Ancient Rome was the biggest town in the then known world. It is thought that Rome’s population was over one million people when the town was at the height of its power. From Rome, the guts of govt beat ; army calls were taken and the vast wealth Rome earned was invested in a chain of impressive buildings.

To start with, many buildings in Rome were built around the forum. Traditionally, this had been a market place and an area where folks met. Therefore , it would have been a natural place to put government buildings, churches and palaces. As Rome grew the forum became more crowded. Therefore , a second town centre was planned and built some distance from the forum but still in Rome itself.

Rome itself had some impressive buildings erected in the town. Some exist to this day, all be it in a less excellent state. The most famed is maybe the Colosseum where thousands of Roman citizens would gather for their entertainment – be it animals fighting or gladiators etc . Such grand buildings were constructed so that emperors would be recollected by future generations. The Colosseum was built on the orders of the Emperor Vespasian and finished when the Emperor Titus was in power. The building was finally finished in AD eighty.

Rome also had numerous triumphal arches constructed throughout the town to celebrate army victories. These served adual purpose. First, they were a party of the army victories the Romans had and, 2nd, they used to be a reminder to the people of Rome of how forceful the army was.
As with any town, Rome had its rich and poor areas. The poor could only afford to live in wooden houses which were aserious fire risk in a hot country like Italy. On a number of occasions, Rome suffered grim damage as a result of fires beginning in the town’s slums. The slums were also perilous places to go to if you had any money as crime was very common. The Emperor Augustus created a police force to patrol the town but the poor areas stayed all but untamed. However , for the influential people of Rome, this was of little significance as they never visited such areas.

The fall of traditional Rome started from about AD 190. The Roman Empire was attacked by tribes like the Goths and the Vandals. Civil wars in parts of the empire further weakened the rule of Rome and respect for Roman law decreased as a result.
Why was the empire attacked by fierce tribes people? Tribes like the Goths wanted to move south into parts of Europe that experienced a better climate that would help their farming. This could only bring them into conflict with the Romans. Atroughly AD 190, Rome also experienced a succession of poor emperors who simply werenot capable of doing the job.

Diocletian faced more than simply executive issues. Moreand more army defences needed to be built across the entire empire. This cost cash that Rome did not have. To pay for these, taxes were increased and additional coins were minted. This lead to inflation causing costs to rise. Therefore , the people of Rome were less than favourable towards those that led them.
With threats from tribes in northerly Europe, finance issues in Rome itself and a civilian population becoming moreand more discontented, Rome could ill afford further major issues.

In AD 307, Constantine became emperor. He ruled from AD 307 to AD 337. Constantine was Rome’s first Christian emperor and he is considered to have once been a robust ruler.
He suspected that Rome as a town was too far away from crucial areas of the empire to be of value from a governmental level. Constantine,therefore , moved the capital of the empire to a new town – Constantinople. This was a new town that was built on the old town of Byzantium. Whatever the motives were, Constantine’s call was a poor one. Constantinople was much further east than Rome and firmly in the eastern empire. This left the western empire really vulnerable – though the eastern empire was hardly free from attacks.

however , in AD 398, the leader of the Visigoths, Alaric, realized the Roman armed forces was so thinly spread, that Rome itself was to take away. Alaric moved carefully south but in AD 410 he caught the town of Rome. The town was sacked. Roman held territory in Spain, France, northern Africa and Britain all slid to the varied tribes that attacked them.

In AD 455, Rome was attacked again. This time the damage was done by the Vandals. The town suffered major damage. In AD 476, the last Roman emperor in the west, Romulus Augustulus, was removed from power by Odovacar, leader of the Goths. This date is generally employed by historians as the year the Roman Empire finished. However , Roman rule continued in the eastern empire for a number of years after this date – in modern Greece, Turkey, the Middle East and northwards Egypt. Even if the ancient Rome fell, today it is a cosmopolitan city. If you like to see the old and modern parts of the city do not hesitate and book your Appartment Rome. All the Appartments Rome are a good starting point to make the most out of the city.