Rome A Brief History

R ome has been synonymous                                             with mythology since the        Eventually the hostilities came    birth of civilisation. Few      to a head and Romulus killed his   places around the world conjure       brother Remus. Freed from his      such colourful legends. Since the     brother’s shackles, Romulus        dawn of time itself, Rome has         endeavoured to dominate            appeared to have had a say in         civilisation and the city of Rome  almost everything that has            was built.                         occurred.                                                                                                      Centuries later another great      The Roman Empire had a huge           leader emerged to take the reins   influence on the course of            of the Roman Empire. General       European art and culture. Lasting     Julius Caesar had come through     impressions of Roman architecture     the army ranks and coveted the     have survived right up to the         position of leader of the Empire.  present day, from the ruins of                                           the Colosseum at the epicentre of                                        Rome itself, to far western           Caesar had spent his time          corners of Europe including the       marching his armies across         city of Bath in England, named        Europe, defeating his hosts along  after its Roman baths.                the way and expanding Rome’s                                             territorial domination of the      The origins of Rome are said to       continent. The defeat of France    date back to 753 BC and the           was a significant conquest and     notorious twins Romulus and           Caesar felt time was right to      Remus. Sons of Mars and a Vestal      fulfil his destiny.                Virgin, the two warring brothers                                         conceived rival communities,          Having marched his army into       forever at one anothers throats.      Rome, Caesar declared himself                                            Dictator for Life, commencing his  reign over the largest empire the     increasing amount of success.      world has seen to this day. His       When the final emperor             rule came to an abrupt end in 44      relinquished his post in 476 BC    BC following his assassination.       the Empire had fallen forever.                                                                              Several years passed before his       The fall of the Roman Empire has   adopted son Augustus stood            spawned many theories as to how    forward and succeeded his father      the world’s greatest power fell    as leader. He declared himself        to its knees. One interesting      emperor of Rome in 27 BC.             theory suggests the extensive use                                        of lead in their plumbing may      By the end of the 4th century the     have poisoned their drinking       empire was in decline; the map of     water to the extent of causing     Europe was changing. One by one,      infertility.                       Roman outpost settlements were                                           defeated. Barbarians from beyond      Whatever the reason, the face of   the Danube and the Rhine were         Europe changed forever, heralding  attacking villages with an            the dawn of a new age.             About the Author: Steven Cronin owns the City Breaks website featuring city break special offers from luxury hotels to budget accommodations. For more information please visit http://www.sargas.co.uk Source: www.isnare.com