The greatness of the Roman Empire and its legacy in Italy

Well Venice is a beautiful city with its canals and gondolas, and the city Pisa is just breathe taking withe the Leaning Tower of Pisa but Rome is the capital. Why?

Why do we say Holy Roman Empire and not Holy Italian Empire?

Why are proverbs and why is the number system after Rome?

Well I'm not saying Italy has no reputation of its own. Rome added to its value, splendour and grandeur. Italians must be proud that Rome is their capital. A tangible legacy of Rome stands in the remains of noble structure built for ages: The pantheon and the colosseum in the city itself.

Rome's career spanned a millennium: in that time Rome assembled the greatest empire In the World. How? We shall see?

Greatness of Rome

• ·         Roman Empire’s genius lies in embellishing and nurturing the Cultural and intellectual achievements of the Greek world that it conquered and spreading them across Europe. 
• ·         Rome’s Empire was built by arms and diplomacy and sustained by Rome’s intelligent rule of its conquered people.
• ·         Rome infused within all Romans, provincial or metropolitan with a strong positive belief in one’s own destiny. The earliest farmers were farmers for instance but no matter how urbanized Rome Became, later Roman Roots remained firmly fixed on the soil. From there on Romans inculcated respect for strength and discipline, loyalty, industry, frugality and tenacity. These ways were looked as the Romans as Mos  maiorum( ways of the father) and always dominated their outlook.      

the Pater Familias of the family 

• ·         Respect to the elders: the head of the family was called Pater familias or head of the family who had absolute power over the members of the household.  This same concept was transferred to the authoritarian state and an all-powerful  emperor ( pater patriae father of the country) Romans were thus weighty, sober, monumental and enduring)
• ·         The Romans prided themselves on their high standards of probity and integrity. When they had to violate rules they took pains to contrive a justification.
• ·         Rome became accustomed to victories in wars and acquired immense self-confidence.  It seldom had to defend itself against a force greater than itself.             
• ·         Infrastructure:    Roads were, quite clearly, the easiest way to facilitate this movement.  The Romans had extensive series of roads throughout their empire.  In total there were three basic kinds of Roman roads: dirt, gravel, and fully paved.   Dirt paths were often just for walking and cattle, with the gravel roads being quite similar, although the gravel could facilitate some heavier things, such as carriages.  The paved roads were meant for the most movement This shows how well the ancient Romans constructed these important structures.  The paved roads were all constructed so they would require minimal amounts of repair and would provide a very smooth surface for travelling on.  They were constructed somewhat like modern roads in the sense that they needed to create a foundation made of a few different layers before a smooth upper surface could be paved  After this they would add large amounts of gravel to create a stable foundations. The stones were crowned to facilitate drainage to the edges of the road.  This road building method was ingenious.  It greatly assisted the Roman expansion, and allowed for easier movement among their established empire. And as the proverb goes ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME:  All paths or activities lead to the centre of things. This was literally true in the days of the Roman Empire, when all the empire's roads radiated out from the capital city, Rome

Roman Roads

• ·         THE WORLD CITY:  Rome spread from 7 small hills on the Tiber to encompass an Empire of several million square miles.  In the wake of the Roman legions came governors and civil servants, architects and merchants. They remade Rome’s image citizens from all corners of the empire-in the teeming cities of the near East and the rough Germanic provinces- walked down Roman streets. Rome became the most cosmopolitan of cities. In the words of a poet Rome had “MADE ONE CITY, WHERE ONCE WAS A WORLD”

City Life

• ·         Architecturally: Romans were avid borrowers. They took over the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian columns of Greece and the arch of Etruscans.  Roman architects were the first to exploit concrete to achieve grandeur. Using this cheap, adaptable material they expanded the Etruscan Arch into viaducts, aqueducts, triumphal arches, and mammoth domes like that of the pantheon. The pantheon Dome was the pride of the city and its gleam could be seen all over Rome. Here are some pictures of the Pantheon that I shot out out of my book.

The Parthenon as taken from my book on Imperial Rome- one of the best master pieces ever

• ·         Imprint on Africa: While Rome put its imprint on Africa through Architecture and Government. Africa exerted its own influence. Romans in African settlements like Timgad, took up exotic provincial fashions. Women dyed their hair flame red and wore bright red woolen gowns. In time Rome was affected Its buildings were decorated with multicolour African marble and wall painting.

