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Ancient Rome was a civilization which began as a small agricultural community on the Italian Peninsula in the 8th century BC. Rome became a large empire which straddled the Mediterranean Sea. In its twelve centuries of existence, Roman civilization was firstly a monarchy, then a republic that combined oligarchy and democracy, and finally became an autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate Western Europe, the entire Mediterranean Basin including the Near East and North Africa, the Balkans, and the Black Sea. The Roman empire went into decline in the 3rd century AD, and began to collapse in the 5th century AD. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the western part of the empire, including Hispania, Gaul, and Italy, broke into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. The eastern part of the empire, governed from Constantinople, survived this crisis, and remained intact for another millennium, until its last remains were finally annexed by the emerging Ottoman Empire. This eastern, medieval stage of the Empire is usually referred to as the Byzantine Empire by historians. Roman civilization was part of the period of classical antiquity, alongside ancient Greece—a civilization that inspired much of the culture of ancient Rome. Ancient Rome made significant contributions to the development of law, war, art, literature, architecture, technology, and language in the Western world, and its history continues to have a great influence on the world today. Gaius Julius Caesar Read more about Ancient Rome... In the Roman Kingdom, the King of Rome was the principal executive magistrate with absolute power. The king was the chief priest, lawmaker, judge, and sole commander of the army. On the death of the king, his power reverted to the Senate, which then appointed an Interrex to serve during the election of the next king. When the Roman Republic was created in 509 BC, the king's powers were transferred to the magistracy of consuls—of which there were two appointed each year. The king ruled for an average of 35 years, and the magistracy was not hereditary. According to legend the first king was Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome. Continue reading • More selected articles... The Villa of the Mysteries (Italian: Villa dei Mistericode: it is deprecated ) is a well preserved ruin of a Roman Villa which lies some 400 metres northwest of Pompeii, southern Italy. In this fresco from the villa, a Bacchian rite is depicted. Photo credit: The Yorck Project Continue reading • More selected pictures... “ [...] Caesar is a god in his own city. Outstanding in war or peace, it was not so much his wars that ended in great victories, or his actions at home, or his swiftly won fame, that set him among the stars, a fiery comet, as his descendant. There is no greater achievement among Caesar’s actions than that he stood father to our emperor. Is it a greater thing to have conquered the sea-going Britons; to have lead his victorious ships up the seven-mouthed flood of the papyrus-bearing Nile; to have brought the rebellious Numidians, under Juba of Cinyps, and Pontus, swollen with the name of Mithridates, under the people of Quirinus; to have earned many triumphs and celebrated few; than to have sponsored such a man, with whom, as ruler of all, you gods have richly favoured the human race? Therefore, in order for the emperor not to have been born of mortal seed, Caesar needed to be made a god. [...] Augustus, his ‘son’, will ensure that he ascends to heaven as a god, and is worshipped in the temples. Augustus, as heir to his name, will carry the burden placed upon him alone, and will have us with him, in battle, as the most courageous avenger of his father’s murder. Under his command, the conquered walls of besieged Mutina will sue for peace; Pharsalia will know him; Macedonian Philippi twice flow with blood; and the one who holds Pompey’s great name, will be defeated in Sicilian waters; and a Roman general’s Egyptian consort, trusting, to her cost, in their marriage, will fall, her threat that our Capitol would bow to her city of Canopus, proved vain. Why enumerate foreign countries or the nations living on either ocean shore? Wherever earth contains habitable land, it will be his: and even the sea will serve him! ” — Ovid, Metamorphoses, XV, 745-842 Nominate an engaging Selected articles for this portal. Suggest a unique or quality file to be a Selected picture. Add a fact which our readers would find interesting as a Did you know? entry. Nominate an interesting biography about an Ancient Roman to Selected biographies. Add relevant quotes about Rome or by a Roman to the Quotes section. Expand the Ancient Rome article with a referenced fact, or copy-edit the article prose to improve its quality. Lucius Aelius Seianus(or Sejanus) (20 BC – October 18, 31 AD) was an ambitious soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. He served as Prefect of the Praetorian Guard from 14 AD until his death in 31. For a time he was the most influential and feared citizen of Rome and nearly succeeded in deposing Tiberius as Emperor. In 31, his intrigues were uncovered and Sejanus was executed along with his followers. Sejanus was born at Volsinii, in Etruria, to the family of Cosconia Lentuli Maluginensis and Lucius Seius Strabo, an equestrian who became Praetorian Prefect under Augustus. By Roman custom he was known as Aelius Sejanus after his adoption into the more prestigious Aelian gens. Read more • More selected biographies... ▼ Ancient Rome ► Ancient Rome by period ► Ancient Roman culture ► Ancient Roman geography ► Ancient Roman government ► Roman law ► Military of ancient Rome ► Museums of Ancient Rome ► Ancient Romans ► Ancient Roman society ► Ancient Rome stubs ...That When Caesar's troops hesitated to leave their ships for fear of the Britons, the aquilifer of the tenth legion threw himself overboard and, carrying the eagle, advanced alone against the enemy? ...That the most well paid athlete in human history, Gaius Appuleius Diocles, was an illiterate Roman Chariot racer, and earned the equivalent of $15 Billion US Dollars. View all selections... Europe Classical Civilisation Military of ancient Rome Ancient Greece Byzantine Empire The following WikiProjects are related to Ancient Rome: WikiProject Classical Greece and Rome: The project regularly invites its members to collaborate on article development. WikiProject Rome: Includes stylistic help and lists of articles requiring attention or expansion. WikiProject Military history: Highly-active WikiProject with regular competitions to improve military history articles. List of ancient Romans List of Roman Emperors List of Roman Consuls List of Roman censors List of topics related to ancient Rome List of Roman place names in Britain List of Roman laws List of Roman cognomina List of Roman nomina List of Roman praenomina List of Roman sites List of Roman usurpers The following Wikimedia sister projects provide more on this subject: Ancient Library Attalus. Sources for Greek & Roman history (attalus.org) De Imperatoribus Romanis. An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors Earth's Ancient History LacusCurtius: Into the Roman World Livius. Articles on ancient history (Livius.org) Ouvrage de référence sur l'antiquité Perseus Digital Library The Stoa (stoa.org) Women's History Resource Site What are portals? 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