The Roman Forum Essay

It all started in the invasion of Britain; the Roman army was forced into using old grass and mud track trails the Britons created, Roman Roads describes the roads as “Track ways that were sometimes thousands of years old and often went up and down hills for reasons that nobody could remember.” To add, the Roman legions needed new roads to move quicker to areas of trouble in Britain to keep them under control, and Roman generals also needed better roads to relay orders from soldiers stationed as far away as Hadrian’s wall. Good roads meant better trade on land making Rome and it’s emperor richer from taxes. Roman soldiers were given the task of planning and building roads, Roman Roads implies that “Roads did not always run perfectly straight, and they sometimes zig-zagged up hills and avoided obstacles, but the long stretches of roman roads that ran straight were the ones they remember today. These roman roads were so straight due to an instrument called the Groma, a pair of boards stuck together in a cross-shaped figure. Which had lines with weights hung from each corner to get a straight line by lining the weights with a pole a hundred meters away. They then dug ditches from each side to take the role of the drains, the earth from the ditches would be piled into the center and rammed down into a flat shape. Stones were then gathered and laid down into multiple layers as the means

The Circus Maximus began with the Valley of Murcia being used much as it is today. A small stream which ran off the Tiber river would dry enough to race around the banks. The natural rise of the land on the sides of the valley allowed spectators to sit. It was not until King Romulus created the first raised wooden seating that the Circus Maximus as we picture it was

Greece influenced roman societies and modern day societies politically as explained in documents 1, 2, 4, and 6. Greece was the first ancient civilization to have a democracy. The basic rule for roman society law system was displayed in the twelve tables. (Doc 2) Many western civilizations adapted this law system as well as other ideas from the roman 12 tables which influenced western societies immensely. The document explains a quote that we still use in modern society which is “every man is innocent until proven guilty.” Octavian Augustus states that after he dies “the foundations which I have laid for its future government will stand firm and stable” the Greeks invented an idea of a ruling senate which today is known as democracy. (Doc 4)

Deniz Nemli Roman Empire DBQ The Roman Empire was one of the strongest and most significant empires in history. All good things, however, eventually come to an end. After prospering for over 200 years, the Roman Empire fell due to rise and expansion.

After the rule of many prosperous emperors, Rome experienced a period of crisis from 235-285 CE. Almost all of the 19 emperors that ruled during this time were assassinated or died in battle (doc A). From the chart one can conclude that the people were not satisfied with their leaders, therefore they killed them. Rome was built on the idea of pleasing its people as seen by the various forms of entertainment during the Republic.

The Roman Empire: one of the world’s greatest ever civilizations, was in existence from 700 BC to 476 AD. Although the empire was not ever an extremely weak world power, it’s “highest” point in time was from about 50 BC to 200 AD. During this time period, it was at its all-time high. The empire spanned across what is today 3 continents (Asia Minor, Europe, Northern Africa), was home to 50 million people, and had a its capital city, Rome, had a population of 1 million people. But what can make such a huge world superpower collapse? The “Fall of Rome” can be accredited to a weakened central government troubled by political assassinations, disease, and foreign invasion, during the empire’s last century of sheer existence.

Beginning in the eighth century B.C., Ancient Rome grew from a small town in the center of Italy near the Tiber River into an empire that, at its peak, defeated and conquered most of continental Europe, Britain, western Asia, northern Africa and the Mediterranean islands. From the start, the Romans showed a talent for borrowing and improving upon the skills and concepts of other cultures.The Kingdom of Rome grew rapidly from a trading town to a prosperous city between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE. Among the many expansions of the Roman empire, they started to gain dominance over other well-known practices and were able to widespread the Romance languages derived from Latin, the modern Western alphabet and calendar, and the emergence of Christianity

Arch of Constantine- a triumphal arch in Rome, situated between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. It was erected by the Roman Senate to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312.

Most of the Italian municipalities in their time had a Forum, a square in their town where the political, commercial, and social lives are all intertwined. Not only did it act as a social meeting place for the residents, but it also functioned as the primary religious and economic sector of the city. In Pompeii the Forum was a large area measuring at around 157 by 38 metres, not including all the surrounding buildings (Unfortunately in Herculaneum, the forum is still uncovered). The Forum was lined with the most important buildings in the city. (See figure 1) In Pompeii particularly, the forum held the Municipal offices (A), Basilica (B), Temple of Apollo (C), Forum Olitorium (vegetable market) (C), Latrines (public toilets) (D), Temple of Jupiter (E), Macellum (marketplace) (F), Temple of the Lares (G), Temple of Vespasian (I), Building of Eumanchia (J), and a Comitium (voting house) (K). On the western side of the forum, there is a pedestal, built for outspoken orators. This served as a location where people could express their views on current situations, usually political.

