Many Emperors during the Roman Empire ruled with power. They used the military force to keep their subjects under control by instilling fear in the people. However, not every Roman Emperor ruled through power. Trajan, the emperor from 98-117, ruled through a combination of benevolent acts and decisive action. He used the power of the military to expand the borders of the empire and fix inflation, but he designed and promoted policies to improve the living conditions and job opportunities of the poor while decreasing class tension within the Empire. He made the Roman people proud of their country and proud to be his subjects. Overall, he ruled through authority. Trajan’s non-roman heritage and upbringing made him acutely aware of problems
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The first government crackdown of the new religion came in 64 AD, when Emperor Nero attempted to kill all the Christians persecute Christians. However, it failed, but the mistreatment of Christians continued, most commonly on a local level. Christians were commonly used as scapegoats. Even though the communities did so much good for poor people, they were often charged with incest and cannibalism making it easy for governments to blame them. Also, Christians were defiant to the Roman religion. Many refused to worship or sacrifice to the state Gods. This was an insult to the Gods, and many non-Christians feared that the Gods would take revenge on the Christians and would also destroy Romans (Rockliffe, …show more content…
Egypt was one of the Empire’s most important provinces because it supplied huge amounts of grain to the city of Rome. As the population of Rome increased, the city needed more and more grain imports to feed the poor (http://www.ostia-antica.org/intro.htm). The grain from Egypt normally went to the port of Puteoli in Naples, but it was hard to transport that grain to Rome from Naples. With the huge expansion of Ostia, the port could dock more ships, and because Ostia was right on the Tiber River, could ship the grain from Egypt up the Tiber River and directly into Rome. In addition, Trajan funded many public projects for the city of Ostia. He built multiple theatres for people to enjoy, Forums for people to trade in, and many Temples for various Roman Gods. He expanded the local government, and installed a full time fire department to protect the grain warehouses (http://www.ostia-antica.org/intro.htm). Lastly, there was a large Jewish population in Ostia, and Trajan allowed them to build a synagogue. Trajan made Ostia a prospering city, and gave the people there huge freedoms to protect and expand the grain supply that fed thousands of poor Romans. In addition to feeding the poor, Trajan used tolerance as an effective way to keep Ostia functioning properly. Instead of eliminating the different ethnic groups in the city, he gave them freedoms
The first government crackdown of the new religion came in 64 AD, when Emperor Nero attempted to kill all the Christians persecute Christians. However, it failed, but the mistreatment of Christians continued, most commonly on a local level. Christians were commonly used as scapegoats. Even though the communities did so much good for poor people, they were often charged with incest and cannibalism making it easy for governments to blame them. Also, Christians were defiant to the Roman religion. Many refused to worship or sacrifice to the state Gods. This was an insult to the Gods, and many non-Christians feared that the Gods would take revenge on the Christians and would also destroy Romans (Rockliffe, …show more content…
Egypt was one of the Empire’s most important provinces because it supplied huge amounts of grain to the city of Rome. As the population of Rome increased, the city needed more and more grain imports to feed the poor (http://www.ostia-antica.org/intro.htm). The grain from Egypt normally went to the port of Puteoli in Naples, but it was hard to transport that grain to Rome from Naples. With the huge expansion of Ostia, the port could dock more ships, and because Ostia was right on the Tiber River, could ship the grain from Egypt up the Tiber River and directly into Rome. In addition, Trajan funded many public projects for the city of Ostia. He built multiple theatres for people to enjoy, Forums for people to trade in, and many Temples for various Roman Gods. He expanded the local government, and installed a full time fire department to protect the grain warehouses (http://www.ostia-antica.org/intro.htm). Lastly, there was a large Jewish population in Ostia, and Trajan allowed them to build a synagogue. Trajan made Ostia a prospering city, and gave the people there huge freedoms to protect and expand the grain supply that fed thousands of poor Romans. In addition to feeding the poor, Trajan used tolerance as an effective way to keep Ostia functioning properly. Instead of eliminating the different ethnic groups in the city, he gave them freedoms