A ROMAN SETTLEMENT IN AFRICA

• ·         Spain and Gaul became the most Roman of the provinces out of Italy. To the old, long established cities of sprain Rome added new towns like Sargossa. Roads were built throughout Europe that were radial. Public works like these were used to put the unemployed to work.  Gaul was so Roman that part of its province was called Toga clad Gaul.  Trade with Gaul  grew rapidly, giving Rome good revenue

Gaul barbarians in Spain 

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• Shield of the Northern March: although the Romans first Invaded Britain In 55 B.C they were still putting down revolts in A.D 61. The rained Infantry defeated the Britons, but they still faced warfare against tribes like Scott’s and Picts. The Emperor Hadrian at last had to order the construction of an immense wall massive stonework that stretched for miles. . thus the Roman Empire ended in the northern march or boundary facing the enemy. 

•     Administration:  Romans, instead of bestowing power to a king ( imperium ) , gave it to 2 councils who held absolute power for an year.  Either could veto the acts of the other, none could institute a change in the laws without the other’s agreement.

·          Beside this, the government of the republic included a senate and 2 commitees the comitia curiata and comitia centuriata . the senate was basically an advisory council drawn from the fathers or Patres of the community.

THE PARLIAMENTARY HOUSE OF ROME

• ·      Victories in Battles: Rome fought off the Barbarian Gauls by neutralizing their frontiers. After 2 defeats and perseverance, Rome one against Pyrrhus and this victory was decisive. Rome got into war with Carthage, and the 3 Hellenistic kingdoms carved out of the world empire of Alexander the great- the Seleucid Empire in Syria, the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt, and Alexander’s original Macedonian Empire. The war Against Carthage was called Punic War and was fought at Sea and put Rome at an inconvenience Rome developed a tactic to fight them. They could not out sail them but they could outfight them. They perfected the art of bourding a ship on a corvus . a kind of movable bridge. this enabled the  romans to put their soldiers on the enemies’ deck for Hand to hand combat. The Romans drove the Carthaginians out of Sicily. This way they won the second Punic war, defeated Philip V of Macedon and his son, Antiochus III of Syria, won the 3rd Punic war, and sold the Carthaginians to slavery

I have pictures of Roman war that i shot out of my book .Let me share them with you.

• ·         The last-Great leaders who brought reform:  Everyone would know a bit about Caesar at least after watching Cleopatra. He worked out the mechanisms for a stronger even more efficient administration, undertook extensive colonization  projects, provided work for the poor, tightened laws against crime and usery. He planned a highway in across Italy and gave Rome and Western civilization the Julian Calendar, the immediate forerunner of the calendar in use today.

Julius Caesar

 Augustus Caesar on the other hand did a number of things to help the Roman Empire succeed. First, he took power over the empire as a whole after the civil war that followed the assassination of Julius Caesar. Second, he did some things to expand the empire.  He finalized the conquest of Spain.  He set up client kingdoms in the east of the empire so that the Roman army itself would not have to defend such a large area.  He instituted reforms in the army that helped make it stronger. Finally, Augustus put forward changes in society that helped to keep Rome stable.  Most importantly, Augustus brought back an emphasis on religion.  He felt that religion would help to bind the people together and keep the empire more stable.  Therefore, he restored old religious rituals and buildings and also created a new imperial cult.  These helped to make the empire more stable.

Augustus Caesar 

What has Rome CONTRIBUTED to the world and Italy and the world?

Whether or not Roman Empire survived it ensured that its cultures and Heritage spread all over the world by Romanising far-flung parts of its Empire. Roman Empire collapsed after a few years but Romanism went on.

Today 1,500 years later the heritage of Rome is an essential Ingredient in Western culture: it has been shaped and embodied in the thoughts, the institutions and the language of the Western world. The influence of Rome is hard to miss be it the classic façade of public buildings or in the scientific nomenclature constructed on Latin Roots.

