It was urbanization that enabled the Emperor to rule and control the vast Roman Empire which had 60 million people and extensive and diverse regions. The real strength of the imperial administration was.

the great urban centers in the Mediterranean shores. Carthage, Alexandria, and Antioch were big urban centers of those times. It was through the cities that taxes from the rural areas of the provinces were collected by the Government. A good measure of the income of the empire came from rural areas. 

The Upper classes in the Provinces cooperated with the Roman Administration in administering their areas and to collect taxes. The Provinces and the Upper classes there were an integral part of the Roman administration. In the 2^nd and 3^nd centuries it was the Upper Classes in the Provinces that supplied the Cadres and army commanders for the Provincial administration.

Gradually, they became a new elite class of administrators and army commanders. Since they had the backing of the Emperors, they were able to become stronger than the senators. Emperors like Gallienus helped the new elite class to establish. themselves. Gallienus avoided senators from any position in the army. Thus he prevented the imperial administration falling into their hands. This strengthened the hands of the elite class.

In short, during the Early Roman Empire period, the importance of the Provinces increased tremendously. The majority of the Cadres in the administration as well as in the army were from the Provinces. As the power of the Provinces increased, the importance of Italy was lost.

Even her dominance in the Senate was lost. Until the 3^rd century Italy had dominated the Senator As the members from the Provinces increased in the Senate, Italy’s position became weak. Thus Italy degenerated politically and economically and an urbanized and new elite class began to come up.

Urban centers which contained villages and which had their own magistrates and corporations were called “Cities” by the Romans. Villages were under, the jurisdiction of the Citie. Some Villages were able to raise themselves to the status of cities. The reverse also happened. Cities became villages. lt all depended on the sweet will of the government.

Living in cities had an advantage. Curing famine the distribution of food in the cities was far better than in villages. Public baths were another important feature of the. Roman urban life. The people in the Roman cities used to enjoy entertainment of high standards. One Roman calendar shows that there were shows of various kinds on 176 days a year.