Roman History

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Explore the World of Ancient Rome

The greatest empire the earth has ever known is more than just a collection of facts and figures. It represents both the glorious achievement, and at times contemptible, behavior of mankind. In the matter of just a few centuries, Rome grew from a very small village in central Italy to the absolute dominant power of the entire Italian peninsula. In a few more centuries, the Roman Empire's might reached as far north as Britain, east to Persia, and in the south it encompassed the whole of Northern Africa.

Rome's extraordinary achievements and the unparalleled string of influential people shaped the whole of Europe and even the rest of the world. One super powered nation, encompassing thousands of cultures kept order, stability and civilization in an ancient world fraught with turmoil. The fall of Roman Empire, and the centuries that came to be known as the Dark Ages that followed illustrates the awesome responsibility, reach and impact of the Empire.

Today, Roman law and the role and structure of government forms the basis of several modern democracies. Her monuments still stand millennia later, awing and inspiring us. Roman numerals continue to be used in many different areas of present-day life, including clock and watch faces and legal documents. Her language, Latin, while for all intents and purposes lies dormant and unspoken, forms the basis or penetrates the deepest fibers of many modern tongues. Her final religious faith, Christianity, spread like wildfire throughout the highly connected system of roads and intermingled cultures of the western world. Even Roman food, such as the popular fish sauce garum, has influenced what we eat and how we eat it. What else has Rome given us?

In this site, we will explore the development of the Roman Empire and the events that built it. From the foundations as a Republic through to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, from the great conquerors to the conquered tribes and peoples such as the Iceni tribe led by Boudicca. Piece by historical piece, we'll delve into the events and people that shaped not just an era, but the history, and future, of an entire planet.