S4 Ancient Rome Ancient Rome was one of the greatest and most important civilisations in history. It lasted for over one thousand years and can be credited for having a major influence on Western culture. Its impact is still seen today in politics, engineering, architecture, language, and literature.
The city of Rome was founded in 753 BC. According to legend, the two sons of Mars, the god of war, named Romulus and Remus founded the city. They fought, and Romulus killed Remus. Romulus became king and Rome was ruled by kings for the next two hundred and forty years.
Rome first became powerful as a republic and stayed a republic from 509 BC until 45 BC. This meant its leaders were elected and served for a limited amount of time, unlike kings, who are born into their role. The Romans had a complex system of government with a constitution and written laws. These concepts served to form many other democracies even two millennia later, such as The United States.
In 45 BC, Julius Caesar made himself the first dictator of Rome. This signalled the end of the Roman Republic. His reign did not last for long, however, as he was assassinated just one year later. Throughout this time Augustus Caesar had been gaining power and in 27 BC became the first Roman Emperor and thus, the Roman Empire was born. Although much of the lower level government stayed the same, the Emperor now had supreme power.
As the Roman Empire grew, it became more and more difficult to manage. So much so, that in 395 AD, it split into two empires. The Western Roman Empire was ruled out of Rome. The
Eastern Roman Empire was ruled out of Constantinople (today’s Istanbul, Turkey). The Eastern Roman Empire would later become known as the Byzantine Empire.
The Visigoths, a nomadic Germanic people, invaded Rome in 410 AD and for the first time in almost one thousand years, Rome was under the power of someone other than the Romans.
In 476 AD, the last Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustus was defeated by the German Goth Odoacer. This resulted in the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The Byzantine Empire would continue its rule for almost another one thousand years, until it fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD.