An Introduction to the Ancient Roman Empire
Ancient Rome was one of the most powerful civilizations in history. Ancient Rome was alive for 1000 years, it started in 500 BC and it fell in 500 CE. Rome had one of the strongest armies that helped them take over many neighboring countries, to an extend they took most of (what is known today as) Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia.
In Rome, there was both wealth and poverty, laws and chaos, freedom and oppression. All of this happened at the same time in all of Rome. Ancient Rome was an Empire that had much slave labour and the taking over of many countries. In Ancient Rome, there is the best and the worst of what humans have accomplished.
Rome started out as a small village along the tiber river. It was a great place to grow and become a large city because seven hills were near it. It was hard for invaders to approach without being seen because of the hills. you could see the hills from the city, and the hilltops could be lookouts. Since it was along the Tiber river, it was really easy to travel. Eventually, Rome became the centre for government and trade for all Latin villages.
After the small Roman city began to grow, it became a republic, which is a democratic type of government in which the people hold the power. Male citizens had the right to vote. That's when the first laws were made. Rome then grew even larger and became an empire. In the Empire, there were many wars in which Roman generals fought for control, and thats when the Republic was overthrown. The Empire was a dictatorship, and in a dictatorship, the is only one ruler - the emperor.
The Rise of Rome
According to legend, Rome was founded in 753 BC by two brothers, Remulus and Remus, sons of the war god, Mars. When the brothers were born, they were abandoned by their parents and left on the banks of the Tiber River to die. They were found by a she-wolf, who fed them until a shepherd came and raised them. When the brothers became adults, they decided to build a city where the wolf found them. The brothers fought over who should be the king and the founder of the city so Romulus killed Remus, and named the city after him - Rome.
Obviously this story is just a legend. The actual growth of Rome happened when there were small villages that became cities into a number of settlements around the seven hills that were near the Tiber River. The settlement grew along a water supply. Because of the river, the area suffered a lot. Each settlement was separated from each other by marshlands. Eventually they joined together, but the marshlands had to be drained. This took years to do. The legend gives the impression that Rome was made very quickly but the truth is very different.
The Fall of Rome
Century after century, Rome had brought peace, order, and law to most of the provinces in the Empire. When Rome started to become weaker, different tribes from the area outside Rome began to attack. Eventually Rome fell.
Roman People believed their world to last an eternity. Many people wondered what caused the fall of this great Empire. Below are a couple of factors that historians believe led to the cause of Rome's decline.
-Rome's fate became threatened because it had decided to leave the Greek ideal of democracy and became a dictatorship. Dictators can't be voted to leave the position they hold, so they don't really have a good reason to try to be good leaders.
-The Roman army leaders hired soldiers from provinces far and wide. One of them are the Visigoths, who were a Germanic people that weren't as loyal as other provinces were to Rome.
-Army generals were always fighting to get control of the empire, and they used the army to help them achieve a greater amount of power. The soldiers supporting the general always expected something in return, and if the wishes they asked for weren't granted, the general was murdered.
-The land of the Roman Empire expanded without stop, but the army didn't, and that made it hard to guard the borders of the Empire.
-Trade also became disrupted because of all the war going on, so, after the flowing goods into Rome were slowly coming to a halt, the economy of the city and entire empire did as well.
-There was a large gap between the rich and poor, which lead to social unrest. To control the poor, Rome needed large armies, and they'd have to pay for those large armies, and to do that, they raised the taxes even higher, which lead to even more social unrest.
Eastern and Western Rome
As the Roman Empire grew, it became more and more difficult to rule distant provinces. For example. When a new invasion would take place, it would take time for the romans to realize which province it was in and to reach there.
In 43 BC, Rome was divided into Eastern and Western. The West part was given to Octavion and Antony got the East. The East of Ancient Rome included Achaea, Macedonia and Epirus (roughly modern Greece, Albania and the coast of Croatia), Bithynia, Pontus and Asia (roughly modern Turkey), Syria, Cyprus, and Cyrenaica. The west included Italia (modern Italy), Gaul (modern France), Gallia Belgica, (parts of modern Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), and Hispania (modern Spain and Portugal).
