In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (509–27 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC – 476 AD) until the fall of the western empire.
Ancient Rome began as an Italic settlement, traditionally dated to 753 BC, beside the River Tiber in the Italian Peninsula. The settlement grew into the city and polity of Rome, and came to control its neighbours through a combination of treaties and military strength. It eventually controlled the Italian Peninsula, assimilating the Greek culture of southern Italy (Magna Graecia) and the Etruscan culture, and then became the dominant power in the Mediterranean region and parts of Europe. At its height it controlled the North African coast, Egypt, Southern Europe, and most of Western Europe, the Balkans, Crimea, and much of the Middle East, including Anatolia, the Levant, and parts of Mesopotamia and Arabia. That empire was among the largest empires in the ancient world, covering around 5 million square kilometres (1.9 million square miles) in AD 117, with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants, roughly 20% of the world's population at the time. The Roman state evolved from an elective monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic military dictatorship during the Empire.
Ancient Rome is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern language, religion, society, technology, law, politics, government, warfare, art, literature, architecture, and engineering. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. It achieved impressive technological and architectural feats, such as the empire-wide construction of aqueducts and roads, as well as more grandiose monuments and facilities. (Full article...)
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The art of Ancient Rome, and the territories of its Republic and later Empire, includes architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. Luxury objects in metal-work, gem engraving, ivory carvings, and glass are sometimes considered to be minor forms of Roman art, although they were not considered as such at the time. Sculpture was perhaps considered as the highest form of art by Romans, but figure painting was also highly regarded. A very large body of sculpture has survived from about the 1st century BC onward, though very little from before, but very little painting remains, and probably nothing that a contemporary would have considered to be of the highest quality.
Ancient Roman pottery was not a luxury product, but a vast production of "fine wares" in terra sigillata were decorated with reliefs that reflected the latest taste, and provided a large group in society with stylish objects at what was evidently an affordable price. Roman coins were an important means of propaganda, and have survived in enormous numbers. (Full article...)
The following are images from various ancient Rome-related articles on Wikipedia.
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Image 1Western Europe during its Middle Bronze Age, with the Apennine Culture in blue (from Founding of Rome)
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Image 2A multigenerational banquet depicted on a wall painting from Pompeii (1st century AD) (from Roman Empire)
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Image 3Landscape resulting from the ruina montium mining technique at Las Médulas, Spain, one of the most important gold mines in the Roman Empire (from Roman Empire)
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Image 4The so-called Primavera of Stabiae, perhaps the goddess Flora (from Culture of ancient Rome)
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Image 6Trio of musicians playing an aulos, cymbala, and tympanum (mosaic from Pompeii) (from Roman Empire)
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Image 7Roman portraiture fresco of a young man with a papyrus scroll, from Herculaneum, 1st century AD (from Culture of ancient Rome)
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Image 8Dressing of a priestess or bride, Roman fresco from Herculaneum, Italy (30–40 AD) (from Roman Empire)
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Image 9A 3rd-century funerary stele is among the earliest Christian inscriptions, written in both Greek and Latin. (from Roman Empire)
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Image 10Fragment of a sarcophagus depicting Gordian III and senators (3rd century) (from Roman Empire)
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Image 11The Pont du Gard aqueduct, which crosses the river Gardon in southern France, is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites. (from Roman Empire)
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Image 12Condemned man attacked by a leopard in the arena (3rd-century mosaic from Tunisia) (from Roman Empire)
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Image 13Excavation on the Palatine Hill has found the foundations of a hut believed to correspond to the Hut of Romulus, which the Romans themselves preserved into late antiquity. (from Founding of Rome)
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Image 14The Triumph of Neptune floor mosaic from Africa Proconsularis (present-day Tunisia) (from Roman Empire)
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Image 17The Roman Empire by 476, noting western and eastern divisions (from Roman Empire)
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Image 18A late Republican banquet scene in a fresco from Herculaneum, Italy, c. 50 BC; the woman wears a transparent silk gown while the man to the left raises a rhyton drinking vessel (from Culture of ancient Rome)
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Image 19Slave holding writing tablets for his master ( relief from a 4th-century sarcophagus) (from Roman Empire)
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Image 20A victor in his four-horse chariot (from Roman Empire)
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Image 21A bust of Cicero, Capitoline Museums, Rome (from Culture of ancient Rome)
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Image 22Silver cup, from the Boscoreale Treasure (early 1st century AD) (from Roman Empire)
