In 509 BC, when the Roman king was away on a campaign, his son Sextus Tarquinus raped a noblewoman named Lucretia. Since it’s foundation in 753 BC by Romulus, the ancient city of Rome was ruled by 7 different kings till 509 BC. While there are many legendary myths in the foundation story of the ancient city of Rome, we do have enough archeological evidence of Iron age settlements on the Palatine hill which substantiates the legendary foundation of Rome.īut how did an ordinarily obscure little town grow so much bigger than any of other ancient Mediterranean city and come to control such a huge empire that laid the foundation and edifice of a modern world?įor that, we need to demarcate the history of Roman Empire into three parts 1) The ancient Roman Monarchy 2) The Roman Republic 3) Imperial Rome Romulus killed his brother Remes and named the city after his own name. According to the legendary story, Romulus and Remes started a new city on the banks of Tiber river. The ancient city of Rome was found by two brothers named Romulus and Remes in 753 BCE. I’ll try to quickly skim through the beginning and the end of the Roman Empire and briefly touch upon topics like the decline of Roman paganism and the rise of Christianity, whether Rome fell in 476 AD or in 1453 AD and contemporary questions like “Is America going to fall like Rome?” If Rome wouldn’t have adopted the Athenian experiment of democracy in the form of republicanism, the chances of western countries in 18th/19th century adopting democracy would’ve been zilch.Ĭovering the incredibly vast history of Rome in a 3,000(ish) words article is a nightmare that I don’t wish to endeavour and partake. If one needs to understand the enormity of the scale of Rome’s architectural achievements, one doesn’t need to look beyond Colosseum which was built 2000 years ago. The Roman emphasis on public works and architecture was unparalleled as they built amphitheatres, stadiums, public baths and spas, temples and cathedrals.
Most of the English words are based on ancient Latin. Latin was the official language of Rome and most of the major European languages like Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and French have been derived from Latin. The Gregorian calendar presently in use has its roots in Roman Julian calendar with the months of the calendar being named after Roman pagan gods. The very fact that you’re reading this article and it makes sense to you is because the Romans invented the Roman alphabets which formed the core of the English. The traces of Roman empire are peppered in various walks of modern life. It is the cradle of the western civilization and modern world.Īlmost everything about the present day world from art and culture, architecture and engineering, philosophy and theology, polity and law, language and literature has its roots in the Greco-Roman world. Even after almost three millennium since the legendary foundation of ancient Rome in 753 BCE, Rome continues to underpin western culture and politics. The modern world as we see it today has its roots in the Greco-Roman world and we can’t understand the modern world without understanding Rome’s rise and decline. Rome’s legacy and civilizational achievements dwarf its territorial achievements. While Rome was the largest empire of it’s time, Rome’s greatness was not limited to its territorial conquests.
What started of as a small city on the banks of river Tiber in 753 BCE, went on to rule most of Europe and parts of Africa and Asia. Roman empire at it’s peak ruled all over Europe, from northern Britain to Syria in the western Asia and the coast of North Africa in Maghreb region.
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