Ancient Rome

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For the modern day city, see Rome. For other uses, see Ancient Rome (disambiguation).
Territories of the Roman civiliation from !"# $% to !&# A'(
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Ancient Rome
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Ancient Rome
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Ancient Rome =as an <talic civiliation that began on the <talian 0eninsula as early as the >th
century $%. 2ocated along the 6editerranean 4ea and centered on the city of Rome, it e5panded
to become one of the largest empires in the ancient =orld
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=ith an estimated !# to ,# million
inhabitants (roughly -#A of the =orldBs population
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) and covering
/.! million s9uare kilometers (-.! million s9 mi) during its height bet=een the first and second
centuries A'.
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<n its appro5imately "- centuries of e5istence, Roman civiliation shifted from a monarchy to a
classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through con9uest and
assimilation, it came to dominate 4outhern and Western )urope, Asia 6inor, Corth Africa, and
parts of Corthern and )astern )urope. Rome =as preponderant throughout the 6editerranean
region and =as one of the most po=erful entities of the ancient =orld. <t is often grouped into
D%lassical Anti9uityD together =ith ancient 8reece, and their similar cultures and societies are
kno=n as the 8recoERoman =orld.
Ancient Roman society contributed greatly to modern government, la=, politics, engineering, art,
literature, architecture, technology, =arfare, religion, language and society. A civiliation highly
developed for its time, Rome professionalied and greatly e5panded its military and created a
system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics
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such as the
Fnited 4tates and France. <t achieved impressive technological and architectural feats, such as
the construction of an e5tensive system of a9ueducts and roads, as =ell as large monuments,
palaces, and public facilities.
$y the end of the Republic, Rome had con9uered the lands around the 6editerranean and
beyond( its domain e5tended from the Atlantic to Arabia and from the mouth of the Rhine to
Corth Africa. The Roman )mpire emerged under the leadership of Augustus %aesar. *-" years
of RomanE0ersian Wars started in ,- $% =ith their first =ar against 0arthia. <t =ould become the
longest conflict in human history, and have maGor lasting effects and conse9uences for both
empires. Fnder TraGan, the )mpire reached its territorial peak. Republican mores and traditions
started to decline during the imperial period, =ith civil =ars becoming a common ritual for a
ne= emperorBs rise.
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4tates, such as 0almyra, temporarily divided the )mpire in a &rdE
century crisis. 4oldier emperors reunified it, by dividing the empire bet=een Western and )astern
halves.
0lagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the =estern part of the
empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the !th century. This splintering is a landmark
historians use to divide the ancient period of universal history from the preEmediaeval D'ark
AgesD of )urope.
The )astern Roman )mpire survived this crisis and =as governed from %onstantinople after the
division of the )mpire. <t comprised 8reece, the $alkans, Asia 6inor, 4yria and )gypt. Though
drastically =eakened by centuries of incessant, resourceE=recking =ars against arch rival
4assanid 0ersia, and despite the loss of 4yria and )gypt to the ArabE<slamic )mpire the )astern
Roman )mpire continued for another millennium, until its remnants =ere anne5ed by the
emerging Turkish :ttoman )mpire. This eastern, %hristian, medieval stage of the )mpire is
usually called the $yantine )mpire by historians.