The Roman Republic and Empire

No ancient civilization left a deeper mark on the western world than Rome. Beginning as a small Italian city around 753 BCE, Rome grew over a thousand years into a vast empire that ruled the entire Mediterranean. The Romans gave us a long list of lasting gifts: republican government, written law, engineered roads and aqueducts, concrete, the Latin language (the parent of French, Spanish, Italian, and Romanian), and the layout of cities still used today.

A City on Seven Hills

Rome legendarily was founded in 753 BCE by twin brothers Romulus and Remus, raised by a she-wolf. The real city grew on seven hills beside the Tiber River in central Italy. For its first 240 years Rome was ruled by kings. In 509 BCE the Romans overthrew their last king, Tarquin the Proud, and declared the start of the Roman Republic — promising never to be ruled by a king again.

The Roman Republic (509 - 27 BCE)

In the Republic, power was shared. Citizens elected two consuls (a pair of leaders who could veto each other) for one-year terms. The Senate — a council of about 300 wealthy citizens — advised the consuls and shaped policy. Common citizens called plebeians slowly won the right to elect their own officials, called tribunes, who could veto laws that harmed the poor. The Republic worked through a careful balance between Senate, consuls, and people — a model that later inspired the United States and many modern democracies.

Julius Caesar and the End of the Republic

By 50 BCE Rome controlled most of the Mediterranean. The Republic's old institutions were strained by greed, civil wars, and powerful generals. One general, Julius Caesar, marched his army across the Rubicon River into Italy in 49 BCE and seized power. Caesar became dictator for life — but in 44 BCE Roman senators stabbed him to death on the Ides of March, fearing he would become a king. The plot did not save the Republic.

The Roman Empire (27 BCE - 476 CE)

Caesar's adopted heir Octavian defeated his rivals and in 27 BCE took the new title Augustus — meaning "honored one" — becoming the first Roman emperor. The Republic was over; the Roman Empire had begun. The next 200 years are called the Pax Romana, "the Roman Peace," when the empire was relatively stable, trade flourished, and roads, aqueducts, and cities were built everywhere from Britain to the Middle East.

Roman Engineering and Law

• Roads — over 80,000 km of stone-paved roads connected the empire. "All roads lead to Rome."
• Aqueducts — long stone channels carried fresh water from distant springs into city fountains.
• Concrete — Roman concrete made domes, harbors, and the Colosseum possible.
• Latin — the language of the empire; the parent of all the Romance languages.
• Law — Roman law gave us the ideas of equal trial, evidence, and innocence until proven guilty.

The Fall of Rome

The Roman Empire grew too large to defend. Weak emperors, civil war, plague, and waves of invading Germanic tribes wore it down. In 476 CE the last emperor in the West, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed — the traditional date for the Fall of Rome. The eastern half, the Byzantine Empire centered on Constantinople, kept going for another thousand years until 1453 CE.