ROMAN EMPIRE
By
Dr.Shobha.M.N
Professor
BMSCA
• Ancient Rome was located near the
Mediterranean Sea.
Early Roman Civilization
• Three historical periods:
– The Roman Monarchy (753 BCE to 509 BCE)
– The Roman Republic (509 BCE to 31 BCE)
– The Roman Empire (31 BCE to 248 AD)
Physical Characteristics
Ancient Rome was….
• Next to the Mediterranean Sea
• It covered parts of Europe, Asia and Africa
• A peninsula
• Rocky and mountainous
• Built on hills
• Next to the Tiber River
Resources
• ‰
Fertile agricultural land
• ‰
Metals
Population
• ‰
Large population base
The ancient Roman civilization shares:
• A written language
• A system of government
• Advances in arts and sciences
• A common culture
Representative Democracy
• The Romans elected leaders to represent them
and began a
form of government
known as a Republic.
• Citizens (wealthy men) voted for
representatives to make laws for them.
• Laws applied to everyone.
Adaptations to the Environment
Ancient Romans adapted to their mountainous
land by
1. Growing olives and grapes
2. Having small farms on terraced hillsides
3. Trading on the Mediterranean Sea
Jobs of the Romans
• Farmers
• Road builders
• Traders
Architecture
Romans used arches in buildings, bridges and
aqueducts.
Aqueducts were designed to pump water in to
the city. The water was used for humans and for
irrigation.
.
Road Building:
The Romans created a network of paved
highways.
This joined the empire together and allowed
soldiers to move swiftly from one area to
another.
• The Colosseum was a popular place where
Romans could see gladiators fight.
Roman Bath with Heating Unit Underneath
Nora, Sardinia
Roman Art
Roman artists created:
• Pottery
• Jewelry
• Tools
Mosaics
• were a special art form that used small pieces
of tile, glass or
• Small pieces of colored tile arranged to create
a picture is a mosaic.
Three Social Classes
During Roman Republic and Empire, there were
three distinct social classes:
• The patrician (aristocracy)
• The equestrian (army)
• The plebian (common people)
Religion:
The Romans began by worshipping different
gods and goddesses (like the Greeks), but
eventually become Christians.
The Romans were syncretists, blending different
religions.
From Egypt came the worship of Isis (a religion
that promised immortality), from Persia they
borrowed the cult of Mithra. They celebrated
December 25th as Mithra’s birthday.
Roman culture
• Hellenistic culture (Greek, Egypt, Persian,
Indian culture blended) became the foundation
of Roman civilization.
• The Roman blend the utilitarian with the
aesthetic.
• Fascination with the spectacle
• Architecture and sculpture are increasingly
monument culture blended and theatrical.
Ancient Romans
• Changed our calendar to 365 days and named
the months
• Gave us 1/3 of our English language
• Used Roman numerals that we still see today
on clocks, watches, and in books
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
The People of Ancient Rome
• Men were citizens
• Women were caretakers
• Boys were educated
• Girls learned handicrafts and household chores
The Romans lacked creativity of the Greeks
• Built in grand scale
• Developed water supply system, drainage
system etc.
• Water was brought from far away places by
means of aqueducts.
• Public buildings like baths were developed
during this period.
The towns were laid out to comply with
fulfilling
the religious auspices,
defense requirements, and
technical considerations.
Corbridge Roman Town as it might have looked
and some of its remains today
Religious auspices include
• To establish a city wall first. There were
different religious activities within and
outside the city wall.
• There were the two cross roads –
DECUMANUS - running east-west and
CARDO - running north-south.
• The main running north-south is known as
CARDO MAXIMUS.
• The system of road layout is
known as CENTURATIO SYSTEM.
• FORUM was to be developed
at the crossing of the main roads.
Forum - was used as a market place and for meetings. It
had shops and offices on three sides and government
offices on the other side.
• The rest of the town was to be divided into square
or rectangular plots of one side equaling 120’
(36.57 m)
• Only the rich had water piped to their houses;
everyone else used water from public
fountains.
The only toilets were public lavatories, which were
built around the town and connected to
underground sewers.
The defense requirements include
• A defense wall
• Straight roads to avoid curvatures in streets
which enabled to perform military parades
easily.
• Long distance visibility for easy policing
required the roads to be absolutely straight.
• The roads were at least 8’ (2.40m )wide.
The technical consideration include
• Setbacks of 2’6” (0.76 m) from the boundaries
of each buildings.
• Drainage and water supply were elaborately
prescribed.
• All construction within the towns was to be in
concrete and stone. In specific cases they were
faced with bricks.
The roman towns were mainly divided into 3
categories.
• COLLONIA: which were high ranking cities
having all benefits, where there as hierarchy of
plots for people having various social status.
• OPPIDIA: towns which were conquered from
others
• CASTRUM: MILITARY CAMP TOWNS.
Ex: Timgad - military colony
