Questions Answered
Direct, well-sourced answers to the most common questions about ancient Rome.
Daily Life of a Roman Legionary
What was it like to be a Roman legionary? The sacramentum oath, the training, the diet, the march, the camp, the pay, and the 25 years of service that defined the most disciplined army of the ancient world.
How Did Roman Aqueducts Work?
How Roman aqueducts captured spring water in the hills, used gravity to carry it across long distances, and distributed it through lead and ceramic pipes to cities across the empire.
How Did the Roman Senate Work?
The Roman Senate was the governing council of Rome for nearly a thousand years — its membership, its procedures, its powers, and its long decline under the empire.
How Did the Romans Tell Time?
Sundials, water clocks, the twelve unequal hours, and the Roman calendar of kalends, nones, and ides, plus the Julian reforms that fixed the length of the year.
How Were Roman Emperors Chosen?
From the Senate and the legions to the Praetorian Guard and the Tetrarchy, a look at the many ways Roman emperors were made — and unmade.
What Caused the Fall of Rome?
An in-depth look at the eight leading theories for the fall of the Western Roman Empire, from barbarian invasions to climate change, and how modern historians synthesize them.
What Did the Romans Eat?
A look at the three courses of the Roman cena, common foods like bread, olive oil, garum, dormice and peacock, and the differences between rich and poor at the table.
What Language Did Romans Speak?
From Classical Latin to Vulgar Latin to the rise of Greek, the languages of ancient Rome and the Romance tongues they became.
What Was a Roman Bath (Thermae)?
A look at the apodyterium, frigidarium, tepidarium, caldarium, and the hypocaust heating system, the social ritual of Roman bathing, and the great imperial thermae of Caracalla and Diocletian.
What Was a Roman Triumph?
The Roman triumph was the highest honor a victorious general could receive. Learn who could claim it, the route, the costumes, and the famous triumphs of Pompey, Caesar, and Aemilius Paullus.
What Was a Roman Villa?
From working farms to imperial palaces, the Roman villa was the heart of country life in the Empire, blending agriculture, leisure, and the finest art of the ancient world.
What Was Roman Concrete? The Secret of Rome's Buildings
Roman concrete — opus caementicium — was the building material of the empire. Its recipe of lime, pozzolana, and aggregate, and its mysterious ability to grow stronger in seawater, are still studied by modern engineers.
What Was the Appian Way (Via Appia)?
The story of the Via Appia, the Queen of Roads, from its foundation by Appius Claudius in 312 BCE to its later role in early Christianity.
What Was the Colosseum Used For?
Gladiatorial combat, animal hunts, mock naval battles, and public executions, the Colosseum was Rome's most spectacular stage for nearly four centuries.
What Was the Pax Romana? Rome's 200 Years of Peace
The Pax Romana, from 27 BCE under Augustus to 180 CE under Marcus Aurelius, was Rome's longest period of stability — its causes, its benefits, and the cracks that brought it to an end.
What Was the Roman Forum?
The Roman Forum was the political, religious, and commercial heart of ancient Rome for more than a thousand years — from a marshy marketplace to the marble center of the Roman world.
Who Built the Colosseum?
The story of how Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian built the Colosseum with spoils from Jerusalem, making it the largest amphitheater in the Roman world.
Who Were the Vestal Virgins?
The priestesses of Vesta, the six sacred women of Rome who kept the eternal flame burning and wielded extraordinary political and religious power for thirty years.