Few periods in history have had a greater impact on mankind than that of ancient Rome. While its influence on Western civilization, in particular, has been pervasive, its vestiges can be found virtually everywhere, from our calendar and political systems to our alphabet. The period of influence of over 1,000 years that began with the founding of Rome in 753 BC. AD left an indelible mark on the world.
So who exactly left an indelible mark on ancient Rome?
From its inception to its collapse in AD 476, ancient Rome had three distinct periods: Royal Rome (753-509 BC), when monarchs ruled; Republican Rome (509-27 BC), when Roman elected his governors; and Imperial Rome (27 BC. During this period, Rome was ruled by dozens of kings, dictators and emperors who enlarged it from a small town to an empire spanning nearly 2 million kilometers. square and composed, according to historians, from 50 to 90 million inhabitants.
These rulers, often as innovative and ingenious as they were brutal and corrupt, ran the gamut – from teenagers and helpless rulers barely able to court for months to the emperors who defined the era and shaped the world. least part of the world as we know it today. . Here are some of the most influential.
READ MORE: How Ancient Rome Thrived During Pax Romana
Gaius Julius Caesar (reigned 49 BC to 44 BC)
The death of Julius Caesar.
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Technically, as the last ruler of the Republican era of Rome, Gaius Julius Caesar was never recognized as an emperor. But it is impossible to tell the story of Rome (or its eventual transition from a republic to an empire, without mentioning Julius Caesar. Besides being a successful general, the conquest of Spain and Gaul – exploits which greatly increased the size, power and wealth of Rome – Caesar enacted a number of fundamental reforms that would set up the coming Roman Empire. As ruler of the Roman Republic, Caesar increased the size of the senate to represent more Roman citizens, established the Julian calendar (the 365-day, 12-month calendar still in use around the world), granted Roman citizenship to all who lived under Roman rule and redistributed wealth among the poor. These reforms made Caesar increasingly popular with commoners of Rome while alienating him from his elite (and leading to his infamous eventual assassination). dozens of Senate members, Rome officially went from a democracy to an imperial society.
READ MORE: How Julius Caesar’s assassination sparked the fall of the Roman Republic
Caesar Augustus (Reign: 27 BC to 14 AD)
Caius Octavius Thurinus
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Gaius Octavius Thurinus, also known as the Octavian or “Augustus”, was the first official emperor of the Roman Empire and is often considered by historians to be the greatest. The emperor (hence the name of August) introduced the period of peace known as Pax Romana, which saw the flourishing of economy, agriculture and the Roman arts. During this period of relative peace, Augustus also implemented a number of reforms, including tax incentives for families with more than three children and penalties for childless marriages, which helped the Roman population grow. . An aggressive builder, he also oversaw the construction and rehabilitation of many of Rome’s great temples and the strengthening of its legendary aqueduct system.
READ MORE: 8 Things You May Not Know About Augustus
Tiberius (Reign: 14 to 37 AD)
Tiberius Caesar Augustus
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In ancient Rome, few emperors were better at acquiring land for the empire than Tiberius Caesar Augustus. The second emperor of Rome owes his place on this list only to his military conquests. As an emperor and politician, Tiberius is widely seen as not being interested in work and not shy about showing this disinterest. (The Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder called him “the darkest of men.”) However, when it came to conquering neighboring lands and expanding the territory of Rome, few were better. During his reign, he oversaw one of the largest military expansions in the history of ancient Rome, expanding the empire’s borders to present-day Croatia and Germany.
READ MORE: 8 Ways Roads Helped Rome Rule The Ancient World
Vespasian (reign: 69 to 79 AD)
Titus Flavius Vespasian
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After the tyrannical reign of Emperor Nero, Rome found itself in a crisis of instability. So much so that for the 12 months after Nero’s death, the empire had four different rulers (known as the “year of the four emperors”). It was not until Titus Flavius Vespasianus ascended the throne that stability and prosperity returned to Rome, putting the nation back on track. During his reign, Vespasian helped reform the financial system and initiated many ambitious construction projects, most notably the Colosseum. Vespasian was also the first Roman emperor to be replaced by his son. This father-to-son transfer would lay the foundations for the Flavian dynasty, a period of nearly three decades of fiscal and cultural prosperity.
