Overview

This chapter traces the growth and development of Rome from its humble beginnings on the banks of the Tiber River through its republican phase and its transformation into a sprawling, cosmopolitan empire encompassing much of Europe and northern Africa. A tight administrative structure and organized trade network promoted the movement of people, goods, and ideas throughout the empire. The Romans had a significant impact on later Mediterranean, European, and southwest Asian cultures. These influences include, but are not limited to,

• The concept of a republican form of government governed by a constitution and a fixed body of law that guaranteed the rights of citizens.
• Elaborate transportation and communications networks with sophisticated roads, sea lanes linking port cities, and an imperial postal system.
• Economically specialized regions, either in the development of cash crops for export or in localized industries.
• New cities built throughout the empire with unprecedented levels of sanitation, comfort, and entertainment opportunities.
• Widespread dissemination of philosophical beliefs and values, like Stoicism, and religions of salvation, like Christianity.