Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was a vast empire that lasted from 753 BCE to 476 AD. It had many great ideas, and many brutal wars with invading barbarian attacks and fights over who gets what land. At Rome's peak point, or its Golden Age, the map to right is what the Roman Empire looked like.

Rome's Achievements

During Rome's long reign, it made many achievements and they were all in different fields of the spectrum. Three well known achievements are art, architecture, and engineering. In fact, there were many inventions as "sub-inventions" under those catergories.

Art

The Romans had their own types of art. One common form of Roman art included mosaics. Mosaics were used as decoration in the Roman Empire. They were most likely seen on floors or ceilings. Mosaics were pieces of glass drawn together to produce pictures of everyday life scenes in Rome. There were two main types of mosaics - one was a standard, simple mosaic, which displayed scenes, played its role (beautifying the area) in the home, and was bought my middle class people. The second type of mosaic was the fancy selection. Rich and wealthy people who lived in large villas could afford these mosaics. More expensive mosaics were personalized to what they want portrayed through the mosaics, and what colors the owners want.

Architecture

Rome had their own type of architecture, and their architecture lasted through the ages, all the way to today. Roman architecture has influenced modern building styles and techniques. Most people may not notice that we are using Roman architecture while doing the simplest of tasks, but that does not mean that we are not using what Roman architects found out in Rome's early years. One great building that still stands today that is a wonderful and classic example of Roman architecture living through the ages is the colosseum in Rome. It is one of Rome's greatest amphetheateres. An amphetheatre is circular shaped performing center where the stage is in the center and is surrounded by circling rows of seats. The builiding on the monument started in AD 72 under the rule of Emperor Vespasian.

Engineering

Romans had many inventions that helped its empire strive in many ways. One invention was the aqueduct. Aqueducts carried water from place to place of very far distance. Rome built eleven main aquaducts over 500 years (312 BCE to 226 AD). The longest aqueduct Rome built was 59 miles long! Rome supplied up to 200 cities with water as a record and this was not ever redone until two more millenia passed.