Table Of ContentPOCKET EYEWITNESS
ANCIENT
ROME
FACTS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
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DK DELHI
Senior editor Shatarupa Chaudhuri
Assistant editor Priyanka Kharbanda
Art editors Nishesh Batnagar, Isha Nagar, Amit Varma
Jacket designer Priyanka Bansal
Jackets editorial coordinator Priyanka Sharma
DTP designers Syed Md Farhan, Jaypal Singh Chauhan
Picture researcher Aditya Katyal
Managing editor Alka Thakur
Managing art editor Romi Chakraborty
CTS manager Balwant Singh
Production manager Pankaj Sharma
DK LONDON
Senior editor Rob Houston
Senior art editor Spencer Holbrook
Managing editor Gareth Jones
Managing art editor Philip Letsu
Jacket designer Surabhi Wadhwa-Gandhi
Jacket editor Emma Dawson
Jacket design development manager Sophia MTT
Producer (pre-production) Rebecca Fallowfield
Producer (print production) Mary Slater
Publisher Andrew Macintyre
Associate publishing director Liz Wheeler
Design director Phil Ormerod
Publishing director Jonathan Metcalf
Consultant Philip Parker
This edition published in 2019
First published in Great Britain in 2014
by Dorling Kindersley Limited
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL
Copyright © 2014, 2019 Dorling Kindersley Limited
A Penguin Random House Company
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
001–310506–May/19
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without
the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-0-2413-4355-5
Printed and bound in China
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CONTENTS
4 Roman Republic 66 RELIGION
6 Roman Empire
68 Religious beliefs
8 Later Roman Empire
70 Gods
10 Trade and transport
80 BUILDINGS AND
14 ANCIENT ROMANS
MONUMENTS
16 Roman society
82 Cities
18 Emperors and leaders
86 Architecture
28 Soldiers and generals
88 Homes
30 Nobles
90 Temples
34 Thinkers
98 Villas and palaces
36 Slaves
100 Baths
38 Gladiators
102 Open-air arenas
40 THE MILITARY 108 Aqueducts
42 Roman army 112 ROMAN LIFE
44 Weapons
114 Daily life
48 Uniform and armour
116 At work
54 Roman wars
118 Writing
56 Wars and battles
120 In the house
62 Enemies
124 Dressing up
128 Medicine
Scales and sizes 130 Entertainment
This book contains profiles of ancient
132 Toys and games
Roman artefacts with scale drawings
to indicate their size. 136 Music
138 Art and craft
1.8 m 15 cm 140 Works of art
(6 ft) (6 in)
146 At a glance
148 Numbers and letters
Locator
150 Glossary
A red shaded area shows the
region of a war. A red dot marks 152 Index
the location of a Roman site. 156 Acknowledgments
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4 | ANCIENT ROME ROMAN REPUBLIC | 5
Roman Republic
For centuries after Rome was founded in
753 bce, it was just a small town in central Italy.
At first ruled by kings but later becoming a
Republic, it conquered its neighbours and
then faraway lands over time to become
the greatest power in the Mediterranean.
Romulus and
Remus with
she-wolf
Legendary founders
According to legends, Rome was founded by
Romulus, son of the war god Mars. He, along with
his brother Remus, was brought up by a she-wolf.
Roman kings
Romulus was first of the
seven kings of Rome.
The last king, Tarquinius
Superbus, was a tyrant. He
was eventually overthrown
after an uprising in 510 bce,
following which the Roman
people set up a Republic.
Tarquinius Superbus
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4 | ANCIENT ROME ROMAN REPUBLIC | 5
The Republic
From 510 bce, Rome became a Republic,
governed by the Senate – a group of elected
noblemen. During its lifetime – nearly
Senators
500 years until civil wars led to its
collapse – official documents carried
the initials SPQR (“the Senate
SPQR inscribed
and the People of Rome”). on an ancient
Roman coin
Senate and society
Originally, the men in the Senate (senators) were
mostly rich Romans called “patricians”. Gradually
the poorer people, called plebeians, managed
to get some of this power for themselves.
Neighbours
Rome united the region of Italy under its rule
by conquering its neighbours, such as the
Latins, Samnites, and Etruscans (seen in this
painting). Later it defeated the Carthaginians
of North Africa in three wars (264–146 bce) to
become rulers of the Mediterranean region.
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6 | ANCIENT ROME ROMAN EMPIRE | 7
Roman Empire
Empires are controlled by absolute rulers called emperors, and in
27 bce, the Roman Republic became an empire. At that time, it had
armies that were more powerful than its neighbours, prosperous
cities, and a language, Latin, spoken by millions.
End of the Republic
A series of civil wars after 100 bce tore the Republic apart. An army
general Julius Caesar won one of these, but was assassinated in Roman legionaries
44 bce. After the sea battle of Actium in 31 bce, his (soldiers) aboard ship
adoptive son Octavian finally emerged as the victor.
The first emperor
In 27 bce, Octavian was awarded
the title Augustus by the Senate
and became emperor. Although
there were still consuls, they no
longer exercised any real power.
Roman
warship
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6 | ANCIENT ROME ROMAN EMPIRE | 7
River R
hi
n
e
Trier River Danube
Rome
Constantinople
Pompeii
Palmyra
Carthage Mediterranean Sea
Leptis Magna
EGYPT
Roman legionaries
(soldiers) aboard ship Roman Empire around 250 ce
Expansion
The early Roman emperors pushed the frontier
towards the Rhine and Danube rivers to expand
the empire’s borders. In 43 ce, Emperor Claudius
The first emperor
began the conquest of Britain. By the time of the
In 27 bce, Octavian was awarded death of Emperor Trajan in 117 ce, the empire
the title Augustus by the Senate had reached its greatest extent.
and became emperor. Although
there were still consuls, they no
longer exercised any real power.
Godlike status
The emperors had supreme power.
After their deaths, some of them,
especially Augustus, were regarded
as gods, and temples were set up in
their honour. This picture of an altar
shows Emperor Antoninus Pius
becoming a god.
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8 | ANCIENT ROME LATER ROMAN EMPIRE | 9
Later Roman Empire
By the 3rd century ce, the Roman Empire had stopped
expanding, weakened by a series of civil wars and rebellions.
It took strong emperors to restore order
and reform the empire, but invasions
in the 5th century made it weak again.
Tetrarchy
Over time it became difficult for one
man to govern the large Roman Empire.
In 293 ce, Emperor Diocletian solved this
problem by establishing a system called
the tetrarchy in which four emperors, or
“tetrarchs”, shared power.
Statue of tetrarchs
Rho
Chi
Arrival of Christianity
At first, Christianity was practised
as a secret cult. Christians, if
discovered, were persecuted.
In 313 ce, however, Emperor
Constantine made the religion
legal throughout the empire.
After him, almost all Roman
emperors were Christian.
Christian chi-rho symbol
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