Portal:Ancient Rome

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In historiography, ancient Rome describes Roman civilization 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, in turn encompassing the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), Roman Republic (509–27 BC) and Roman Empire (27 BC–476 AD) until the fall of the western empire. The civilisation began as an Italic settlement in the Italian Peninsula, traditionally dated to 753 BC, that grew into the city of Rome and which subsequently gave its name to the empire over which it ruled and to the widespread civilisation the empire developed. The civilization was led and ruled by the Romans, alternately considered an ethnic group or a nationality. The Roman Empire expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world, still ruled from the city, with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants (roughly 20% of the world's population at the time) and covering 5 million square kilometres (1.9 million square miles) at its height in AD 117.

In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from an elective monarchy to a democratic classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic semi-elective military dictatorship during the Empire. Through conquest, cultural, and linguistic assimilation, 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, Levant and parts of Mesopotamia and Arabia. It 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 construction of an extensive system of aqueducts and roads, as well as the construction of large monuments, palaces, and public facilities.

The Punic Wars with Carthage were decisive in establishing Rome as a world power. In this series of wars, Rome gained control of the strategic islands of Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily; took Hispania (modern Spain and Portugal); and destroyed the city of Carthage in 146 BC, giving Rome supremacy in the Mediterranean. By the end of the Republic (27 BC), Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond: its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia and from the mouth of the Rhine to North Africa. The Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus. Seven-hundred and twenty-one years of Roman–Persian Wars started in 92 BC with the first struggle against Parthia. It would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires.

Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak. It stretched from the entire Mediterranean Basin to the beaches of the North Sea in the north, to the shores of the Red and Caspian Seas in the East. Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would temporarily divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century before some stability was restored in the Tetrarchy phase of imperial rule.

Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the western part of the empire broke up into independent barbarian kingdoms in the 5th century. The eastern part of the empire remained a power through the Middle Ages until its fall in 1453 AD. (Full article...)

Selected article -

The Western Mediterranean in 264 BC: Rome is shown in red, Carthage in grey, and Syracuse in green

The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and greatest naval war of antiquity, the two powers struggled for supremacy. The war was fought primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters, and also in North Africa. After immense losses on both sides, the Carthaginians were defeated.

The war began in 264 BC with the Romans gaining a foothold on Sicily at Messana (modern Messina). The Romans then pressed Syracuse, the only significant independent power on the island, into allying with them and laid siege to Carthage's main base at Akragas. A large Carthaginian army attempted to lift the siege in 262 BC, but was heavily defeated at the Battle of Akragas. The Romans then built a navy to challenge the Carthaginians', and using novel tactics inflicted several defeats. A Carthaginian base on Corsica was seized, but an attack on Sardinia was repulsed; the base on Corsica was then lost. Taking advantage of their naval victories the Romans launched an invasion of North Africa, which the Carthaginians intercepted. At the Battle of Cape Ecnomus the Carthaginians were again beaten; this was possibly the largest naval battle in history by the number of combatants involved. The invasion initially went well and in 255 BC the Carthaginians sued for peace; the proposed terms were so harsh they fought on, defeating the invaders. The Romans sent a fleet to evacuate their survivors and the Carthaginians opposed it at the Battle of Cape Hermaeum off Africa; the Carthaginians were heavily defeated. The Roman fleet, in turn, was devastated by a storm while returning to Italy, losing most of its ships and over 100,000 men. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Roman art
Romulus and Remus
Roman currency
Roman emperor
Roman legion
Marian reforms
Toga
King of Rome
Praetor
Roman censor
Tribune
Roman dictator
Roman people
Roman Republic
Punic Wars
Roman law
Roman technology
Culture of ancient Rome
Patrician (ancient Rome)
Conflict of the Orders
Roman economy
Military of ancient Rome
Roman aqueduct
Legacy of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
Pax Romana
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
Latium
Roman Kingdom
History of the Roman Empire
Latin
Women in ancient Rome
Tabula Peutingeriana
Languages of the Roman Empire
Slavery in ancient Rome
Colosseum
Karamagara Bridge
Roman Forum
Ancient Roman architecture
Food and dining in the Roman Empire
Ancient Rome and wine
Gladiator
Clothing in ancient Rome
Roman amphitheatre
Ancient Roman sarcophagi
Roman sculpture
Roman glass
Ancient Roman pottery
Religion in ancient Rome
Ab Urbe Condita Libri
Roman temple of Bziza
Chariot racing
Emesa helmet
Inaugural games of the Flavian Amphitheatre
Roman–Persian Wars
Late Roman army
Roman–Parthian War of 58–63
History of the Constitution of the Roman Republic
History of the Roman Constitution
Third Punic War
Constitution of the Roman Republic
Galatian War
Gothic War (535–554)
Crisis of the Roman Republic
List of Roman emperors
Roman Britain
Hoxne Hoard
Structural history of the Roman military
Astronomica (Manilius)
Cento Vergilianus de laudibus Christi
Annales (Ennius)
Ave Imperator, morituri te salutant
Historia Augusta
Roman Dacia
Senate of the Roman Republic
Legislative assemblies of the Roman Republic

