The beautiful and historical city of Rome is known today for its panoramic views of mountainous country sides and architectural structures. It is the home of the Vatican and is an ideal vacationer’s retreat, showcasing its impressive seaports and water ways, breathtaking gardens, and open markets. A place where visitors can purchase anything from antiques to modern day marvels under gigantic umbrellas, or wayside flea markets as they search for souvenirs. However, the Roman world today is quite different from the Ancient Roman Empire of yesterday.
The City of Rome and the Roman Empire
The building of Rome began in the year 753 B.C. As the legend goes, Rome got its name from twin brothers, Romulus and Remus, who were instructed by the God Mars to build a city from the point of where they were found by a mother wolf after their abduction as babies. They built the city as they were told but the brothers ended up at war with each other. The winner of the war was Romulus and the city was then known as Rome. This story of the building of Rome has been passed down for generations but archeologists agree that people were living in Rome long before the story of Romulus and Remus.
Rome was originally run by kings some of them were very cruel. The last Roman king was Tarquin the Proud. He was overthrown and Rome became for the next 400 years a republic. This was ruled by Senators which the wealthy men of Rome had elected for different jobs within the senate. Women, slaves, and poor men were not allowed to vote for the senate. In the first century B.C. Roman army generals rose i power. They ruled lands from North Africa to France. Eventually, because of the problems between Generals, Roman rule was taken over by one man. This man was the Roman Emperor. One great Emperor of that time period was Augustus, who was the first Roman Emperor. He came to power in the year 27 B.C. and because of his ability to bring peace to Rome was very popular among the Roman people. However not all Emperors were as good as Augustus. Some of the other Emperors to rule ancient Rome were Constantine, the first christian Emperor, and the most notorious of them all was Julius Caesar.
Invasion
Before the Roman Invasion, Britain was home of the Celts. Their homes were thatched roof huts and they lived in small villages. Celtic Britain was divided into tribes, each of which was ruled by its own chief, or king. Though the country was ruled by kings, the citizens were merely farmers. They protected themselves from outsiders by building wooden forts around their communities in the hillsides.
Julius Caesar tried to invade Britain twice without success first in 55 B.C. and again in 54 B.C. He invaded because he was upset after conquering the French, because the Britons aided France, instead of Rome. Both times he atempted to invade his army was forced to give up because of the British warriors and the weather. Eventually it was Claudius, the Roman Emperor in 43 A.D. who was able to invade Britain successfully. In order to keep their lands some of the Celts peacefully accepted the Romans. These "cleint kings" as they are called were forced to agree that upon their deaths Rome could take over their kingdoms.
Results of the British Invasion
Rebellion
The Celts rebelled against the Roman takeover because they did not want to give up their way of life, pay higher taxes and be under the leadership of Roman authority. However, by 61 A.D., all of southern Britain was under the control of the Romans. After the King of the Icini died the Romans wanted more taxes on the British people, and they wanted Queen Boudicca who had been wife to the king, to give up her throne. Boudicca didn't want to give up her throne and decided to fight back and thus began the British rebellion.
The Britons, led by Boudicca marched to the capitol of Roman Britain, Colchester, and attacked, burning down a temple that acted as a shelter for elderly soldiers and their families. At the time of the rebellion part of the Roman army was located in Exeter and the general didn't move even after news of the rebellion reached him out of fear. The rest of the army at that time was with the Roman Governor and they were attempted to conquer Wales.
The rebellion soon spread to London, where Queen Boudicca fled. She avoided capture by killing herself. After the rebellion ceased, Southern Britain decided to give in and adopted the Roman’s way of life.
The Roman Defense of Britain
In 117 A.D., the Roman Empire was under the rule of Emperor Hadrian. He set out to separate the Celts of Northern England from Roman occupied territory. He had a stone wall built to protect from the Scottish barbarians and named it after himself. This wall stood 14 feet high and was 70 miles long, giving him control and management over the remaining British Celts. The Romans not only built stone walls and bridges, they also constructed cobblestone roads in Europe. The Romans best defense was creating passable roadways so that their troops could move about with ease. Roadways gave more control in sending and receiving messages by military personnel. Though the Romans were excellent at creating roads, when it came to protecting themselves from pirates at sea, it was up to the emperor to keep the empire safe and he did so by bargaining and trading with the pirates. The emperors would trade slaves, luxury items and basic goods and wares to appease the pirates.
