the time of the Roman Federation in 268 B.C. shows Rome as the most
powerful among two score minor associates in the federation. A map of
the Roman Empire at the death of Augustus in 14 A.D. shows a Roman
Empire extending from the Atlantic seaboard on the west to Central
Europe on the north, the Black Sea on the east and a generous strip of
Africa on the south.

Within three centuries Rome had expanded from its position as a minor
state in Italy to the effective control of those portions of three
continents which bordered the Mediterranean. Conquests during the
following century further extended the Roman frontiers.

Under the Caesars Rome was a society in the throes of political
transition. Roman Emperors, backed and frequently selected by the
military, were exercising despotic power. They still paid lip service to
the Constitution, an instrument that had relevance during the life of
the defunct Republic. In the era of the Caesars the law slumbered and
might ruled. The turbulent masses were fed and housed by the Roman
Oligarchy to which the Emperors were ultimately responsible. The far
flung territories conquered by military power and held by military
occupation were subject to the authority of the same Roman Oligarchy.

Behind the shams, frauds and tyrannies of a political dictatorship
paying lip service to the corpse of a defunct Republic lay the stark
realities of a bankrupt economy. Throughout the era of the Caesars the
Roman Empire continued to expand geographically. It also came into
contact and conflict with peoples so remote from Italy that for them
Rome was only a name for tyranny, extortion and exploitation. Julius
Caesar and his immediate successors penetrated these remote territories,
subjugating them, levying tribute, appointing governors and other