The city of Rome began as a small hamlet. It was founded in 753 BCE by the mythical twins Romulus and Remus along the Fiume Tevere in Rome. After their landing upon the shores of the Tiber they were raised by a she-wolf (the symbol of Rome even today). Rome, in fact, gets its name from ‘Romulus.’

Regardless, the city itself was small in its origin, and grew gradually in size from 753 BCE – 509 BCE under the guidance of a series of Etruscan kings that originally presided over the city. They were a monarchy to begin with, but as most monarchies suffer the same fate and demise, the Roman monarchy was ended after the man wearing the crown had become corrupt.

So with the demise of Tarquinius Superbus (the Proud) in 509 BCE at the hands of many Romans, including Marcus Junius Brutus (the famed ancestor of Caesar’s Brutus), the monarchy was overthrown and a republic was established.

Rome wasn’t even the biggest city, city-state, or civilization on the Italian peninsula. The Etruscans and various Latin tribes easily outnumbered Rome in size and population. Still, by the 2nd century BCE, Rome conquered their Italian neighbors, part of northern Africa, Spain, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica to become a regional Mediterranean power. How did it come to this? And what did the Romans construct in the city of Rome that represented their strength and society as a whole?

This architectural tour of Rome we’ll be taking today will show you 10 different buildings of Rome, highlighting 10 different significant facets to the city of Rome, the Empire, and even its demise.

To make Rome what it has come to be, land needed to be made suitable for inhabitance. The forum, as it sits today, was a swampy marshland saddled between two hills – the Palatine and Capitoline. The Cloaca Maxima, or giant drain, was built to funnel rainwater out of the forum and into the Tiber River in the 7th century BCE.

The Forum Romanum is the heart of the ancient city, and therefore the heart of the Empire. Business, government, law, and religion were all conducted and practiced in this one single strip of the city. In this very spot it is true that “all roads lead to rome” – they literally did! The ‘Golden Milestone’ sat just in front of the Temple of Saturn – the second holiest temple in all of Rome, in the middle of the forum.

Simply put – the forum was the locus of Roman life. Anything of any importance was conducted in the forum. It was such an important place that no weaponry was allowed in the forum (despite its many violations throughout Roman history, especially in the empire). Ironically, it was in the forum that Tarquin the Proud, the final king of Rome, met his demise at the hand of many armed republic-favoring Romans.

To enter the forum, at least if you were to do it as an emperor, you’d enter through the southeastern side on the Via Sacra, or ‘holy road.’

10 photos:1. Curia Julia. The Senate House.

a. Built: 1st C BCE.b. Julius Caesar (one of many reconstructions of the curia)c. This was the meeting place of the Senate. Official legislation was passed here. Two consuls

presided over.d. The Romans were innovative in their use of Republican democracy rather than direct

democracy. The Roman government was headed by two consuls, praetors, aediles, quaestors, & other officials (executive & judicial branch, monarchical, imperium, acted as chief priest). Beneath them was a senate (legislative & aristocratic, richest men in Rome), Tribal Assemblies headed by tribunes (democratic, provided soldiers for army). Note that they separated powers of their government. Of course, this separation was abolished by the time of Augustus & the Senate was an empty, powerless, body of rich, angry men.

2. Basilica of Constantine & Maxentiusa. Built: 4th century CEb. Constantine & Maxentius. Co-emperors.c. Law was practiced in basilicas. We call churches ‘basilicas’ to this day due to the copying of

the design of a Roman basilica. This was the biggest in Rome when it was completed.d. Roman law was a massive achievement. Legality in Rome began with the Twelve Tables in

412 BCE. It was officially codified by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in 532 CE with Lex Curius Civilis, the body of which stands as the foundation of western law today.

3. Temple of Vestaa. Built: 8th century BCEb. King Numa (2nd king of Rome after Romulus).c. The temple of Vesta kept the hearth of Rome – a constant fire that was to be worshipped

and attended to by the Vestal Virgins. It was a fire that closely tied its life to Rome’s fortunes – should the fire ever go out, Rome will be doomed.

d. The temple of Vesta displays the combination of ‘church and state’ within Rome. The Roman religion was polytheistic and was completely institutionalized by the state, meaning that religion functioned as a full part of Roman government. Roman emperors would only conduct war with favorable auguries. If you were to be a senator or magistrate you could at least expect to be a priest on the long road of success. The temple of Vesta was paired with the Regia, or king’s house, in the middle of the Roman forum. He, and the Vestals, would guard the sacred fire and keep Rome safe so long as it burned.

