DD+War&Weaponry+Roman+Empire

The Roman empire was one of the largest empires in ancient times. It lasted for over 1000 years and included countries as far away as Britain, Egypt, Spain and Turkey. According to ancient Roman myths, Rome began with two brothers, Romulus and Remus. They were the twin sons of the god Mars and a priestess, Rhea Silvia. The twins' great uncle Amulius feared that they would overthrow him so he put them in a trough which he placed in the River Tiber. They were found by a wolf who looked after them as they grew up. When they got older they killed Amulius and decide to build their own town. Romulus began by building walls, but remus made fun of them because they were so low. Romulus became angry and killed Remus. He named the town Roma (Rome) after himself.

This legend is probably not true. Rome was most likely founded by farmers around 750 BC. It was firstly ruled by kings, but the last king, Tarquinius Superbus, became extremely cruel and the Romans kicked him out. The Romans then decided to call themselves a 'republic' where 'anyone' could have a voice in the ruling of the country. The problem was, it was really only rich people who could make any decisions.

The Roman republic was surrounded by enemies, including the Etruscans ( a civilization occupying most of Italy before the Romans conquered them), the Carthagnians (from northern Africa) and even the Greeks. There was a certainmethod the Romans used when conquering a country:
 * 1) Send thousands of highly trained soldiers to a country to conquer it and subdue the locals.
 * 2) Force them to worship the Roman gods.
 * 3) Sell some of them as slaves to work on Roman farms.
 * 4) Let the rest work for the new Roman lord.
 * 5) After a while the locals who aren't slaves become 'friends' of Rome.
 * 6) Recruit 'friends' of Rome as troops in the army.

The Carthagnians were a tough enemy for the Romans to defeat. They used elephants and were lead by Hannibal, son of Hamilcar Barca who had fought in the First Punic War (between Rome and Carthage). Rather than sailing towards Italy, Hannibal decided to take an overland route, across Iberia (Spain) and through the Alps. Most of his 30 elephants died of cold while crossing them.

When Hannibal reached Italy the Romans were overconfident and lost three major consecutive battles. After these losses, the Romans refused to engage Hannibal in further battles, instead using 'hit and run' tactics. The Romans launched counterattacks on Carthagnian north Africa and Spain. Hannibal had to retreat to defend Carthage. Hannibal was finally defeated at Zama in 202 BC by the Roman General Scipio. Carthage was captured by the Romans in 146 BC at the end of the Third Punic War.

Back in Rome two consuls were elected every year. They would command Rome's armies and were generally in charge of everything. This changed when Julius Caesar came to power. He was so good at ruling and expanding the empire that he was elected 'dictator for life'. During his reign he conquered Gaul (modern day France)and visited Britain. Unfortunately, 'dictator for life' sounded a lot like 'king' to the other senators, so he was murdered on the 15th of March, 44 BC. He received 23 stab wounds.

Julius Caesar's death resulted in a battle for power between various Roman politicians which ended with the defeat of Mark Anthony (one of Caesar's friends) by Octavian (Caesar's nephew) and the suicide of Cleopatra (Caesar's Egyptian wife). Octavian became the emperor of the new Roman empire and changed his name to Augustus (which means 'very important person'). Rome was ruled by a dynasty of Caesars until 68 AD.

There were many rulers of the Roman empire between 44 BC and its demise in 476 AD. Emperor Claudius conquered Britain in 43 AD. One British tribe, the Iceni rebelled in 60 AD. They were lead by Queen Boudicca who massacred hundreds of Romans living in British towns. She is eventually defeated by General Paulinus and commits suicide by poison. In 122 AD Emporer Hadrian has a wall built between England and Scotland to keep out the Picts (Scottish tribes). You can still see the ruins of the wall today.

The empire reached its largest during the reign of the emperor Trajan (98-117 AD). From there it was all downhill. One period of fifty years (235 - 285 AD) had over 20 Roman emperors. In 337 AD the empire splits into two sections, east and west. Constantinople becomes the capital of the eastern Roman empire. Christianity became Rome's official religion in 380 AD.

Around this time, a barbarian tribe called the huns start occupying eastern Europe, pushing other barbarian tribes towards the Roman Empire. The empire has weakened from the split into two seperate empires and the Romans struggle to push back the invaders. They withdraw from areas such as Britain and Africa to help fight off the barbarian tribes. Both the eastern and western empire become smaller and smaller, until Rome is eventually conquered in 476 AD. The eastern empire holds out until Constantinople is conquered by the Ottomans in 1453 AD. In 1939 Mussolini, an Italian dictator, formed allies with German ruler Adolf Hitler, and with Japanese general Tojo. During World War Two they took over most of Europe and some of the rest of the world. This is a lot more than the ancient Romans ever conquered. Britain, along with Russia and America, fought back towards the end of the war and eventually defeated the three dictators. In 1944 Italy was invaded and Mussolini was kicked out. Home