Roman Empire facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Roman Empire Senatus Populusque Romanus  (Latin) Imperium Romanum  (Latin) Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων (Ancient Greek) Basileía Rhōmaíōn
27 BC – 476 AD (traditional dates) 395 AD - 480 AD (Western) 395 AD – 1453 AD (Byzantine)
Vexillum Imperial aquila
The Roman Empire at its greatest extent, 117 AD, the time of Trajan's death (with its vassals in pink).
Capital	Rome (de facto and de jure from 27 BC to 285 AD, only de jure from 286 AD to 476 AD) Mediolanum (286 AD – 402 AD, Western) Ravenna (402 AD – 476 AD, Western) Nicomedia (286 AD – 330 AD, Byzantine) Constantinople (330 AD – 1453, Eastern)
Common languages	Latin (official until 610 AD) Greek (official after 610 AD) Regional / local languages
Religion	Imperial cult-driven polytheism (Before 380 AD) Nicene Christianity (State Church of the Roman Empire) (From 380 AD)
Government	Semi-elective, functionally absolute monarchy
Emperor
• 27 BC – 14 AD	Augustus (first)
• 98 AD – 117 AD	Trajan
• 270 AD – 275 AD	Aurelian
• 1449 – 1453	Constantine XI
Legislature	Senate
Historical era	Classical era to Late Middle Ages
• Final War of the Roman Republic	32 BC – 30 BC
• Empire established	30 BC – 2 BC
• Constantinople becomes capital	11 May 330 AD
• Final East-West divide	17 January 395 AD
• Fall of the Western Roman Empire	4 September 476 AD
• Murder of Emperor Julius Nepos	25 April 480 AD
• Fourth Crusade	12 April 1204
• Reconquest of Constantinople	25 July 1261
• Fall of Constantinople	29 May 1453
• Fall of Trebizond	15 August 1461
Area
25 BC	2,750,000 km2 (1,060,000 sq mi)
117 AD	5,000,000–6,500,000 km2 (1,900,000–2,500,000 sq mi)
390 AD	4,400,000 km2 (1,700,000 sq mi)
Population
• 25 BC	56,800,000
Currency	Sestertius, Aureus, Solidus, Nomisma
Preceded by Succeeded by Roman Republic Western Roman Empire Byzantine Empire

The Roman Empire was the largest empire of the ancient world. Its capital was Rome, and its empire was based in the Mediterranean. The Empire dates from 27 BC, when Octavian became the Emperor Augustus, until it fell in 476 AD, marking the end of the Ancient World and the beginning of the Middle Ages, or Dark Ages.

The empire was the third stage of Ancient Rome. Rome was first ruled by Roman kings, then by the Roman Republic, then by an emperor.

Many modern lands were once part of the Roman Empire, for example Britain (not Scotland), Spain, Portugal, France (Gaul), Italy, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Egypt, Levant, Crimea, Switzerland, and the north coast of Africa. The main language of the Roman Empire was Latin with Greek as an important secondary language, especially in the Eastern Provinces.

The western half of the Roman Empire lasted for about 500 years till the barbarian general Odoacer deposed its final emperor Romulus Augustus. On the other hand, the eastern half, consisting of the Balkans, Anatolia, The Levant and Egypt, continued for about a thousand years more (the Levant and Egypt were lost to the Arabs in the 8th century). The eastern part was called the Byzantine Empire. Its capital was Constantinople, now called Istanbul.

Governing the Empire

In order to control their large empire, the Romans developed important ideas about law and government. They developed the best army in the world at that time, and ruled by force. They had fine engineering, and built roads, cities, and outstanding buildings. The Empire was divided into provinces, each with a governor plus civil and military support. Letters, both official and private, would constantly go to and from Rome.

Trade was most important for Rome, a city of more than a million people, by far the largest city in the world. They needed, and got, wheat from Egypt, tin from Britannia, grapes from Gaul, and so on. In return, the Romans built provincial capitals into fine cities, protected them from raids by barbarians, and provided education and career opportunities for young people in the provinces, such as jobs in the Roman Army.

