Portal:Ancient Rome

The Ancient Rome portal

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, assimilated the Greek culture of southern Italy (Magna Grecia) and the Etruscan culture, becoming a dominant power in the Mediterranean region and parts of Europe. It was among the largest empires in the ancient world, with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants, roughly 20% of the world's population at the time. It covered around 5 million square kilometres (1.9 million square miles) at its height in AD 117.

The Roman state evolved from an elective monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic semi-elective military dictatorship during the Empire. Through conquest, cultural, and linguistic assimilation, 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. It 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 -

The Western Mediterranean just before the start of the war in 264 BC: Rome is shown in red, Carthage in grey, and Syracuse in green

The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and greatest naval war of antiquity, the two powers struggled for supremacy. The war was fought primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters, and also in North Africa. After immense losses on both sides, the Carthaginians were defeated.

The war began in 264 BC with the Romans gaining a foothold on Sicily at Messana (modern Messina). The Romans then pressed Syracuse, the only significant independent power on the island, into allying with them and laid siege to Carthage's main base at Akragas. A large Carthaginian army attempted to lift the siege in 262 BC but was heavily defeated at the Battle of Akragas. The Romans then built a navy to challenge the Carthaginians', and using novel tactics inflicted several defeats. A Carthaginian base on Corsica was seized, but an attack on Sardinia was repulsed; the base on Corsica was then lost. Taking advantage of their naval victories the Romans launched an invasion of North Africa, which the Carthaginians intercepted. At the Battle of Cape Ecnomus the Carthaginians were again beaten; this was possibly the largest naval battle in history by the number of combatants involved. The invasion initially went well and in 255 BC the Carthaginians sued for peace; the proposed terms were so harsh they fought on, defeating the invaders. The Romans sent a fleet to evacuate their survivors and the Carthaginians opposed it at the Battle of Cape Hermaeum off Africa; the Carthaginians were heavily defeated. The Roman fleet, in turn, was devastated by a storm while returning to Italy, losing most of its ships and over 100,000 men. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

