Portal:Ancient Rome

Portal topics - (Random portal)

Activities

Culture

Geography

Health

History

Mathematics

Nature

People

Philosophy

Religion

Society

Technology

edit

The Ancient Rome portal

In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (509‍–‍27 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC – 476 AD) until the fall of the western empire.

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 whole Italian Peninsula, assimilating the Greek culture of Magna Graecia (in southern Italy) and the Etruscan culture in north-central Italy, and then became the dominant power in the Mediterranean region and parts of Europe. At its height it controlled the North African coast, the Iberian and Balkan peninsulas and most of Southern and Western Europe, and much of the Middle East, including Anatolia, the Levant, Egypt, and parts of Mesopotamia and Arabia, and Crimea. 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.^[1] 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...)

View new selections below (purge)

edit

Selected article - show another

A Roman dictator was an extraordinary magistrate of the Roman Republic, endowed with full authority to resolve some specific problem to which he had been assigned. He received the full powers of the state, subordinating the other magistrates, consuls included, for the specific purpose of resolving that issue, and only that issue, and then dispensing with those powers immediately.

A dictator was still controlled and accountable during his term of office: the Senate still exercised some oversight authority, and the rights of plebeian tribunes to veto his actions or of the people to appeal them were retained. The extent of a dictator's mandate strictly controlled the ends to which his powers could be directed. Dictators were also—at least in some cases—liable to prosecution after their terms completed. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

edit

General images

The following are images from various ancient Rome-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Aquae Sulis in Bath, England: architectural features above the level of the pillar bases are a later reconstruction. (from Roman Empire)
Image 2Model of archaic Rome, 6th century BC (from Founding of Rome)
Image 3Solidus issued in the name of Constantine II as caesar by Constantine the Great, depicting Victoria on the reverse, one of the last deities to commonly appear on Roman coins, which gradually transformed into an angel under Christian rule (from Roman Empire)
Image 4Public toilets (latrinae) from Ostia Antica (from Roman Empire)
Image 5The so-called Primavera of Stabiae, perhaps the goddess Flora (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 6Excavation 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)
Image 7A bust of Cicero, Capitoline Museums, Rome (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 8All-male theatrical troupe preparing for a masked performance, on a mosaic from the House of the Tragic Poet (from Roman Empire)
Image 9The 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)
Image 10The Tabula Peutingeriana (Latin for "The Peutinger Map") an Itinerarium, often assumed to be based on the Roman cursus publicus (from Roman Empire)
Image 11Slave holding writing tablets for his master (relief from a 4th-century sarcophagus) (from Roman Empire)
Image 12Pride 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)
Image 13A fresco from Herculaneum depicting Heracles and Achelous from Greco-Roman mythology, 1st century CE (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 14Eighteenth-century painting by Pompeo Batoni depicting Aeneas fleeing from Troy. Aeneas carries his father. (from Founding of Rome)
Image 15Landscape 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)
Image 16Gold earrings with gemstones, 3rd century (from Roman Empire)
Image 17Bread stall, from a Pompeiian wall painting (from Roman Empire)
Image 18Circus Maximus, a mass entertainment venue located in Rome (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 19Fragmentary military diploma from Carnuntum; Latin was the language of the military throughout the Empire (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 20Fragment of a sarcophagus depicting Gordian III and senators (3rd century) (from Roman Empire)
Image 21Capitoline 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)
Image 22Still life on a 2nd-century Roman mosaic (from Roman Empire)
Image 23Musicians 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)
Image 24Augustus of Prima Porta (from Roman Empire)
Image 25The Roman Empire by 476, noting western and eastern divisions (from Roman Empire)
Image 26Plato's Academy mosaic from Pompeii (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 27Roman cities in the Imperial period (from Roman Empire)
Image 28So-called "Bikini Girls" mosaic from the Villa del Casale, Roman Sicily, 4th century (from Roman Empire)
Image 29A multigenerational banquet depicted on a wall painting from Pompeii (1st century AD) (from Roman Empire)
Image 30The Roman Empire under Hadrian (ruled 117–138) showing the location of the Roman legions deployed in 125 AD (from Roman Empire)
Image 31Glass cage cup from the Rhineland, 4th century (from Roman Empire)
Image 32Reconstructed peristyle garden based on the House of the Vettii (from Roman Empire)
Image 33Marble 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)
Image 34Cinerary urn for the freedman Tiberius Claudius Chryseros and two women, probably his wife and daughter (from Roman Empire)
Image 35Trio of musicians playing an aulos, cymbala, and tympanum (mosaic from Pompeii) (from Roman Empire)
Image 36Roman portraiture fresco of a young man with a papyrus scroll, from Herculaneum, 1st century AD (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 37The Temple of Saturn, a religious monument that housed the treasury in ancient Rome (from Roman Empire)
Image 38A 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)
Image 39Sestertius issued under Hadrian c. 134–138 AD (from Roman Empire)
Image 40A teacher with two students, as a third arrives with his loculus, a writing case (from Roman Empire)
Image 41Statue in Constanța, Romania (the ancient colony Tomis), commemorating Ovid's exile (from Roman Empire)
Image 42The Pont du Gard aqueduct, which crosses the river Gardon in southern France, is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites. (from Roman Empire)
Image 43Mosaic from Pompeii depicting the Academy of Plato (from Roman Empire)
Image 44The Flavian Amphitheatre, more commonly known as the Colosseum (from Roman Empire)
Image 45Winged Victory, ancient Roman fresco of the Neronian era from Pompeii (from Roman Empire)
Image 46Romulus and Remus on the House of the She-wolf at the Grand Place of Brussels (from Founding of Rome)
Image 47Reconstruction of a wax writing tablet (from Roman Empire)
Image 48A green Roman glass cup unearthed from an Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 AD) tomb in Guangxi, China (from Roman Empire)
Image 49Fresco of a seated woman from Stabiae, 1st century AD (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 50Togate statue in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale d'Abruzzo (from Roman Empire)