In principle, emperors had absolute control, and could do as they pleased. In practice, they faced many difficult problems. They had a staff of what we call 'civil servants' and the advice of the Roman Senate. The emperor had to decide what were the most important issues facing the Empire, and what should be done about them. Most of them tried to do two sorts of thing. One was to do things to improve the life of Romans in peacetime. The other was to fight and defeat Rome's enemies. A wealthy empire always has enemies.

With kings and emperors, a big problem is the order of succession. Kings were sometimes followed by their eldest son, if he was capable of ruling. For Roman emperors, more often it would be an adopted son. It worked like this. The emperor would notice an outstanding young man from one of the best families. He would adopt him as his son. Before he died he would make clear whom he thought should succeed him, by making him a Roman consul, or by stating in his will that the younger man should succeed him. Sometimes this worked; sometimes it did not. Every now and then there would be a civil war between claimants to the throne.

An adopted son or two gave the emperor more choices. Some emperors had no son; some had sons who did not survive. Later on, emperors grew so weak that the Roman army would just pick one of their generals to be the next emperor. This often led to civil war. The life stories of the emperors can be found in List of Roman emperors.

The Romans fought many wars against other countries, and enjoyed watching violent sports. They enjoyed watching races between chariots pulled by horses, and fights between men using weapons (gladiators). Unlike in modern sports, the fighters were often killed in fights. Romans enjoyed these shows in the Colosseum.

The Romans had great civil engineering. They built many large public buildings and villas, aqueducts to carry water, stone bridges and roads. Some of these things can still be seen today. Many famous writers were Romans, including Cicero and Virgil.

The New Testament of the Bible tells about the Romans in the life of Jesus Christ. During Jesus' life, the Romans, who were pagans, ruled his country. Later, several emperors tried to destroy Christianity but they did not succeed. By 312 AD the emperor Galerius allowed people freedom to follow Christianity, and the next year, a general, Constantine, became emperor and converted to Christianity.

The city of Rome was taken over several times by barbarians, notably in 410 AD when the Goths sacked the city (looting). The last Western Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus, resigned in 476 AD. The Roman Empire would last another 1,000 years as the Byzantine Empire in the east.

The main coin of the Roman Empire was the silver denarius. Later denarii were smaller.

Various reasons have been given for the fall of Rome. Edward Gibbon wrote The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in which he investigated various ideas. Chief among them was (in his opinion) was the effect of Christianity on the ability of the Empire to defend itself militarily.

Other historians blame the unstable system of leadership. In a 50-year period, only 2 out of 22 emperors died a natural death. Most of the emperors were assassinated.

Images for kids

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  The Augustus of Prima Porta (early 1st century AD)

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  The Barbarian Invasions consisted of the movement of (mainly) ancient Germanic peoples into Roman territory. Even though northern invasions took place throughout the life of the Empire, this period officially began in the 4th century and lasted for many centuries, during which the western territory was under the dominion of foreign northern rulers, a notable one being Charlemagne. Historically, this event marked the transition between classical antiquity and the Middle Ages.

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  The Roman Empire by 476

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  The cities of the Roman world in the Imperial Period. Data source: Hanson, J. W. (2016), Cities database, (OXREP databases). Version 1.0. (link).

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  A segment of the ruins of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, overlooking Crag Lough

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  Bilingual Latin-Punic inscription at the theatre in Leptis Magna, Roman Africa (present-day Libya)

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  A multigenerational banquet depicted on a wall painting from Pompeii (1st century AD)

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  Citizen of Roman Egypt (Fayum mummy portrait)

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  Slave holding writing tablets for his master (relief from a 4th-century sarcophagus)

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  Fragment of a sarcophagus depicting Gordian III and senators (3rd century)

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  A green Roman glass cup unearthed from an Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 AD) tomb in Guangxi, southern China; the earliest Roman glassware found in China was discovered in a Western Han tomb in Guangzhou, dated to the early 1st century BC, and ostensibly came via the maritime route through the South China Sea

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  Solidus issued under Constantine II, and on the reverse Victoria, one of the last deities to appear on Roman coins, gradually transforming into an angel under Christian rule

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  Landscape resulting from the ruina montium mining technique at Las Médulas, Spain, one of the most important gold mines in the Roman Empire

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  The Tabula Peutingeriana (Latin for "The Peutinger Map") an Itinerarium, often assumed to be based on the Roman cursus publicus, the network of state-maintained roads.

