Roman amphitheatre: Did you mean...?

The Western Roman Empire is the modern-day term for the western half of the Roman Empire after it was divided in two by the emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305 CE) in c. 285/286 CE. The Romans themselves did not use this term. At its height (c...

Roman constitution was an accumulation of laws, legal decisions, and ancient customs. While today 'constitution' usually refers to a single act of legislation, this was not the case in ancient Rome. Instead, Roman government relied on the...

The Roman army consisted of three separate divisions: the famed legions, the cavalry, and lastly, the auxiliaries. The auxiliaries (auxilia) were comprised of infantry cohorts, mounted infantry, and cavalry units or wings (alae). Although...

In ancient warfare open battles were the preferred mode of meeting the enemy, but sometimes, when defenders took a stand within their well-fortified city or military camp, siege warfare became a necessity, despite its high expense in money...

Roman medicine was greatly influenced by earlier Greek medicine and literature but would also make its own unique contribution to the history of medicine through the work of such famous experts as Galen and Celsus. Whilst there were professional...

Roman sculpture blended the idealised perfection of Classical Greek sculpture with a greater aspiration for realism. It also absorbed artistic preferences and styles from the East to create images in stone and bronze which rank among the...

The Roman Empire and its predecessor the Roman Republic produced an abundance of celebrated literature; poetry, comedies, dramas, histories, and philosophical tracts; the Romans avoided tragedies. Much of it survives to this day. However...

The Holy Roman Empire officially lasted from 962 to 1806. It was one of Europe’s largest medieval and early modern states, but its power base was unstable and continually shifting. The Holy Roman Empire was not a unitary state, but a confederation...

Britain was a significant addition to the ever-expanding Roman Empire. For decades, Rome had been conquering the Mediterranean Sea – defeating Carthage in the Punic Wars, overwhelming Macedon and Greece, and finally marching into Syria and...

The ancient Romans had a rich mythology and, while much of it was derived from their neighbors and predecessors, the Greeks, it still defined the rich history of the Roman people as they eventually grew into an empire. Roman writers such...