General images

The following are images from various ancient Rome-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Citizen of Roman Egypt (Fayum mummy portrait) (from Roman Empire)
Image 2Silver cup, from the Boscoreale Treasure (early 1st century AD) (from Roman Empire)
Image 3Glass cage cup from the Rhineland, 4th century (from Roman Empire)
Image 4The Wedding of Zephyrus and Chloris (54–68 AD, Pompeian Fourth Style) within painted architectural panels from the Casa del Naviglio (from Roman Empire)
(c) Jeroen Komen, CC BY-SA 2.0
Image 5The Pula Arena in Croatia is one of the largest and most intact of the remaining Roman amphitheatres. (from Roman Empire)
Image 6A multigenerational banquet depicted on a wall painting from Pompeii (1st century AD) (from Roman Empire)
Image 7This funerary stele from the 3rd century is among the earliest Christian inscriptions, written in both Greek and Latin: the abbreviation D.M. at the top refers to the Di Manes, the traditional Roman spirits of the dead, but accompanies Christian fish symbolism. (from Roman Empire)
Image 8Finely decorated Gallo-Roman terra sigillata bowl (from Roman Empire)
Image 9Personification of the River Nile and his children, from the Temple of Serapis and Isis in Rome (1st century AD) (from Roman Empire)
Image 10A Roman priest, his head ritually covered with a fold of his toga, extends a patera in a gesture of libation (2nd–3rd century) (from Roman Empire)
Image 11The cities of the Roman world in the Imperial Period. Data source: Hanson, J. W. (2016), Cities database, (OXREP databases). Version 1.0. (link). (from Roman Empire)
Image 12Stone game board from Aphrodisias: boards could also be made of wood, with deluxe versions in costly materials such as ivory; game pieces or counters were bone, glass, or polished stone, and might be coloured or have markings or images (from Roman Empire)
Image 13Fresco of a seated woman from Stabiae, 1st century AD (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 14Gold earrings with gemstones, 3rd century (from Roman Empire)
Image 15Toga-clad statue, restored with the head of the emperor Nerva (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 16The Pompeii Lakshmi, an ivory statuette from the Indian subcontinent found in the ruins of Pompeii (from Roman Empire)
Image 17Mosaic from Pompeii depicting the Academy of Plato (from Roman Empire)
Image 18Forum 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)
Image 19Aquae Sulis in Bath, England: architectural features above the level of the pillar bases are a later reconstruction. (from Roman Empire)
Image 20Bread stall, from a Pompeiian wall painting (from Roman Empire)
Image 21A fresco from Herculaneum depicting Heracles and Achelous from Greco-Roman mythology, 1st century CE (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 22Claudius wearing an early Imperial toga (see a later, more structured toga above), and the pallium as worn by a priest of Serapis, sometimes identified as the emperor Julian (from Roman Empire)
Image 23Landscape 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)
Image 24On the Ludovisi sarcophagus, an example of the battle scenes favoured during the Crisis of the Third Century, the "writhing and highly emotive" Romans and Goths fill the surface in a packed, anti-classical composition (from Roman Empire)
Image 25Relief panel from Trajan's Column in Rome, showing the building of a fort and the reception of a Dacian embassy (from Roman Empire)
Image 26Statue in Constanța, Romania (the ancient colony Tomis), commemorating Ovid's exile (from Roman Empire)
Image 27Wall painting depicting a sports riot at the amphitheatre of Pompeii, which led to the banning of gladiator combat in the town (from Roman Empire)
Image 28A green Roman glass cup unearthed from an Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 AD) tomb in Guangxi, southern China; the earliest Roman glassware found in China was discovered in a Western Han tomb in Guangzhou, dated to the early 1st century BC, and ostensibly came via the maritime route through the South China Sea (from Roman Empire)
