Western Civilization I / Unit 7 WC1 0603 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Pax Romana and Who Paid for It
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The idea
The Pax Romana, about one to two hundred C.E., meant roads, a common language and protection from banditry from Spain to Mesopotamia. The anchor adds who paid: slaves, the poor and the conquered, for whom peace meant oppression.
In practice
Moral laws for the elite eased the transition.
Where people slip
The emperor's relation to law was never defined. Force decided when law failed.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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