Ancient Rome facts for kids
Ancient Rome is the name for a civilization in Italy. It began as a small farming community in the 8th century BC. It became a city and took the name of Roma from its founder Romulus. It grew to become the largest empire in the ancient world. It started as a kingdom, then became a republic, then an empire.
The Roman Empire was so big that there were problems ruling Rome's vast territory that stretched from Britain to the Middle East. In 293 AD, Diocletian split the empire into two parts. A century later, in 395 AD, it was permanently split into the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. The Western Empire ended because of the Germanic tribe, the Visigoths in 476 AD. In the 5th century AD, the western part of the empire split up into different kingdoms. The eastern Roman Empire stayed together as the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire was defeated by the Ottoman Empire in 1453.
Rome was founded, according to legend, on 21 April 753 BC and fell in 476 AD, having nearly 1200 years of independence and roughly 700 years of rule as a major power in the ancient world. This makes it one of the longest lasting civilizations in the antiquity.
Culture
Roman culture spread to Western Europe and the area around the Mediterranean Sea. Its history still has a big influence on the world today. For example, Roman ideas about laws, government, art, literature, and language are important to European culture. The Roman language, Latin, slowly evolved, becoming modern French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, and many other languages. Latin also indirectly influenced many other languages such as English.
Religion
Beginning with Emperor Nero in the first century AD, the Roman government did not like Christianity. At certain points in history, people could be put to death because they were Christians. Under Emperor Diocletian, the persecution of Christians became the strongest. However, Christianity became an officially supported religion in the Roman Empire under Constantine I, who was the next Emperor. With the signing of the Edict of Milan in 313, it quickly became the biggest religion. Then in 391 AD by an edict of Emperor Theodosius I made Christianity Rome's official religion.
The Eastern Empire
The Byzantines were threatened by the rise of Islam, whose followers took over the territories of Syria, Armenia and Egypt and soon threatened to take over Constantinople. In the next century, the Arabs also captured southern Italy and Sicily.
The Byzantines survived during the 8th century and, beginning in the 9th century, took back parts of the conquered lands. In 1000 AD, the Eastern Empire was at its largest point, and culture and trade flourished. However, the expansion was suddenly stopped in 1071 at the Battle of Manzikert. This finally made the empire start becoming weaker. After centuries of fighting and Turkic invasions, Emperor Alexius I Comnenus called for help from the West in 1095.
The West responded with the Crusades, eventually resulting in the Fourth Crusade which conquered Constantinople in 1204. New countries including Nicaea took pieces of the now smaller empire. After the recapture of Constantinople by Imperial forces, the empire was little more than a Greek state confined to the Aegean coast. The Eastern Empire came to an end when Mehmed II conquered Constantinople on 29 May 1453.
Archaeology
Remains of Roman work and architecture have been found in the furthest corners of the late Empire.
Related pages
- Roman Kingdom
- Roman Republic
- Roman Empire
- Western Roman Empire
- Byzantine Empire
- Culture of ancient Rome
- Roman food
Images for kids
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According to legend, Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf
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This bust from the Capitoline Museums is traditionally identified as a portrait of Lucius Junius Brutus, Roman bronze sculpture, 4th to late 3rd centuries BC
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One of the most famous Roman sieges was that of the Celtiberian stronghold of Numantia in present north-central Spain by Scipio Aemilianus in 133 BC
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Roman bronze bust of an unknown man, traditionally identified as Scipio Africanus the Elder from the Naples National Archaeological Museum (Inv. No. 5634), dated to mid 1st century BC Excavated from the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum by Karl Jakob Weber, 1750–65
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Portrait bust formerly identified as Lucius Cornelius Sulla
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Landing of the Romans in Kent, 55 BC: Caesar with 100 ships and two legions made an opposed landing, probably near Deal. After pressing a little way inland against fierce opposition and losing ships in a storm, he retired back across the English Channel to Gaul from what was a reconnaissance in force, only to return the following year for a more serious invasion.
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The Battle of Actium, by Laureys a Castro, painted 1672, National Maritime Museum, London
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The Augustus of Prima Porta, 1st century AD, depicting Augustus, the first Roman emperor
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Extent of the Roman Empire under Augustus. The yellow legend represents the extent of the Republic in 31 BC, the shades of green represent gradually conquered territories under the reign of Augustus, and pink areas on the map represent client states; areas under Roman control shown here were subject to change even during Augustus' reign, especially in Germania.
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Bust of Vespasian, founder of the Flavian dynasty
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The Justice of Trajan (fragment) by Eugène Delacroix
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Map showing the location of Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall in Scotland and Northern England
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The Pantheon, Rome, built during the reign of Hadrian, which still contains the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world
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The Severan Tondo, c. 199, Severus, Julia Domna, Caracalla and Geta, whose face is erased
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Bust of Caracalla from the Capitoline Museums, Rome
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A Roman follis depicting the profile of Diocletian
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The Aula Palatina of Trier, Germany (then part of the Roman province of Gallia Belgica), a Christian basilica built during the reign of Constantine I (r. 306–337 AD)
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The Roman Forum, the political, economic, cultural, and religious center of the city during the Republic and later Empire
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The Orator, c. 100 BC, an Etrusco-Roman bronze statue depicting Aule Metele (Latin: Aulus Metellus), an Etruscan man wearing a Roman toga while engaged in rhetoric; the statue features an inscription in the Etruscan language
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Modern replica of lorica segmentata–type armor, worn in conjunction with the chainmail popular after the 1st century AD
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Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus, c. 122 BC; the altar shows two Roman infantrymen equipped with long scuta and a cavalryman with his horse. All are shown wearing chain mail armour.
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A Roman naval bireme depicted in a relief from the Temple of Fortuna Primigenia in Praeneste (Palastrina), which was built c. 120 BC; exhibited in the Pius-Clementine Museum (Museo Pio-Clementino) in the Vatican Museums.
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Workers at a cloth-processing shop, in a painting from the fullonica of Veranius Hypsaeus in Pompeii
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View of Trajan's Market, built by Apollodorus of Damascus
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A gold glass portrait of a family from Roman Egypt. The Greek inscription on the medallion may indicate either the name of the artist or the pater familias who is absent in the portrait.
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Frescoes from the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii, Italy, Roman artwork dated to the mid-1st century BC
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Woman playing a kithara, from the Villa Boscoreale, 40–30 BC
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A boy holding a platter of fruits and what may be a bucket of crabs, in a kitchen with fish and squid, on the June panel from a mosaic depicting the months (3rd century)
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Mosaic of "Big Game" hunters, Sicily, 4th century AD
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Pont du Gard in France is a Roman aqueduct built in c. 19 BC. It is a World Heritage Site.
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The Appian Way (Via Appia), a road connecting the city of Rome to the southern parts of Italy, remains usable even today
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A vomitorium at the Roman amphitheatre in Trier
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See also
In Spanish: Antigua Roma para niños
