Five facts about ancient Rome

Rome is one of the most visited cities in the world with people from all over the world travelling here regularly. What attracts people towards this city is its rich culture, heritage, and history. But have you ever wondered about the legacy of Rome, i.e. some interesting ancient facts about this amazing city? Check here for more information. 

Legacy of Rome 

The origin of this legendary civilization can be traced back to the beginning of the eighth century B.C. It grew out from the famous Tiber River to cover most of Europe, Britain, Western Asia, Mediterranean islands, and Northern Africa. Rome can also be valued behind the origin of most of the widespread languages around the globe which grew from the origin of this dynasty. Some of these languages are Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian. Rome is also credited for the development of the modern calendar used as the standard. The base of the expansion of the Christian religion is also traced back to the origin of the Roman Empire. Rome as an empire originated during the rule of the ruler Julius Caesar and remained a power until the beginning of the first century B.C. Rome’s journey begins 450 years after it was founded and resulted in many breakthroughs in political and scientific fields. King Augustus is credited behind the golden age and prosperity of the Roman Empire, who also happens to be the first emperor of the Roman Empire. More information about the legacy of Rome

Five Facts on Ancient Rome

1. Origins of Rome

According to the legends, Rome, as we know, was founded by the king Romulus and Remus who were the twin sons of Mars, the god of war. It all begins with a nearby king of Alba Longa who left the brothers to drown in the river Tiber with a basket. But they were rescued by a she-wolf and grew up strong. The twins later defeated the king and then founded their own city along the riverbanks. This happened during the wake of the 753 B.C. Later Romulus killed his own brother and became the first king of Rome; hence the name Rome derived from its first king Romulus. Later many kings followed the succession in a non-hereditary way.  There are seven legendary kings to have ever ruled Rome, and they are Romulus Lucius, Tarquinius Priscus, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Numa Pompilius, Servius Tullius and Tarquinius Superbus. They were referred to as the Rex or King in Latin. These kings except Romulus were elected by a senate and did not follow the traditional hereditary notations. Around 509 B.C., the seventh king was overthrown, and Rome turned from monarchy to a republic empire. The word republic is derived from the word res public or property of the people. This transition was agitated due to the tyrannical nature of the king Tarquinius Superbus, which was further agitated after the incident of rape of a noble-women Lucretia by the king’s son. 

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During the early republic, the power was transferred to consuls or commonly known as elected magistrates. They were also given the role of the commander chief in the Army. Even if the magistrates were elected by the common people of the empire, they largely belonged to the Senate, which in turn was run by the patricians, who were the true descendants of the original senators belonging to the time of Romulus. Politics was a common battlefield for the patricians and the common people. The common people too gained some political power through the tribune’s r the concessions from concessions. 

To build stability to the society and bring order among the people, the first roman code of law was established around 450 B.C. It was made in 12 bronze roman tablets, also known as the twelve tables. These tables were publicly displayed in the Roman forum. These laws include civil and property rights instructions, along with the issue of legal procedure. It is also known as the base for the future Roman civil law.  

2. Military Expansion

As the country proceeded towards the republic, it gained power exponentially, and this led to the expansion of the empire. Though it was sacked and burned, the Romans were successful in gaining control of the Italian peninsula with the lead of the military leader Camillus. After this the Rome fought a number of Punic wars, these were fought with the powerful state of Carthage belonging to northern Africa. The famous city of Sicily was won during the first two Punic Wars. During the third Punic war, the whole of Carthage was captured and destroyed, and the inhibitors were traded as slaves hence capturing a part of Africa into the Roman Empire. During the same period, Rome advanced towards the east and hence capturing Macedonia into the Roman Empire.

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3. Struggles

With the growing empire and decline in political stability, the Roman Empire started to crumble under its own weight. This imbalance leads to the discrepancies and turmoil within the empire along with the outside threats. Such an imbalance in the organization of the Roman Empire leads to an increased gap between the poor and rich. Since access to government was now limited hence, wealthy landlords drove small farmers from their land using different methods. The government, at this point, was only accessible to the wealthy group of the society. When such social problems were addressed by reform movements and their leaders such as Tiberius and Gaus Gracchus, led to the death of the reformers by the opponents

But amidst this Gaius Marius was a commoner whose military excellence elevated him into the honourable posts of the consul. He was among the first of the hierarchy of landlords who dominated Rome during the late republic. When he had a respectable status, he was showered with difficulties from all sides and was struggling for fending off attacks by his opponents. 

One of such opponents was Marius’ own fellow general Sulla, who turned into a military dictator around 82 B.C. After the death of Sulla, one of his supporters named Pompey served as a consul for a very brief period of time.  After Pomey’s time as a consul, he led many successful attacks against the pirates of the Mediterranean and the forces of the Asian Mithridates. During this session, Rome also went through the period of Marcus Tullius Cicero, who was an elected consul. Marcus is also counted amongst the best orators of Rome. Check here for more information.

4. The Roman Empire 

In 27 B.C. Octavian assumed the title of Augustus and became the first ruler of Rome as an Empire. He gradually restored the glory of Rome by bringing Morale and virtue as the front runner and abolishing the earlier turmoil and corruption. He won various military conquests and instituted the well-known Pax Romana. His reign took the Roman Empire to a new level of literature, architecture, art, and religion.  He was such an influential ruler that after his death after 56 years of rule, he was declared as a god by the people. The Augustus dynasty was then led by rulers such as Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. Nero was the end of the dynasty, his excesses drained the Roman treasury, which led to the downfall of the Roman dynasty and eventually to the suicide of Nero bringing the end to the Augustus dynasty. 

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5. Decline

The corruption and ineffectiveness of Commodus brought down the honour and glorious time of the Roman Empire to an end. The death of Commodus was led with a civil war between the ministers and led to the victory of Lucius Septimus Severus as the new ruler. The decline was led with the constant downfall of kings. The most interesting fact to make a note of is that in most of the cases, the rulers were taken down by the same ministers who helped them secure the honour. During this time, the threats from outside increased at a rapid rate and led to the downfall of the treasury and the resources maintained by the empire. 

This turmoil came to a temporary break during the rule of Diocletian as he divided the roman empire into four administrative divisions and appointed separate rulers to each of them. But the stability of this system crumbed once Diocletian and Maximian retired and left the office. Constantine was successful in reuniting these divisions and emerged as the ruler of the unified Rome. He moved the Roman capital to Byzantium which was a Greek city and renamed it to Constantinople. 

He is the ruler behind making the religion of Christianity as Rome’s official language. But again, the Roman Empire was divided once Constantine left the power. These events, together along with the constant warfare led to the constant downfall in administration and the resources and pave the way for the ultimate downfall of the Roman Empire. Rome eventually collapsed and lost its provinces one by one different top empires like Britain and the Germans. After Odovacar, a German prince got hold of the control of the Italian troops he led the troops into disposing of the last ruler of Rome Romulus Augustus, and hence the events of the Fall of the roman empire was completed. Check here for more information.

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