Outline of ancient Rome

Updated on Dec 18, 2023

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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to ancient Rome:

Ancient Rome – former civilization that thrived on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world.

Essence of Ancient Rome

Civilization

Classical antiquity

Classical Rome

Greco-Roman world

Geography of ancient Rome

Roman geographers

Roman provinces

Achaea

Africa

Asia

Assyria

Roman Britain

Roman conquest of Britain

Governors of Roman Britain

Roman road from Silchester to Bath

Roman sites in Great Britain

Cappadocia

Dalmatia

Dardania

Roman Egypt

Galatia

Roman Gaul

Roman Greece

Hispania

Insulae

Roman Judea

Roman Jerusalem

Macedonia

Mesopotamia

Sicilia

Topography of ancient Rome

Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae (1993-2000)

Government and politics of ancient Rome

Curia

Forum

Cursus honorum

Collegiality

Emperor

Legatus

Dux

Officium

Praefectus

Vicarius

Vigintisexviri

Lictor

Magister militum

Imperator

Princeps senatus

Pontifex Maximus

Augustus

Caesar

Tetrarch

Province

SPQR

Populares

Political institutions of ancient Rome

of ancient Rome in general

Roman Senate

Roman assemblies

Curiate Assembly

Centuriate Assembly

Tribal Assembly

Plebeian

Executive magistrates

of the Roman Kingdom

Senate of the Roman Kingdom

Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Kingdom

Executive magistrates of the Roman Kingdom

of the Roman Republic

Senate of the Roman Republic

Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Republic

Executive magistrates of the Roman Republic

of the Roman Empire

Senate of the Roman Empire

Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Empire

Executive magistrates of the Roman Empire

Magistrates

Roman magistrate

Ordinary magistrates

Ordinary magistrate

Tribune

Quaestor

Aedile

Praetor

Consul

Censor

Promagistrate

Governor

Extraordinary magistrates

Extraordinary magistrate

Dictator

Magister Equitum

Decemviri

Consular Tribune

Triumvir

Rex

Interrex

Roman law

Roman laws

Twelve Tables

Roman citizenship

Auctoritas

Imperium

Status in Roman legal system

Roman litigation

Roman Constitution

History of the Roman Constitution

Constitution of the Roman Kingdom

History of the Constitution of the Roman Kingdom

Constitution of the Roman Republic

History of the Constitution of the Roman Republic

Constitutional Reforms of Lucius Cornelius Sulla

Constitutional Reforms of Julius Caesar

Constitution of the Roman Empire

History of the Constitution of the Roman Empire

History of the Constitution of the Late Roman Empire (post Diocletian)

Constitution of the Late Roman Empire

Military of ancient Rome

Weapons

Catapult

Gladius

Pilum

Roman military diploma

Praetorian Guard

Victory titles

Roman infantry tactics, strategy and battle formations

Castra

Roman armed forces

Roman army

Roman generals

Troops

Roman legions

List of Roman legions

Roman auxiliaries

Roman infantry tactics

Military equipment

Roman military personal equipment

Roman siege engines

Navy

Fleet

Decorations and punishments

Military history of Rome

Military history of ancient Rome

Borders of the Roman Empire

Roman military frontiers and fortifications

Castra

Military engineering of ancient Rome

Military establishment of the Roman Republic

Political history of the Roman military

Strategy of the Roman military

Structural history of the Roman military

Technological history of the Roman military

Military conflict

Campaign history of the Roman military

Roman wars

Roman battles

Battle of Cannae

Battle of Cape Ecnomus

General history of ancient Rome

Roman era

History of Rome

Founding of Rome

Kingdom of Rome

Kings of Rome

Roman Republic

Conflict of the Orders (494-287 BC) –

Punic Wars (264-146 BC) – series of three wars fought between Rome and ancient Carthage

First Punic War (264-241 BC) –

Second Punic War (218-201 BC) – marked by Hannibal's surprising overland journey and his costly crossing of the Alps, followed by his reinforcement by Gaulish allies and crushing victories over Roman armies in the battle of the Trebia and the giant ambush at Trasimene.

