Portal:Ancient Rome

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In modern historiography, ancient Rome encompasses the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC, the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), Roman Republic (509–27 BC), Roman Empire (27 BC– 395 AD), and the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD.

Ancient Rome began as an Italic settlement, traditionally dated to 753 BC, beside the River Tiber in the Italian Peninsula. The settlement grew into the city and polity of Rome, and came to control its neighbours through a combination of treaties and military strength. It eventually controlled the Italian Peninsula, assimilating the Greek culture of southern Italy (Magna Grecia) and the Etruscan culture, and then became the dominant power in the Mediterranean region and parts of Europe. At its height it controlled the North African coast, Egypt, Southern Europe, and most of Western Europe, the Balkans, Crimea, and much of the Middle East, including Anatolia, Levant, and parts of Mesopotamia and Arabia. That empire was among the largest empires in the ancient world, covering around 5 million square kilometres (1.9 million square miles) in AD 117, with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants, roughly 20% of the world's population at the time. The Roman state evolved from an elective monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic military dictatorship during the Empire.

Ancient Rome is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern language, religion, society, technology, law, politics, government, warfare, art, literature, architecture, and engineering. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. It achieved impressive technological and architectural feats, such as the empire-wide construction of aqueducts and roads, as well as more grandiose monuments and facilities. (Full article...)

Selected article -

Ancient Roman technology is the collection of techniques, skills, methods, processes, and engineering practices which supported Roman civilization and made possible the expansion of the economy and military of ancient Rome (753 BC – 476 AD).

The Roman Empire was one of the most technologically advanced civilizations of antiquity, with some of the more advanced concepts and inventions forgotten during the turbulent eras of Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. Gradually, some of the technological feats of the Romans were rediscovered and/or improved upon during the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Era; with some in areas such as civil engineering, construction materials, transport technology, and certain inventions such as the mechanical reaper, not improved upon until the 19th century. The Romans achieved high levels of technology in large part because they borrowed technologies from the Greeks, Etruscans, Celts, and others. (Full article...)
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General images

