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Under Caesar Augustus and in the two centuries that followed his reign, the Romans entered a period of unprecedented military success. Their almost complete control of the Mediterranean world led to a decrease in squabbling between nations—after all, they were all administered by Rome. In this way, through a policy of relentless expansion and conquest, the Romans ushered in a two-century-long reign of peace, the pax romana. But as the Roman caesars imposed harmony on their possessions, they faced increasing levels of disarray at home. The cost of protecting the borders of the empire was enormous, eventually causing economic decline. The Senate, which existed largely for show under Augustus, certainly was not strong enough to resist imperial policy. The upper classes, including the emperors, withdrew from urban society, leaving it to the plebs, ordinary Romans who wanted little more than daily subsistence and a good show now and then. Yet in some ways the first two centuries C.E. were times of amazing cultural achievement. Romans used Greek models to create a distinctive urban architecture. More significantly, they demonstrated a flair for civil engineering projects like aqueducts and the roads that tied the empire together. Romans produced practical treatises on topics including farm management and natural history, but also great poetry. Moreover, the height of the empire marked an unusual degree of freedom. Aristocratic women gained privileges that allowed them to control their own wealth; even slaves were manumitted frequently enough that the overall number of slaves in Rome declined.
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