4. The Tabulariuma. Built: 1st century BCEb. Lepidus, co-consul with Catulus.c. The tabularium housed Roman records and the treasury. The Romans kept legislation,

military records, and coin in the tabularium.d. The Tabularium symbolizes the wealth of Rome. Rome had an agriculturally-based

economy. The backbone of that economy, especially in the Republican period, was the Roman soldier-farmer, who served the state and his farm at home. By the 1st century CE, however, small farmers were disenfranchised, and lost business and farmland to large, slave-supported farms owned by the aristocracy. Otherwise, the Roman economy was sound from about the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century CE because of Roman naval power, roads, standardized coinage, and a diverse capitalist marketplace that was the empire and Mediterranean Sea.

5. The Column of Trajana. Built: 2nd century CEb. Trajan

c. The Column of Trajan was built after Trajan’s victory against the Dacians, or modern Romanians. It was the highlight of his own personal forum, the biggest in Rome.

d. Trajan’s column speaks to the warlike nature of Roman society. Rome began its conquest of the Italian peninsula in 390 CE after conquering (in a very similar fashion to the Greeks & Troy) the Etruscan city of Veii. Afterwards, Rome conquered all of Italy. After the Punic Wars, Rome had pieces of Spain, Sicily, Sardinia, and Northern Africa to call its own. Illyria, Greece, Byzantium, Egypt, Judaea, Dacia, Germania, Britain, even Arabia, all fell between the first century BCE and the 2nd century CE. The Roman military was highly efficient, and used impressive strategy, along with strength in numbers, to defeat enemies on land and sea. Infantry were armed with swords & shields, the cavalry with swords, and Rome even experimented with catapults, archery, fire-based siege warfare. The two Roman emperors who added the most territory: Augustus & Trajan.

6. The Coliseuma. Late 1st century CEb. Vespasian, Titus, & Domitian c. After conquering Judaea, Vespasian & his son Titus used their spoils of war to build two

things: the Forum Pacis and the Coliseum. The Coliseum gets its name from the Colossus of Nero, a massive Bronze statue Nero had made of himself during his many bouts of insanity (after Rome burned in 64 CE). It housed free games put on for the public by the Senate and Emperor.

d. Romans had bloodlust, there’s no denying it. The coliseum housed naval battles, gladiatorial bouts, animal hunts, and possibly anything you could imagine that involved someone or something dying. These were free games put on for the public – games that commemorated special events (such as the anniversary of the battle of Zama in the 3rd Punic War), or were put on even for the emperor’s birthday. The public loved these events – yet the vast amounts of Roman received the worst upper-deck seating. Senators – Equites – Regular Romans. However, the games were a big cost for the Roman state and were only meant to keep the people happy, despite massive unemployment, inflation, and political disenfranchisement late in the empire. ‘Bread and circuses’

7. Via Appia & Aqua Claudiaa. 4th century BCE and 1st century CE, respectivelyb. Appius Claudius Caecus; Caligulac. Roads and aqueducts aided Rome massively: communication was easier with a road-based

mail system, travel was simplified, Roman armies could move faster & quicker, and running water was available to every neighborhood in Rome.

d. The Romans had excellent infrastructure, but could not achieve their success without massive achievements in engineering. Roman roads were straight as an arrow, but extended to literally every corner of the empire, and wound their way back to Rome. Aqueducts pulled in water using gravity and hydraulic technology from all parts of the empire. They crossed mountains, valleys, went underground, and were raised above ground to avoid tampering and contamination.

e.

Introductory notes (PPT):

Timeline:753 BCE 264-146 BCE 27BCE-14CE 306-337CE 476CE

509 BCE 90 BCE-27 BCE 180CE 410CE

What is this building?

When was it built; who built it?

What significance does it have?

What major theme of the Roman Empire does it express? Why?

What is this building?

When was it built; who built it?

What significance does it have?

What major theme of the Roman Empire does it express? Why?

What is this building?

When was it built; who built it?

What significance does it have?

What major theme of the Roman Empire does it express? Why?

What is this building?

When was it built; who built it?

What significance does it have?

What major theme of the Roman Empire does it express? Why?

What is this building?

When was it built; who built it?

What significance does it have?

What major theme of the Roman Empire does it express? Why?

What is this building?

When was it built; who built it?

What significance does it have?

What major theme of the Roman Empire does it express? Why?

What are the above images?

When were they built?

What significance do they have?

What major theme of the Roman Empire do they represent?