Rome History English

Bethlehem is amongst the oldest cities in the world, one that has been conquered and ruled by Caananites, Jews, Romans, Arabs, Crusaders, the Mamluks of Egypt, and the Ottomans. In the last century alone, it has been controlled by various different parties. The British took Bethlehem during World War I and controlled the city from 1920-1948, and in the wake of the 1948 war between Israel and its neighbors, Jordan annexed Bethlehem and controlled it until the Six Day War in 1967.

For several centuries, fishermen on Lake Nemi in Italy could see ship wreckage on the floor of the lake, and in 1928, under the patronage of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, one of the most extraordinary archaeological recovery processes was begun to raise from the floor of Lake Nemi, a small volcanic lake in the Alban Hills some 30 miles south of Rome, two sunken barges that had lain half buried in the silt since the reign of the Roman Emperor Caligula.

When the European armies of the Third Crusade were defeated at the Battle of Hattin in 1187 CE, the region of what is today southern Jordan was overrun by Saladin's armies, and over the following five centuries knowledge of Petra's existence was lost to the people of Europe. The ancient city and center of civilization hidden in the desert became a myth, drawn largely upon Biblical accounts of the people and places in the Holy Land.

When people think of ancient Italy, the Romans are usually the first and last people that come to mind, but long before Rome was built by Latin-speaking people, the culture of Italy was dominated by the Etruscans. Although the Etruscans may not comprise the core of most histories of the ancient Mediterranean, they exerted a profound influence on the region from the 8th-5th centuries BCE that continued to resonate for centuries after as the Romans carried on many of their traditions.

Recently, the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra has become a major source of news because the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has embarked on a campaign to destroy the temples and art of the pre-Islamic city. For many people throughout the world, ISIS's campaign was the first time they heard about the city, but Palmyra's importance and history can be traced back to well before the Roman Empire. In fact, Palmyra was unique among the many important cities of the ancient world.

Many westerners have never even heard of the Siege of Masada, and those who have may simply know it as an obscure reference to a minor battle fought in a remote location of the Roman world. By contrast, virtually all Israeli school children know the story of Masada as a premier example of nationalistic pride. The heroic story of a small band of fighters facing incalculable odds has many elements that are reminiscent of both the Battle of Thermopylae and the Battle of the Alamo.

When the Colosseum was built in the late first century AD, the Romans, a people known for their architectural acumen, managed to amaze themselves. Martial, a Roman poet writing during the inauguration of the Colosseum, clearly believed the Colosseum was so grand a monument that it was even greater than the other Wonders of the Ancient World, which had been written about and visited endlessly by the Romans and Greeks in antiquity.

The Vandals: The History and Legacy of Antiquity's Most Famous Barbarians looks at the history of the "barbarians" who brought Rome to its knees in the late fifth century and helped bring about the final collapse of the Roman Empire.

In the year 570 CE, a child by the name of Muhammad is born in the Arabian city of Mecca. Sixty-two years later, he dies, and upon his death, the faith that he founded, Islam ("obedience to the one God"), dominates the western half of the Arabian Peninsula. By the end of the first millennium CE, four centuries after the death of Muhammad, Islam has grown to dominate western Asia, north and east Africa, the Levant, and the Iberian Peninsula.

Emilie Kip Baker was a woman ahead of her time. Born in San Francisco in 1857, she grew up in a wealthy family and received a private education, which was uncommon for women then. Baker was a natural adventurer and a writer from a young age. She embarked on her first solo trip at the age of 20, traveling across the United States by train and writing about her experiences for various publications.

Over 1500 years before Leonardo Da Vinci became the Renaissance Man, antiquity had its own in the form of Archimedes, one of the most famous Ancient Greeks. An engineer, mathematician, physicist, scientist and astronomer all rolled into one, Archimedes has been credited for making groundbreaking discoveries, some of which are undoubtedly fact and others that are almost certainly myth.

The Catacombs of Rome and Paris: The History and Legacy of Europe’s Most Famous Ossuaries examines the origins of these necropolises, their development throughout the years, and the period of rediscovery that put these subterranean cemeteries on the map. You will learn about the Roman and Parisian catacombs like never before.

Gone in an instant. Pompeii was one of the most advanced cities of its time; it had a complex water system, gymnasium, and amphitheater. Despite its advancements, there was one thing it wasn't ready for: Mount Vesuvius - the volcano that led to its ultimate doom. The 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius was one of the worst disasters in all of European history. In a near instant, over 15,000 people were dead and a city was completely destroyed. This audiobook looks at the rise, fall, and rediscovery of the great city of Pompeii.

The Hellenistic age brought a great deal of change in the ancient world. However, the era was destined to end in 31 BCE with the Battle of Actium. Octavian’s Roman forces defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra’s Ptolemaic fleet, thus securing the rise of the Roman Empire. While the Hellenistic age lasted only for a brief period in humanity’s rich history, its influence on culture, science, and philosophy has resonated with the world ever since.

"From Rome to the West: Parallels in Empire, Mobility, and Rhetoric" is a meticulous exploration of the cyclical narratives that underpin the strategies and rhetorics of empires, drawing direct lines between the colossal Roman Empire and contemporary Western democracies. Delving deep into the Roman Republic's dualistic nature, it unveils the contradictions between internal democratic ethos and external imperialistic endeavors, offering readers a panoramic view of how power and morality intersected in the classical world.

The influence of the Roman Empire has been widespread and profound, perhaps more so than that of any other empire or civilization. Rome laid the foundation for many of the institutions and ideas in the modern Western world, including the common political and legal systems. Roman ruins can still be found in distant England, and Roman aqueducts still bring fresh drinking water to modern Rome.

The concept of international trade was born in the ancient Mediterranean, which provided the perfect set of circumstances needed to produce an intricate trading system, whose influence can still be seen in present-day economic practices. The ancient Mediterranean was home to a diverse range of cultures and landscapes, encompassing deserts, forests, islands, and fertile plains.

The birth of Europe as people know it today was hardly an easy and effortless process. The Old World was reshaped by centuries of continuous wars, raids, and the falls and rises of empires. The most turbulent of these events happened at the beginning of the Middle Ages, from the third through seventh centuries CE. This was the time when the old slave society gave way to the feudal system that marked the latter Middle Ages, and it was also a period of battles between the Roman Empire and various barbarian peoples.

Some of the most iconic symbols of the Roman Empire that have survived into the modern world today are the arches that Romans erected to commemorate military victories and glorify individual emperors. The story of how arches came to be used throughout the Roman world in such a way is one that involves the evolution of the military and its leaders into the political forces that came to dominate the state. Those arches, along with the triumphs that came to be associated with many of them, were key parts in the process of exhibiting the might of both Rome.

The Byzantine Empire existed for over a thousand years, with a history spanning from the division of the Roman Empire in 395 until the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. It was formed from the previous Eastern Roman Empire, and during its long existence, the Byzantine inhabitants were very proud to call themselves Romans. However, many things changed during the long lifespan of the Byzantine Empire, starting with a Hellenization in the sixth century.