A Long History – The Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was the largest city in the then known world. It is assumed that Rome’s population was over 1 million people when the town was at the height of its power. From Rome, the guts of govt beat ; army choices were taken and the vast wealth Rome earned was invested in a chain of superb buildings.

To begin with, many buildings in Rome were built round the forum. Historically, this had been a market place and an area where folks met. Therefore , it would’ve been a natural place to put central authority buildings, temples and palaces. As Rome grew the forum became more crowded. Therefore , a second city centre was planned and built some distance from the forum but still in Rome itself.

Rome itself had some superb buildings erected in the town. Some exist to this day, all be it in a less wonderful state. The most famed is perhaps the Colosseum where thousands of Roman citizens would gather for their entertainment – be it animals fighting or gladiators for example. Such grand buildings were constructed so that emperors would be remembered by future generations. The Colosseum was built on the orders of the Emperor Vespasian and completed when the Emperor Titus was in power. The building was finally finished in AD eighty.

Rome also had numerous triumphal arches assembled across the city to celebrate army victories. These served a twin purpose. First, they were a celebration of the army victories the Romans had and, second, they were a reminder to the people of Rome of how forceful the division was.
As with any town, Rome had its wealthy and poor areas. The poor could only afford to live in wooden houses which were a major fire risk in a hot country like Italy. On a number of occasions, Rome suffered grim damage as a consequence of fires starting in the city’s slums. The slums were also deadly places to go to if you had any money as crime was common. The Emperor Augustus made a police force to patrol the city but the poor areas remained all but untamed. However , for the influential people of Rome, this was of small importance as they never visited such areas.

The fall of traditional Rome started from about AD 190. The Roman Empire was attacked by clans like the Goths and the Vandals. Civil wars in parts of the empire further weakened the rule of Rome and respect for Roman law dwindled as a consequence.
Why was the empire attacked by cruel clans people? Tribes like the Goths needed to move south into parts of Europe that experienced a better climate that would help their farming. This could only bring them into contest with the Romans. Atroughly AD 190, Rome also experienced a succession of poor emperors who simply weren’t capable of doing the job.

however , Diocletian faced more than only administrative issues. Moreand more army defences needed to be built across the entire empire. This cost money that Rome did not have. To pay for these, taxes were increased and extra coins were minted. This lead to inflation causing costs to rise. Therefore , the people of Rome were less than favourable towards people who led them.
With threats from tribes in northwards Europe, fiscal Problems in Rome itself and a civilian population becoming moreand more discontented, Rome could sick afford further major issues.

In AD 307, Constantine became emperor. He ruled from AD 307 to AD 337. Constantine was Rome’s first Christian emperor and he is regarded to have once been a robust ruler.
He believed that Rome as a city was too far away from crucial areas of the empire to be of value from a governmental level. Constantine, moved the capital of the empire to a new city – Constantinople. This was a new city that was built on the old town of Byzantium. Whatever the motives were, Constantine’s decision was a poor one. Constantinople was much further east than Rome and firmly in the eastern empire. This left the western empire really vulnerable – though the eastern empire was barely free from attacks.

however , in AD 398, the leader of the Visigoths, Alaric, realised that the Roman military was so thinly spread, that Rome itself was to have. Alaric moved carefully south but in AD 410 he caught the town of Rome. The city was sacked. Roman held territory in Spain, France, northern Africa and England all fell to the various clans that attacked them.

In AD 455, Rome was attacked again. This time the damage was done by the Vandals. The town suffered serious damage. In AD 476, the last Roman emperor in the west, Romulus Augustulus, was removed from power by Odovacar, leader of the Goths. This date is generally used by historians as the year the Roman Empire stopped. However , Roman rule continued in the eastern empire for a number of years after this date – in modern Greece, Turkey, the Middle East and northwards Egypt. Even if the ancient Rome fell, today it is a cosmopolitan city. If you like to see the old and modern parts of the city do not hesitate and book your Appartment Rome. All the Appartments Rome are a good starting point to make the most out of the city.