Beginnings are always difficult. During its existence, the website underwent an unbelievably large amount of changes and evolutions. The only thing that has never changed since 2004 was the name IMPERIUM ROMANUM. I do not hide that the reason for the creation of the site was a youthful fantasy and the need to fill a large amount of free time. Initially, the site was to be devoted only to the computer game “Praetorians“, which when I was young I loved to play. Over time, however, the project began to evolve. The information from the lessons in school about the legions encouraged me to create a website dedicated to the most efficient, in my opinion, formation of infantry – Roman legions. When I started looking for any information on the Internet about the Roman army and the history of ancient Rome, I realized that in fact the “Polish net” does not have any website take care of the history of the Eternal City, even to a small extent. At that time, I made the decision to create a site thematically related only to the history of the Roman Empire. I did not know how big project I was starting!
My knowledge of HTML, of course, was not only poor… it was tragic. The first miserable codes, full of errors and cheap goodies and scripts arose in pain and with the help of a few forums for creating websites. Unfortunately, I do not have the earliest version of the site from summer 2004. Unfortunately, it is also not available on the Internet Archive: Wayback Machine. I remember, however, as if it was yesterday, that the welcome page showed the graphics of a computer game world. After clicking on the background, the reader had to choose the right picture to view the site. It was not a good marketing operation, but it had its charm.
The new version took place in 2005 year. At that time, the website established a cooperation with the historical site Historicus.pl, which ran by Adi. I owe him a lot, because his help and the offer of cooperation allowed IMPERIUM ROMANUM to reach the wide waters. The appearance of the website from this period below.
At the time I tried to promote the site on various competitions of websites, in which I sometimes managed to stand on the dais. I also devoted time to supplementing the database of articles and expanding knowledge. In 2006 year I felt the need to change and transform the website’s graphic layout. The effect is below.
The graphic effect with columns and eagles overlapping the banner was in my opinion a genius and the pinnacle of my graphic capabilities. Of course, the entire page structure was based on tables generated in plain HTML. Naturally, at that time, I also focused on expanding the site’s resources and promoting the website on the web. A year later (2007) again I decided to bury in the code and graphics. I created then something like that.
I will not hide that I was inspired by many websites. I remember that I understood then how the main page should look like. I also understood the basis for the large number of visits – it was not only the unique and valuable content. I also noticed navigation, site place in search engine catalogs and how the code is designed.
A year later, in 2008, I again took charge of the rebuilding of the website. I improved the graphics based on the color scheme used, simplified the menu, unified the code. It is worth mentioning that any change in the appearance of the page at the time was associated with monotonous, manual code rewriting and improving each subpage. There was no program that could make my job easier. I remember many lost nights, just to put a changed page on the server. Final satisfaction was, however, huge.
After another successful rebuilding of the website, there was a crisis and a serious downtime on the site. I do not know what was the reason. I just did not feel the need to write more articles and improve the website. In fact, ordinary readers may not feel stagnant, because I have always tried to answer all e-mails. However, if someone’s message is left unanswered, I apologize in advance.
The break was quite long. It was only at the end of 2011 that I took up the next rebuilding of the site, which assumed widening the width of the page and increasing the visibility of the text. The project, however, developed very laboriously – I had to manually rework all subpages. The crisis has returned, with redoubled strength. I realized that the next version of IMPERIUM ROMANUM is at hand, but I did not have the motivation to take this tedious job.
The breakthrough came at the beginning of 2012, which was important to me for many reasons. Honestly, I must admit that I needed an helping hand to start again the project. Here, I would like to thank my good friend Michał Jasinski, who proved me that what I have achieved is really great and I should not give up IMPERIUM ROMANUM. As a result, in a short time, I was able to transform the website once again, this time into a new system – xHTML.
Pride spread through me, because I managed to overcome my own weakness and go back to carrying out a noble project. Many readers supported me with their tips, advice and works, for what I would like to thank you warmly. The website started again with impetus. Unexpectedly, towards the end of 2013, another idea of the site’s vision was born.
This version created the foundations for the current look of the page. The code has been significantly simplified and improved. The website has gained new colors and has become much “friendlier” for the reader. I also managed to flick the page to the WordPress, with support of Skyproject. Finally, in September 2015, the final version of the website was created, which you can admire at the moment. Thanks to efficient marketing activities, the site has gained a large fan base. I would like to thank Krzysztof Pawlak, an expert on this topic, for help in this aspect.
I am extremely proud of IMPERIUM ROMANUM. The website not only allows me to pursue my passion, but also gives others the opportunity to explore knowledge and promote the world of ancient Rome. I believe that in the future it will be a really great compendium of knowledge about ancient Rome. I am counting on your help!
