Pax Romana

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For other uses, see Pax Romana (disambiguation).

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Roman Empire at its greatest extent with the conquests of Trajan

Pax Romana (Latin for "Roman peace") was the long period of relative peace and minimal expansion by military force experienced by the Roman Empire in the first and second centuries AD. Since it was established by the Emperor Augustus it is sometimes called Pax Augustea.

The idea of "Pax Romana", Roman peace, was first presented^{[citation needed]} by Edward Gibbon. Gibbon proposed a period of moderation under Augustus and his successors and argued that generals bent on expansion (e.g. Germanicus, Agricola and Corbulo) were checked and recalled by the Emperors during their victories. Gibbon lists the Roman conquest of Britain under Claudius and the conquests of Trajan as exceptions to this policy of moderation and places the end of the period at the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180 AD, despite the conclusion of peace by the latter's son Commodus in the same year.

Despite the term, the period was not without armed conflict, as Emperors frequently had to quell rebellions. Additionally, both border skirmishes and Roman wars of conquest happened during this period. Trajan embarked on a series of campaigns against the Parthians during his reign and Marcus Aurelius spent almost the entire last decade of his rule defending the frontiers of the Empire, especially against Germanic tribes.

Nonetheless, as the interior of the Empire remained largely untouched by warfare, the Pax Romana was an era of relative tranquility in which Rome endured neither major civil wars, such as the perpetual bloodshed of the third century AD, nor serious invasions, such as those of the Second Punic War three centuries prior. During this time, Roman commerce thrived, unhampered by piracy or marauding enemy troops.

Given the prominence of the concept of Pax Romana, historians have coined variants of the term to describe systems of relative peace that have been established, attempted or argued to have existed, usually under the hegemony of one power or of an idea. These include Pax Americana, Pax Assyriaca, Pax Britannica, Pax Europeana, Pax Germanica, Pax Hispanica, Pax Minoica, Pax Mongolica, Pax Ottomana, and Pax Sinica.