Trajan (reign: 98-117 AD)
Emperor Trajan among the soldiers.
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Often in the conversation for the “greatest Roman Emperor” by historians, Marcus Ulpius Traianus was the second Roman Emperor of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty commonly referred to as the “golden age” of Rome. Supported by one of the largest military expansions in Roman history, Trajan’s reign marked the height of Rome’s geographic expansion, as it covered nearly 1.7 million kilometers of territory in Europe, in Africa and Asia and numbered nearly 57 million people. In addition to his military successes, Trajan also oversaw many ambitious building projects, including the still standing architectural wonder, Trajan’s Column. He also expanded Augustus’ financial aid programs to poor Roman citizens, in turn providing one of the earliest examples in history of a federal welfare program.
READ MORE: How far did ancient Rome spread
Hadrian (reign: 117 to 138 AD)
A defensive fortification in the Roman province of Britannia, begun in 122 AD during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, known as Hadrian’s Wall.
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Publius Aelius Hadrianus claims a place as one of Rome’s most influential emperors for his ability to secure Rome and its borders and the unprecedented engineering feats he demonstrated in doing so. He oversaw the construction of Hadrian’s Wall, a 73 mile long defensive fort, much of which still stands today and is recognized as a British cultural icon. He also leaves the Pantheon, which revolutionized architecture with its innovative construction of forms built in concrete.
READ MORE: 10 Innovations That Built Ancient Rome
Antoninus Pius (reign: 138 to 161 AD)
Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius presided over Rome during one of the most peaceful periods of civilization. This lack of turmoil allowed Pie to focus on the infrastructure successes and civic reforms of his predecessor Hadrian. His greatest contribution to Roman civilization, however, came from the legal system. As the first Roman Emperor to adhere to the concept of “natural law,” Pius XII instituted a legal system that would later serve as a point of reference for many nations developing their own legal systems, including Britain, France and Germany.
Marcus Aurelius (reign: 161 to 180 AD)
Marc Aurele Antonin
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Known as the “Emperor-Philosopher”, Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus produced writings now considered to be philosophical canons. A strong follower of Stoicism – a Hellenistic school of philosophy that claimed that becoming a clear and impartial thinker was the key to acquiring universal reason – the Emperor (who was portrayed in the Oscar-winning film “Gladiator”) is widely regarded as one of the most famous characters in history. most essential philosophers. His book Meditations is widely regarded as a literary masterpiece.
Valerian (reign: 253-260 AD)
Publius Licinius Valerianus makes the influential list less for what he did than for what was done to him. In 260 AD, after the Battle of Edessa against the Persians, Valerian (a notorious persecutor of Christians) became the first Roman Emperor to be taken prisoner of war. The unprecedented capture sent shockwaves through the Roman Empire, only to be exacerbated by the fact that Valerian was never saved. The emperor died in captivity under unknown circumstances. Rome’s inability to save its own ruler would deal a seismic blow to the mystique of the power the Romans held over the world. And, according to many historians, it would sow in the minds of foreign nations that the previously “invincible” nation of Rome could indeed be overthrown.
Diocletian (reigned 284 to 305 AD)
Map of the Roman Empire under the rule of Emperor Diocletian (284-305 AD).
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On the one hand, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus deserves to be remembered for having saved Rome from the “crisis of the third century”, a period of almost 50 years – marked by civil war, political instability, rebellions. and invasions – during which the empire nearly collapsed. On the other hand, some historians believe that it was his installation of the “tetrarch” form of government that could prove to be his most valuable contribution. Under the Tetrarchy, Diocletian ordered that Rome be ruled by four rulers: one emperor in the west, one in the east (the emperor “Augustus”) and two junior co-emperors (the “Caesars”). The Tetrarchy did not last, but it laid the groundwork for the practice of dividing the Roman Empire into eastern and western halves, a move that would prove crucial in extending its lifespan.
READ MORE: 6 Civil Wars That Transformed Ancient Rome
Constantine the Great (reigned: 306 to 337 AD)
Considered by many to be the last Roman Emperor in the West, Constantine I made many changes that would irrevocably alter the Roman Empire. He was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity and make it the religion of the empire with his Edict of Milan in AD 313, transitioning to the new era known as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantine Empire.
READ MORE: 8 Reasons Rome Fell
