The first answer is simple: hereditary rule. For most of this period, emperors were not chosen on the basis of their ability or honesty, but simply because they were born in the right family.

He wrote that ‘almost all the ships were dashed to pieces and ... This opened up trading opportunities between the Roman Empire and Britain to increase the wealth of the empire.

What was life like in ancient Rome? Find out how Rome began, learn about different Roman emperors and discover what people in Rome did for fun. What was life like in the Roman army? Learn about ...

For the ancient sages, all of this is rooted in thinking about the Roman Empire. Their thoughts turned to the empire often, and their thoughts were dark. They equated pre- and post-Christian Rome ...

More than 1,500 years after its collapse in A.D. 476, the Roman Empire has seen a resurgence in the unlikeliest of settings — social media. Online users, predominantly on the video-sharing app ...

signaling that educated and wealthy men from all over the empire were eligible for the highest office. It was also very successful. As emperor, Trajan expanded the Roman Empire to become larger ...

The emperor Hadrian was well known for building ... Their villas were designed for the all-important Roman activity of otium—leisure—encompassing eating and reading, as well as that quality ...