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Image 23Eggs, thrushes, napkin, and vessels (wall painting from the House of Julia Felix, Pompeii) (from Culture of ancient Rome)
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Image 24Workers at a cloth-processing shop, in a painting from the fullonica of Veranius Hypsaeus in Pompeii (from Roman Empire)
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Image 25Reconstructed peristyle garden based on the House of the Vettii (from Roman Empire)
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Image 26Pride in literacy was displayed through emblems of reading and writing, as in this portrait of Terentius Neo and his wife ( c. 20 AD). (from Roman Empire)
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Image 27All-male theatrical troupe preparing for a masked performance, on a mosaic from the House of the Tragic Poet (from Roman Empire)
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Image 28Wall painting (1st century AD) from Pompeii depicting a multigenerational banquet (from Culture of ancient Rome)
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Image 29The Zliten mosaic, from a dining room in present-day Libya, depicts a series of arena scenes: from top, musicians; gladiators; beast fighters; and convicts condemned to the beasts (from Roman Empire)
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Image 30A fresco from Pompeii depicting the foundation of Rome. Sol riding in his chariot; Mars descending from the sky to Rhea Silvia lying in the grass; Mercury shows to Venus the she-wolf suckling the twins; in the lower corners of the picture: river-god Tiberinus and water-goddess Juturna. 35–45 AD. (from Founding of Rome)
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Image 31Model of archaic Rome, 6th century BC (from Founding of Rome)
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Image 32Mosaic depicting a theatrical troupe preparing for a performance (from Culture of ancient Rome)
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Image 33Capitoline Wolf, sculpture of the she-wolf feeding the twins Romulus and Remus, the most famous image associated with the founding of Rome. According to Livy, it was erected in 296 BC. (from Founding of Rome)
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Image 34Romulus and Remus on the House of the She-wolf at the Grand Place of Brussels (from Founding of Rome)
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Image 35Finely decorated Gallo-Roman terra sigillata bowl (from Roman Empire)
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Image 36The Roman Empire under Hadrian (ruled 117–138) showing the location of the Roman legions deployed in 125 AD (from Roman Empire)
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Image 37The Temple of Saturn, a religious monument that housed the treasury in ancient Rome (from Roman Empire)
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Image 39Glass cage cup from the Rhineland, 4th century (from Roman Empire)
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Image 40Statue in Constanța, Romania (the ancient colony Tomis), commemorating Ovid's exile (from Roman Empire)
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Image 41Aeneas's route in Virgil's Aeneid. The epic poem was written in the early first century BC. (from Founding of Rome)
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Image 42Fresco of a seated woman from Stabiae, 1st century AD (from Culture of ancient Rome)
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Image 43Aquae Sulis in Bath, England: architectural features above the level of the pillar bases are a later reconstruction. (from Roman Empire)
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Image 44Toga-clad statue, restored with the head of the emperor Nerva (from Culture of ancient Rome)
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Image 45Relief panel from Trajan's Column in Rome, showing the building of a fort and the reception of a Dacian embassy (from Roman Empire)
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Image 46Eighteenth-century painting by Pompeo Batoni depicting Aeneas fleeing from Troy. Aeneas carries his father. (from Founding of Rome)
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Image 47The administrative divisions of the Roman Empire in 395 AD (from Roman Empire)
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Image 48A teacher with two students, as a third arrives with his loculus, a writing case (from Roman Empire)
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Image 49A fresco portrait of a man holding a papyrus roll, Pompeii, Italy, 1st century AD (from Culture of ancient Rome)
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Image 51Fragmentary military diploma from Carnuntum; Latin was the language of the military throughout the Empire (from Culture of ancient Rome)
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Image 53Marble relief of Mithras slaying the bull (2nd century, Louvre-Lens); Mithraism was among the most widespread mystery religions of the Roman Empire. (from Culture of ancient Rome)
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Image 55Gold earrings with gemstones, 3rd century (from Roman Empire)
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Image 56Solidus issued under Constantine II, and on the reverse Victoria, one of the last deities to appear on Roman coins, gradually transforming into an angel under Christian rule (from Roman Empire)
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Image 57Recreation of a deer hunt inspired by hunting scenes represented in Roman art (from Roman Empire)
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Image 58Circus Maximus, a mass entertainment venue located in Rome (from Culture of ancient Rome)
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Image 59So-called "Bikini Girls" mosaic from the Villa del Casale, Roman Sicily, 4th century (from Roman Empire)
