In the 753BCE, besides the River Tiber in
the center of Italy, a new settlement, Rome, was thrived. The Rome was built on
the Latium Plain, and comprised sets of small villages that were made on seven
low hills. The fertile banks of the river were ideal for agricultural
production. Thus, agri-business became the major profession of the Romans.
By 250BCE this small city state, Italy,
Greece, and its colonies turned into a strong and wealthy civilization of its
time. The Romans structured a very superior army called legion. These legions
not only helped the government to made great conquests but also to keep peace
within the empire.
By the mid of the 19 century CE, Roman legionaries
had taken the complete control of Britain, France, Germany, some areas of
northern Europe and southern Russia. In the east, they captured southern Egypt
and some areas of Iraq and Arabia.
The Roman structure of governance was
based on realm. The king ruled the empire as the sole ruler. Due to corruption
and cruelty by the emperors, realm was gradually substituted by a Roman
Republic. This was the first ever republic in the world. The Roman Republic was
a political structure or system of government in which people elected their
representatives to exercise power for them, through governing bodies like the
Senate.
The Julius Caesar
During the 1st century BCE,
the Romans control had spread far and wide due to its military invasions. The
Roman’s Republic government became weaker and the legionaries became so
powerful that they became a threat to the state. There was turmoil and
unemployment, which resulted in a power struggle within the government. The law
and order situation was disturbed and the Romans realized they needed a strong
leader.
At that time, Julius Caesar (100BCE-
44BCE) was emerged as a powerful leader. He was a Roman dictator and
military general who played an important role in the events that led to the
decline of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. The public of
Rome admired him because he made legislation for them and brought peace within
the state. However, some senators felt insecure due to his popularity and the
plotted against him. On 15 March 44BCE, Julius Caesar was
assassinated by a group of senators led by Marcus Junius Brutus
and Gaius Cassius Longinus who believe themselves to be savior of
liberty and democracy.
The Octavian Augustus
After the death of Julius Caesar,
a civil war broke out and later his adopted son, Octavian Augustus,
ascended the throne to become the first emperor of the Roman Empire.
He ruled the Rome between 270CE to 14CE.
Religion and Believes
The Roman Empire was primarily a
polytheistic civilization, mean that people worshipped different gods and
goddesses which included Juno, Minerva and Jupiter.
Later on the Roman emperors started
claiming themselves to be gods and make rules for public to worship them. When
Christianity, based on the teachings of Prophet Jesus Christ (Hazrat Isa),
emerged in the Middle East and began attracting many people. The Roman adopted
the Christianity as state religion when The Emperor Constantine the Great (also
known as Constantine –I) converted himself to Christian. He gave land to
priesthood and built many churches in the empire. In 330CE, he declared the
city of Byzantium in Eastern Europe as capital of the empire and renamed it Constantinople.
Later on it was known as the Byzantine Empire.
Romans Educational Contribution
The Romans also done marvelous in their educational system. By going through the history it was revealed that the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations were the most advanced civilizations of their time. Both contributed a great deal in the fields of science, engineering, architecture, government, philosophy and etc.
Educated Romans were bilingual, they could speak, write Greek and Latin. Their formal education started at the age of 11 or 12. They used word ‘Barbarian’ which mean uncivilized however in the times of Roman anyone who could not read or write Latin was called barbarian.
Reasons Behind the Rise of the Roman
Empire
The golden era of the Roman Empire was
the peak time of fortune and progress. Millions of people from different races,
speaking different languages, and following different religions, beliefs,
cultures and traditions were living together in an atmosphere of tolerance. In
450BCE, the first Roman law code was published on twelve bronze tablets, known
as the 'Twelve Tables'. These tablets were publicly displayed in
the Roman Forum-where processions, public speeches, criminal trails courts and
markets where commercial activities took place.
- The Romans backed a great deal to the modern world in many different ways:
- The Romans were the first to introduce an urban civilization.
- They built planned cities having public buildings like temples, theatres and public baths.
- The Romans were the first civilization to use a central heating system, arches, domes and concrete in their buildings and roads.
- They constructed straight, paved roads which connected the cities and towns in the vast empire. They supplied water to the cities, through wells and canals. As they were known to be excellent engineers, they built canals called aqueducts in 312BCE and these canals were used to supply water to urban areas. Some of these aqueducts supplied water up to a distance of sixty miles from their source. Due these types of unique built structures historians believe that the Romans were superior engineers and builders.
Reasons Behind the Fall of the Roman Empire
Following are some reasons for the decline of the Roman Empire:
- The government and ruling bodies became corrupt which lead to a power struggle.
- The Church of Rome gained unlimited authorities and powers, even more than the emperors.
- The army became weak which ultimately weakening the empire both internally and externally.
- The decision of Constantine-I to move the capital to city of Byzantium in Eastern Europe (Constantinople) weakened the empire.
- Provinces rebelled against the government and declared their independence.
- Heavy taxes imposed by the government made the lives of the common people miserable which led to turmoil in the empire.
- Barbarians and Huns of Central Asia invade and destroyed entire socio-economic infrastructure in most of cities of the empire. As the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations were the most advanced civilizations of their time and both contributed a great deal in the fields of science, engineering, architecture, government, philosophy and etc. But with the fall of the Roman Empire around 500CE, the scientific and cultural development of Europe stopped. Resultantly by this decline, the Europe entered the Dark Age.
- Many historians see the fall of Western Roman Empire as the end of the ancient world and the beginning of Middle Ages.