Image 29Pride in literacy was displayed in portraiture through emblems of reading and writing, as in this example of a couple from Pompeii (Portrait of Paquius Proculo). (from Roman Empire)
Image 30The Pont du Gard aqueduct, which crosses the Gardon River in southern France, is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites. (from Roman Empire)
Image 31A fresco portrait of a man holding a papyrus roll, Pompeii, Italy, 1st century AD (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 32Public toilets (latrinae) from Ostia Antica (from Roman Empire)
Image 33
Romulus and Remus on the House of the She-wolf at the Grand Place of Brussels.
(from Founding of Rome)
Image 34Condemned man attacked by a leopard in the arena (3rd-century mosaic from Tunisia) (from Roman Empire)
Image 35A victor in his four-horse chariot (from Roman Empire)
Image 36Spread of Seuso at Lacus Pelso (Lake Balaton) (from Roman Empire)
Image 37An Ostian taberna for eating and drinking; the faded painting over the counter pictured eggs, olives, fruit and radishes. (from Roman Empire)
Image 38Birds and fountain within a garden setting, with oscilla (hanging masks) above, in a painting from Pompeii (from Roman Empire)
Image 39Plato's Academy mosaic from Pompeii (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 40Construction on the Flavian Amphitheatre, more commonly known as the Colosseum (Italy), began during the reign of Vespasian. (from Roman Empire)
Image 41Capitoline Wolf, sculpture of the she-wolf feeding the twins Romulus and Remus, the most famous image associated with the founding of Rome (from Founding of Rome)
Image 42The Zliten mosaic, from a dining room in present-day Libya, depicts a series of arena scenes: from top, musicians playing a Roman tuba, a water pipe organ and two horns; six pairs of gladiators with two referees; four beast fighters; and three convicts condemned to the beasts (from Roman Empire)
Image 43Antoninus Pius (reigned 138–161), wearing a toga (Hermitage Museum) (from Roman Empire)
Image 44Marble 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)
Image 45The Roman Empire by 476 (from Roman Empire)
(c) Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com, CC-BY-SA-3.0
Image 46Solidus 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)
Image 47Brescia Casket, an ivory box with Biblical imagery (late 4th century) (from Roman Empire)
Image 48Fragmentary military diploma from Carnuntum; Latin was the language of the military throughout the Empire (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 49Cityscape from the Villa Boscoreale (60s AD) (from Roman Empire)
Image 50Wall painting (1st century AD) from Pompeii depicting a multigenerational banquet (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 51Musicians 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)
Image 52Boys and girls playing ball games (2nd-century relief from the Louvre) (from Roman Empire)
Image 53Bilingual Latin-Punic inscription at the theatre in Leptis Magna, Roman Africa (present-day Libya) (from Roman Empire)
Image 54Cinerary urn for the freedman Tiberius Claudius Chryseros and two women, probably his wife and daughter (from Roman Empire)
Image 55Women from the wall painting at the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii (from Roman Empire)
Image 56Statuettes representing Roman and Gallic deities, for personal devotion at private shrines (from Roman Empire)
Image 57The Colosseum in Rome (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 58Fragment of a sarcophagus depicting Gordian III and senators (3rd century) (from Roman Empire)
Image 59Roman portraiture fresco of a young man with a papyrus scroll, from Herculaneum, 1st century AD (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 60Eggs, thrushes, napkin, and vessels (wall painting from the House of Julia Felix, Pompeii) (from Culture of ancient Rome)
(c) I, Sailko, CC BY 2.5
Image 61Reconstructed peristyle garden based on the House of the Vettii (from Roman Empire)