General images

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

Image 1Capitoline 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 2Mosaic from Pompeii depicting the Academy of Plato (from Roman Empire)
Image 3Fragmentary military diploma from Carnuntum; Latin was the language of the military throughout the Empire (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 4Eighteenth century painting by Pompeo Batoni depicting Aeneas fleeing from Troy. Aeneas carries his father. (from Founding of Rome)
Image 5Landscape 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 6Musicians 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 7A Roman priest, his head ritually covered with a fold of his toga, extends a patera in a gesture of libation (2nd–3rd century) (from Roman Empire)
Image 8The emperor Marcus Aurelius sacrificing at the Temple of Jupiter (from Roman Empire)
Image 9Togate statue in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale d'Abruzzo (from Roman Empire)
Image 10The Temple of Saturn, a religious monument that housed the treasury in ancient Rome (from Roman Empire)
Image 11Funerary urn of the Villanovan culture showing a hut with a door (from Founding of Rome)
Image 12Relief from the Arch of Titus in Rome depicting a menorah and other spoils from the Temple of Jerusalem carried in Roman triumph. (from Roman Empire)
Image 13Recreation of a deer hunt inspired by hunting scenes represented in Roman art. (from Roman Empire)
Image 14The Colosseum in Rome (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 15The Pantheon in Rome, a Roman temple originally built under Augustus and later rebuilt under Hadrian in the 2nd century, later converted into a Catholic church in the 7th century (from Roman Empire)
Image 16Bread stall, from a Pompeiian wall painting (from Roman Empire)
Image 17The so-called Primavera of Stabiae, perhaps the goddess Flora (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 18The Tabula Peutingeriana (Latin for "The Peutinger Map") an Itinerarium, often assumed to be based on the Roman cursus publicus (from Roman Empire)
Image 19Relief panel from Trajan's Column in Rome, showing the building of a fort and the reception of a Dacian embassy (from Roman Empire)
Image 20Head of Constantine the Great, part of a colossal statue. Bronze, 4th century, Musei Capitolini, Rome. (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 21Toga-clad statue, restored with the head of the emperor Nerva (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 22Augustus of Prima Porta (from Roman Empire)
Image 23Glass cage cup from the Rhineland, 4th century (from Roman Empire)
Image 24Fragment of a sarcophagus depicting Gordian III and senators (3rd century) (from Roman Empire)
Image 25Gold earrings with gemstones, 3rd century (from Roman Empire)
Image 26Fresco of a seated woman from Stabiae, 1st century AD (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 27Wall painting (1st century AD) from Pompeii depicting a multigenerational banquet (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 28A 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)
Image 29So-called "Bikini Girls" mosaic from the Villa del Casale, Roman Sicily, 4th century (from Roman Empire)
Image 30The foundations of a hut on the Palatine hill are believed to correspond to those of the Hut of Romulus, a hut which the Romans believed that Romulus had inhabited and which they preserved into late antiquity. (from Founding of Rome)
Image 31Condemned man attacked by a leopard in the arena (3rd-century mosaic from Tunisia) (from Roman Empire)
Image 32On the Ludovisi sarcophagus (from Roman Empire)
Image 33Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161) wearing a toga (Hermitage Museum) (from Roman Empire)
Image 34The Roman empire under Hadrian (ruled 117–138) showing the location of the Roman legions deployed in 125 AD (from Roman Empire)
Image 35Plato's Academy mosaic from Pompeii (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 36Forum 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)
Image 37A victor in his four-horse chariot (from Roman Empire)
Image 38Romulus and Remus on the House of the She-wolf at the Grand Place of Brussels (from Founding of Rome)
Image 39Mosaic depicting a theatrical troupe preparing for a performance (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 40Cityscape from the Villa Boscoreale (60s AD) (from Roman Empire)
Image 41Marble 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 42A fresco portrait of a man holding a papyrus roll, Pompeii, Italy, 1st century AD (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 43The Triumph of Neptune floor mosaic from Africa Proconsularis (present-day Tunisia) (from Roman Empire)
Image 44Finely decorated Gallo-Roman terra sigillata bowl (from Roman Empire)
Image 45This funerary stele from the 3rd century is among the earliest Christian inscriptions, written in both Greek and Latin: the abbreviation D.M. at the top refers to the Di Manes, the traditional Roman spirits of the dead, but accompanies Christian fish symbolism. (from Roman Empire)
Image 46A green Roman glass cup unearthed from an Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 AD) tomb in Guangxi, China (from Roman Empire)
Image 47All-male theatrical troupe preparing for a masked performance, on a mosaic from the House of the Tragic Poet (from Roman Empire)
Image 48A segment of the ruins of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, overlooking Crag Lough (from Roman Empire)
Image 49Workers at a cloth-processing shop, in a painting from the fullonica of Veranius Hypsaeus in Pompeii (from Roman Empire)
Image 50The Roman Empire by 476, noting western and eastern divisions (from Roman Empire)
Image 51Reconstructed peristyle garden based on the House of the Vettii (from Roman Empire)
Image 52Statue in Constanța, Romania (the ancient colony Tomis), commemorating Ovid's exile (from Roman Empire)
Image 53Pride 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 54Model of archaic Rome. The image faces northeast, with the Capitoline hill on left and the Palatine on right. The city would not have looked like this prior to the seventh century BC. (from Founding of Rome)
Image 55Slave holding writing tablets for his master (relief from a 4th-century sarcophagus) (from Roman Empire)
Image 56Sestertius issued under Hadrian circa AD 134–138 (from Roman Empire)
Image 57A bust of Cicero, Capitoline Museums, Rome (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 58Winged Victory, ancient Roman fresco of the Neronian era from Pompeii (from Roman Empire)
Image 59The 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 60The Flavian Amphitheatre, more commonly known as the Colosseum (from Roman Empire)
Image 61Detail of Romulus and Remus suckling the she-wolf from the Capitoline Wolf. The twins at the bottom are not original. (from Founding of Rome)
Image 62Silver cup, from the Boscoreale Treasure (early 1st century AD) (from Roman Empire)
Image 63Solidus 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)
Image 64Eggs, thrushes, napkin, and vessels (wall painting from the House of Julia Felix, Pompeii) (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 65A fresco from Herculaneum depicting Heracles and Achelous from Greco-Roman mythology, 1st century CE (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 66The 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 67Reconstruction of a wax writing tablet (from Roman Empire)
Image 68Aeneas' fictional route, according to Virgil's Aeneid. The epic poem was written in the early first century BC. (from Founding of Rome)
Image 69Dressing of a priestess or bride, Roman fresco from Herculaneum, Italy (30–40 AD) (from Roman Empire)
Image 70Aquae Sulis in Bath, England: architectural features above the level of the pillar bases are a later reconstruction. (from Roman Empire)
Image 71Circus Maximus, a mass entertainment venue located in Rome (from Culture of ancient Rome)
Image 72A teacher with two students, as a third arrives with his loculus, a writing case (from Roman Empire)
Image 73The 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)
Image 74Still life on a 2nd-century Roman mosaic (from Roman Empire)
Image 75Public toilets (latrinae) from Ostia Antica (from Roman Empire)
Image 76Trio of musicians playing an aulos, cymbala, and tympanum (mosaic from Pompeii) (from Roman Empire)
Image 77A multigenerational banquet depicted on a wall painting from Pompeii (1st century AD) (from Roman Empire)
Image 78Brescia Casket, an ivory box with Biblical imagery (late 4th century) (from Roman Empire)
Image 79Cinerary urn for the freedman Tiberius Claudius Chryseros and two women, probably his wife and daughter (from Roman Empire)
Image 80Roman portraiture fresco of a young man with a papyrus scroll, from Herculaneum, 1st century AD (from Culture of ancient Rome)

