Which emperor began the Pax Romana?

• A. Nero
• B. Commodus
• C. Augustus
• D. Hadrian

Answer: (C)

Augustus begins the Pax Romana. After defeating his rivals and ending the civil wars at Actium, he established the principate and put in place reforms that reduced internal conflict and stabilized the empire’s administration, army, taxes, and provinces. This created a lasting political and economic framework that allowed long-term peace and prosperity to flourish across the Roman world, a hallmark of the Pax Romana.

Nero’s later reign featured turmoil and excess, not the opening of sustained peace. Commodus’s rule continued to drift toward autocratic dysfunction, while Hadrian did important work to maintain and fortify the peace, but the roots of Pax Romana lie with Augustus and the stable governance he established.