Called the “Eternal City,” Rome emerged as the capital city of a powerful Republic at about 508 BC. Roman culture was greatly influenced by that of Greece, and Rome too emerged as a center of art and literature while also making vast contributions to the development of technology, war, law, and architecture in the Western world. With the Roman Empire’s dominance over most of Europe, the city of Rome became and remained the richest, largest, and most politically important city in the Western world for almost a thousand years, clearly defining it as world city that made its mark on the pages of history. This great wealth was demonstrated through the luxurious nature of the society, which included numerous intricate and architecturally stunning public baths. Another example of Rome’s extensive resources and capabilities is the Roman Coliseum, which represented a feat of architecture and engineering at the time and was used for all sorts of spectator events. Rome also became known for its close ties with the Catholic Church, being established as the center of the Church by the Pope and remaining a “holy city” for centuries. Eventually the illustrious Roman Empire declined due to a combination of economic problems, which gradually affected the empire, and invasions, which were its ultimate downfall. With the end of the Roman Empire came the end of Rome’s capital status, which was transferred instead to Milan. Despite eventually losing this

Towards the city’s heavily trafficked center the Roman Forum was constructed for convenient easy access of all the citizens. The foreground of the forum was occupied by a paved square with monuments to famous citizens. The temple to the Divine Julius, dedicated in 29 BCE to the deified Caesar, built in a Hellenistic style, is located in the background on the left; to the right is the temple of Vesta and the house of the Vestal Virgins, guardians of the everlasting flame; further to the right is the temple of the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux dedicated in 6 CE Here the office of weights and measures was situated. The podiums of the temples of Caesar and the Dioscuri were often used as orators' platforms and it is in this part of the Forum that the meetings of the comitia took place. On the far right is the Basilica Julia built by Caesar. Its long façade occupies the entire south side of the Forum. (Owens, 154) Semi-circular in plan and having consisted of a tall stage building, theaters were a semi-circular orchestra and tiered seating area. Unlike Greek theatres, which were built on natural slopes, they were supported by their own framework of piers and vaults and so could be built anywhere and not where nature dictated. Amphitheatres (literally, ‘double theatres’) were elliptical in plan; with a central areana. (Bowra, 38)

The Heart of Rome How does the forum in ancient Rome represent a liminal space? All Roman cities followed the same structure; even if the “grid” was different, every road would eventually link to the forum. In the forum there were shops, water dispensers, and temples forming the heart of the city. Every individual life stemmed out from the forum, and would inevitably return to it’s point of origin. In other words the liminal space of the forum was the threshold for life in Rome, but how does the forum represent a liminal space?

During the first 1st century AD Londinium (also known as Roman London) was founded by Roman merchants as a trading port on the Thames river in the Britannia geographical region as part of the Roman Empire. Londinium was built from the ground up as a planned Roman town after being demolished following a grid layout with major roads crossing streams through the city at (Merrifield, 1983, pp. 66-68). Located in about the middle of the city was the forum, a place where citizens gathered for important events and sometimes parties, was constructed, in which was located the basilica, the core location for administrative duties such as criminal trials, public speeches, and elections. The area occupied by the basilica was about two hectares, about the equivalent surface area of four football fields, of land and stood as tall as three storeys (Johnson 2016).

Since its collapse, historians have attempted to explain the struggle for power and control over both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire that followed. To explain the complexities of the Roman Republic, the Empire, and their political complexities can be a daunting task. For nearly ten centuries Rome would rule most of the known world before the fall of the Western Empire (Byzantine) in 476 C.E. Before that fall occurred, a fundamental change would take place that would transform the original Republic into the Roman Empire. Many factors would be directly and indirectly responsible for this transition. These would

Historians have always used great structures from the ancient world to find out information about the kind of lives they used to live. The Colosseum in Ancient Rome, Italy was one of the most famous structures. The Colosseum in Rome gives historians a number of insights to the type of civilization that existed during the time of the ancient empire, through the gory battles and violent games that took place. This can be proven by the purpose of the Colosseum and the context surrounding its construction, the political and economic benefit of the Colosseum to the empire, the types of games which were held in the arena and the values which the structure suggests were important to the civilization at the