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Ancient Rome
Overview
Emerging from a small agricultural community in central Italy, the city of Rome was
traditionally founded in 753 BC. In 509 BC it became a Republic, whose power grew until it
embraced the entire Mediterranean world. The Republic collapsed in bloody civil war during
the First Century BC, and in 27 BC the history of Rome entered a new phase with the
founding of the Empire.
Under the Empire, the Roman world knew peace for more than two hundred years before
the Third Century brought civil wars and barbarian invasions. The Empire looked as if it
would collapse, but was saved by a series of soldier-emperors who imposed the new, more
despotic system of government of the Late Empire. This phase is regarded as lasting from
284, when the emperor Diocletian came to the throne, until about 476, when the last
western emperor was deposed. From then on, the history of the Roman empire is focussed
on the eastern provinces, centered on Constantinople. Scholars usually designate this
the Byzantine empire.
Location
The city of Rome is located in central Italy, but the empire it came to rule covered the entire
Mediterranean basin, together with much of western Europe. At its greatest extent in
stretched from present-day northern England to southern Egypt, and from the Atlantic coast
of Portugal to the Iraqi shores of the Persian Gulf.
Rome’s location in central Italy placed it squarely within a cultural environment dominated
by a cluster of interlinked Mediterranean civilizations. The most famous of these was that of
the Ancient Greeks, but others included those of the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians and the
Etruscans, plus several lesser-known peoples such as the Lycians. In its early
centuries Romewas particularly influenced by the powerful Etruscan civilization to its north,
from which it acquired many aspects of its culture. As Rome’s reach extended throughout
the Italian peninsula it came into direct contact with the Greek cities to the south. From
then on Greek influence would become an increasingly important element within Roman life.
However, the Romans would give Greek culture their own slant, giving it a new grandeur
which can be seen in Roman remains throughout the empire.
Roman Art
Roman art was closely related to late Greek art – indeed, as the Romans conquered more
and more Greek cities, more and more Greet art found its way to Rome. The same is true of
Greek artists, who found in the Roman ruling classes keen patrons of their work.
Nevertheless, Roman sculpture in particular has an unmissable characteristic all its own.
The sculptural portraits of leading Romans of the late Republic and early Empire are simple
and dignified, and above all startlingly realistic We really do know what Julius Caesar looked
like! To see them “in the flesh”, so to speak, is an awe-inspiring experience.
Architecture
What is true for art is even more true for architecture. One can see Greek influences
powerfully at work in the buildings of Ancient Rome, but transformed into a uniquely Roman
style. There is nothing in Ancient Greece that is similar to the arched facades of the
Colosseum, or the theatre of Pompey (except those buildings which the Romans themselves
built, in, for example, Athens, where the Theatre of Hadrian is one of the most spectacular
ancient remains); nor to the arched construction of the great Roman aqueducts, or the
triumphal arches which adorn the Forum Romanum. The arch is a brand new innovation in
Roman architecture, reflecting Roman engineering capabilities in solving the problem of
carrying greater weight. The same is true for the dome, which appeared most famously in
the Pantheon and which allowed Roman architects to span much greater spaces than
before. The theme here is size and grandeur – the Romans built big to reflect their power
and confidence.
Technology
The above account of their architecture shows that the Romans were adventurous and
highly skilled engineers. More than anything else, this is seen in their roads, which ran for
hundreds of miles across all sorts of terrain, and played an important part in knitting the
empire together so effectively. Advanced engineering skills are also seen in the public baths
and elaborate water supply systems which the towns and cities of the empire enjoyed
(Ancient Rome had more fresh water supplied to it than modern Rome until the late20th century).
Governing Institutions
The spirit of practical innovation that can be seen in Roman engineering and architecture
can also be seen in the sphere of government. The Roman Republic presided over Rome as
it changed from being a single city-state to being an enormous empire. As it grew, it met
new challenges by adapting old institutions to deal with unforeseen situations; and although
the stresses and strains of growth eventually led to the breakdown of the Republic, the
resolution of this crisis – the Augustan settlement and the coming of the Empire - was a
masterpiece of practical adaptation. The Roman ruling classes also adopted an inclusive
approach to the lower orders and to conquered elites – by the second century of the empire
over half of all senators came from outside Italy.
Law
The Greeks had developed legal codes to deal with social tensions, but the Romans took the
whole concept of law to an entirely new level. Roman law guaranteed a whole range of basic
rights for its citizens, to the extent that Roman citizenship became a prized possession. For
the first time in history an individual human being was given rights in relation to the state –
above all, protection from arbitrary punishment. These rights, originating and evolved within
the Republic, where not taken away under the emperors, at least for the majority of the
population: even a Jew in a far away province who happened to possess Roman citizenship
could cry, “I appeal to Caesar”, and to Caesar he went! The great legal compendia of the
Late Empire enshrined these principles and passed them on to future European civilization.
Economy and society
Roman society originated as a society of small farmers. However, as it grew more powerful
and more extensive, it became one of the most urbanized societies in the pre-industrial
world.Rome itself is a possible candidate for being the largest city on earth before the
18th century. If one excludes China, it almost certainly was. And Rome was not alone; the
empire had a handful of cities with several hundred thousand inhabitants, and many other
large and wealthy urban settlements. These cities had some features which would have
looked very familiar to us: high rise apartment buildings, overcrowding, busy streets,
plazas, imposing public administrative buildings, and so on. They – and above all, Rome –
also had marked social differences, from multi-millionaire politicians and businessmen to the
mass of poor slum dwellers.
One ubiquitous feature of Roman society which is not found today, at least in western
nations, was slavery. Slaves would have been found everywhere, in the city and in the
country, and of course in the home. They worked in all kinds of businesses, and did all kinds
of work – from unskilled labouring through to high level professional jobs. A few were
amongst the most powerful people in the empire; many were amongst the most miserable –
especially those who worked in mines or on large plantations. None had any legal rights –
they were property, like cattle. But one thing they could, with luck, look forward to:
freedom. Generation by generation, millions of slaves were freed and joined the main body
of citizens, with all their rights. Some freedmen became very rich; many others made a
moderate living in their trade. But all swelled the ranks of citizens and over time altered the
racial mix of the Roman people.