The Genius of ROMANS INNOVATIONS FROM PAST CIVILIZATIONS the IZZI HOWELL CRABTREE PUBLISHING COMPANY WWW.CRABTREEBOOKS.COM
romanS Who The Romans were one of the greatest civilizations of all time It began around 1000 b c e with a group of Latin-speaking people who lived on the banks of the Tiber River which flows through the city of Rome in Italy By 600 b c e Rome was an important city-state ruled by kings The Romans then went through different stages of rule First there was the Roman Republic followed by the Roman Empire and the rule of emperors The Romans conquered land across Europe the Middle East and North Africa spreading their culture and leaving a legacy that lives on today Romans carried banners such as this one into battle the SPQR stands for the Roman Senate and people in Latin According to myths the twins Romulus and Remus were the founders of the city of Rome In the story the twins were raised by a wolf after their parents abandoned them 4
Millions of tourists visit the Colosseum in Rome every year It was built for gladiator matches see pages 28 and 29 What happened Over time the Roman Empire was weakened by civil war and invasions from neighboring tribes By 395 c e the Roman Empire had officially split in half The Western Roman Empire ended in 476 and other groups won control of its territory The Eastern Roman Empire which became known as the Byzantine Empire continued for over 1,000 years Today the remains of Roman structures can still be seen across Europe northern Africa and the Middle East 5
