The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire

When studying Britain under the Roman Empire it is only natural to look further down the road and examine the British Empire.  Questions begin to rise of the similarities and differences between these two nations.  While this could be quite an endeavor to examine all disparities and similarities, I’ll only try to focus on one area; a key difference that sets the Roman Empire apart from all previous and subsequent empires.

First it may be useful to examine a few facts about the British Empire.  At its height, 458 million people were under the crown and Britain controlled nearly a quarter of the Earth’s total land area.  Here is a map of all areas that were at one time a part of the British Empire.  It has been said that “the sun never sets on the British Empire.”  After examining the map, it’s easy to see this is not an exaggeration.  At its height the British Empire was certainly one of the most, if not the most, powerful and far reaching empire of all time. 

It would be safe to say that the Roman Empire ruled over a similarly diverse group of people.  Perhaps it wasn’t quite to the extent of the British Empire, but it was impressive nonetheless.  Most of the empire centered around the Mediterranean, the sea made moving troops and goods simple.  Britain was an anomaly as a territory under the Roman Empire.  It was located geographically far from the capital and had few goods to offer.  Britain also had three legions posted to it, one of the most for any region.  Now we have that both empires ruled over a diverse group of people but we are still lacking how exactly Rome was different from other empires.

The difference lies in how and who controlled each empire.  The Roman Empire was not controlled by an elite class governing from Italy.  Instead the Romans were more accepting as to who they allowed to rule.  Over time, provincial aristocrats were incorporated into the ruling orders as senators and equestrians.  As a prime example, during the late second century the North African Septimius Severus was appointed to the throne.  Herein lays what I believe set Rome apart from all other empires; their goal to essentially “Romanize” those who they conquered.  The Romans sought to spread the tales of their own glory through foreign authors as evidenced by Polybius and Josephus.  But this only extended to those who were for the Roman cause.  If we look at Carthage instead, the entire library was nearly destroyed after the city was captured by Rome.  This is essentially the difference between Rome and all other empires.  While other empires looked to control a group of people, Rome sought to effectively destroy their culture and replace it with their own.  This was achieved with varying amounts of success.  There was certainly unrest and opposition to this plan, especially in Britain and Palestine.  Ultimately, though, we can see the effects of Roman rule in these places from military establishments to the formation of large cities.  This view is taken in light of the fact that life under Roman rule may have been more oppressive than past histories let on.