Ancient Rome

The ancient Romans helped to shape the world as we know it today. The rise and ultimate fall of their civilization is central to the early history of Europe and the Mediterranean basin, and their cultural and political influence has been profound over succeeding centuries.

The Roman republic inherited and built upon the greatness of ancient Greece, absorbing Greek advances in fields ranging from philosophy and religion to science and the arts. The Roman empire, through its military occupation of much of western Europe, the Middle East and north Africa, ensured the communication of such ideas to the rest of the known world.

We tend to think of ancient Rome, with its formidable, disciplined army, as being fundamentally a military power. It is easy to forget that for many years Roman supremacy guaranteed peace (the Pax Romana) throughout the empire, enabling local economies to flourish as never before. Major new settlements, linked by excellent roads, sprang up throughout Roman-controlled territory, providing a template for future urban societies. Rome itself attracted huge numbers of foreigners, including brilliant craftsmen, teachers, traders and slaves, and was acknowledged as the wealthiest and most powerful city in the ancient world.

The influence of Rome spread as far as Spain in the west, Syria in the east, the Sahara in the south and Britain in the north. For 1000 years, Rome was the world’s leading power and its intellectual and commercial centre.

The Romans left behind many spectacular ruins, such as temples, amphitheatres, aqueducts and roads. Even more significant was their legacy of ideas. Among the innovations bequeathed by the Romans to later civilizations were not only their history and mythology but also the Roman alphabet and system of numerals, the Roman calendar, the use of concrete, glass windows and domes, central heating, a public health system, public baths, hospitals, a postal service, a fire brigade, a civil service, apartment blocks, international trade and the idea of empire. The Romans also had an enduring impact upon politics (many of their frontiers becoming the borders of modern states), law, religion (not least through the formation of the Roman Catholic Church) and language.

A united Europe

Many historians trace the modern ideal of a united Europe, with a shared government, linked economies and system of international law, back to ancient Rome.

Roman territory extended far beyond Rome itself, coming to include, in due course, the entire Italian peninsula, the coastline of the Mediterranean and most of what is now western Europe, as well as territories in northern Africa and the Middle East. Conquered lands were made Roman provinces, thus ensuring that the Roman way of life had a long-lasting and widespread influence.

For hundreds of years, Rome, to which all roads were said to lead, was the most magnificent city in the ancient world.

Italy itself has a varied landscape, ranging from fertile plains and marshes to the rocky mountainsides of the Apennines running down the central spine of the country. Some of the most fertile areas are located on the west coast, and it was here that the Roman civilization first emerged on the banks of the Tiber, which provided easy access to the coast, some twenty-five kilometres (six miles) downstream. Later Roman prosperity was to depend greatly upon Italy’s central position within the Mediterranean basin and trade routes with other peoples.