But the Route followed-all said and done- by Roman ideas and Fashions is never difficult to discern. The heritage has been passed on to the modern world by three historic channels

§  Through the Roman empire of the East

§  Through the Roman Catholic Church

§  And through conscious adoption of Roman Styles

The ways Rome influenced the western world are:   

Ø  Constantine’s eastern half on Constantinople was a replica of Old Rome on the Tiber. It had seven hills and fourteen Regions as did Rome many of its buildings were an exact reproduction of Roman Originals. It had a senate patterned after the version. It even had a genuine Roman Mob, a proletarian group. The great civil service developed by the Caesars continue to function and expand. The army remained organized along roman lines

Ø  In the eastern empire Roman elements were mixed with Hellenic and Oriental culture. Massive Roman style buildings were decorated with lacy surfaces and ornate Byzantine mosaics and Oriental Domes were introduced. The Roman Toga gave way to a brocaded robe that was inspired by Oriental clothing. Though Latin remained the official language, the common language spoken was Greek- a vulgarized form of Latin called vulgar Latin.

Togas 

Tunics And Togas 

Ø   Despite miscommunication between the East and the West The church in the East split with the church in the west , the Patriarch of Constantinople closed down all Churches that adhered to the Roman liturgy, the Popes legates reacted by excommunicating the Patriarch.  Defying the patriarch the inhabitants of Constantinople inhabitants of the city still refer to themselves as Romaioi –Romans.

Ø  The Grand Dukes of Moscow proclaimed themselves as successors to the Great Constantine and !6^th century Moscow styled itself the 3rd Rome. The Grand dukes even claimed to be the descendants of the First  Roman Emperor, Augustus. Roman coins were used in Russia for many years and parts of the justiniancode were worked into Russian Law. 

Roman Coin 

Ø   The second channel of Roman influence which was the catholic church remained unified throughout the middle ages  as the only effective force in the old territories in  of the western empire. Retaining Rome as its own capital, it kept Roman tradition alive all throughout its organization, its law,its language, and above all its universal outlook: the unity of all Europe which the Church has fostered was a conscious continuation of the unity which Rome has welded.

Ø  The organization of the churches was constructed largely on Roman model. The hierarchy of the church corresponded to Roman administrative apparatus:  for example the early bishops  were assigned to Roman districts called Curia, each of which had its own civil official. Ecclesiastical law was strongly influenced by Roman jurisprudence and the guiding principle was Roman corporate law.

Bishop Of a Roman Church 

Ø  Good Christian education continued to include the great works of Roman literature. The old Roman works were not only studied but taught, they were transcribed by monks and preserved in the libraries of monasteries and abbeys.  The church had preserved many copies of text and it was because of these copies that so much of Roman heritage could have been handed down. Even in that era there was never a time when literate men did not know the works of the great poet Vergil.

Ø  Rome shaped later civilizeations the sheer impact of Roman ideas and objects on the cultures that followed. The actual relics of Rome-its language and literature its architecture and its law comprise perhaps its greatest legacy. Not the least of these relics was the memory of Rome’s grandeur which inspired the leaders of rome for centuries. When clovis established  the kingdom of the Franks in Gaul, he paid token tribute to the Sovereignity to the Roman Emperors.

Ø  The Roman architectural form have remained relevant in modern times partly because the Romans were so practical in their approach to the art of building. The Roman concept  of the architect reflected this concentration on the practical. Vitruvius’s classic work, ON ARCHITECTURE was an exhaustive, detailed treatise that was used as a basic textbook, not became a only by the Romans but by the Renaissance   architects. The magnificent Teatro Olimpico completed at Vicenza in 1584 for example was constructed according to Vitruvius’s layout which became a model for many later theatres.

Ø  The city of Rome, showplace of the Empire, was the archetype of all the greatest metropolises of Rome in greater centuries.  Roman architects and builders seized on ancient concepts and coupled them with a new building material-concrete-that enabled them to overcome limits of height and space. Using relatively cheap, crude material, easily handled by unskilled labour, Roman architects and engineers were able to device grandiose structures without worrying about the cost of execution. Arches and domes became the distinctive feature of their work.

Roman archs and Domes 

Ø  The romans adapted the arch-a simple semicircle of bricks and stones- lengthening it to a tunnel like structure called a barrel vault desiring to roof over greater areas. Roman methods of constructing groin vaults to distribute weight served as a basis for architectural developments over the next thousand years and are resplendent in the many cathedrals in Rome 

Ø  The amphitheatre was designed to accommodate great numbers of people. The colosseum, that took 10 years to build has a seating capacity of 50,000 people.  Crowds were comtrolled by a system of numbering tickets to match gate numbers and by stairs leading directly to the various levels- techniques still used in modern sports arena .

