61.
slave-holding: *
Roman slavery is often linked directly to the plantation system (or latifundia) which characterized Imperial Rome. The typical latifundia were the estates in the south of Italy & Sicily. Large villa holdings in around Rome & in the Po valley organized their slave populations in a self-sufficient economy, while producing livestock (sheep and cattle) or cultivating olive oil, grain, and wine, for export to the urban centers. Many small landholding were created to compensate Roman soldiers and these were over time purchased by large landholders; thus the direction was in larger consolidations of landholdings.
Ownership of these plantations defined the Senatorial class as this was the only acceptable source of wealth for senators. Latifundia or economic consolidation allowed large estates to achieve economies of scales. Senators, who paid no land taxes, re-invested their profits by purchasing smaller neighboring farms which had lower productivity & could not compete. By the 2nd century AD, latifundia had replaced many small & medium-sized farms in many areas of the Empire. As the small farms of the Roman peasantry were bought up by the wealthy with their vast supply of slaves, the landless were forced into unemployment and many moved into the city of Rome, relying on handouts. Overall, the latifundia increased productivity however many moralists complained. Pliny the Elder especially opposed these profit oriented villas and was upset to see in his travels only slaves working the land, not the sturdy Roman farmers who had been the backbone of the Republic's army. He argued that latifundia had ruined Italy and would ruin the Roman provinces as well; he reported that at one point just 6 owners possessed half of the province of Africa.
62.
Mithradic danger: *
initial Roman incursions into Parthia were repulsed, notably at the Battle of Carrhae (53 BC). During the 1st Century BC, the Parthians invaded Syria & the Levant. With the conclusion of the 2nd Roman civil war Roman strength revived; in 113 AD, Trajan made eastern conquests a priority & took the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon, installing a client ruler. Hadrian (seeking to establish the Euphrates as the limit of Roman rule) withdrew. Then in the 2nd century, war in Armenia broke & in 161 AD the Romans were defeated a second time by Parthia. A Roman counter-attack soon defeated them, another client rule was set up and Ctesiphon was sacked (165 AD). Rome again invade Mesopotamia in 195 AD, under Emperor Septimius Severus; occupied Babylon & Seleucia and sacked Ctesiphon yet again (197 AD). The Sassanids eventually conquered Parthia & conflict with Rome continued.
63.
Pyrrhus: *
The Pyrrhic War (280–275 BC) was a war fought by Pyrrhus against Roman expansionist aims in south Italy. A skilled commander, with a strong army (fortified by war elephants), Pyrrhus enjoyed initial success against the legions but suffered heavy losses even in these victories The Romans, by contrast, had a very large pool of troops & could replenish their legions even if their forces were depleted in many battles. Pyrrhus eventually quit Italy for Sicily and war against Carthage. He briefly returned to southern Italy but this time the legions prevailed. This was was the first time Rome confronted professional mercenary armies of the Hellenistic states of the eastern Mediterranean. Their victory gave them hegemony over southern Italy and led to recognition by other Mediterranean powers: Ptolemy II, the king of Egypt, established diplomatic relations with Rome.
64.
1813: *
After the disastrous French invasion of Russia of 1812, the continental powers joined Russia, the United Kingdom, Portugal & rebels in Spain. This final phase of the Napoleonic Wars saw major battles in Germany at Lützen, Bautzen, Dresden and Leipzig Ultimately, Napoleon's setbacks first in Russia then Germany was his undoing. The allies reorganized, driving Napoleon out of Germany in 1813 and invading France in 1814. Here they defeated the remaining French armies, occupied Paris & forced Napoleon to abdicate and go into exile.