As the borders of the Roman empire grew, Britain and Gaul became sites of conquest and militarization. But their local communities were able to thrive as they interacted with the military, trading with them and embracing aspects of Roman culture. In the east, Romans maintained a measured reverence for Greek culture, embracing some elements of Hellenism. And elite Romans adopted facets of Egyptian art, architecture, and religion.

Citizenship was a complex issue in Rome, and Romans were perennially concerned with how to incorporate foreigners, eventually extending citizenship to all residents of the empire in 212. The Jewish people were a special case. Romans occasionally expressed respect for the deep history of the Jewish people, but this was offset by negative attitudes that culminated in wars during the first century and the destruction of Second Temple by the Romans.

All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-1/pages/7-5-the-regions-of-rome

Welcome to A Journey into Human History.

This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story.

The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-1/pages/1-introduction

Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.