The Roman Empire

Anno Urbis

roman empire This site is dedicated to bringing you information about the wonder that was the Roman Empire and how its legacy still shapes our history, our language, and the foundations of our society and its institutions. The Roman Empire endures!




The City of Rome was traditionally founded in 753 B.C. by our calendar. The Romans measured their calendar from the foundation of the City, or "Anno urbis conditae". By their calendar, today is Anno Urbis ("The Year of the City") 2761.

Below you will find a number of texts and resources that will be of use to anyone interested in the Roman Empire. Currently the documents are presented in small readable segments which allow you to browse these text books online. We have also added a site wide search engine to make finding information about the Roman Empire easier. And we have introduced a forum where anyone interested in roman history or society can post ideas or ask questions. We also think that it would be interesting to have a "What if" or "Alternate History" section to discuss what might have happened if for example, Julius Caesar had heeded the warnings and escaped assassination, or if the Emperor Valens had won the battle of Adrianoples instead of the Roman Army being destroyed by the barbarian invaders. Our world would definitely be different today. This is where you can let your imagination reshape our history.

 

 

Roman Empire - Texts and Resources

  • Bulfinch's Age of Fable - an important reference work giving descriptions of Roman and Greek myths and their gods.
  • Ancient Rome - The Story of Rome's Foundation and early history, until the end of the Monarchy and establishment of the Republic.
  • The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - The Classic 6 Volume Work by Gibbon is presented in full online.
  • The Old Roman World: The Failure and Grandeur of Its Civilization - Beneath the pomp and pageantry, marble buildings and glory of empire, Rome was rotten to the core.
  • The Last of the Tribunes - A work of fiction by the author who gave us "it was a dark and stormy night ..."
  • A History of Rome During the later Republic and Early Principate - the title says it all.
  • Latin Authors - A small but growing collection of Roman authors such as Caesar, Horace and Cicero.
  • A Latin Reader - This introductory latin text introduces easy Latin phrases and passages from classical authors so you can practice your transalation skills.
  • Social Life at Rome at the Time of Cicero - A candid account of what it was like to live in Rome at its height. A treasure trove of information.
  • Roman History By Titus Livius - A classic history of Rome by one of its greatest authors. This is how the Romans saw themselves.
  • Ruins, or Meditations on the Revolutions of Empire - Not strictly just about Rome, but it has a lot to say about the fall of civilizations.
  • Roman Religion - A history of the development of Roman Religion from the earliest days Rome until the coming of Christianity.
  • The Story of Rome From the Earliest Times to the End of the Republic - How did Rome come to dominate the Italian peninsula.
  • Ancient Civilizations - The History of the Roman Empire's competitors: Greece, The Etruscans, The Parthian Empire and more ...
  • Suetonius's Lives of the Twelve Caesars - A candid biography of the twelve Caesars who shaped the fate of the Empire and the Western world we know today. Written by a contemporary.
  • Plutarch's Lives - The classic work by Plutarch, comparing the lives and characters of prominent Romans to Greek counterparts.
  • Life in the Roman World of Nero and Saint Paul
  • Julius Caesar
  • Atlas of the Roman Empire - excellent detailed maps of the principal provinces and regions of the Empire as well as neighbouring states. [New]

            More Texts About the Roman Empire ....

    • Roman Empire News


    The Afterlife

    ... the nature or substance of the soul seems neither to have been a natal day, nor to be exempt from death. Again, whether do any atoms of the soul remain in a dead body, or not? For if any remain and exist in the body, it will not be possible for the soul to be justly accounted immortal; since when she took her departure she was diminished by some lost particles. but if, when removed, she fled with all her parts so entirem that she left no atoms if her substance in the bodym whence do dead caracasses, when the viscera become putrid, send forth worms?



    12 Byzantine Rulers: Part 14 - Alexius
    When the 24 year old Alexius Comnenus came to the throne, the glories of the Empire seemed long gone. Its "invincible" army had been smashed at the battle of Manzikert, the frontiers were collapsing, and enemies on every side threatened to overwhelm what was left. It would take an extraordinary ruler to salvage something from the wreckage much less restore Byzantine prestige. Join Lars Brownworth as he takes a look at Alexius Comnenus, the man who did just that, even as the First Crusade erupted around him.

    The Erotic Poems by Ovid
    Love be not proud. Let love be cynical, irreverent and bawdy! Ovid is the perfect cure for maudlin saps pining for unrequited romances. The good man from Sulmo is perhaps the most infamous Roman poet, and deservedly so. Not content with being a creature of the Augustan propaganda machine and ...

    12 Byzantine Rulers: Part 10 - Heraclius
    In the years following Justinian's death, the empire was rocked from within and without. Barbarians pushed in on every border and the empire's ancient enemy Persia ravaged the East unchecked. The empire met this challenge with a series of weak and foolish rulers who squandered what resources they had, and crumbled before the Persian onslaught. By the start of the 7th Century, the emperor was a virtual prisoner in his own palace, the Persians were beneath the walls of Constantinople, and the rest of the empire was in the hands of rebels. It looked as if the end had come at last, and yet, against all odds, an Armenian general was to defeat the Persians, sweep away the old Latin traditions and reform the empire on a Greek model. Join Lars Brownworth as he looks at Heraclius, whose reign saw this glittering triumph yet ended in such tragedy.

    Roman Thoughts About Old Age

    Cicero, one of the greatest men of letters in the Roman Empire had this to say about old age, and death:
    Indeed I do not see why I should not venture to tell you what I myself think concerning death, because I fancy I see it so much more clearly, in proportion as I am less distant from it. I am persuaded that your fathers ..., men of the greatest eminence and very dear friends of mine, are living; and that life, too, which alone deserves the name of life. For whilst we are shut up in in this prison of the body we are fulfilling as it were the function and painful task of destiny, for the heaven-born soul has been degraded from its dwelling place abovem and it were buried in the earth, a situation uncongenial to its divine and immortal nature.



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