.
taxation
Taxation under the Empire amounted to five per cent of the Roman gross product and the normal tax rate paid by individuals was from two to five per cent. Taxes might be specific to a province, or kinds of properties such as fisheries or salt evaporation ponds. Tax collection was justified by the need to maintain the military and taxpayers sometimes got a refund if the army captured extra spoils. Tax responsibilities were determined by the census, which required each head of household to appear before the presiding official and provide a head count of his household, as well as an accounting of property he owned that was suitable for agriculture or habitation. Toward the end of his reign, Augustus installed a 4% tax on the sale of slaves. Also, an owner who manumitted a slave had to pay a "freedom tax" at 5% of value. But the resistance of the wealthy to paying taxes was one of the factors contributing to the collapse of the Empire.