The Roman Empire survived for over 500 years. At its peak, it stretched a thousand miles from southern Scotland to southern Egypt. On the east it stretched from the upper plains along the Euphrates River to the west where it was stopped only by the Atlantic Ocean. The Roman Empire supported a population that may have reached 50 million inhabitants with a professional standing army and navy of 300,000 men.
As the title The Roman Empire, 27 B.C. - A.D. 476: A Study in Survival suggests, Chester G. Starr's main focus throughout the book are the reasons the Roman Empire continued to survive. Because it is a source of debate there are many documents written on the Roman Empire's decline and fall. However, few people have taken the time to analize why the Empire was able to survive for over 500 years. The author sets out to correct this oversight by systematically exploring and detailing the elements that shaped the Roman Empire's stability.
Starr states in the first part of his book that the survival of the Roman Empire should have been impossible. The Empire's vast geography would create major problems with defense and communications. Defending such a huge area would require many troops. Traveling this huge area would also take days and days just to get messages to and from those troops. (p. 3)
Economically it should have been impossible. The Roman Empire had the largest and most expensive military in the world, while 90% of the Empire's population was agriculturally based. An agriculturally based society usually would not have the money needed to support that kind of military. Because most of the farmers existed on the subsistence level, there would not have been much money coming into the empire from taxes, or much of any type of economic support. (p. 4)
Politically it should have been impossible. The Roman Empire's government did not function the way it was originally planned. The general public did not have much of a say in laws and policies, and many of the leaders were "elected" for life. The government was corrupt in many places, and was inefficiently maintained. (p. 4)
He then goes on to explain and support why the Roman Empire was able to survive the impossible. With its vast system of roads, the Empire was able to reduce traveling time. With the Empire's military so highly trained and disciplined they were able to employ unique, but effective fighting techniques. These techniques allowed new land to be conquered so during the Empire's peak, new resources were always coming in.
Although the Empire's political system did not function as originally planned, it did fit the empire. The government was very large to make up for the size of the empire. It also did not try to control the whole empire by one set standards. Another reason the political system worked is that it was shaped and run by very strong leaders like Augustus.
Throughout the book Starr backs up his analysis with quotes from multiple sources. Using these multiple sources allows him to obtain a level of reliability. All of the quotes include footnotes to the end of the chapter where he averages about 25-40 footnotes per chapter. Some of the author's sources include primary documents written in Latin, other documents are translated primary sources. Starr also makes references to unlikely primary sources such as the footnotes to Roman coins. (p. 52) He also quotes passages and statistical facts from a wide variety of secondary sources; such sources as books from other historians and journals such as the Journal of Roman Studies.
When the book was written, Chester G. Starr was Bentley Professor of History at the University of Michigan. He taught Greek and Roman history, and was founding president of the Association of Ancient Historians. Starr is also the author of seventeen other books on both Greek and Roman history. (p. book jacket) This background gives him some of the needed experience for writing generally unbiased, fact-driven books.
In writing The Roman Empire, 27 B.C. - A.D. 476: A Study in Survival Starr's audience is primarily someone studying Roman History. This book was not written for someone just wanting to read a quick piece on Roman History.
Unlike other writers on the subject, Starr primarily presents facts under each section, rather than personal interpretation. He then simply sums up the facts by saying that those elements aided to the Roman Empire's survival.
Starr provides great information, but his writing style makes extracting and understanding this information next to impossible. For instance, the single sentence quoted below is typical of what is found throughout the book.
Augustus's proconsular imperium had duly been extended for five- or ten-year periods several times by the Senate, a formality which Tiberius must have observed on occasion; but when it came time, after the funeral of Augustus, for him to execute the scenario listed in step 2 above, matters went far less well than at the hands of the urbane, patient Augustus. (p. 40)
My personal opinion is that this book is useless to the average reader. Although the book is logically organized and has great content; that content could best be removed by a reader who was completing a report and needed specific information on the "Annual Cost of a Legion" (p. 86) or other similar information.
The book is very thin (less than 200 pages of actual text) but the main impression is that the book is to be used almost as a handbook or reference book, not as a book to actually be read. I feel this way because it is divided into very clear sections and subsections each covering a different aspect of the Empires survival. These subsections would make going in later and finding specific information an easy task. In each chapter there are footnotes to many other sources the reader could look for information and at the end of the book there is also a 14 page "Biographical Note" where the author gives even more sources. (p. 187)
Starr's book, The Roman Empire, 27 B.C.-A.D. 476: A Study in Survival, would make a good book to use for a research paper. He provides a balanced book with numerous facts and footnotes to other sources to look for related information. However, the average readers should avoid reading unless they enjoy digging through long boring sentences looking for information.
Starr, Chester G. The Roman Empire, 27 B.C.-A.D. 476: A Study in Survival. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
(206 pp. Maps, plates, appendixes, tables, abbreviations, bibliography, index. Paperback list price: $22.95)