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Ancient Rome

In modern historiography, ancient Rome encompasses the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC, the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), Roman Republic (509–27 BC), Roman Empire (27 BC– 395 AD), and the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD.[1][a]

This article is about the history of Roman civilisation in antiquity. For the history of the city of Rome, see History of Rome. For other uses, see Ancient Rome (disambiguation).

Roma

Rome (and others during the late Empire, notably Constantinople and Ravenna)

753 BC

509 BC

27 BC

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 Grecia) 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, 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,[2] with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants, roughly 20% of the world's population at the time.[b] 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.[3] 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.

The Histories

Polybius

De Bello Gallico and De Bello Civili

Julius Caesar

Ab urbe condita

Livy

Roman Antiquities

Dionysius of Halicarnassus

Naturalis Historia

Pliny the Elder

The Jewish War

Josephus

The Twelve Caesars (De Vita Caesarum)

Suetonius

Annales and Histories

Tacitus

Parallel Lives (a series of biographies of famous Roman and Greek men)

Plutarch

Historia Romana

Cassius Dio

History of the Roman Empire since Marcus Aurelius

Herodian

Res Gestae

Ammianus Marcellinus

Outline of classical studies

Outline of ancient Rome

Regions in Greco-Roman antiquity

List of ancient Romans

List of Roman Emperors

List of Roman civil wars and revolts

Byzantine Empire

Roman Army

resources for students from the Courtenay Middle School Library.

Ancient Rome

OpenCourseWare from the University of Notre Dame providing free resources including lectures, discussion questions, assignments, and exams.

History of ancient Rome

Gallery of the Ancient Art: Ancient Rome