Ø  The old plan of the forum Romanum has never lost its broad appeal- the frequent arrangement of imposing structures around large area of open space  has continued in Roman practice as in Washington D.C for Example where the Roman style Capitol building stands at the end of the great constitution mall.

Romanum Forum 

Ø  The Romans’ accent on utility in building was nowhere more strikingly reflected than in their great roads, and aqueducts, monuments of engineering skill. Rome laid Down Roads whenever its authority extended- to facilitate trade as well as troop movements. The Roman’s spent five centuries in completing a road system to every corner of the empire and That’s why the saying goes ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME.  Roman roads covered a distance equal 10 times the circumference of the equator. Each mile along the Roman roads was marked by a 6-foot golden pillar measured from the Golden milestone in the Forum Romanum. The Roman roads ran straight level and flat. As the Danube road marker implies the engineers did not hesitate to cut across the country , tunnel through mountains or bridge valleys. The main arteries were so well constructed that some are still in use today-including the first one, the Appian way, built 22,00 years ago.

Ø  The aqueducts, among the most splendid of all Roman structural creations were a synthesis of practical engineering and architectural grace. Eventually there were 11 aqueducts and they carried about 200 million gallons of water daily into Rome. The first of these structures to use arches to elevate its conduits was the Aqua Marcia. The stone arches enabled the channel to maintain the same gradual slope all the way from the source of water in the distant hills into the city itself. The aqueducts outlasted Rome. One of them-a towering structure at Segovia in Spain is still in partial use.

Ø  Rome left a mark in the department of language too. The great Latin schools of Gaul made an impression on the  native language of the province that endured long after Roman Sovereignty was gone. The languages of provinces such as France, Spain and Portugal are today almost as dependent on Latin as is the language of Italy itself. English too, relies heavily on words of Latin origin though few of them stem from the Roman occupation of Britain. Many words were introduced into the language by those later settlers of Britain , The Anglo-Saxons who had been ruled by Romans previously. For eg “street” comes from the Latin word strete, a variant of the Latin word strata meaning Paved. Many modern rules of English grammar were superimposed by literary men who were following Latin usage.

Ø  The classic sense of style that characterized the greatest Latin verse led early Renaissance poets like Boccaccio and Petrarch to emulate the authors of roman antiquity. Keats was a poet of Old Roman form. Throughout the ages authors have drawn characters from the romans; Shakespeare wrote of Caesar and Antony, Racine of Britannicus. Nero figures in a dozen plays, the demented emperor Caligula becomes an existant hero in the writings of Albert Camus, the paralytic Claudius emerges as a shrewd individual in the hands of Robert graves.   

Shakespeare's plays payed atribue to Rome 

Ø  Roman law: it had its foundation in the 12 Tablets promulgated by republican magistrates and were the first compilation of legal rules to govern the Roman administration of success. They were simply a series of terse commands dealing with court actions, family law, wills, property rights and public behaviour of citizens. The concept of justice and of the rights of individuals, embodied in this code remain in force in Morden legal codes throughout the western world

Ø  The law codes of most Western nations were influenced by this Justinian Code. The Napoleonic Code in France was directly and consciously modelled on it. In Germany Roman Law was applied whenever it did not run counter to local legislation. England too had roots in Roman judicial principles and practices albeit some differences in policy making.

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                                The legacy of Rome in Italy 

Rome contributed a lot to Italy's tourism. Lets take a look.

1.Temple of Aesculapius:This temple was dedicated on the Tiber Island  After a plague in Rome  ambassadors were sent to the city of Epidaurus in Greece (a well-known center for healing). They were supposed to bring back the image of the god Aesculapius, the Greek god of healing, who had a large sanctuary in the town. When the ambassadors returned to Rome, they brought not the image but a serpent, the symbol of the god. The serpent abandoned the ship upon arrival in Rome and swam to the island. This was taken as a good omen. The entire island was consecrated to Aesculapius and a temple to the god was built on its southeast end.

