The Roman Empire, one of the greatest and most influential civilizations in history, fell nearly 1,600 years ago. At its height, Rome governed an estimated 60-80 million people over a vast territory stretching from Britain to Egypt, from Spain to Iraq.[^1] And yet, even now, its profound influence continues to shape almost every aspect of the modern Western world, from our politics and laws to our art and popular culture. As the eminent classicist Mary Beard put it, "Rome is important because it is, for better or worse, where we came from."[^2]
The Foundation of the West
It‘s hard to overstate just how deeply Roman culture is embedded in the bedrock of Western civilization. The English language borrows heavily from Latin, with some estimates suggesting that over 60% of English words have Greek or Latin roots.[^3] The classical style inspired by the art and architecture of ancient Rome dominated Western aesthetics for centuries and continues to influence designers today. Our modern 12-month calendar, which is now used worldwide, is largely based on the one instituted by Julius Caesar in 45 BCE.[^4]
Roman political innovations such as the separation of powers, a system of checks and balances, and the idea of elected representatives all helped lay the groundwork for contemporary democratic governments.[^5] Many modern legal concepts, including civil law, the presumption of innocence, and trial by jury, trace their origins back to Rome.[^6] Even the familiar sight of a judge wearing a black robe has ancient Roman roots.
Perhaps most visibly, the layout of many European and American cities still bears the imprint of Roman urban planning.[^7] The city of Rome itself, with its central forum surrounded by temples, government buildings and public spaces, provided a template that was emulated across the empire and well beyond. When we stroll through the downtown streets arranged in a grid or gather in front of a monumental courthouse building with classical columns, we are walking in the footsteps of the ancient Romans who built the first cities of this kind.
Governing a Diverse Empire
One reason Rome was able to leave such an enduring mark on Western culture was the unprecedented scale and longevity of its empire. At its peak, the Roman Empire stretched over 5 million square kilometers (1.93 million square miles) and lasted for nearly 1,500 years.[^8] This is an astonishing accomplishment in both its physical scope and its historical staying power.
Holding together such a vast and diverse collection of territories and peoples required immense administrative skill. Here too, the Romans provide a model that continues to be studied and admired. During the Pax Romana, a period of relative peace and stability that lasted over 200 years, the empire was governed by a sophisticated system of laws, taxation, and infrastructureprojects that kept its far-flung provinces running smoothly.[^9]
The Romans demonstrated a remarkable ability to integrate and assimilate the many cultures under their rule. By extending Roman citizenship to conquered peoples and facilitating their participation in the empire‘s governance and economy, the Romans built a relatively cohesive and cosmopolitan society that fostered the exchange of ideas, goods, and customs.[^10] While their methods could be brutally oppressive, the Romans bound together their empire with more than just military might.
The Rise of Christianity
One of the most significant historical developments to emerge from the Roman Empire was Christianity. The Roman province of Judea was the birthplace of Jesus Christ, and thus the seedbed for a faith that has grown to over 2 billion adherents worldwide.[^11] After centuries of persecution, Christianity became the official state religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century CE. As the empire dissolved, the Church helped preserve elements of Roman art, literature, and organization that would have otherwise been lost.[^12]
The growth of the Roman Catholic Church and the papacy in Rome ensured that the city would remain a leading cultural and spiritual center long after the fall of the empire. The Vatican City, headquarters of the Church, is itself a fascinating example of Roman continuity. Built on the site where Saint Peter was said to be crucified, the grand edifice of St. Peter‘s Basilica was designed by some of the greatest artists and architects of the Renaissance, who intentionally echoed the scale and splendor of ancient Roman monuments to convey the power and permanence of the Church.
Monumental Achievements
The physical remnants of Rome‘s engineering genius are still visible across the lands it once ruled. The Romans pioneered the widespread use of concrete as a building material, enabling them to construct monumental buildings, aqueducts, and bridges on a scale the world had never seen.[^13] The Pantheon in Rome boasts the world‘s largest unreinforced concrete dome – a marvel of engineering that has endured for nearly 2,000 years.[^14]
Roman aqueducts, like the Pont du Gard in southern France, were so well-built that they continued to supply water to cities for centuries.[^15] Some have estimated that the city of Rome alone had 11 major aqueduct systems supplying around 1 million cubic meters of water per day at the height of the empire – a daily per capita supply that exceeds that of many modern cities.[^16]
The Romans also constructed a sophisticated network of roads linking the territories of the empire.[^17] These durable stone-paved roads, many of which featured a cambered surface and drainage ditches to increase stability, enabled the speedy movement of armies, goods, and information across vast distances. Remnants of these remarkable routes can still be seen today, from Britain‘s Fosse Way to the Via Appia in Italy.
The knowledge and techniques pioneered by Roman engineers profoundly influenced subsequent generations of builders. The famous dome of Florence Cathedral, completed in 1436, borrowed heavily from the Roman invention of step-rings to support the structure.[^18] The 19th century engineers who designed London‘s sewers consulted Frontinus‘ treatise on the maintenance of ancient Rome‘s water supply.[^19] Even today, Rome continues to captivate the imaginations of architects striving to match its scale and grandeur using modern materials and methods.