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Image 60The Barbarian invasions consisted of the movement of (mainly) ancient Germanic peoples into Roman territory. Historically, this event marked the transition between classical antiquity and the Middle Ages. (from Roman Empire)
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Image 61Roman cities in the Imperial period (from Roman Empire)
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Image 62Public toilets ( latrinae) from Ostia Antica (from Roman Empire)
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Image 64Forum of Gerasa ( Jerash in present-day Jordan), with columns marking a covered walkway (stoa) for vendor stalls, and a semicircular space for public speaking (from Roman Empire)
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Image 65Sestertius issued under Hadrian circa AD 134–138 (from Roman Empire)
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Image 66Still life on a 2nd-century Roman mosaic (from Roman Empire)
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Image 67Reconstruction of a wax writing tablet (from Roman Empire)
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Image 68Musicians playing a Roman tuba, a water organ (hydraulis), and a pair of cornua, detail from the Zliten mosaic, 2nd century AD (from Culture of ancient Rome)
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Image 69Mosaic from Pompeii depicting the Academy of Plato (from Roman Empire)
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Image 70The Pantheon in Rome, a Roman temple originally built under Augustus, later converted into a Catholic church in the 7th century (from Roman Empire)
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Image 71The Tabula Peutingeriana ( Latin for "The Peutinger Map") an Itinerarium, often assumed to be based on the Roman cursus publicus (from Roman Empire)
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Image 72Winged Victory, ancient Roman fresco of the Neronian era from Pompeii (from Roman Empire)
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Image 73A green Roman glass cup unearthed from an Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 AD) tomb in Guangxi, China (from Roman Empire)
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Image 74Bread stall, from a Pompeiian wall painting (from Roman Empire)
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Image 76A segment of the ruins of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, overlooking Crag Lough (from Roman Empire)
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Image 77Cinerary urn for the freedman Tiberius Claudius Chryseros and two women, probably his wife and daughter (from Roman Empire)
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Image 78The Flavian Amphitheatre, more commonly known as the Colosseum (from Roman Empire)
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Image 79Head of Constantine the Great, part of a colossal statue. Bronze, 4th century, Musei Capitolini, Rome. (from Culture of ancient Rome)
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Image 80The Wedding of Zephyrus and Chloris (54–68 AD, Pompeian Fourth Style) within painted architectural panels from the Casa del Naviglio (from Roman Empire)
Consular diptych of Constantius III Constantius III (died 2 September 421) was briefly Western Roman emperor in 421, having earned the throne through his capability as a general under Honorius. By 411 he had achieved the rank of magister militum, and in the same year he suppressed the revolt of the usurper Constantine III. Constantius went on to lead campaigns against various barbarian groups in Hispania and Gaul, recovering much of both for the Western Roman Empire. He married Honorius's sister Galla Placidia in 417, a sign of his ascendant status, and was proclaimed co-emperor by Honorius on 8 February 421. Constantius reigned for seven months before dying on 2 September 421. (Full article...)
- ...That when Caesar's troops hesitated to leave their ships for fear of the Britons, the aquilifer of the tenth legion threw himself overboard and, carrying the eagle, advanced alone against the enemy?
- ...That the most well paid athlete in human history, Gaius Appuleius Diocles, was an illiterate Roman Chariot racer, and earned the equivalent of $15 Billion US Dollars.
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[...] Caesar is a god in his own city. Outstanding in war or peace, it was not so much his wars that ended in great victories, or his actions at home, or his swiftly won fame, that set him among the stars, a fiery comet, as his descendant. There is no greater achievement among Caesar's actions than that he stood father to our emperor. Is it a greater thing to have conquered the sea-going Britons; to have led his victorious ships up the seven-mouthed flood of the papyrus-bearing Nile; to have brought the rebellious Numidians, under Juba of Cinyps, and Pontus, swollen with the name of Mithridates, under the people of Quirinus; to have earned many triumphs and celebrated few; than to have sponsored such a man, with whom, as ruler of all, you gods have richly favoured the human race? Therefore, in order for the emperor not to have been born of mortal seed, Caesar needed to be made a god. [...]
Augustus, his 'son', will ensure that he ascends to heaven as a god, and is worshipped in the temples. Augustus, as heir to his name, will carry the burden placed upon him alone, and will have us with him, in battle, as the most courageous avenger of his father's murder. Under his command, the conquered walls of besieged Mutina will sue for peace; Pharsalia will know him; Macedonian Philippi twice flow with blood; and the one who holds Pompey's great name, will be defeated in Sicilian waters; and a Roman general's Egyptian consort, trusting, to her cost, in their marriage, will fall, her threat that our Capitol would bow to her city of Canopus, proved vain.
Why enumerate foreign countries or the nations living on either ocean shore? Wherever earth contains habitable land, it will be his: and even the sea will serve him!
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| — Ovid, Metamorphoses, XV, 745–842
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