In Rome, there was both wealth and poverty, laws and chaos, freedom and oppression. All of this happened at the same time in all of Rome. Ancient Rome was an Empire that had much slave labour and the taking over of many countries. In Ancient Rome, there is the best and the worst of what humans have accomplished.
Rome started out as a small village along the tiber river. It was a great place to grow and become a large city because seven hills were near it. It was hard for invaders to approach without being seen because of the hills. you could see the hills from the city, and the hilltops could be lookouts. Since it was along the Tiber river, it was really easy to travel. Eventually, Rome became the centre for government and trade for all Latin villages.
After the small Roman city began to grow, it became a republic, which is a democratic type of government in which the people hold the power. Male citizens had the right to vote. That's when the first laws were made. Rome then grew even larger and became an empire. In the Empire, there were many wars in which Roman generals fought for control, and thats when the Republic was overthrown. The Empire was a dictatorship, and in a dictatorship, the is only one ruler - the emperor.
The Rise of Rome
According to legend, Rome was founded in 753 BC by two brothers, Remulus and Remus, sons of the war god, Mars. When the brothers were born, they were abandoned by their parents and left on the banks of the Tiber River to die. They were found by a she-wolf, who fed them until a shepherd came and raised them. When the brothers became adults, they decided to build a city where the wolf found them. The brothers fought over who should be the king and the founder of the city so Romulus killed Remus, and named the city after him - Rome.
Obviously this story is just a legend. The actual growth of Rome happened when there were small villages that became cities into a number of settlements around the seven hills that were near the Tiber River. The settlement grew along a water supply. Because of the river, the area suffered a lot. Each settlement was separated from each other by marshlands. Eventually they joined together, but the marshlands had to be drained. This took years to do. The legend gives the impression that Rome was made very quickly but the truth is very different.
The Fall of Rome
Century after century, Rome had brought peace, order, and law to most of the provinces in the Empire. When Rome started to become weaker, different tribes from the area outside Rome began to attack. Eventually Rome fell.
Roman People believed their world to last an eternity. Many people wondered what caused the fall of this great Empire. Below are a couple of factors that historians believe led to the cause of Rome's decline.
-Rome's fate became threatened because it had decided to leave the Greek ideal of democracy and became a dictatorship. Dictators can't be voted to leave the position they hold, so they don't really have a good reason to try to be good leaders.
-The Roman army leaders hired soldiers from provinces far and wide. One of them are the Visigoths, who were a Germanic people that weren't as loyal as other provinces were to Rome.
-Army generals were always fighting to get control of the empire, and they used the army to help them achieve a greater amount of power. The soldiers supporting the general always expected something in return, and if the wishes they asked for weren't granted, the general was murdered.
-The land of the Roman Empire expanded without stop, but the army didn't, and that made it hard to guard the borders of the Empire.
-Trade also became disrupted because of all the war going on, so, after the flowing goods into Rome were slowly coming to a halt, the economy of the city and entire empire did as well.
-There was a large gap between the rich and poor, which lead to social unrest. To control the poor, Rome needed large armies, and they'd have to pay for those large armies, and to do that, they raised the taxes even higher, which lead to even more social unrest.
Eastern and Western Rome
As the Roman Empire grew, it became more and more difficult to rule distant provinces. For example. When a new invasion would take place, it would take time for the romans to realize which province it was in and to reach there.
In 43 BC, Rome was divided into Eastern and Western. The West part was given to Octavion and Antony got the East. The East of Ancient Rome included Achaea, Macedonia and Epirus (roughly modern Greece, Albania and the coast of Croatia), Bithynia, Pontus and Asia (roughly modern Turkey), Syria, Cyprus, and Cyrenaica. The west included Italia (modern Italy), Gaul (modern France), Gallia Belgica, (parts of modern Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), and Hispania (modern Spain and Portugal).