bc ad Planet Earth is over four billion years old Historians divide these years into two time periods which they call BC or AD The bc dates come first and count down to 1 bc then the ad dates start and count up from ad 1 to today The current year is an ad year These dates help historians know when things happened Timeline 753 bc Romulus builds the city of Rome kings It is a kingdom and the leaders are 45 bc Julius Caesar takes over Rome from the senators and ends the republic ad 117 The Roman Empire is at its peak ad 476 The Roman Empire ends 509 bc Rome becomes a republic The leaders are now elected politicians called senators 27 bc The Roman Empire is now very large The new leader is an emperor ad 395 Rome splits into Eastern and Western Empires
An ordinary game becomes a great adventure Luna gazes up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on her bedroom ceiling Her cat Hero meows loudly from the garden below her window Nani will be here soon What shall we do today We should do something historical We could be Vikings or medieval knights or Egyptian rulers I know We should be Romans
Map of the Roman Empire ad 117 Britannia Gallia Hispania Roma Sicilia Africa
The Legend of Romulus and Remus There was a king who had twin nephews named Romulus and Remus The king was afraid that the boys would turn against him so he left them beside a river to die A she-wolf found them and fed them until a shepherd took care of them When they grew up the twins decided to create a city but argued over where to build it In their fight Remus was killed Romulus built the city on his own and he named it Rome Macedonia Armenia Mesopotamia Egyptus