Image 62The Triumph of Neptune floor mosaic from Africa Proconsularis (present-day Tunisia), celebrating agricultural success with allegories of the Seasons, vegetation, workers and animals viewable from multiple perspectives in the room (latter 2nd century) (from Roman Empire)
Image 63Reconstruction of a writing tablet: the stylus was used to inscribe letters into the wax surface for drafts, casual letterwriting, and schoolwork, while texts meant to be permanent were copied onto papyrus. (from Roman Empire)
Image 64The Augustus of Prima Porta
(early 1st century AD) (from Roman Empire)
Image 65Head of Constantine the Great, part of a colossal statue. Bronze, 4th century, Musei Capitolini, Rome. (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 66Reconstructed statue of Augustus as Jove, holding scepter and orb (first half of 1st century AD). (from Roman Empire)
Image 67The Roman Empire in AD 117 at its greatest extent, at the time of Trajan's death (with its vassals in pink) (from Roman Empire)
Image 68Portrait of a literary woman from Pompeii (ca. 50 AD) (from Roman Empire)
Image 69A map of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a Greco-Roman Periplus (from Roman Empire)
Image 70All-male theatrical troupe preparing for a masked performance, on a mosaic from the House of the Tragic Poet (from Roman Empire)
Image 71Workers at a cloth-processing shop, in a painting from the fullonica of Veranius Hypsaeus in Pompeii (from Roman Empire)
Image 72The Roman siege and destruction of Jerusalem, from a Western religious manuscript, c.1504 (from Roman Empire)
Image 73Relief from the Arch of Titus in Rome depicting a menorah and other spoils from the Temple of Jerusalem carried in Roman triumph. (from Roman Empire)
Image 74Mosaic depicting a theatrical troupe preparing for a performance (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 75Amphitheatres of the Roman Empire (from Roman Empire)
Image 76So-called "bikini girls" mosaic from the Villa del Casale, Roman Sicily, 4th century (from Roman Empire)
Image 77The so-called Primavera of Stabiae, perhaps the goddess Flora (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 78Roman hunters during the preparations, set-up of traps, and in-action hunting near Tarraco (from Roman Empire)
Image 79The bronze Drunken Satyr, excavated at Herculaneum and exhibited in the 18th century, inspired an interest among later sculptors in similar "carefree" subjects. (from Roman Empire)
Image 80Circus Maximus, a mass entertainment venue located in Rome (from Culture of ancient Rome)
(c) G Laird, CC BY-SA 2.0
Image 81A segment of the ruins of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, overlooking Crag Lough (from Roman Empire)
Image 82Slave holding writing tablets for his master (relief from a 4th-century sarcophagus) (from Roman Empire)
Image 83The Roman empire under Hadrian (ruled 117–138) showing the location of the Roman legions deployed in 125 AD (from Roman Empire)
Image 84The Barbarian Invasions consisted of the movement of (mainly) ancient Germanic peoples into Roman territory. Even though northern invasions took place throughout the life of the Empire, this period officially began in the 4th century and lasted for many centuries, during which the western territory was under the dominion of foreign northern rulers, a notable one being Charlemagne. Historically, this event marked the transition between classical antiquity and the Middle Ages. (from Roman Empire)
Image 85Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598. Galleria Borghese, Rome. (from Founding of Rome)
Image 86A bust of Cicero, Capitoline Museums, Rome (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 87A 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)
Image 88The Primavera of Stabiae, perhaps the goddess Flora (from Roman Empire)
Image 89A teacher with two students, as a third arrives with his loculus, a writing case that would contain pens, ink pot, and a sponge to correct errors (from Roman Empire)
Image 90Still life on a 2nd-century Roman mosaic (from Roman Empire)

