ancient Rome: Quick Facts

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Facts

Date	753 BCE - c. 500

Did You Know?

Romans consumed flamingo tongues.
During the fesitval of Saturnalia, slaves were treated as their masters' equals.
Roman Emperor Tiberius banned kissing in public.
Upper class Romans ate while lying down.
Roman rulers ingested small doses of poison daily to develop immunity.

Photos and Videos

Roman Forum: Temple of Antoninus and Faustina

Map of the Italian peninsula showing Roman expansion from 298 to 201 BC, with color-coded regions indicating Roman and Latin territories, allies, and acquisitions during different periods, as well as the Kingdom of Syracuse and its allies. Key cities and regions such as Rome, Capua, and Sicily are labeled, and territorial changes from the Samnite and Punic Wars are highlighted.

Historical map of the western Mediterranean region during the Punic Wars, showing Carthaginian territory in orange and Roman territory in green around 270 BCE. Hannibal's route from Spain, across the Alps, and into Italy between 219 and 202 BCE is marked with a red line. Key battle sites with years are labeled throughout Spain, Italy, Sicily, and North Africa.

Roman war galley

Oil painting after Giulio Romano depicting the Battle of Zama, with Roman and Carthaginian soldiers fighting among war elephants, fallen warriors, and chaos on the battlefield.

How the Roman Empire was founded

The video thumbnail image shows an ancient drawing of a gladiator holding a shield and spear.

Hannibal's daring strategy against Rome explained

How ancient Romans honored their dead relatives…by feeding them

What led to the fall of the ancient Roman Empire?

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Topics

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Major Events

Historical map of the western Mediterranean region during the Punic Wars, showing Carthaginian territory in orange and Roman territory in green around 270 BCE. Hannibal's route from Spain, across the Alps, and into Italy between 219 and 202 BCE is marked with a red line. Key battle sites with years are labeled throughout Spain, Italy, Sicily, and North Africa.

Punic Wars

Julius Caesar, marble bust; in the Capitoline Museums, Rome.

Battle of Pharsalus

Battle of Zama

Battle of Zama

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Battle of Alesia

Three-panel map showing troop movements and positions during the Battle of Cannae on August 2, 216 BCE in the Second Punic War. Roman forces are marked in blue and Carthaginian forces in red, with infantry, cavalry, and skirmishers distinguished by different symbols. The panels illustrate the Roman advance, the Carthaginian encirclement strategy led by Hannibal, and the eventual encirclement and defeat of the Roman army near the river Aufidus. Key locations such as Cannae, Hannibal's camp, and c

Battle of Cannae

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Battle of Trasimene

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Battle of the Trebbia River

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Battle of Cynoscephalae

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Second Punic War

The keys of Carthage

Battle of Carthage

Ruins of the Masada fortress

Siege of Masada

Caractacus at the Tribunal of Claudius at Rome

Battle of the Medway

Defeated at Adrianople

Battle of Adrianople

Engraving of Boudicca and her troops setting fire to the city of London, with flames rising from city walls and warriors holding torches, shields, and spears.

Battle of Watling Street

The western Mediterranean during the Punic Wars

Siege of Syracuse

Pen drawing by Peter Johann Nepomuk Geiger depicting the Sack of Rome in 410 by the Visigoths, with armed figures destroying classical statues and columns amid chaos.

Sack of Rome

Jerusalem, Siege of; Flavius Josephus

Siege of Jerusalem

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Battle of Ilipa

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Social War

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Macedonian Wars

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Frisia

historical region, Europe

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Galatia

ancient district, Turkey

Pannonia

Pannonia

historical region, Europe

Capua

Capua

ancient city, Italy

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Bithynia

ancient district, Anatolia

Kayseri, Turkey: courtyard of the Sultanhanı caravansary

Kayseri

Turkey

Africa

Africa

Roman territory, North Africa

Sabratha

Sabratha

ancient city, Libya

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Armorica

ancient region, France

Mausoleum of Halicarnassus

Halicarnassus

ancient city, Turkey

Volubilis

Volubilis

ancient city, Morocco

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Moesia

ancient province, Europe

Caria

Caria

ancient district, Anatolia

Pantheon

Campus Martius

field, Rome, Italy

Cisalpine Gaul

Cisalpine Gaul

Roman province, Europe

Key People

Statue of Julius Caesar in Roman military attire stands in front of a domed building in Rome, Italy, with a clear blue sky in the background.

Julius Caesar

Roman ruler

Augustus

Augustus

Roman emperor

Marble bust of Marcus Tullius Cicero, shown with short hair and draped clothing, displayed against a black background.

Cicero

Roman statesman, scholar, and writer

Pompey

Pompey the Great

Roman statesman

Diocletian

Diocletian

Roman emperor

Theodosius I

Theodosius I

Roman emperor

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Scipio Africanus the Younger

Roman general

Silver coin from Carthago Nova, believed to be a portrait of Scipio Africanus the Elder; in the Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, National Museum, Copenhagen.

Scipio Africanus

Roman general

Bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius with his right arm raised, seated on a horse, at Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome, Italy.

Marcus Aurelius

emperor of Rome

Bust of Vespasian, found at Ostia; in the Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome.

Vespasian

Roman emperor

Cleopatra

queen of Egypt

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Gaius Gracchus

Roman tribune

Trajan

Trajan

Roman emperor

Livy

Livy

Roman historian

Theodor Mommsen.

Theodor Mommsen

German historian, philologist, and legal scholar

Gaius Marius

Gaius Marius

Roman general

Mark Antony marble bust

Mark Antony

Roman triumvir

Marble statue of Polybius seated with one arm raised, draped in classical robes, against a blue sky in Vienna, Austria. The base is inscribed with the name Polybius.

Polybius

Greek historian

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Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus

Roman tribune

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Sallust

Roman historian

Overlooking the Roman Forum with Temple of Saturn in Rome, Italy

The Roman Empire

The Battle of Actium, 2 September 31 BC, oil on canvas by Lorenzo A. Castro, 1672.

Ancient Rome Quiz

Temple ruins of columns and statures at Karnak, Egypt (Egyptian architecture; Egyptian archaelogy; Egyptian history)

History Buff Quiz