edit

Selected biography - show another

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...)

List of selected biographies

edit

Did you know?

...That according to Suetonius, Caligula "often sent for men whom he had secretly killed, as though they were still alive, and remarked offhandedly a few days later that they must have committed suicide"?
...That Mark Antony, who avenged Julius Caesar, was killed by Julius Caesar's grand nephew (Octavian) Augustus Caesar?
...That Sulla's grave read No friend ever surpassed him in kindness, and no enemy in ill-doing?

View all selections...

edit

Related portals

edit

Topics

edit

List articles

edit

Selected picture

Gaius Gracchus (154 BC – 121 BC), a tribune of the people, presiding over the Plebeian Council. When presiding, the tribune could make motions and propose laws to the council.

Photo credit: Unknown

Continue reading • More selected pictures...

edit

WikiProjects

WikiProjects puzzle

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.

edit

Things you can do

Tasks clipboard

Add a fact which our readers would find interesting as a Did you know? entry.
Add relevant quotes about Rome or by a Roman to the Quotes section.
Expand the Ancient Rome article with a referenced fact, or copy-edit the article prose to improve its quality.

edit

Quotes

“

[...] Caesar is a god in his own city. Outstanding in war or peace, it was not so much his wars that ended in great victories, or his actions at home, or his swiftly won fame, that set him among the stars, a fiery comet, as his descendant. There is no greater achievement among Caesar's actions than that he stood father to our emperor. Is it a greater thing to have conquered the sea-going Britons; to have led his victorious ships up the seven-mouthed flood of the papyrus-bearing Nile; to have brought the rebellious Numidians, under Juba of Cinyps, and Pontus, swollen with the name of Mithridates, under the people of Quirinus; to have earned many triumphs and celebrated few; than to have sponsored such a man, with whom, as ruler of all, you gods have richly favoured the human race? Therefore, in order for the emperor not to have been born of mortal seed, Caesar needed to be made a god. [...]

Augustus, his 'son', will ensure that he ascends to heaven as a god, and is worshipped in the temples. Augustus, as heir to his name, will carry the burden placed upon him alone, and will have us with him, in battle, as the most courageous avenger of his father's murder. Under his command, the conquered walls of besieged Mutina will sue for peace; Pharsalia will know him; Macedonian Philippi twice flow with blood; and the one who holds Pompey's great name, will be defeated in Sicilian waters; and a Roman general's Egyptian consort, trusting, to her cost, in their marriage, will fall, her threat that our Capitol would bow to her city of Canopus, proved vain.

Why enumerate foreign countries or the nations living on either ocean shore? Wherever earth contains habitable land, it will be his: and even the sea will serve him!

”

— Ovid, Metamorphoses, XV, 745–842

edit