Roman Empire in 1900 AUC (Superpowers)

The Roman Empire (Latin: SPQR) is the larger of the two superpowers of Eurasia, eclipsing China in both population and land. After its civil war, Rome entered a period of rapid social reform in accord with the tenets of recent moral philosophers. These ideas are introducing new perspectives on old political institutions, convincing the government of the need for their reformation to meet modern ideals.

Rome holds sway over the entire Mediterranean Basin, a region referred to by its citizens as their sea. With the acquisition of parts of Arabia, the Red Sea is becoming similarly exclusive territory for Roman ships. In the rest of Europe, everything is Roman up to the rivers Vistula and Dniester. In Africa, the empire extends into Ethiopia and the jungles of Ghana.

Political power is concentrated in only a few cities but its legitimacy is dependent on the authority of a widespread citizenry. In this sense, the empire is not a monarchy but a republic. Roman culture treats regimes that are not republics - referred to by the disdainful word regnum - as no different than nationwide systems of slavery and regards the subjects of kings as no more free than slaves. Now that this similarity is clear to the Roman Senate, its actions have begun to disregard the authority of regal laws and governments, treating foreign subjects only according to the law of nations - a code with jurisdiction over all rational beings.

As the only republic among kingdoms, Rome conferred upon itself the authority to adjudicate on matters in any part of the world, in order to uphold the law of nations. The global need for a republic to enforce the international principles of fairness in diplomacy, commerce, and war was made clear to Rome by the consequences of allowing the Caliphate of Persia to grow unchecked. The atrocities that the Persians committed in Syria are a fresh memory, reminding the Senate of the duties of Rome.

Name
Roma (Rome) is the primary endonym for the institutions that constitute the government and public affairs of the Roman Empire. This term refers both to the capital city itself and, by synecdoche, to the state as a whole. Its symbolic importance has grown with the age of Rome and emphasizes the unique status of the city within the community of Roman cities.

Civil documents, laws, and philosophers have more technical names. The Roman state is the Senatus Populusque Romanus, translating in most languages into a synonym for the Roman Republic. In this sense, the Latin word populus refers both to a people and to a form of government where the people govern themselves. The only other form of government is a regnum (kingdom), referring both to aristocracies and monarchies. Mixtures of these two extremes have more nuanced terminology, as seen in the name of the Roman Republic itself which recognizes that its government is partially aristocratic through its Senate.

Another term that gets thrown around in discussions about the Roman Republic is the territory under the command of Romans or in Latin, the Imperium Romanum. Since citizens are considered Romans (Romani) and the lands of the Republic are seen as being under the political authority of the citizens, the lands of the Republic are often called the Roman Empire or Imperium Romanum.

Politics
A balance is struck by Rome between rule by the many (democracy), rule by the few (aristocracy), and rule by one (autocracy). The political system incorporating these different parts is maintained by a complicated network of checks and balances that defies explanation in terms used for other systems of government. For this reason, the most efficacious way to describe Roman politics is using the terminology of Roman philosophers, since the evolution of the Republic has been their primary model.

Public life
Following the Greeks, Romans consider civic participation (officium) the basis of politics and consider the involvement of people in governance to be the primary distinction between a populus (republic) and a regnum (kingdom). There are numerous ways that a citizen can engage in politics, encompassing more than voting (suffragatio) and running for office (cursatio). Altogether, these activities constitute the public life (civilitas) of a citizen. By contrast, the private life of people is constituted by leisure (otium) and business (negotium). Politicians especially draw sharp lines between activities done in each compartment of their lifestyles.

Commoners tend to have a simple public lives. Heralds, periodicals, and rumors keep them abreast of ongoing political issues and notable political figures over the course of the year. When a popular assembly is called, he weighs the inconvenience of going to his place of assembly against his desire to voice his opinion on the issues. Although law requires every vote to occur the day before the national market day on the second day of the week (Lundis) and only after a minimum four weeks of notice, most citizens do not participate on any given vote. Only elections draw more than the majority of voters registered by the census.

The Census itself is the other side of the coin in the public life of the average citizen. Roughly every five years, a Roman citizen can expect to be visited by a censitoris (census-taker) to whom he must publicize his private affairs. The process takes only about ten minutes, since everyone knows the drill, but a tremendous amount of information is divulged in that short span. Although most data is pertinent to taxation, the modern Census also records travel history, medical history, religious observances, military service, family ties, and other miscellaneous information on lifestyle choices. Privacy is a non-issue for the Census since compliance with the censitores is so ingrained into the culture of people living under Roman rule.

Patronage
From the bottom to the top, much of the politics of Rome takes the form of patronage (clientela) - a relationship between one powerful faction and factions that depend on the exercise of its power but give their support in return. At an individual level, a patronus (patron) is a citizen of wealth and influence who offers support and protection (patronitium) to a number of people who are his clientes (clients), perhaps by being a guarantor for loans, helping a political career,