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Ancient Rome was a civilization which began as a small agricultural community on the Italian Peninsula in the 8th century BC. Rome became a large empire which straddled the Mediterranean Sea. In its twelve centuries of existence, Roman civilization was firstly a monarchy, then a republic that combined oligarchy and democracy, and finally became an autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate Western Europe, the entire Mediterranean Basin including the Near East and North Africa, the Balkans, and the Black Sea. The Roman empire went into decline in the 3rd century AD, and began to collapse in the 5th century AD. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the western part of the empire, including Hispania, Gaul, and Italy, broke into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. The eastern part of the empire, governed from Constantinople, survived this crisis, and remained intact for another millennium, until its last remains were finally annexed by the emerging Ottoman Empire. This eastern, medieval stage of the Empire is usually referred to as the Byzantine Empire by historians. Roman civilization was part of the period of classical antiquity, alongside ancient Greece—a civilization that inspired much of the culture of ancient Rome. Ancient Rome made significant contributions to the development of law, war, art, literature, architecture, technology, and language in the Western world, and its history continues to have a great influence on the world today. Gaius Julius Caesar Read more about Ancient Rome... Praetor was a title given in the Roman Republic to citizens acting as commander of an army (in the field or, less often, before the army had been mustered), or to an elected magistrate. The purpose of the praetorship varied through time. The praetor peregrinus administered justice between Roman citizens and non-citizens, and therefore usually based in the Roman provinces. The praetor urbanus was responsible for law and order in the city of Rome, and was therefore not permitted to leave Rome for more than ten days at a time. When the consuls were at war, the city praetor remained in Rome to satisfy the Senate's requirement that a magistrate with imperium be in the city at all times. Continue reading • More selected articles... Trajan's Column (Italian: Colonna Traianacode: it is deprecated ) is a monument in Rome which commemorates the Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars in 101-106 AD. Photo credit: Radomil Continue reading • More selected pictures... “ [...] Caesar is a god in his own city. Outstanding in war or peace, it was not so much his wars that ended in great victories, or his actions at home, or his swiftly won fame, that set him among the stars, a fiery comet, as his descendant. There is no greater achievement among Caesar’s actions than that he stood father to our emperor. Is it a greater thing to have conquered the sea-going Britons; to have lead his victorious ships up the seven-mouthed flood of the papyrus-bearing Nile; to have brought the rebellious Numidians, under Juba of Cinyps, and Pontus, swollen with the name of Mithridates, under the people of Quirinus; to have earned many triumphs and celebrated few; than to have sponsored such a man, with whom, as ruler of all, you gods have richly favoured the human race? Therefore, in order for the emperor not to have been born of mortal seed, Caesar needed to be made a god. [...] Augustus, his ‘son’, will ensure that he ascends to heaven as a god, and is worshipped in the temples. Augustus, as heir to his name, will carry the burden placed upon him alone, and will have us with him, in battle, as the most courageous avenger of his father’s murder. Under his command, the conquered walls of besieged Mutina will sue for peace; Pharsalia will know him; Macedonian Philippi twice flow with blood; and the one who holds Pompey’s great name, will be defeated in Sicilian waters; and a Roman general’s Egyptian consort, trusting, to her cost, in their marriage, will fall, her threat that our Capitol would bow to her city of Canopus, proved vain. Why enumerate foreign countries or the nations living on either ocean shore? Wherever earth contains habitable land, it will be his: and even the sea will serve him! ” — Ovid, Metamorphoses, XV, 745-842 Nominate an engaging Selected articles for this portal. Suggest a unique or quality file to be a Selected picture. Add a fact which our readers would find interesting as a Did you know? entry. Nominate an interesting biography about an Ancient Roman to Selected biographies. Add relevant quotes about Rome or by a Roman to the Quotes section. Expand the Ancient Rome article with a referenced fact, or copy-edit the article prose to improve its quality. 110px Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (April 26, 121, – March 17, 180) was Roman Emperor from 161 to his death in 180. He was the last of the "Five Good Emperors" who governed the Roman Empire from 96 to 180, and is also considered one of the most important stoic philosophers. His tenure was marked by wars in Asia against a revitalized Parthian Empire, and with Germanic tribes along the limes Germanicus into Gaul and across the Danube. A revolt in the East, led by Avidius Cassius, failed. Marcus Aurelius' work Meditations, written on campaign between 170–180, is still revered as a literary monument to a government of service and duty and has been praised for its "exquisite accent and its infinite tenderness." Read more • More selected biographies... ▼ Ancient Rome ► Ancient Rome by period ► Ancient Roman culture ► Ancient Roman geography ► Ancient Roman government ► Roman law ► Military of ancient Rome ► Museums of Ancient Rome ► Ancient Romans ► Ancient Roman society ► Ancient Rome stubs ...That the Pater familias of a family, had the power to sell his children into slavery? ...That Trajan was the last Roman Emperor to harry the coast of Arabia with the Roman Navy? ...That Trajan was born at Italica, in Spain and adopted by the Roman Emperor Nerva and made his heir, which entitled Trajan to call himself the son of Nerva View all selections... Europe Classical Civilisation Military of ancient Rome Ancient Greece Byzantine Empire The following WikiProjects are related to Ancient Rome: WikiProject Classical Greece and Rome: The project regularly invites its members to collaborate on article development. WikiProject Rome: Includes stylistic help and lists of articles requiring attention or expansion. WikiProject Military history: Highly-active WikiProject with regular competitions to improve military history articles. List of ancient Romans List of Roman Emperors List of Roman Consuls List of Roman censors List of topics related to ancient Rome List of Roman place names in Britain List of Roman laws List of Roman cognomina List of Roman nomina List of Roman praenomina List of Roman sites List of Roman usurpers The following Wikimedia sister projects provide more on this subject: Ancient Library Attalus. Sources for Greek & Roman history (attalus.org) De Imperatoribus Romanis. An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors Earth's Ancient History LacusCurtius: Into the Roman World Livius. Articles on ancient history (Livius.org) Ouvrage de référence sur l'antiquité Perseus Digital Library The Stoa (stoa.org) Women's History Resource Site What are portals? 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