Selected biography -

A gold solidus bearing the image of Basiliscus and his son and co-emperor Marcus

Basiliscus (Greek: Βασιλίσκος, translit. Basilískos; died 476/477) was Eastern Roman emperor from 9 January 475 to August 476. He became magister militum per Thracias in 464, under his brother-in-law, Emperor Leo I (r. 457–474). Basiliscus commanded the army for an invasion of the Vandal Kingdom in 468, which was defeated at the Battle of Cape Bon. There were accusations at the time that Basiliscus was bribed by Aspar, the magister militum; many historians dismiss this, instead concluding that Basiliscus was either incompetent or foolish for accepting Vandal King Gaiseric's offer of a truce, which the latter used to construct fireships. Basiliscus's defeat cost the Eastern Empire 130,000 pounds (59,000 kg) of gold, causing the empire to hover above bankruptcy for 30 years. When Basiliscus returned to Constantinople, he sought refuge in the Church of St. Sophia. His sister, Empress Verina, secured him a pardon and he left the church to retire in Neapolis.

When Emperor Leo died in 474, his grandson Leo II (r. 474) took power, but soon died; his father, Zeno (r. 474–475, 476–491) ascended the throne in the same year, in a politically precarious position. Verina conspired to install the magister officiorum Patricius, her lover, as emperor. This plot was supported by Basiliscus, who succeeded in recruiting Isaurian brothers Illus and Trocundes, as well as Verina's nephew Armatus. Zeno fled on 9 January 475, either after learning of the plot or after Verina warned him that his life was in danger. Although Patricius was Verina's intended successor, Basiliscus convinced the Eastern Roman Senate to acclaim him instead. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies

Did you know?

...That when Caesar's troops hesitated to leave their ships for fear of the Britons, the aquilifer of the tenth legion threw himself overboard and, carrying the eagle, advanced alone against the enemy?
...That the most well paid athlete in human history, Gaius Appuleius Diocles, was an illiterate Roman Chariot racer, and earned the equivalent of $15 Billion US Dollars.
View all selections...

Related portals

Topics

List articles

Selected picture

The Roman Forum (Latin: Forum Romanum) was a rectangular forum at the heart of the city of Ancient Rome. The Forum was used for military triumphs, elections, criminal trials, gladiatorial matches, and as a meeting- and business-place. The Forum survives today in ruins, and is the oldest structure in the modern city of Rome.

The Roman Forum (Latin: Forum Romanum) was a rectangular forum at the heart of the city of Ancient Rome. The Forum was used for military triumphs, elections, criminal trials, gladiatorial matches, and as a meeting- and business-place. The Forum survives today in ruins, and is the oldest structure in the modern city of Rome.

Photo credit: Howard Hudson

Continue reading • More selected pictures...

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.

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.

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

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Commons
Free media repository
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals
Wikidata
Free knowledge base
Wikinews
Free-content news
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations
Wikisource
Free-content library
Wikispecies
Directory of species
Wikiversity
Free learning tools
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

Web resources

Discover Wikipedia using portals

List of all portals

List of all portals
The arts portal

The arts portal
Biography portal

Biography portal
Current events portal

Current events portal
Geography portal

Geography portal
History portal

History portal
Mathematics portal

Mathematics portal
Science portal

Science portal
Society portal

Society portal
Technology portal

Technology portal
Random portal

Random portal
WikiProject Portals

WikiProject Portals

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.