Palatine Hill

After the foundation by Romulus according a legend, [23]
Rome was ruled for a period of 244 years

by a monarchical system, initially with sovereigns of Latin and Sabine origin, later
by Etruscan kings. The tradition handed down seven kings: Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus
Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius and Lucius Tarquinius Superbus.[23]
The Ancient-Imperial-Roman palaces of the Palatine, a series of palaces located in the Palatine Hill,
express power and wealth of emperors from Augustus until the 4th century.
In 509 BC, the Romans expelled the last king from their city and established
an oligarchic republic. Rome then began a period characterised by internal struggles
between patricians (aristocrats) and plebeians (small landowners), and by constant warfare
against the populations of central Italy: Etruscans, Latins, Volsci, Aequi, and Marsi.[27] After
becoming master of Latium, Rome led several wars (against the Gauls, Osci-Samnites and the
Greek colony of Taranto, allied with Pyrrhus, king of Epirus) whose result was the conquest of
the Italian peninsula, from the central area up to Magna Graecia.[28]
The third and second century BC saw the establishment of Roman hegemony over
the Mediterranean and the Balkans, through the three Punic Wars (264–146 BC) fought against
the city of Carthage and the three Macedonian Wars (212–168 BC) against Macedonia.[29] The
first Roman provinces were established at this time: Sicily, Sardinia and
Corsica, Hispania, Macedonia, Achaea and Africa.[30]
From the beginning of the 2nd century BC, power was contested between two groups of
aristocrats: the optimates, representing the conservative part of the Senate, and the populares,
which relied on the help of the plebs (urban lower class) to gain power. In the same period, the
bankruptcy of the small farmers and the establishment of large slave estates caused large-scale
migration to the city. The continuous warfare led to the establishment of a professional army,
which turned out to be more loyal to its generals than to the republic. Because of this, in the
second half of the second century and during the first century BC there were conflicts both
abroad and internally: after the failed attempt of social reform of the
populares Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus,[31] and the war against Jugurtha,[31] there was a first civil
war between Gaius Marius and Sulla.[31] A major slave revolt under Spartacus followed,[32][32] and
then the establishment of the first Triumvirate with Caesar, Pompey and Crassus.[32]
The Imperial fora belong to a series of monumental fora (public squares) constructed in Rome by the

emperors. Also seen in the image is Trajan's Market.
The conquest of Gaul made Caesar immensely powerful and popular, which led to a second civil
war against the Senate and Pompey. After his victory, Caesar established himself as dictator for
life.[32] His assassination led to a second Triumvirate among Octavian (Caesar's grandnephew
and heir), Mark Antony and Lepidus, and to another civil war between Octavian and Antony.[33]
Empire
In 27 BC, Octavian became princeps civitatis and took the title of Augustus, founding
the principate, a diarchy between the princeps and the senate.[33] During the reign of Nero, two
thirds of the city was ruined after the Great Fire of Rome, and the persecution of
Christians commenced.[34][35][36] Rome was established as a de facto empire, which reached its
greatest expansion in the second century under the Emperor Trajan. Rome was confirmed
as caput Mundi, i.e. the capital of the known world, an expression which had already been used
in the Republican period. During its first two centuries, the empire was ruled by emperors of
the Julio-Claudian,[37] Flavian (who also built an eponymous amphitheatre, known as
the Colosseum),[37] and Antonine dynasties.[38] This time was also characterised by the spread of
the Christian religion, preached by Jesus Christ in Judea in the first half of the first century
(under Tiberius) and popularised by his apostles through the empire and beyond.[39] The Antonine
age is considered the apogee of the Empire, whose territory ranged from the Atlantic Ocean to
the Euphrates and from Britain to Egypt.[38]
The Roman Empire at its greatest extent in 117 AD, approximately 6.5 million square kilometres (2.5 million
square miles)[40] of land surface.
The Roman Forum are the remains of those buildings that during most of Ancient Rome's time represented
the political, legal, religious and economic centre of the city and the neuralgic centre of all the Roman
civilisation.[41]
Trajan's Column, triumphal column and place where the relics of Emperor Trajan are placed.
After the end of the Severan Dynasty in 235, the Empire entered into a 50-year period known as
the Crisis of the Third Century during which there were numerous putsches by generals, who
sought to secure the region of the empire they were entrusted with due to the weakness of
central authority in Rome. There was the so-called Gallic Empire from 260 to 274 and the revolts
of Zenobia and her father from the mid-260s which sought to fend off Persian incursions. Some
regions – Britain, Spain, and North Africa – were hardly affected. Instability caused economic
deterioration, and there was a rapid rise in inflation as the government debased the currency in
order to meet expenses. The Germanic tribes along the Rhine and north of the Balkans made
serious, uncoordinated incursions from the 250s-280s that were more like giant raiding parties
rather than attempts to settle. The Persian Empire invaded from the east several times during the
230s to 260s but were eventually defeated. [42] Emperor Diocletian (284) undertook the restoration
of the State. He ended the Principate and introduced the Tetrarchy which sought to increase
state power. The most marked feature was the unprecedented intervention of the State down to
the city level: whereas the State had submitted a tax demand to a city and allowed it to allocate
the charges, from his reign the State did this down to the village level. In a vain attempt to control
inflation, he imposed price controls which did not last. He or Constantine regionalised the
administration of the empire which fundamentally changed the way it was governed by creating
regional dioceses (the consensus seems to have shifted from 297 to 313/14 as the date of
creation due to the argument of Constantin Zuckerman in 2002 "Sur la liste de Verone et la
province de grande armenie, Melanges Gilber Dagron). The existence of regional fiscal units
from 286 served as the model for this unprecedented innovation. The emperor quickened the
process of removing military command from governors. Henceforth, civilian administration and
military command would be separate. He gave governors more fiscal duties and placed them in
charge of the army logistical support system as an attempt to control it by removing the support
system from its control. Diocletian ruled the eastern half, residing in Nicomedia. In 296, he
elevated Maximian to Augustus of the western half, where he ruled mostly
from Mediolanum when not on the move.[42] In 292, he created two 'junior' emperors, the Caesars,
one for each Augustus, Constantius for Britain, Gaul, and Spain whose seat of power was
in Trier and Licinius in Sirmium in the Balkans. The appointment of a Caesar was not unknown:
Diocletian tried to turn into a system of non-dynastic succession. Upon abdication in 305, the
Caesars succeeded and they, in turn, appointed two colleagues for themselves. [42]
The Pyramid of Gaius Cestius and the Aurelian Walls
After the abdication of Diocletian and Maximian in 305 and a series of civil wars between rival
claimants to imperial power, during the years 306–313, the Tetrarchy was abandoned.
Constantine the Great undertook a major reform of the bureaucracy, not by changing the
structure but by rationalising the competencies

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After the foundation by Romulus according a legend, [23]

Rome was ruled for a period of 244 years

The Imperial fora belong to a series of monumental fora (public squares) constructed in Rome by the

The Pyramid of Gaius Cestius and the Aurelian Walls

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