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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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  Roman hunters during the preparations, set-up of traps, and in-action hunting near Tarraco

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  Amphitheatres of the Roman Empire

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  Construction on the Flavian Amphitheatre, more commonly known as the Colosseum (Italy), began during the reign of Vespasian.

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  The Pont du Gard aqueduct, which crosses the river Gardon in southern France, is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.

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  Cityscape from the Villa Boscoreale (60s AD)

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  Aquae Sulis in Bath, England: architectural features above the level of the pillar bases are a later reconstruction.

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  Public toilets (latrinae) from Ostia Antica

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  Reconstructed peristyle garden based on the House of the Vettii

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  Birds and fountain within a garden setting, with oscilla (hanging masks) above, in a painting from Pompeii

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  Bread stall, from a Pompeiian wall painting

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  An Ostian taberna for eating and drinking; the faded painting over the counter pictured eggs, olives, fruit and radishes.

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  Still life on a 2nd-century Roman mosaic

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  Wall painting depicting a sports riot at the amphitheatre of Pompeii, which led to the banning of gladiator combat in the town

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  A victor in his four-horse chariot

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  The Zliten mosaic, from a dining room in present-day Libya, depicts a series of arena scenes: from top, musicians playing a Roman tuba, a water pipe organ and two horns; six pairs of gladiators with two referees; four beast fighters; and three convicts condemned to the beasts

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  Boys and girls playing ball games (2nd-century relief from the Louvre)

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  Mosaic from the Villa del Casale, Roman Sicily, 4th century

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  Stone game board from Aphrodisias: boards could also be made of wood, with deluxe versions in costly materials such as ivory; game pieces or counters were bone, glass, or polished stone, and might be coloured or have markings or images

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  Women from the wall painting at the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii

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  Claudius wearing an early Imperial toga (see a later, more structured toga above), and the pallium as worn by a priest of Serapis, sometimes identified as the emperor Julian

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  The Aldobrandini Wedding, 27 BC – 14 AD

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  The bronze Drunken Satyr, excavated at Herculaneum and exhibited in the 18th century, inspired an interest among later sculptors in similar "carefree" subjects.

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  On the Ludovisi sarcophagus, an example of the battle scenes favoured during the Crisis of the Third Century, the "writhing and highly emotive" Romans and Goths fill the surface in a packed, anti-classical composition

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  The Primavera of Stabiae, perhaps the goddess Flora

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  Actor dressed as a king and two muses. Fresco from Herculaneum, 30–40 AD

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  All-male theatrical troupe preparing for a masked performance, on a mosaic from the House of the Tragic Poet

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  Pride in literacy was displayed in portraiture through emblems of reading and writing, as in this example of a couple from Pompeii (Portrait of Paquius Proculo).

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  Reconstruction of a writing tablet: the stylus was used to inscribe letters into the wax surface for drafts, casual letterwriting, and schoolwork, while texts meant to be permanent were copied onto papyrus.

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  A teacher with two students, as a third arrives with his loculus, a writing case that would contain pens, ink pot, and a sponge to correct errors

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  Mosaic from Pompeii depicting the Academy of Plato

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  Portrait of a literary woman from Pompeii (ca. 50 AD)

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  Statue in Constanța, Romania (the ancient colony Tomis), commemorating Ovid's exile

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  Brescia Casket, an ivory box with Biblical imagery (late 4th century)

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  The Pantheon in Rome, a Roman temple originally built under Augustus and later rebuilt under Hadrian in the 2nd century, dedicated to Rome's polytheistic religion before its conversion into a Catholic church in the 7th century

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  Silver cup, from the Boscoreale Treasure (early 1st century AD)

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  Finely decorated Gallo-Roman terra sigillata bowl

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  Gold earrings with gemstones, 3rd century

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  Glass cage cup from the Rhineland, 4th century

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  A Roman priest, his head ritually covered with a fold of his toga, extends a patera in a gesture of libation (2nd–3rd century)

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  Statuettes representing Roman and Gallic deities, for personal devotion at private shrines

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  Relief from the Arch of Titus in Rome depicting a menorah and other spoils from the Temple of Jerusalem carried in Roman triumph.

See also

In Spanish: Imperio romano para niños