by Sharmal Kelambi

Created on: December 15, 2008

Roman Empire was divided into Eastern and Western empires by the Emperor Diocletian in 285 A.D. Until then the mighty Rome remained a single empire, perhaps the biggest empire the known world had ever seen. It all started with just another small village in the Italian peninsula. Some even link the beginning of Rome to the fallen city of Troy. Whatever the myths may say, the rise of Rome was both rapid and fascinating at the same time. It was only in 476 A.D. that the destruction stuck its Western half, ironically from the hands of the very barbarians it allowed to roam freely at her boarders. The downfall of the Western Roman Empire was a result of not one, but a combination of many fascinating causes.

RISE OF ROME

"Rome wasn't build in a day." It's a famous saying most of us have heard many times in our lives. Actually Rome took more than thousand years to reach the empire it finally was. The beginning of Rome was from just another village in the Italian peninsula. As the legend says it was Romulus and Remus who actually built the Roman city. The exact days of the founding of Rome are not clear. From then onwards it started its legendary expansion. First the neighboring Italian tribes and then the Greeks were easily absorbed into the Roman territory. The fighting among each other left most of her enemies quite weak by the time of the rise of Rome.

THE ROMAN REPUBLIC

The republican governing system was a great advantage for Rome in her early days. It gave her a clear advantage over the other monarch governments as the internal conflicts were few to none in those old days in Rome. Changing from the republic to an empire was required by the vast land mass under its control; however it also brought far numerous matters to Rome. Internal conflicts played a major role in the later part of the empire and were a main cause for the downfall of the Western Roman Empire.

ROMAN EMPIRE

Rome reached its greatest territorial peak in the times of Emperor Trajan around 417 A.D. However it's Emperor Augustus who's considered to be the greatest of her emperors. Even in the times of the Emperor Augustus the Germanic tribes beyond the rivers Rhine and Danube remained a far tougher enemy for even the mighty war machine of Rome. Emperor Augustus too failed in conquering beyond these rivers and the threat post by the Germanic tribes remained to the end of the Western Roman Empire, finally to take over Rome itself.

THE DIVISION OF THE EMPIRE

It was in the times of the Emperor Diocletian in

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>