Selected biography -

Possible statue of Drusus Caesar, from Roselle (Grosseto)

Drusus (Julius) Caesar (c. AD 8 – 33) was the adopted grandson and heir of the Roman emperor Tiberius, alongside his brother Nero. Born into the prominent Julio-Claudian dynasty, Drusus was the son of Tiberius' general and heir, Germanicus. After the deaths of his father and of Tiberius' son, Drusus the Younger, Drusus and his brother Nero Caesar were adopted together by Tiberius in September AD 23. As a result of being heirs of the emperor, he and his brother enjoyed accelerated political careers.

Sejanus, the prefect of the Praetorian Guard, had become powerful in Rome and is believed by ancient writers such as Suetonius and Tacitus to have been responsible for the downfall of Drusus the younger. As Sejanus' power grew, other members of the imperial family began to fall as well. In AD 29, Tiberius wrote a letter to the Senate attacking Nero and his mother, and the Senate had them both exiled. Two years later, Nero died in exile on the island of Ponza. Drusus was later imprisoned following similar charges as his brother, and remained in prison from AD 30 until his death three years later. Their deaths allowed for the adoption and ascension of their third brother, Gaius Caligula, following the death of Tiberius in AD 37. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies

Tacitus
Nero
Tiberius
Sejanus
Marcus Aurelius
Faustina the Younger
Julius Caesar
Antoninus Pius
Augustus
Diocletian
Domitian
Elagabalus
Basiliscus
Marcian
Maximian
Retiarius
Caligula
Hadrian
Romulus Augustulus
Avidius Cassius
Caracalla
Britannicus
Constantius III
Constantine III (Western Roman Emperor)
Drusus Julius Caesar
Early life of Marcus Aurelius
Florianus
Gaius Caesar
Germanicus
Glycerius
Halotus
Claudius
Herennius Etruscus
Hostilian
Justinian I
Lucius Caesar
Tiberius Julius Alexander
Tiberius Gemellus
Gaius Antonius Hybrida
Reign of Marcus Aurelius
Cicero
Trajan

Did you know?

...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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List of ancient Romans
List of Roman Emperors
List of Roman Consuls
List of Roman censors
List of topics related to ancient Rome
List of Roman place names in Britain
List of Roman laws
List of Roman cognomina
List of Roman nomina
List of Roman praenomina
List of Roman sites
List of Roman usurpers

Selected picture

(c) Howard Hudson at en.wikipedia, CC BY 2.5

The Roman Forum (Latin: Forum Romanum) was a rectangular forum at the heart of the city of Ancient Rome. The Forum was used for military triumphs, elections, criminal trials, gladiatorial matches, and as a meeting- and business-place. The Forum survives today in ruins, and is the oldest structure in the modern city of Rome.

Photo credit: Howard Hudson

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WikiProjects

The following WikiProjects are related to Ancient Rome:

WikiProject Classical Greece and Rome: The project regularly invites its members to collaborate on article development.
WikiProject Rome: Includes stylistic help and lists of articles requiring attention or expansion.
WikiProject Military history: Highly-active WikiProject with regular competitions to improve military history articles.

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Quotes

“

[...] 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!

”

— Ovid, Metamorphoses, XV, 745–842

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