Hannibal – Punic Carthaginian military commander, generally considered one of the greatest military commanders in history. Hannibal occupied much of Italy for 15 years, but a Roman counter-invasion of North Africa forced him to return to Carthage, where he was decisively defeated by Scipio Africanus at the Battle of Zama.

Conquests of Hannibal –

Hannibal's Crossing of the Alps –

Battle of the Trebia –

Battle of Lake Trasimene –

Battle of Cannae –

Battle of Zama – marked the final and decisive end of the Second Punic War. A Roman army led by Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus defeated a Carthaginian force led by the legendary commander Hannibal. Soon after this defeat on their home ground, the Carthaginian senate sued for peace, which was given to them by the Roman Republic on rather humiliating terms, ending the 17-year war.

Third Punic War (149-146 BC) – involved an extended siege of Carthage, ending in the city's thorough destruction. The resurgence of the struggle can be explained by growing anti-Roman agitations in Hispania and Greece, and the visible improvement of Carthaginian wealth and martial power in the fifty years since the Second Punic War.

Battle of Carthage (c. 149 BC) –

Crisis of the Roman Republic (134 BC to 44 BC) – extended period of political instability and social unrest that culminated in the demise of the Roman Republic and the advent of the Roman Empire.

Assassination of Julius Caesar –

Roman Empire

Principate (27 BC – 284 AD) – first period of the Roman Empire, extending from the beginning of the reign of Caesar Augustus to the Crisis of the Third Century, after which it was replaced with the Dominate. During the Principate, the constitution of the Roman Republic was never formally abolished. It was amended in such a way as to maintain a politically correct façade of Republican government. This ended following the Crisis of the Third Century (235–284), during the reign of Diocletian.

Julio-Claudian dynasty (27 BC - 68 AD) – the first five Roman Emperors, including Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula (also known as Gaius), Claudius, and Nero. The dynasty ended when Nero committed suicide.

Augustus –

Tiberius (ruled 14-37 AD) – stepson of Augustus. He was one of Rome's greatest generals, conquering Pannonia, Dalmatia, Raetia, and temporarily Germania; laying the foundations for the northern frontier. But he came to be remembered as a dark, reclusive, and sombre ruler who never really desired to be emperor; Pliny the Elder called him tristissimus hominum, "the gloomiest of men."

Caligula –

Claudius –

Nero –

Year of the Four Emperors (69 AD) – these four emperors were Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian. Vespasian's rule marked the beginning of the Flavian dynasty.

Galba –

Otho –

Vitellius –

Vespasian –

Flavian dynasty (69-96 AD)

Nerva–Antonine dynasty (96-192 AD) – dynasty of seven Roman Emperors who ruled over the Roman Empire from 96 AD to 192 AD. These Emperors were Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, and Commodus.

Nerva –

Trajan –

Hadrian –

Antoninus Pius –

Marcus Aurelius –

Lucius Verus –

Commodus –

Severan dynasty (193-235 AD)

Crisis of the Third Century (235–284 AD) – period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under the combined pressures of invasion, civil war, plague, and economic depression. The Crisis began with the assassination of Emperor Alexander Severus at the hands of his own troops, initiating a fifty-year period in which 20–25 claimants to the title of Emperor, mostly prominent Roman army generals, assumed imperial power over all or part of the Empire.

Barracks emperor – any Roman Emperor who seized power by virtue of his command of the army. Barracks emperors were especially common in the period from 235 through 284, during the Crisis of the Third Century.

List of barracks emperors

Gallic Empire (260-274 AD) modern name for a breakaway realm of the Roman Empire, founded by Postumus in 260 in the wake of barbarian invasions and instability in Rome, and at its height included the territories of Germania, Gaul, Britannia, and (briefly) Hispania.

