... the Forum, or meeting place, and the Senate, or parliament. There were temples, markets, triumphal arches, and villas (large houses). The language of Rome was Latin. In 45BC the soldier Julius Caesar made himself dictator of Rome. In 27BC his adopted son; Octavian (Augustus) became the Roman Emperor. The Romans ruled most of Europe and the lands around the Mediterranean. They brought peace and firm government. Roman ideas spread everywhere. The Romans were skilful engineers and many remains of their roads, walls, forts, and other buildings can still be seen. The crane was a Roman invention. In AD364 the Empire was divided: the Western half goverened by Rome, the Eastern half from Constantinople (Byzantium). For a thousand years, Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, emperors ruled from Constantinople. Rome was now in decline. Its army struggled to fight off attacks from barbarian tribes. Around 476AD Rome itself fell and the empire in the west collapsed. ...

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