Roman Empire

Without argument, the Roman Empire was one of the greatest world powers known to history. At the height of its power it basically controlled the entire civilized world as it was then known. During Rome's early years the country took the form of a kingdom with two divisions-the patrician or noble class and the commoners or plebeians. A king ruled who was limited in power and elected by the Senate or Council of Elders. During the 7th and late 6th centuries BC Rome was ruled by Etruscan kings, but it would become a republic in approximately 510 BC (Microsoft 1). One of the most unique things about the Roman culture, and a major factor in why it was able to expand and be so successful for such a long period of time, was its ability to not only acquire foreign lands but also to adopt the ways, customs and skills of those it conquered. The Etruscan culture, as would others later, left an enormous imprint on the expanding Rome, "The Romans attacked little areas and tried to overcome them. These battles were lost and won. At first they had little land but while they expanded they took some of the enemy soldiers and used them in other provinces as auxiliaries. They unlike other civilizations took the knowledge from the other civilizations and used it for their own civilization" (Roman 1). After this time Rome would begin expanding through a series of wars (most notably the Gallic and Punic wars) and infrastructure developments such as the S

Related Essays

The Downfall of the Roman Empire The Roman Empire represented the greatest power and civilization in ancient history. Rome rose to such heights from a combination .... (1240 5 )

The Western Roman Empire This research examines whether and to what extent the Western Roman Empire can be said to have "fallen" over the course of the third to fifth centuries AD and .... (1281 5 )

Christianity in the Roman Empire In discussing Christianity in the Roman Empire one is immediately confronted with a problem: all too many people, in-fluenced by Hollywood, have preconceived .... (2879 12 )

Christianity in Roman Empire .... worlds. Then, in a similar but more peaceful fashion, Christ's followers went out to spread the word throughout the Roman Empire. It .... (1907 8 )

The Roman Empire The results of this expansion included a tendency toward thinking of Rome as the Roman Empire. .... Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Vol. .... (4943 20 )

he Romans were also skillful at warfare. Their strategy was one which enabled them to fight an enemy in a series of stages, thus making their onslaught continuous but one which allowed time to regroup and attack again. Their conquests were a series of victorious battles which began small at first against weaker enemies before eventually progressing to major battles against powerful ones, "At the beginning the Romans fought only little tribes but as they gained power they moved on to more powerful enemies which they succeeded in defeating thanks to their good road networks and their military training which were superior to the enemy. The battles were not won in one battle but in a series of battles" (Roman 3). The Roman Empire exploded as victorious battles rapidly increased the amount of land and peoples conquered. However, the Romans were not always successful in these attempts. One of their most notorious failures was against Pyrrhus who was king of Epyrus. His winning strategy employed the use of an elephant corps, led by Hannibal across the Alps, that took the Romans by surprise. Once Rome conquered a people their lands were often taken away by the state or divided up as rewards for various Roman citizens considered

Category: History - R