The following are images from various ancient Rome-related articles on Wikipedia.
  • Aeneas's route in Virgil's Aeneid. The epic poem was written in the early first century BC. (from Founding of Rome)
  • Still life on a 2nd-century Roman mosaic (from Roman Empire)
  • Augustus of Prima Porta (from Roman Empire)
  • Roman portraiture fresco of a young man with a papyrus scroll, from Herculaneum, 1st century AD (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • Recreation of a deer hunt inspired by hunting scenes represented in Roman art. (from Roman Empire)
  • The Colosseum in Rome (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • A 3rd-century funerary stele is among the earliest Christian inscriptions, written in both Greek and Latin. (from Roman Empire)
  • Forum of Gerasa (Jerash in present-day Jordan), with columns marking a covered walkway (stoa) for vendor stalls, and a semicircular space for public speaking (from Roman Empire)
  • So-called "Bikini Girls" mosaic from the Villa del Casale, Roman Sicily, 4th century (from Roman Empire)
  • Fragment of a sarcophagus depicting Gordian III and senators (3rd century) (from Roman Empire)
  • Cityscape from the Villa Boscoreale (60s AD) (from Roman Empire)
  • Trio of musicians playing an aulos, cymbala, and tympanum (mosaic from Pompeii) (from Roman Empire)
  • The Zliten mosaic, from a dining room in present-day Libya, depicts a series of arena scenes: from top, musicians; gladiators; beast fighters; and convicts condemned to the beasts (from Roman Empire)
  • Romulus and Remus on the House of the She-wolf at the Grand Place of Brussels (from Founding of Rome)
  • Mosaic from Pompeii depicting the Academy of Plato (from Roman Empire)
  • A fresco portrait of a man holding a papyrus roll, Pompeii, Italy, 1st century AD (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • Musicians playing a Roman tuba, a water organ (hydraulis), and a pair of cornua, detail from the Zliten mosaic, 2nd century AD (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • A victor in his four-horse chariot (from Roman Empire)
  • Condemned man attacked by a leopard in the arena (3rd-century mosaic from Tunisia) (from Roman Empire)
  • On the Ludovisi sarcophagus (from Roman Empire)
  • A late Republican banquet scene in a fresco from Herculaneum, Italy, c. 50 BC; the woman wears a transparent silk gown while the man to the left raises a rhyton drinking vessel (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • Silver cup, from the Boscoreale Treasure (early 1st century AD) (from Roman Empire)
  • A segment of the ruins of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, overlooking Crag Lough (from Roman Empire)
  • A fresco from Herculaneum depicting Heracles and Achelous from Greco-Roman mythology, 1st century CE (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • Aquae Sulis in Bath, England: architectural features above the level of the pillar bases are a later reconstruction. (from Roman Empire)
  • Bread stall, from a Pompeiian wall painting (from Roman Empire)
  • Statue in Constanța, Romania (the ancient colony Tomis), commemorating Ovid's exile (from Roman Empire)
  • A bust of Cicero, Capitoline Museums, Rome (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • Reconstructed peristyle garden based on the House of the Vettii (from Roman Empire)
  • Wall painting (1st century AD) from Pompeii depicting a multigenerational banquet (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161) wearing a toga (Hermitage Museum) (from Roman Empire)
  • Slave holding writing tablets for his master (relief from a 4th-century sarcophagus) (from Roman Empire)
  • Model of archaic Rome, 6th century BC (from Founding of Rome)
  • The Roman empire under Hadrian (ruled 117–138) showing the location of the Roman legions deployed in 125 AD (from Roman Empire)
  • Capitoline Wolf, sculpture of the she-wolf feeding the twins Romulus and Remus, the most famous image associated with the founding of Rome. According to Livy, it was erected in 296 BC. (from Founding of Rome)
  • Landscape resulting from the ruina montium mining technique at Las Médulas, Spain, one of the most important gold mines in the Roman Empire (from Roman Empire)
  • The so-called Primavera of Stabiae, perhaps the goddess Flora (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • Western Europe during its Middle Bronze Age, with the Apennine Culture in blue (from Founding of Rome)
  • Pride in literacy was displayed through emblems of reading and writing, as in this portrait of Terentius Neo and his wife (c. 20 AD) (from Roman Empire)
  • The administrative divisions of the Roman Empire in 395 AD (from Roman Empire)
  • Dressing of a priestess or bride, Roman fresco from Herculaneum, Italy (30–40 AD) (from Roman Empire)
  • The Pantheon in Rome, a Roman temple originally built under Augustus, later converted into a Catholic church in the 7th century (from Roman Empire)
  • Public toilets (latrinae) from Ostia Antica (from Roman Empire)
  • Glass cage cup from the Rhineland, 4th century (from Roman Empire)
  • The Wedding of Zephyrus and Chloris (54–68 AD, Pompeian Fourth Style) within painted architectural panels from the Casa del Naviglio (from Roman Empire)
  • Reconstruction of a wax writing tablet (from Roman Empire)
  • Winged Victory, ancient Roman fresco of the Neronian era from Pompeii (from Roman Empire)
  • Funerary urn of the Villanovan culture, precursor to Etruscan civilization (from Founding of Rome)
  • Finely decorated Gallo-Roman terra sigillata bowl (from Roman Empire)
  • Relief panel from Trajan's Column in Rome, showing the building of a fort and the reception of a Dacian embassy (from Roman Empire)
  • Cinerary urn for the freedman Tiberius Claudius Chryseros and two women, probably his wife and daughter (from Roman Empire)
  • Head of Constantine the Great, part of a colossal statue. Bronze, 4th century, Musei Capitolini, Rome. (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • All-male theatrical troupe preparing for a masked performance, on a mosaic from the House of the Tragic Poet (from Roman Empire)
  • Fragmentary military diploma from Carnuntum; Latin was the language of the military throughout the Empire (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • Workers at a cloth-processing shop, in a painting from the fullonica of Veranius Hypsaeus in Pompeii (from Roman Empire)
  • The Triumph of Neptune floor mosaic from Africa Proconsularis (present-day Tunisia) (from Roman Empire)
  • A teacher with two students, as a third arrives with his loculus, a writing case (from Roman Empire)
  • Togate statue in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale d'Abruzzo (from Roman Empire)
  • Eighteenth century painting by Pompeo Batoni depicting Aeneas fleeing from Troy. Aeneas carries his father. (from Founding of Rome)
  • A multigenerational banquet depicted on a wall painting from Pompeii (1st century AD) (from Roman Empire)
  • The Flavian Amphitheatre, more commonly known as the Colosseum (from Roman Empire)
  • Gold earrings with gemstones, 3rd century (from Roman Empire)
  • Sestertius issued under Hadrian circa AD 134–138 (from Roman Empire)
  • Marble relief of Mithras slaying the bull (2nd century, Louvre-Lens); Mithraism was among the most widespread mystery religions of the Roman Empire. (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • Plato's Academy mosaic from Pompeii (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • Toga-clad statue, restored with the head of the emperor Nerva (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • Excavation on the Palatine Hill has found the foundations of a hut believed to correspond to the Hut of Romulus, which the Romans themselves preserved into late antiquity (from Founding of Rome)
  • Circus Maximus, a mass entertainment venue located in Rome (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • The Barbarian Invasions consisted of the movement of (mainly) ancient Germanic peoples into Roman territory. Historically, this event marked the transition between classical antiquity and the Middle Ages. (from Roman Empire)
  • Eggs, thrushes, napkin, and vessels (wall painting from the House of Julia Felix, Pompeii) (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • Fresco of a seated woman from Stabiae, 1st century AD (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • The Temple of Saturn, a religious monument that housed the treasury in ancient Rome (from Roman Empire)
  • A green Roman glass cup unearthed from an Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 AD) tomb in Guangxi, China (from Roman Empire)
  • The Pont du Gard aqueduct, which crosses the river Gardon in southern France, is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites. (from Roman Empire)
  • The Tabula Peutingeriana (Latin for "The Peutinger Map") an Itinerarium, often assumed to be based on the Roman cursus publicus (from Roman Empire)
  • 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 (from Roman Empire)
  • A fresco from Pompeii depicting the foundation of Rome. Sol riding in his chariot; Mars descending from the sky to Rhea Silvia lying in the grass; Mercury shows to Venus the she-wolf suckling the twins; in the lower corners of the picture: river-god Tiberinus and water-goddess Juturna. 35–45 AD. (from Founding of Rome)
  • Mosaic depicting a theatrical troupe preparing for a performance (from Culture of ancient Rome)
  • The Roman Empire by 476, noting western and eastern divisions (from Roman Empire)