2. Theatre of Marcellus:Marcellus

The new theater, the largest of the Roman Empire, was finally dedicated in 13 BC and named Theatrum Marcelli in memory of Marcellus, the son of Augustus' sister Octavia. Marcellus was the intended heir of Augustus, but he died at a young age.

3. The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, also known as the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus (Latin: Aedes Iovis Optimi Maximi Capitolini, Italian: Tempio di Giove Ottimo Massimo, English: "Temple of Jupiter Best and Greatest on the Capitoline") was the most important temple in Ancient Rome, located on the Capitoline Hill. It was surrounded by the Area Capitolina, a precinct where certain assemblies met, and numerous shrines, altars, statues, and victory trophies were displayed. 

4. Temple of Trajan:The Temple of Trajan was a Roman temple built in the Forum of Trajan, placed in ancient Rome in the 2nd century by Trajan's adoptive son and successor Hadrian between 125 and 138. It was dedicated to the emperor Trajan and his wife Plotina after his deification by the Roman Senate. It was destroyed in the Middle Ages.

Upper view of Bath of Constantine 

5. Baths of Constantine :Baths of Constantine (Latin, Thermae Constantinianae) was a public bathing complex built on the Quirinal Hill in Rome by Constantine I, probably before 315.

Ancient Constantinople and Arles also had complexes known as Baths of Constantine.

Upper view of Trajan's forum 

6. Trajan's Forum:The Forum of Trajan was the last and largest of the Imperial Forums that formed the political and governmental center of the Roman Empire. The complex consisted of an enormous basilica, two libraries, markets and a large temple.

The complex was created in by Apollodorus of Damascus, the most famous architect of the era. The complex was created and required the leveling of a forty meter high hill. Several streets and many buildings, some of which were quite significant, had to make way for the ambitious project. 

At the time the forum was seen as one of the architectural wonders of the world. It was easily the grandest of all the forums and its size alone was impressive, measuring meters long and meters wide. 

7.Temple of Mars the avenger:The Temple of Mars Ultor stands in the Forum of Augustus in Rome and was built to commemorate Augustus’ victory  at the Battle of Philippi over the assassins of Julius Caesar. The building became the place where important military decisions were taken and a site of several state ceremonies with a military connotation.

Temple of Mars Ultor, Rome

Temple of Mars Ultor, Rome

The Forum of Augustus originally covered some 8,000 square metres and was built next to Caesar’s Forum. Later, it would be bordered on the left side by Trajan’s Forum and on the right by Nerva’s Forum to create the complex known today as the Imperial Fora. Dominating this civil space created by Augustus was the temple dedicated to Mars, the god of war in his guise as ‘the Avenger’ (Ultor).

8. Curia ( senate house):During the Roman Republic, Roman senators met together in their senate house, which was known as the curia, a building whose history predates the Republic.

Origins of the Curia

In the mid-6th century B.C., the legendary King Tullus Hostilius is said to have built the first curia in order to house 10 elected representatives of the Roman people. These 10 men were the curiae. This first curia was called the Curia Hostilia in honor of the king.

Location of the Curia

The forum was the center of Roman political life and the curia was part of it. More specifically, in the forum was the comitium, an area where the assembly met. [See Forum Map.] It was originally a rectangular space aligned with the cardinal points (North, South, East and West). The curia was to the north of the comitium.

9. Basilica Julia: Named after Julius Caesar, who dedicated it in  from the spoils of the Gallic War, the Basilica Julia was completed by Augustus but burned shortly afterward and was not rededicated for another twenty years,  It again was rebuilt by Diocletian after the fire of AD 283 and later restored by Gabinus Vettius Probianus, urban prefect  who embellished the interior with statues by Polyclitus, Praxiteles, and Timarchus (his son).

The Basilica housed the civil law courts and tabernae provided space for government offices and banking. In the first century AD, it also was used for sessions of the Centumviri (Court of the Hundred), who presided over matters of inheritance. In his Epistles, Pliny the Younger describes the scene as he pleaded for Attia Viriola, whose 80-year-old father has disinherited her within days of taking a new wife (VI.33). 

10. St Peter's Basilica: The church is built on Vatican Hill, across the Tiber river from the historic center of Rome. The location is highly symbolic: this was the site where Saint Peter, the chief apostle, died a martyr and where he was buried in 64 AD. St. Peter is considered the first pope, so it made perfect sense for the papacy to build the principal shrine of the Catholic church here. 

