If you have found a spelling error, please, notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter.

Articles

Roman state existed for nearly thirteen centuries, repeatedly exerting a profound influence on the course of history. I present the history of ancient Rome in the individual articles below, which not always refer solely to the Eternal City itself but encompass the wider world of the Roman Empire.

I encourage you to submit your own articles and to report any corrections or factual inaccuracies.

Tax collectors: slaves of their own offices

In the Roman state, local administration was based on the so-called curiae (equivalent to modern city councils), assemblies made up of the wealthiest inhabitants in a given administrative area, known as curiales. Interestingly, a council member did not necessarily have to be a Roman citizen, as the only quality necessary to enter the ranks of decuriales, from which councillors were recruited, was enough wealth, so freedmen or merchants sometimes served as councillors, although the latter had to close their businesses before taking up the office.

Augusta raurica Roemermuseum

Julius Caesar’s Civil War with Pompey the Great

The Caesar-Pompey War erupted in 49 BCE, a Roman Republic in serious political crisis. The conflict lasted until 45 BCE and was an event permanently etched in the annals of history. The two brilliant generals, who, with the support of their loyal legions, had achieved great victories beyond the borders of the Republic, decided to oppose each other in a decisive battle for control of the Eternal City.

Busts of Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great

Gate of Trajan

Located in present-day Bulgaria, approximately 50 kilometres from the capital city of Sofia, the mountain pass known as the Gate of Trajan (Bulgarian: Траянови врата) formed part of the Via Militaris, a Roman road constructed in the 1st century CE that connected the provinces of Thrace and Moesia Superior, and later linked the territories of the Eastern Roman Empire with the lands beyond its borders, commonly referred to as Barbaricum.

Remains of Trajan's Gate today

Destruction of Corinth

The war between Rome and the Achaean League, waged from 148 to 146 BCE and ending in the complete subjugation of the Greek states to the Roman Republic, was also a personal tragedy for one of the most influential cities in the history of Hellas – Corinth. Why, of all the cities of the League, was Corinth the one that had to pay the ultimate price?

Last Day of the Destruction of Corinth, Tony Robert-Fleury, 1870

Political ambitions of usurper Carausius

In 286 CE (or 287 CE), an unprecedented situation occurred in the Western Roman Empire: the commander of the Roman fleet declared himself emperor and rose against the two legitimate rulers. The prevailing belief was that the Belgian usurper did so out of fear: he appropriated the spoils due to the emperor and, fearing arrest and execution, declared himself emperor. Was this really the case? What were the true political ambitions of Emperor Carausius?

Carausius. AI-generated image from self-description

Roman conquest of Mona

The Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Môn), known to the Romans as Mona, is located on the northwestern edge of Wales. Separated from the mainland by the Menai Strait, it covers an area of 678.9 km², making it the largest island in the region.

Roman Generals and Emperors and Tacitus, William Brassey Hole, 1897.

Spelling error report

The following text will be sent to our editors: