TheRoman Empire, at its height (c.

117 CE), was the

most extensive political and social structure in
westerncivilization. By 285 CE theempirehad grown
too vast to be ruled from the central government at
Romeand so was divided by Emperor Diocletianinto a
Western and an Eastern Empire.
The Roman Empire began when Augustus Caesar
became the first emperor of Rome (31 BCE) and
ended, in the west, when the last Roman emperor,
Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by the Germanic
King Odoacer (476 CE). In the east, it continued as the
Byzantine Empire until the death of Constantine XI and
the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453
CE. The influence of the Roman Empire on western
civilization was profound in its lasting contributions to
virtually every aspect of western culture.
Social Structure
Roman society is largely viewed ashierarchical, with
slaves(servi) at the bottom,freedmen(liberti) above
them, and free-born citizens (cives) at the top. Free
citizens were also divided by class.
The broadest, and earliest, division was between the
patricians, who could trace their ancestry to one of the
100Patriarchsat the founding of the city, and the
plebeians, who could not.
This became less important in the later Republic, as some
plebeian families became wealthy and entered politics,
and some patrician families fell economically.
Anyone, patrician or plebeian, who could count a consul
as his ancestor was anoble(nobilis); a man who was the
first of his family to hold the consulship, such asMariusor
Cicero, was known as anovus homo("new man") and
ennobled his descendants. Patrician ancestry, however,
still conferred considerable prestige, and maany religious
offices remained restricted to patricians.
Education
In the early Republic, there were no public schools, so
boys were taught to read and write by their parents, or by
educatedslaves, calledpaedagogi, usually of Greek origin
The primary aim of education during this period was to
train young men in agriculture, warfare,Roman traditions,
and public affairs.
Young boys learned much about civic life by
accompanying their fathers to religious and political
functions, including the Senate for the sons of nobles.The
sons of nobles were apprenticed to a prominent
political figureat the age of 16, and campaigned with the
army from the age of 17 (this system was still in use
among some noble families into the imperial era)
CLOTHING

A depiction of a Roman
Toga
In ancient Rome, the cloth and the dress
distinguished one class of people from the
other class. The tunic worn byplebeians
(common people) like shepherds was made
from coarse and dark material, whereas the
tunicworn bypatricianswas of linen or white
wool.
A magistrate would wear thetunica
angusticlavi; senators wore tunics with purple
stripes (clavi), calledtunica laticlavi. Military
tunics were shorter than the ones worn by
civilians
Plebian Clothing
Patrician
Food
Since the beginning of the Republic until 200
BC, ancient Romans had very simple food
habits. Simple food was generally consumed
at around 11 oclock, and consisted of bread,
salad, olives, cheese, fruits, nuts, and cold
meat left over from the dinner the night
before.
Breakfast was calledientaculum, lunch
wasprandium, and dinner was calledcena.
Appetizers were calledgustatio, and dessert
was calledsecunda mensa (or second table).
Usually, a nap or rest followed this.
ARCHITECTURE
Despite the technical developments of the
Romans, which took their buildings far away
from the basic Greek conception where
columns were needed to support heavy
beams and roofs, they were very reluctant to
abandon theclassical ordersin formal public
buildings, even though these had become
essentially decorative. However, they did not
feel entirely restricted by Greekaesthetic
concerns, and treated the orders with
considerable freedom.
ROMAN COLLOSEUM
Roman literature is written in the Latin
language.
The native language of the Romans
wasLatin, anItalic languagein the
Indo-European family. Several forms
of Latin existed, and the language
evolved considerably over time,
eventually becoming the
Romance languagesspoken today.
 Roman literature was from its very inception
influenced heavily by Greek authors. Some of the
earliest works currently discovered are of
historical epics telling the early military history of
Rome. As the Republic expanded, authors began
to produce poetry, comedy, history, and tragedy.
During the reign of the early emperors of Rome
there was a golden age of historical literature.
Works such as the 'Histories' ofTacitus, the '
Gallic Wars' byJulius Caesarand 'History of Rome'
byLivyhave been passed down through
generations. Unfortunately, in the case of Livy,
much of the script has been lost and it is left with
a few specific areas: the founding of the city, the
war withHannibal, and its aftermath.
THE POET HORACE
RELIGIO
N
CHRISTIANITY
TheHistory of late ancient Christianitytraces
Christianityduring theChristianRoman Empire- the
period from the rise of
Christianity under Emperor Constantine (c. 313), until
thefall of the Western Roman Empire(c. 476). The
end-date of this period varies because the transition
to thesub-Romanperiod occurred gradually and at
different times in different areas.
One may generally date late ancient Christianity as
lasting to the late 6th century and the re-conquests
underJustinian(reigned 527-565) of the
Byzantine Empire, though a more traditional end-
date is 476, the year in whichOdoacerdeposed
Romulus Augustus, traditionally considered the last
western emperor.
Roman Contributions
Romans used their engineering skills to perfect
the aqueduct, leading to public toilets and baths,
a sewage system and fresh drinking water.
The Romans also invented cement. However, the
original recipe was lost, and the technique for
making cement was only rediscovered in 1824
Newspapers were also founded, and they
addressed political, cultural and military
occurrences. Originally, these newspapers were
only available to a select few, until Julius Cesar
ordered them to be available to the public.
The formation of the Roman Republic led way
to modern democracy. The Republic was
formed to limit dictatorship by distributing
power through three government branches.
The concept of the citizen was also born.
While citizenship did not span across women
or all social classes equally, citizens were
allowed to vote, marry freeborn women and
engage in commerce.
Romans are also responsible for the spread of
Christianity. Roman emperor Constantine
established Christianity as the official religion
of the Roman Empire in the year 312.