Table Of ContentE Y E W I T N E S S
ANCIENT ROME
Silver
spoon
Clay vessel in
form of pig
Bronze bust of
a goddess
Silver distaff
“Victor”
gaming counter
Silver ladle
Bronze statue of
Aphrodite adjusting
her sandal
Bronze lamp in
form of dog with
hare in mouth
Ostrogothic Gold dolphin
brooches earrings
E Y E W I T N E S S
ANCIENT
ROME
Written by
DR SIMON JAMES
Bronze
bust of
Minerva
Bronze
hero in
Gold glass
combat
picture of
a retiarius
(a type of
gladiator)
In association with
THE BRITISH MUSEUM
Silver brooch
Bronze toilet with a bust of
set for the Zeus
baths
Project editor Susan McKeever
Senior art editor Julia Harris
Managing editor Sophie Mitchell
Special photography Christi Graham and Nick Nicholls of
The British Museum and Karl Shone
RELAUNCH EDITION (DK UK)
Senior editor Chris Hawkes
Senior art editor Spencer Holbrook
US senior editor Margaret Parrish
Jacket editor Claire Gell
Jacket designer Laura Brim
Jacket design development manager Sophia MTT
Producer, pre-production Francesca Wardell
Producer Janis Griffith
Managing editor Linda Esposito
Managing art editor Philip Letsu
Publisher Andrew Macintyre
Publishing director Jonathan Metcalf
Associate publishing director Liz Wheeler
Design director Stuart Jackman
RELAUNCH EDITION (DK INDIA)
Project editor Bharti Bedi
Project art editor Nishesh Batnagar
DTP designer Pawan Kumar
Senior DTP designer Harish Aggarwal
Picture researcher Nishwan Rasool
Jacket designer Dhirendra Singh
First American Edition, 1990
This American Edition, 2015
Published in the United States by DK Publishing
345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
A Penguin Random House Company
15 16 17 18 19 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
001—ED629—Jun/15
Copyright © 1990, 2002, 2008, 2015 Dorling Kindersley Limited
All rights reserved
Bronze boar Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part
being led to of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic,
sacrifice
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written
permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited.
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-1-4654-3568-2 (Paperback) Bronze lar
ISBN 978-1-4654-3569-9 (ALB) (household
DK books are available at special discounts when god)
purchased in bulk for sales promotions, premiums,
fund-raising, or educational use. For details, contact:
DK Publishing Special Markets, 345 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014 or [email protected].
Printed by South China Printing Co. Ltd., China
A WORLD OF IDEAS:
SEE ALL THERE IS TO KNOW
www.dk.com
Clay ointment
flask in form
of hare
Contents
The Rise of Rome 6
The emperors 8
The legions 10
The army 12
Life of a soldier 14
Citizens and slaves 16
A dinner party 46
Women in Rome 18
Making music 48
Growing up 20
Roman gods 50
Family life 22
Priests and worship 52
House and home 24
Healing the sick 54
Master builders 26
Burial rites 56
The Colosseum 28
Country life 58
Mortal combat 30
Trade and travel 60
A day at the races 34
The twilight of Rome 62
The theater 36
Did you know? 64
The public baths 38
The emperors 66
Writing it all down 40
Find out more 68
Crafts and
technology 42 Glossary 70
In the kitchen 44 Index 72
The rise of Rome
According to legend, Rome was
founded in 753 BCE by twin brothers
Romulus and Remus, sons of the
god Mars. Over the next thousand
years, it became the capital of one
of the most powerful empires in
history. Rome began as a small The
city-state ruled by kings. In 509 BCE, Etruscans
Etruscan art
the last king was driven out and
This Etruscan bronze
The Etruscan people
Rome became a republic. The early sculpture shows a
lived in a group of
three-horse chariot
Roman civilization was influenced city-states, north running over a
of Rome, and were fallen man. The
by two neighbouring peoples – the
highly influenced Etruscans may
Etruscans and the Greeks. have given
by Greece. They
Rome the
were great
idea of chariot
traders, architects, racing (p.34).
and engineers.
Greek art
The Romans
admired and copied
The Greeks
the realistic figures
in Greek art.
The Greeks had founded
colonies across southern Italy
and had built many wealthy
cities with fine temples and
houses. These Greek colonies
eventually came under
Roman control, bringing with
them their art and culture.
River god
This clay face
shows that
the Greeks
were skilled
potters.
Aphrodite
The Romans
modelled their
goddess Venus on
the Greek goddess
of love, Aphrodite.
6
Elephant army
In 218 BCE, a Carthaginian
general named Hannibal
marched his army and
37 elephants from
Hispania (modern-day
Spain) to Italy over the
Alps. Hannibal won
Victory symbol
many battles in Italy, but
The Romans thought
never captured Rome.
of the spirit of
He fought on for years in
military victory as a
Italy, while the Romans
goddess, as shown in
attacked Hannibal’s
this bronze statuette.
bases in Spain and
north Africa. Finally, the
Carthaginians withdrew.
Rome had won new Goddess
lands, but at a high price. holds a
crown of
laurel leaves
Expansion
Britannia
After the wars
with Carthage,
Gaul Rome defeated
other powerful
Illyricum states to the
Hispania Rome
east. The
generals who
won these
Syria
Africa Carthage conflicts began to
compete with each
other for power,
which led to
Egypt
bitter civil wars.
The shadow of Rome
The Roman Empire was divided into
provinces. Most of the Mediterranean had
fallen to Rome by 50 CE and the Empire
was at its height by the 2nd century CE.
Julius Caesar
General Julius Caesar
defeated his rivals and
began to rule Rome like
a king. Eventually he
was assassinated by
a group of Roman
senators (p.16).
A ship of war
The Romans learned from Carthage how to fight
at sea. The clay plaque above shows a war-galley,
propelled by oars, with a ram at the front that was
used to sink other vessels.
7
The emperors Caligula went mad
and was murdered:
reigned 37–41 CE
Rome was not always ruled by Claudius
conquered
emperors. For nearly 500 years,
Britain:
Rome was a republic ruled by an reigned
41–54 CE
elected group called the Senate.
Nero was
But the Republic collapsed in the the last of
Augustus’s
chaos of the civil wars both before
family:
and after Julius Caesar’s death. In reigned
54–68 CE
,
27 BCE Caesar’s adopted son,
Heads and tales
Octavian (later called Augustus),
Coins were a good way to
reformed the state and display the image of the emperor
and his deeds. These are coins
brought peace back to the of Tiberius’s successors.
Roman world. He became
the first emperor of
Rome, and when
,
he died in 14 CE
he passed the
new throne to
his adopted son,
Tiberius. Rome
A Roman triumph Mad emperor
was to be ruled When an emperor won a Some emperors went mad
great victory, he would be with power. Many Romans
by emperors
granted a parade called a blamed Nero for starting the
for the next triumph. This gave him the great fire of Rome in 64 CE, so
right to lead his soldiers and that he could build himself a
400 years. prisoners through Rome, new capital in its ruins.
while the people cheered.
Emperor’s weapon
This spectacular scabbard
depicts Emperor Tiberius. Tiberius receiving his
nephew, the general
It was found in the River
Germanicus
Rhine in Germany.
The colour of power
Purple, the most expensive
dye, was largely reserved
for the emperor’s
Purple dye clothes. Senators
came from wore togas with a
murex purple band.
seashells
8