Selected biography -

Bust, c. 161 AD
Annia Galeria Faustina the Younger (c. 130 AD, – 175/176 AD) was Roman empress from 161 to her death as the wife of emperor Marcus Aurelius, her maternal cousin. Faustina was the youngest child of emperor Antoninus Pius and empress Faustina the Elder. She was held in high esteem by soldiers and her husband as Augusta and Mater Castrorum ('Mother of the Camp') and was given divine honours after her death. (Full article...)

Did you know?

  • ...That the Pater familias of a family, had the power to sell his children into slavery?
  • ...That Trajan was the last Roman Emperor to harry the coast of Arabia with the Roman Navy?
  • ...That Trajan was born at Italica, in Spain and adopted by the Roman Emperor Nerva and made his heir, which entitled Trajan to call himself the son of Nerva

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List articles

  • List of ancient Romans
  • List of Roman Emperors
  • List of Roman Consuls
  • List of Roman censors
  • List of topics related to ancient Rome
  • List of Roman place names in Britain
  • List of Roman laws
  • List of Roman cognomina
  • List of Roman nomina
  • List of Roman praenomina
  • List of Roman sites
  • List of Roman usurpers

Selected picture



Trajan's Column (Italian: Colonna Traiana) is a monument in Rome which commemorates the Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars in 101-106 AD.

Photo credit: Radomil
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WikiProjects

The following WikiProjects are related to Ancient Rome:

  • WikiProject Classical Greece and Rome: The project regularly invites its members to collaborate on article development.
  • WikiProject Rome: Includes stylistic help and lists of articles requiring attention or expansion.
  • WikiProject Military history: Highly-active WikiProject with regular competitions to improve military history articles.

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