effulgentpoet:

history aesthetics

ANCIENT ROME

Rome began as an Italic settlement in the Italian peninsula that grew into the city of Rome and which subsequently gave its name to the empire over which it ruled and to the widespread civilisation the empire developed. The Roman empire expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world, with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants (roughly 20% of the world’s population) and covering 5.0 million square kilometres at its height in AD 117. The Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a Classical Republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it eventually dominated the Mediterranean region, Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa, and parts of Northern and Eastern Europe. Ancient Roman civilization has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language, and society. Rome professionalized and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica. It achieved impressive technological and architectural feats, such as the construction of an extensive system of aqueducts and roads, as well as the construction of large monuments, palaces, and public facilities. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the western part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. X