11. Pantheon: The Roman Pantheon is the most preserved and influential building of ancient Rome. It is a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods of pagan Rome. As the brick stamps on the side of the building reveal it was built and dedicated. 

The emperor Hadrian built the Pantheon to replace Augustus’ friend and Commander Marcus Agrippa’s Pantheon. which burnt to the ground.. 

When approaching the front of the Pantheon one can see the inscription above still reads in Latin the original dedication by Marcus Agrippa. The inscription reads:

"M. AGRIPPA.L.F.COSTERTIUM.FECIT” 

“Marcus Agrippa son of Lucius, having been consul three times made it”.

12.Basillica of Maxentius:he Basilica of Maxentius (Basilica Maxentii) or the Basilica of Constantine (Basilica Constantini) was the last of the great civilian basilicas on the Roman Forum. The ruins of the basilica is located between the Temple of Amor and Roma and the Temple of Romulus, on the Via Sacra.

The construction of the basilica was initiated by Maxentius in  and finished by Constantine after he had defeated Maxentius in the battle of the Milvian Bridge in  As other similar buildings, it was destined for commercial and administrative activities. It is likely that the basilica housed the offices of the Prefect of the City, the highest imperial official in late antiquity.

The site chosen for the basilica was on the Velia, a low ridge connecting the Esquiline Hill and the Palatine Hill. Large parts of the Velia was levelled in preparation for the construction of the basilica. Literary sources tell that earlier the site was occupied by the Horrea Piperatica, the central market and storage facility for pepper and spices, built in the time of Domitian. Also on the site was a sanctuary of the penates publici which had to be moved.

13. Temple of Venus and Roma: The largest and most splendid of Rome's temples, the Temple of Venus and Roma was the only one to have ten columns across its principal façade (decastyle). Designed by Hadrian, himself, who began construction , it probably was dedicated  and may have been completed by Antoninus Pius. The Temple burned and was restored by Maxentius. A double temple, the two cellae are placed back to back, one holding the statue of Venus Felix, ancestor of the Roman people; the other, Roma Aeterna, the genius (personification) of the city. Roma looked toward the Forum, the goddess toward the Colosseum (the apse can be seen above), the temple precinct, which essentially was Hadrian's forum, linking them both.

Construction required that the Colossus of Nero be relocated to a site nearer the Flavian Amphitheater, and it is from this colossal statue that the Colosseum takes its name. 

14. Temple of Jupiter victor: Jupiter Victor. In the battle of Sentinum,  the dictator, Q. Fabius Maximus Rullianus, vowed a temple (aedes) to Iuppiter Victor, to whom he afterwards offered the spoils collected from the Samnites in sacrifice 

15. Arch of constantine: The Arch of Constantine is the most recent of the three remaining imperial triumphal arches in Rome. The other ones, the Arch of Titus and the Arch of Septimius Severus, are located in the nearby Roman Forum.

Constantine's Victory
After years of civil war, the victory of Constantine's army over the numerically superior army of Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge  finally brought some peace to the Roman Empire. To commemorate this memorable victory, the Senate of Rome awarded Constantine a triumphal arch. It was dedicated just a few years later,

16. The Colosseum 

The Colosseum or Coliseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre (Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium; Italian: Anfiteatro Flavio or Colosseo) is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. Built of concrete and stone, it was the largest amphitheatre of the Roman Empire, and is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering. It is the largest amphitheatre in the world.

The Colosseum is situated just east of the Roman Forum. Construction began under the emperor Vespasian , and was completed under his successor and heir Titus. Further modifications were made during the reign of Domitian (81–96) These three emperors are known as the Flavian dynasty, and the amphitheatre was named in Latin for its association with their family name (Flavius).

The Colosseum could hold, it is estimated, between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators,[ and was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.

The influence of Rome, whether seen in the practice of a courtroom or in the façade of a church in the style of a poem or the structure of the state remains the vital force, shapng the ideas and the material works of man. The Roman legacy-that's what imprints it has left behind  has penetrated regions that Romans never ruled and continents they never dreamt of reaching. And for all said and done Italy is a proud country to have such a capital as Rome