Along the Italian Peninsula, in a nondescript agricultural village rose a great powerful city named Rome. It grew to be one of the super powers of ancient history.

In the start, the ancient Rome had the monarchy from of government. This changed to an oligarchy, and then to an autocracy. Rome had such great power, it lorded it over Western Europe by going in and taking over the areas. Such was the might of the leaders of ancient Rome.

The legend of the start of Rome is something that has been passed on from generation to generation. The story goes that Mars, the god of war, raped the daughter of the Latin King, Numitor. She bore twins and they were named Romilus and Remus.

Forum RomanumThese two brothers were abandoned by their mother and found by a she-wolf, who raised them as her own. Because of bitter arguments, Romilus killed his brother. He then claimed the small village as his own, giving it the name Rome.

Ancient Rome is recognized for its architectural buildings, only of few of which remain standing in their full glory. Some of the most respected buildings of ancient Rome still draw millions of tourists to its site like the Colloseum, and the Forum.

Rome went through seven kings before the Roman Republic was created in 509 BC. When this happened, the people Rome started to build up their city intent on making it the most powerful countries.

It is here that we get some of our systems of government, and policies on the importance of checks and balances.

Looking into the history of Rome, you will notice it is fraught with stories about wars and battles; of brother fighting brother, of boys battling fathers. This heavy and heady reading illustrated how Romebecame such a driving force having so much energy and focus to want to lead and control more economies and countries.

The Romans, as they conquered areas, started Roman colonies to help stabilize their control and authority over others.

Eventually corruption took its toll on Rome. With the single-mindedness of the leaders of Rome, to conquer places surrounding it, many of the agricultural businesses floundered. This led to a heavy reliance on foreigners to work the land. Land owners could not take care of their farms because of the war that they had to fight.

PantheonOn the other hand, since Rome was winning most of its battles at this time, they were collecting taxes and bringing home the war chests full of priceless objects.

This led to further inner squabbles among the rich and powerful. It all came to a huge stop when two brother s were killed trying to have a bill approved regarding land reform. Eventually civil war broke out, and the dictatorship rule on 81 BC ended.

Ancient Rome is full of these kinds of stories . Greed and power corrupted the powers that be and led the final downfall of ancient Rome.

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