ROMAN CIVILIZATION

• The center of Roman civilization was italy, the peninsula that projects into the mediterranean sea in the west of Greece.The river Tiber on which the city of Rome is located runs through the central part of the peninsula.
• The city of Rome was founded about 1000 BC by Romulus, in the district of Latium.
• The early Romans had a king, an assembly and a senate.
• Toward the end of the 6th century BC the king was overthrown and a republic was established .Under the republic the Roman conquered other parts of the peninsula, and by 265 BC controlled all of italy. The political system of the Roman republic consisted of two consults, the senate and the assembly.
• The Roman was involved in a series of wars with carthage, a city on the north coast of Africa.The danger of Carthagnian occupation of Sicily led the Roman to attack Carthage.The wars that followed, known as the Punic Wars, lasted from 264 BC to 146 BC.The carthagnian were defeated in the war.
• By the beginning of Ist century BC the Roman had conquered Greece and Asia Minor and established a protectorate over Egypt.
• Rivalry for power grew between generals,Pompey &Julius Caesar war between them followed and Pompey was murdered by his enemies in the Egypt.Caesar remained in Egypt for some time,attracted by the captivating beauty of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra.On his return to Rome ,in 46 BC,he made himself dictator.However, on the charge that Caeser intended to become a king, he was assassinated in 44 BC,in a senate meeting.
• After the Assassination of caesar ,power passed into the hands of Mark Antony and Lapidus, Caeser 's friends and Octavian,Caeser's grand nephew. The leader of the cospiracy, Brutus and Cassius, fled and organised a large army, but they were captured and slain.
• In 37 BC, Octavian became the most powerful man in the Roman empire.He ruled for 44 years under the titles of Augustus Imperator, meaning 'holy victorious-general'.He also called himself Princeps,'first citizen of the states'.
• The period of Roman history beginning with his rule up to 284 AD is called 'the principate'.His rule and the period following it were peaceful and are known in history as Pax Romana,which means 'Roman Peace'.
• In 284 AD, Diocletian became ruler, From this time on , Roman civilization declined more rapidly.One of Dioclectian's successor,Consrantine, built a new capital called Constantinopole, on the site of ancient Byzantium,in 330 AD. Not long after, the Roman empire was divided into two empires-western & Eastern. The Western part soon broke into many pieces. But Eastern part, called as Byzantine empire,continued for a thousand years more.
• The final blow to the Roman empire at the hands of northern invaders they were German tribes.By 476 Ad, the once powerful Roman empire was no more.
• The Roman worshipped as many Gods & Goddesses as the Greeks.Jupiter sent rain for the corps; Mars helped them in war;Mercury carried their messages;Neptune, the god of sea; Vesta guarded the home;Juno protected their women.