Roman civilization arises from a small community of agricultural culture founded on the Italian peninsula, city of Rome, in the 10th century BC. C. (according to tradition in 753 BC) located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea became one of the largest empires of the ancient world. Rome was a monarchy. Later (509 BC) it was a Latin Republic, and in 27 BC. C. became an empire. The period of greatest splendor of Roman culture is known as Roman Pax (Roman Peace), due to the relative state of harmony that prevailed in the regions that were under Roman rule, a period of order and prosperity that knew the Empire under the dynasty of the Antonines (96-192 AD) and, to a lesser extent, the Severians (193-235 AD). It marked the golden age of the West and the awakening of the East.
Roman society was essentially divided into two classes: patricians and plebeians. It can be said that the patricians constituted the nobility and the commoners the people. In fact, the word "mob" is often used as a synonym for "people."
Later a social class generated by mobility was formed: the optimates, who were commoners who had improved their economic situation. Soldiers were a highly privileged group, although they were beyond any classification on the social scale. Depending on the degree of fortune obtained during the military campaigns, they could be considered upper class at the time of retirement.
Slaves did not fall into these categories due to their condition, although it is known that there were slaves who led comfortable lives, being treated more as domestic servants than as property of the master.
The Romans came to dominate at their peak from Great Britain, the Sahara desert and from the Iberian Peninsula to the Euphrates, causing an important cultural flourishing in every place where they ruled.
The Eastern Roman Empire, ruled from Constantinople, which includes Asia Minor, Greece, Syria, the Balkans, and Egypt, survived this crisis. This eastern Christian empire from medieval times is known as the Byzantine Empire to historians.
Rome, being so extensive, could derive abundant income from its provinces. It took its business operations to a higher level, not only using sea lanes as trade routes, but also an extensive and well-built system of land routes, many of which still exist in various parts of Europe.
The Romans had a religious vision almost drawn by the Greeks. Although over the years there were some variants. The pantheon of Roman gods had deities that had similar characteristics and stories to their Greek counterparts. Chrono: Saturn; Zeus: Jupiter; Hera: Janus. Currently, Greek or Roman names are used interchangeably to refer to these deities.
