Ancient Rome

Roman Art and Architecture

Roman art is traditionally divided into two main periods, art of the Roman Republic and art of the Roman Empire (from 27 bc on), with subdivisions corresponding to the major emperors or to imperial dynasties. When the Republic was founded, the term Roman art was virtually synonymous with the art of the city of Rome, which still bore the stamp of it...

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The Roman Forum: Through the Ages

The Forum in the Time of the Kings and the Early Republic The Forum in the Time of the Republic, the Civil Wars and the Age of Augustus The Forum in the Time of the Empire: From the Julio-Claudian Dynasty to the Antonine Dynasty and the Time of Hadrian (including Imperial Fora) The Forum in the Late Empire: From Hadrian to the Sack of Rome by th...

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Sources of Information on Antiquities Theft

antiquities theft, archaeological theft, artifact theft, looting, plunder, archaeology...

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Ancient Roman Chariot Races

Ancient Roman chariot races were held in the Circus, such as the Circus Maximus. The festivities such as the Ludi Magni which were celebrated with the chariot races in honour of Jupiter, generally began early in the morning with a religious procession called the "pompa circensis". The procession included religious representatives, all the chariot ...

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Amphitheaters

Most people have heard of the Colosseum in Rome, but there were many other amphitheaters all over the Roman Empire. The first gladiatorial fights, in Etruscan times, were held anywhere that there was a flat place near a hill, so that people could sit on the hillside and watch the fights being held down on the flat area. But there isn't always a con...

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The Roman Colosseum

The Colosseum or Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre (Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium, Italian Anfiteatro Flavio or Colosseo), is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering. Occupying a site just east ...

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Octavian`s Calendar Changes (Octavian Calendar)

Changes to the Julian Calendar made during the time of Caesar Augustus. Prior pages in this series were: An Introduction to Calendars, Days and Weeks, Months and Years, Calendar Structures, 8th to 4th Century B.C. Calendar Changes, 360 - The Trial, Early Roman Calendars, Julian Calendar, Following sections concern: Gregorian Calendar, Fixed-Week Ca...

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The great builders

Perhaps more than any other civilization the Romans are famed for their incredible constructions There appeared almost no limit to what they could do with stones, bricks, mortar and wood. Bridges over the Danube and Rhine, Colosseum, Roads, Aquaeducts, Hagia Sophia, Hadrian's Wall....

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Grave Art: Early Christian Tombs and Figures of Mourning

In Augustine's Confessions. Roman emperors loved bronze and stone, but their best poets vaunted written poetic language as a much better medium of monuments-- indeed, of immortality....

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