Lessons from the Past
For all its greatness, Rome also serves as a sobering cautionary tale about the perils of imperialism, political corruption, and gross social and economic inequality. At its worst, the Roman Empire could be a brutal, exploitative regime sustained by bloody military conquests and the widespread use of slavery and subjugation.[^20] The growing gap between the fabulously wealthy patrician elite and the urban poor, squeezed by falling wages and rising costs of living, contributed to social unrest and class tensions that threatened the stability of the state.[^21]
Rome‘s final century saw it rocked by political violence, civil wars, and the increasing frequency of emperors being assassinated or deposed by rival claimants to the throne.[^22] The once mighty empire, debilitated by invasions, economic crises, and internal strife, gradually crumbled. Its last emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed in 476 CE by the Germanic warrior Odoacer – an ignoble end to a formerly indomitable superpower.[^23]
For modern leaders, Rome offers instructive examples of both the importance and the limitations of military strength, the corrosive effect of income inequality and political corruption, and the dangers of imperial overreach. Many later empires, from the British to the Ottoman to the Soviet, consciously measured themselves against Rome‘s example and shared its fate of dissolution under the weight of their own contradictions.[^24] Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
An Eternal Fascination
More than just a wellspring of practical knowledge, ancient Rome is an endless source of creative inspiration across virtually every medium of art and culture. From Shakespeare to Hollywood epics, from Asterix comics to video games, Roman themes, characters, and settings are endlessly reinvented for new audiences.[^25]
The extraordinary lives and legacies of Julius Caesar, Augustus, Nero, Hadrian, and other eminent Romans have inspired operas, plays, novels, films, and television shows for centuries. Rome‘s mythical founding by the twins Romulus and Remus and its tales of heroism, tragedy, and romance have resonated through the ages as archetypes of the human experience.
Even for the multitudes who have never opened a history book, the popular image of ancient Rome, with its armored legions, gilded emperors, and bloodthirsty games, still looms large in the collective imagination. Countless generations have grown up reading the adventures of Asterix the Gaul as he tussles with the Roman occupiers or playing video games featuring brave gladiators battling for their lives in the arena. While not always faithfully accurate, these representations keep the memory of Rome alive and introduce its stories to new generations.
A Continuing Legacy
Ancient Rome earned its enduring place in history and memory through its unparalleled combination of military power, political acumen, cultural influence, and longevity. Its rise from a humble settlement on the Palatine Hill to the greatest empire the world had ever seen remains one of the most astonishing transformations in history.
The classical world of the Romans can feel at once impossibly remote from our modern lives and uncannily familiar. In so many ways, they were not that different from us in their preoccupations, desires, and failings. In the words of one modern scholar, "the Romans are so plausibly like us – but interestingly and importantly not us as well – that they are endlessly good to think with."[^26]
As we continue to excavate the secrets left behind by this fascinating civilization – from the extraordinary artifacts preserved for centuries under the ash of Pompeii to the lost golden palace of the emperor Nero recently discovered beneath the streets of Rome[^27] – ancient Rome will remain an active, dynamic field of study rather than a dead relic of the past.
Its haunting ruins and inscrutable statues may seem to belong to a distant, alien world, but in truth, the Romans are still very much with us – in the words we speak, the roads we travel, the ideas we argue about, and the stories we tell. The light from this long-extinguished star continues to illuminate our existence in ways we are only beginning to understand. As long as human beings dream of power, beauty, glory, and eternal life, ancient Rome will never cease to matter.
[^1] Taagepera, Rein (1979). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.". Social Science History. 3 (3/4): 115–138.[^2] Mary Beard, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (Profile, 2016), p. 531.
[^3] https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-origins/
[^4] https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/juliancalendar.html
[^5] https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-greece/ancient-greece-democracy
[^6] https://www.history.com/news/7-things-you-may-not-know-about-roman-law
[^7] https://www.thegreatcoursesdaily.com/how-did-the-ancient-romans-influence-modern-architecture/
[^8] https://www.britannica.com/place/Roman-Empire/Apogee-and-decline
[^9] https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome/pax-romana
[^10] Emma Dench. Romulus‘ Asylum: Roman Identities from the Age of Alexander to the Age of Hadrian (2005) 13-18
[^11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_by_country#Christians_by_region_in_2015
[^12] https://www.historytoday.com/archive/roman-christianity-and-fall-rome
[^13] Lancaster, Lynne. Concrete Vaulted Construction in Imperial Rome: Innovations in Context (Cambridge University Press, 2005) pp. 1-6.
[^14] https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-unreinforced-concrete-dome
[^15] Hodge, Trevor. Roman Aqueducts and Water Supply (Duckworth, 2002) pp. 347-348.
[^16] Mays, L.W. A Brief History of Water Technology During Antiquity: Before the Romans (Springer, 2010) pp. 38-42.
[^17] Laurence, Ray. The Roads of Roman Italy: Mobility and Cultural Change (Routledge, 2002) pp. 56-64.
[^18] King, Ross (2000). Brunelleschi‘s Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture. Penguin. pp.34–38.
[^19] Sextus Julius Frontinus (97 CE). De aquis urbis Romae [The Aqueducts of Rome]. Translated by R. H. Rodgers (2003). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
[^20] https://www.worldhistory.org/article/629/slavery-in-the-roman-world/
[^21] https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/economy-society-eiii-e331490?s.num=0&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.brill-s-new-pauly&s.q=roman+economy+social+inequality
[^22] https://www.history.com/news/8-reasons-why-rome-fell
[^23] Ralph W. Mathisen, "Romulus Augustulus (475–76 A.D.)—Two Views", Selections from the Ancient World: Rome, Mathisen, ed. https://www.roman-emperors.org/auggiero.htm
[^24] https://www.britannica.com/topic/ancient-Rome/Challenges-from-the-provinces
[^25] https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/nov/01/romans-in-the-movies
[^26] Beard, SPQR, p. 531-532.
[^27] https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/rome-new-discoveries-archaeology-cmd/index.html