The Roman Army
The Roman army was made up of strong, dedicated men who were ready to serve at a moments notice. During that period of time, the army was divided into groups. A soldier could serve in the legionaries or the auxiliaries sections of the army. To become a Roman Legionary, the soldier had to be a natural citizen of Rome and be under the age of 45. Legionary soldiers had to serve in the army for 20 years. To be in the auxiliary, this meant that the soldier was not a Roman citizen, but a captive under Roman control. This soldier had to serve in the army for 25 years. When it came to warfare defense and strategy, the soldiers were equipped with swords, javelins, body shields, spears and a dagger. Once a Roman civilian took the pledge to become a Roman soldier, he held a remarkable sense of self control and discipline. He was dedicated in his army duties as a soldier.
Life for both types of Roman soldier was not easy. Soldiers marched 20 miles a day wearring heavy armor while carrying food, camping equipment, and a shield.
Types of Soldiers in the Roman Army
Roads and Places
A typical Roman street was long and straight and made of gravel. The streets had a drainage system for water to run off. Typically travel for people was done on foot, on horseback, or in a cart pulled by oxen. Stone walls were built around the cities keep out trouble. In the center of each town stood the Forum, here you would find shops, markets and public buildings called basilicas where people could meet in groups and conduct important meetings.
Away from Roman Britain in the small villiages near the borders people lived much like they had prior to the Roman Invasion. They lived in houses with thatched roofs and were often farmers.
Much can be learend about this history of a town from it's name. Roman cities and towns sometimes had a suffix ending with chester, cester or castor; places bearing such names showed that the vicinity was a fort owned by the Romans, even if the occupants were not Roman.
Leisure
The Romans were very fond of entertainment and socializing. It was considered an essential way of life for the Romans. They enjoyed the theater, the circus and socializing at the bath houses and amphitheaters. Inside the amphitheater, they enjoyed the gladiator battles and matches. In the theater arenas, they enjoyed watching chariot races and viewing plays set to stage and pantomime amusement. Roman baths, even though the name would suggest were used for hygenic purposes, were more likely used as a social gathering place. When a person would enter the bath, they would change out of their clothing and do some exercises before taking a possible swim in the pool. From the pool they would proceed into one room after another, each hotter than before in order to sweat off dirt. The dirt and sweat would then be scraped off the body with a tool made specifically for that purpose. They would then swim in a cold pool before exiting the bath house.
Families and Children
In ancient Rome the head of the household was the father of the family. He held ultimate power in the home, including the power over whether a newborn baby would be allowed to live or be taken away to be killed. If the child was allowed to survive they would likely never go to a school. Only the really wealthy families could afford to send children to school, and then it was only the boy children that were allowed to go. Other children, girls and those from poorer families may have been schooled at home but often they would instead have had to help their parents work and would never truly be educated. For those children that were being home schooled their lessons were often taught by household slaves. Young girls education consisted of learning how to spin, weave, cook and take care of household responsibilities. It was the young boys who learned how to read and write.
To be a Roman meant that you were married at the age of 15-16. If you refused to marry someone that the head of the household had selected for you, you could be punished for disobeying. Wealthy Romans enjoyed living in villas and town house apartments, while the not so wealthy lived in one room apartment that did not have kitchens for cooking.
Living at Home in Ancient Rome
Technology
The Romans were a wise people when it came to engineering knowledge. They invented technology that would bring running water into their cities by way of aqueducts. The water system was used in the public bath houses and the sewer system. The Romans constructed the first watermill used to grind flour. They also had during that period a sewer system in place that carried waste from the cities and towns into the near by rivers.
Religion
The Romans had many gods and goddesses that they worshipped and there were no set denomination of religion. The gods that they worshipped were Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Neptune and Isis to name a few. Worshiping these gods involved elaborate and exotic rituals. Christianity did not take part in the Roman history until 312 A.D., when the emperor Constantine the Great was in power. He turned his entire empire into a Christian domination after praying to a Christian god to win a war battle. He won the battle and adopted Christianity as their religion.
Roman Remains
Ancient Rome is known for the remains of its massive architectural structures involving statues, stone coliseums, temples and tall brick columns and arches. The remains of such places were bought on by the fall of Ancient Rome. Rome started to go down hill with its decline in morals and values, political corruption and inflation. The citizens also became very discouraged with the military spending. The situation caused the Romans to loose the desire to defend the empire.
Famous Remains of Ancient Rome