Palmyrene Empire (260–273) – splinter empire, that broke away from the Roman Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century. It encompassed the Roman provinces of Syria Palaestina, Egypt and large parts of Asia Minor.

Dominate (284-476 AD) – 'despotic' latter phase of government in the ancient Roman Empire from the conclusion of the Third Century Crisis until the collapse of the Western Empire. The Emperor Diocletian abandoned the appearances of the Republic for the sake of control, and introduced a novel system of joint rule by four monarchs known as the Tetrarchy.

Decline of the Roman Empire – process spanning many centuries; there is no consensus when it might have begun but many dates and time lines have been proposed by historians.

Tetrarchy (293-313 AD) – Diocletian designated the general Maximian as co-emperor, first as Caesar (junior emperor) in 285, and then promoted him to Augustus in 286. Diocletian took care of matters in the Eastern regions of the Empire while Maximian similarly took charge of the Western regions. In 293, feeling more focus was needed on both civic and military problems, Diocletian, with Maximian's consent, expanded the imperial college by appointing two Caesars (one responsible to each Augustus). The tetrarchy collapsed, however, in 313 and a few years later Constantine I reunited the two administrative divisions of the Empire as sole Augustus.

First Tetrarchy – created by Diocletian with Maximian's consent in 293 by the appointment of two subordinate Caesars.

Diocletian (Augustus) –

Galerius (Caesar) –

Maximian (Augustus) –

Constantius Chlorus (Caesar) –

Second Tetrarchy – in 305, the senior emperors jointly abdicated and retired, elevating Constantius and Galerius to the rank of Augusti. They in turn appointed two new Caesars.

Galerius (Augustus) –

Maximinus (Caesar) –

Constantius Chlorus (Augustus) –

Flavius Valerius Severus (Caesar) –

Civil wars of the Tetrarchy – series of conflicts between the co-emperors of the Roman Empire, starting in 306 AD with the usurpation of Maxentius and the defeat of Severus, and ending with the defeat of Licinius at the hands of Constantine I in 324 AD.

Constantinian dynasty – informal name for the ruling family of the Roman Empire from Constantius Chlorus (†305) to the death of Julian in 363. It is named after its most famous member, Constantine the Great who became the sole ruler of the empire in 324. It is also called the Neo-Flavian dynasty.

First phase of the Migration Period –

Division of the Roman Empire – in order to maintain control and improve administration, various schemes to divide the work of the Roman Emperor by sharing it between individuals were tried between 285 and 324, from 337 to 350, from 364 to 392, and again between 395 and 480. Although the administrative subdivisions varied, they generally involved a division of labour between East and West. Each division was a form of power-sharing (or even job-sharing), for the ultimate imperium was not divisible and therefore the empire remained legally one state—although the co-emperors often saw each other as rivals or enemies rather than partners.

Western Roman Empire – In 285, Emperor Diocletian (r. 284–305) divided the Roman Empire's administration into western and eastern halves. In 293, Rome lost its capital status, and Milan became the capital.

Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) – term used by modern historians to distinguish the Constantinople-centered Roman Empire of the Middle Ages from its earlier classical existence.

Nicomedia – Nicomedia was the metropolis of Bithynia under the Roman Empire, and Diocletian made it the eastern capital city of the Roman Empire in 286 when he introduced the Tetrarchy system.

Constantinople – founded in AD 330, at ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the entire Roman Empire by Constantine the Great, after whom it was named.

Walls of Constantinople –

Fall of the Western Roman Empire (476 AD) – the two halves of the Roman Empire ended at different times, with the Western Roman Empire coming to an end in 476 AD (the end of Ancient Rome). The Eastern Roman Empire (referred to by historians as the Byzantine Empire) survived for nearly a thousand years more, and eventually engulfed much of the Western Roman Empire's former territory.

Fall of the Western Roman Empire – this was not sudden, and took over a hundred years. By 476, when Odoacer deposed the Emperor Romulus, the Western Roman Empire wielded negligible military, political, or financial power and had no effective control over the scattered Western domains that still described themselves as Roman.

