The Pax Romana, Latin for "Roman peace", is the long stretch of relative stability across the empire that began under Augustus. It is usually dated from 27 BC to AD 180. It was not free of war: Rome kept fighting on its frontiers.
Key takeaways
- The Pax Romana is usually dated from 27 BC to AD 180, from Augustus to the death of Marcus Aurelius.
- It meant peace inside the core of the empire, not the end of war, since revolts and frontier wars continued.
- Our map shows the empire reaching 4.88 million km² in AD 117, in the middle of the Pax Romana, held by 41 provinces.
- Some historians use other dates for the period, so treat the usual dates as a convention.
How the Pax Romana works
The Pax Romana is the name for a long period of stability across the Roman world. It is generally dated from 27 BC, when Augustus became the first emperor, to AD 180, when Marcus Aurelius died [1]. Many historians start the count at Octavian's victory at Actium in 31 BC instead, and some textbooks use other dates, so the usual range is a convention [1].
The phrase needs careful handling. To the Romans, "peace" meant a situation in which opponents had been beaten and could no longer resist [1]. It was peace imposed by victory and kept by the army, not an absence of fighting. Even Augustus fought in Hispania and the Alps after his rise, and revolts and wars on the frontiers, including wars with Persia, continued throughout the period [1].
What did change is that, for people living inside the empire, large civil wars became rarer than in the last century of the Republic. Trade across the Mediterranean grew, and goods such as silk, gems and spices came from the East [1]. The road network made travel easier. You can see the road network behind this on the map when Roman roads are switched on, though our roads layer shows the network around AD 150 whatever date is set.
The period is sometimes linked to the "Five Good Emperors" at its end, the last five rulers of the Pax Romana, ending with Marcus Aurelius [1]. After his death the empire faced growing trouble, which ended in the political chaos of the third century.
An example from our data
Step the slider through the Pax Romana. At AD 14, the year Augustus died, the outline covers about 3.67 million km², with 36 provinces. At AD 117 it reaches about 4.88 million km², the maximum on our map, with 41 provinces. At AD 211 it is about 4.81 million km², with 43 provinces. The first outline is rebuilt from the provinces Rome held, while the last two use the the Ancient World Mapping Center outline, so they carry more detail.
So the peak of Roman territory came in the middle of the "peace", when emperors were still expanding it. Trajan's conquests in the east, described in how the empire grew, came with war and not with calm. The provinces page shows how the territory was divided, and the roads and cities layers show how it was connected.
The thing people get wrong
The mistake is to read "Roman peace" as two centuries without fighting. The Pax Romana was a stretch with relatively little war inside the empire's core, yet armies were always busy at the edges [1]. The Roman idea of peace meant order imposed on defeated opponents, which is not how most people use the word today. The dates are a handy summary, not a fact about the ancient world: other historians use 31 BC to AD 250 [1].
Frequently asked questions
How long did the Pax Romana last?
By the usual dating, from 27 BC to AD 180. Some historians start it at the battle of Actium in 31 BC, and textbooks sometimes use other dates.
Was the Roman Empire really at peace during the Pax Romana?
Not entirely. Revolts, frontier wars and wars with Persia continued. The peace was mostly inside the empire's core and was kept by the army.
When was the empire biggest in this period?
On our map, in AD 117, at about 4.88 million km², using the the Ancient World Mapping Center outline.
Sources
- Pax Romana, Wikipedia.
- Roman Empire, Wikipedia.
- Every figure from our own map is worked out from the datasets on the data sources page (checked against Ancient World Mapping Center outlines and Pleiades).