The assassination of Caesar on Ides of March of 44 BC, marked the beginning of sweeping changes that will push Roman state into the civil war out of which Octavian will emerge as the sole ruler of Rome, dissolving in that manner half a millennia long period of Republic. The next five centuries Rome will flourish, struggle, change and eventually, under the heavy pressure from incursions of Germanic and other peoples that came in waves from the steppes of today's Russia and Asia, collapse leaving the world to deal with centuries of dark ages. The importance of Rome must be understood in those terms, just like great Roman poet Virgil predicted in his epic work Aeneid.
When Octavian, now called Augustus, assumed imperial power many institutions
…show more content…
During the reign of Augustus great artists enjoyed emperor's patronage, artists like Virgil, Ovid, Horatius, and many others. Seneca, the private teacher to Nero and Emperor Marcus Aurelius excelled as philosophers. Many religious writers were prominent too. Among them, theologians of new faith, Christianity freely roamed the Empire and spread the word of Christ. What started as a small sect, as Romans classified it, engulfed the whole empire, in spite of sporadic persecutions, and less than three hundred years from the death of Jesus on a Roman cross, became equal with old state religion under Constantine and an official state religion under Theodosius. Understanding the greatness of Rome requires the right perspective. The scope of influence Roman state exerted on future civilizations is immense. A supposedly dead Latin language is today widely used in medicine, law and academia. The city of Rome, Roma Aeterna still stands at the same spot two brothers founded it almost three thousand years ago. Above all, when Roman state structure collapsed, it buried Europe under its ruins and it took minds like Dante, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo to revive the greatness of Rome once
During the reign of Augustus great artists enjoyed emperor's patronage, artists like Virgil, Ovid, Horatius, and many others. Seneca, the private teacher to Nero and Emperor Marcus Aurelius excelled as philosophers. Many religious writers were prominent too. Among them, theologians of new faith, Christianity freely roamed the Empire and spread the word of Christ. What started as a small sect, as Romans classified it, engulfed the whole empire, in spite of sporadic persecutions, and less than three hundred years from the death of Jesus on a Roman cross, became equal with old state religion under Constantine and an official state religion under Theodosius. Understanding the greatness of Rome requires the right perspective. The scope of influence Roman state exerted on future civilizations is immense. A supposedly dead Latin language is today widely used in medicine, law and academia. The city of Rome, Roma Aeterna still stands at the same spot two brothers founded it almost three thousand years ago. Above all, when Roman state structure collapsed, it buried Europe under its ruins and it took minds like Dante, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo to revive the greatness of Rome once