Ancient Rome was one of the largest and the most powerful empires in history. Its central was in today Italy, then its territories and influence was expanded to the Middle East, Northern Africa, Western and Central Europe. It reached the height of its power between 100 and 200 A.D then collapsed in 476 A.D. Today, we will tell you about Roman Empire, about its development, its unique characteristics, its collapse, and its affection in today life.
The founding of Rome is very much embroiled in myth. Traces found by archaeologists of early settlements of the Palatine Hill date back to 750 BC. This ties in very closely to the established legend that Rome was founded on 21 April 753 BC, which was traditionally celebrated in Rome with the festival of Parilia.
Rome was not a tyranny like most of people think of; instead, it was a state. People preferred to be ruled by Rome for alternatives were either wild barbarians to the north or tyrannies to the East and South. Some kings without heirs left their kingdoms to the Romans because they know Rome would be the best governor of their people. For example, kingdoms like Cyrene and Pergamum. Empires of that time broke apart if they were attacked by a foe. The oppressed peoples under the yoke of the dominant power rose up and joined the foe. This happened when Rome attacked others. Generally, it is understood that they were brought into all these conflicts by either themselves or their allies being attacked and by winning they acquired their foe’s territory.
In ancient Rome, every five years, each male Roman citizen had to register in Rome for the census. In this he had to declare his family, wife, children, slaves and riches. If he fails to do that, his possessions would be confiscated and he would be sold into slavery. A master only needs entering his slave’s name into the censor’s list as a citizen, if he wants to free him. To the Romans the census was one of the foundation stones of their civilization. It made them more than a mere crowd or barbarian rabble, but a populous which mean a people that capable of collective action.
Roman clothing owed much to that of ancient Greece, but it had distinct forms of its own. In ancient world, first clothes needed to be simple. As for possible materials there was only wool, although to some extent linen was also available. The needles of that time were coarse and unwieldy by modern standards. Hence any stitching or sewing was kept to a minimum. Clothes were held together either with broaches or clasps. The most basic garment in Roman clothing was the tunic. It was the standard dress of Rome. For most Romans and slaves the tunic would be the entire clothing they dressed in before setting foot outdoors. The male tunic would be generally reach roughly to the knees, whereas women’s tunics would generally be longer, some reaching to the ground. Female tunics often also have long sleeves.
The other type of clothes in ancient Rome is toga. The toga was allowed to be worn only by free Roman citizens. Foreigners, or even exiled citizens, could not appear in public wearing a toga. Basically toga was a large blanket, draped over the body, leaving one arm free. Usually the toga spanned between 2.5 and 3 meters long and at its widest point it will have been up to 2 meters wide. And this is how to dress in a toga.
Women’s dress has fewer restrictions by laws, customs and traditions existed. Female clothes can be almost any color. The basic female garment was stola. It was essentially a long tunic reaching to the ground. It could have long or short sleeves or sleeveless. As an over garment women in the early days of the republic wore the ricinium, a simple square cloak, covering the shoulders, but later the ricinium was replaced by the palla. Palla is similar to the toga. There seems to have been no specific size or shape that specified a palla. It could range from a large garment which draped around the body to something no more than a scarf.
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