Odoacer – Germanic soldier, who in 476 became the first King of Italy (476-493). His reign is commonly seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire.

Byzantine Empire (Byzantium) – after the Western Roman Empire fragmented and collapsed, the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) continued to thrive, existing for nearly another thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. Its citizens referred to it as the Roman Empire, and saw it as a direct continuation of it. Historians consider it to be a distinctly different empire, with some overlap, but generally not included in the period referred to as Ancient Rome. Byzantium differed in major ways, including its primary language, which was Greek rather than Latin. It also differed religiously, with Roman mythology being replaced by Christianity.

Legacy of the Roman Empire – what the Roman Empire passed on, in the form of cultural values, religious beliefs, as well as technological and other achievements, and through which it continued to shape other civilizations, a process which continues to this day.

Cultural heritage of the Roman Empire

Last of the Romans –

Legacy of Byzantium –

Third Rome –

Roman historiography

Prosopography of ancient Rome

Works on Roman history

Ab Urbe Condita, by Titus Livius (around 59 BC - 17 AD), a monumental history of Rome, from its founding (traditionally dated to 753 BC).

Annals and Histories by Tacitus

Res Gestae by Ammianus Marcellinus

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon

Culture of ancient Rome

Architecture –

Roman bridges –

Circus –

Roman domes –

Roman roofs –

Art –

Literature –

Annales Maximi –

De aquaeductu –

Music of ancient Rome –

Theatre of ancient Rome –

Calendar –

Clothing in ancient Rome –

Cuisine of ancient Rome –

Hairstyle –

Deforestation –

Education in Ancient Rome –

Festivals –

Forum –

Funerals and burials –

Lustratio –

Marriage –

Naming conventions –

Naming conventions for women in ancient Rome –

Sexuality in ancient Rome

Homosexuality in ancient Rome –

Prostitution –

Technology –

Engineering in ancient Rome –

Medicine in ancient Rome –

Medical community of ancient Rome –

Ancient Roman units of measurement –

Wine in ancient Rome –

Dignitas

Patronage in ancient Rome

Mos maiorum

Social class in ancient Rome

Patricians –

Plebs –

Conflict of the Orders –

Secessio plebis –

Equestrian order –

Gens –

Tribes –

Women in ancient Rome –

Naming conventions for women in ancient Rome

Romanization

Slavery in ancient Rome –

Religion in ancient Rome

Imperial cult –

Roman religious institutions

Collegium Pontificum –

Vestal Virgin –

Rex Sacrorum –

Pontifex maximus –

Flamen –

Augur –

Quindecimviri sacris faciundis –

Epulones –

Roman mythology

Roman Gods

Capitoline Triad –

Juno –

Jupiter –

Minerva –

Heroes

Hercules in ancient Rome

Great Altar of Hercules

Temple of Hercules Victor

Roman language (Latin)

Latin

Romance languages –

History of Latin –

Old Latin –

Classical Latin –

Vulgar Latin –

Medieval Latin –

Renaissance Latin –

New Latin –

Contemporary Latin –

Ecclesiastical Latin –

Latin alphabet –

Roman cursive –

Roman square capitals –

Rustic capitals –

Naming conventions for women in ancient Rome –

Roman economy

Roman agriculture

Roman commerce

Roman finance

Roman currency

Roman Republican coinage

Roman provincial coins

Ancient

Apuleius

Catullus

Cicero

Quintus Curtius Rufus

Horace

Julius Caesar

Juvenal

Livy

Lucretius

Ovid

Petronius

Plautus

Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Younger

Propertius

Sallust

Seneca the Elder

Seneca the Younger

Suetonius

Tacitus

Virgil

Vitruvius

Modern

Edward Gibbon

Ancient Roman lists

Alphabetized list of notable ancient Romans

Latin masculine nouns of the 1st Declension

Latin phrases

Roman cognomina