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The Roman state existed in practice for XIII centuries, being the power which was impacting the history. Therefore, I decided that I would tell the history of ancient Rome in the articles below, which will not necessarily cover only the Eternal City.
I encourage you to send articles and point out any corrections or inaccuracies.
Greeks taught the Romans not only philosophy but also feasting. Greek symposiums were imitated by Roman elites, and the tables were simply laden with dishes, the splendour of which can be seen, for example, thanks to the preserved cookbook of Apicius.
An army has always been an extremely important element in Rome’s politics. His influence was manifested in every field of life in the state. The early Roman army was non-professional and functioned as a citizen militia. When necessary, citizens were called to arms. However, not all of them, because each citizen should arm himself, and for this, he needed the appropriate means.
Ancient Rome was a multicultural state, which owed its relative prosperity to the skilful balancing between the strength of the Roman army in the occupied territories and openness to local culture and non-interference in the everyday life of conquered peoples as much as possible. However, this apparent openness of the Romans to these cultures was not altruistic. Ultimately, significant inhabitants of the conquered areas adopted the Roman way of being and language, which degraded local cultures by merging with Latin culture. In the case of Greek, however, the complete opposite happened. It was the Romans who, after conquering Hellas, propagated this language not only in the east but also in the west of the empire.
Romans left behind many buildings – amphitheatres, roads, aqueducts, temples and forums. Is that all? It turns out not; the walls, and in particular the Aurelian Wall, is an example of the pragmatism, ingenuity and genius of Roman engineers. About 19 kilometres long, with hundreds of towers, thirteen gates and over a hundred latrines – these are just a few numbers behind which there is an extremely interesting history of the city and the empire.
Political situationImperium Romanum in the 1st century BCE it was conducive to increasing the power of prominent Roman politicians. People like Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Gnaeus Pompey Magnus, and Gaius Julius Caesar achieved an extraordinary position in Roman society. They tried to exalt themselves as much as possible, for example by celebrating triumphs, civil wars or organizing games.
In the modern world, advertising accompanies us at every step. It may concern all manifestations of human activity: trade, politics, art, etc. The desire to promote one’s own products or a person seems to be inscribed in human nature. It was no different in ancient Rome. However, the means of disseminating advertising were very different from those we know today.
As is well known, women in ancient Rome had very limited rights, but their social position was much stronger than that of Greek women. Despite this, she still remained completely dependent on men – first her father and then her husband. Manus, or the passing of the wife under the authority of the husband, was closely related to the institution of marriage. If we combine the concepts of marriage and manus, this requires more explanation.
In the second half of the second century BCE, a crisis was growing in Roman society, caused by rapid changes after the conquests. The incredible territorial development of the Roman state allowed high social groups to increase their wealth at the expense of the poorer strata.
At the end of 216 BCE, the strategic position of the Romans was not interesting. Barkida operated in Campania, and the second army, led by Hanno son of Bomilcar, operated in Bruttium. In response, the Republic recruited masses of troops; but in many cases, they were untrained recruits. Some southern Italian cities went over to Hannibal’s side, seeing the defeats of Rome. In addition, Hannibal’s countrymen from the motherland came to the aid of Hannibal in Italy, who sent Magon with 12,000 infantry, 1,500 cavalry and 20 elephants to the Apennines.
Over the dying Julius Caesar did not stand his longtime enemies or sworn defenders of the rights of the crumbling Republic. The consuls appointed by him, governors, commanders fighting at his side from Gaul to Africa, as well as close friends, reached for daggers. Among them stood Brutus, or rather two Brutus – Marcus and Decimius. The history of both politicians shows how different paths led to the conspiracy against Caesar.
