Ancient Rome Part Two: The Roman

Empire
By History.com, adapted by Newsela staff on 01.23.17
Word Count 435

Statue of Augustus Caesar in front of the bell tower (9th century) of the Basilica of St Apollinaris in Classe (UNESCO
World Heritage List, 1996), in Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. DeAgostini/Getty Images

The second in a two-part series

In ancient times, Rome was one of the world's greatest powers. It began as a small town in
Italy 2,800 years ago. Slowly, it took over new lands and grew to be very big. At its peak, it
controlled most of Europe and Britain. It also controlled much of western Asia, northern
Africa and the Mediterranean.

Many traces of Ancient Rome are still around today. For example, Romans spoke Latin.
The Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian languages all come from Latin.
The modern Western alphabet and calendar also started with the Romans. The Christian
religion was spread by the Roman empire.

The emperors start to take over

Ancient Rome became a republic 2,500 years ago. Republics have leaders that the people
choose. However, 450 years later, Rome switched its government. It became an empire.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1

An empire is ruled by one person, the emperor. The rst Roman emperor's name was
Augustus. His rule came after 100 years of cheating and ghting among Roman leaders.
He brought peace to the empire that lasted 200 years. During this time, Roman authors,
artists and architects produced great works.

Rome hits bad times

Around A.D. 180, the peaceful times ended. A man named Marcus Aurelius became
emperor. He was involved in many wars. When he died, his 19-year-old son Commodus
became the next emperor. The golden age of emperors was over.

Commodus was greedy and bad at leading. Rome suffered from near-constant battling for
the next 100 years. In all, 22 emperors ruled from the throne. Most of them were murdered.
Meanwhile, outsiders kept attacking the empire.

Diocletian sat on the throne in the year 284. Diocletian temporarily restored peace in
Rome. He divided power with three other men.

This system suffered greatly when two of the men retired. One of the men's sons was
named Constantine. He became the only emperor in the year 324. He moved the Roman
capital to the Greek city of Byzantium. He renamed it Constantinople. Constantine then
made Christianity Romes ofcial religion.

Ancient Rome comes to an end

Roman unity did not last. The eastern and western empires were divided again by the year
360.

Rome had become so big and had so many bad rulers that it fell apart. It lost its provinces
one by one. Invaders attacked from the north. The long history of Ancient Rome ended in
September of 476. A Germanic prince beat the Roman army. He pushed out the last
Roman emperor. His troops then made him king of Italy.

It marked the end of the long, rocky history of Ancient Rome.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 2

Quiz

1 Which question is answered by the rst paragraph of the article?

In ancient times, Rome was one of the world's greatest powers. It

began as a small town in Italy 2,800 years ago. Slowly, it took over new
lands and grew to be very big. At its peak, it controlled most of Europe
and Britain. It also controlled much of western Asia, northern Africa
and the Mediterranean.

(A) What lands did Rome control when it grew?

(B) How did Rome rule and control most of Europe?

(C) What was daily life like in lands Rome controlled?

(D) How well did Rome control the lands it took over?

2 Why was Augustus important to Roman history?

(A) He was the rst emperor of Rome.

(B) He was a famous Roman author.

(C) He moved the Roman capital to a Greek city.

(D) He lost a battle to a Germanic prince.

3 Based on the article, which event happened FIRST?

(A) Rome became an empire.

(B) Rome became a republic.

(C) Rome was divided.

(D) Rome fell apart.

4 Which sentence from the section "Rome hits bad times," explains the MAIN reason why Rome
had 22 emperors in 100 years?

(A) The golden age of emperors was over.

(B) Commodus was greedy and bad at leading.

(C) Most of them were murdered.

(D) Meanwhile, outsiders kept attacking the empire.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 3