Historia (History)

Decimus will have several challenges before he can join the Roman army. The recruiter will be asking him to demonstrate several skills. So far, Decimus has met the first requirement to join the army in the 1st century CE: he is a legal citizen of Rome. Only Roman citizens were allowed to join the army during this time period.

The recruiter turns to Decimus to test his skills. First up: Roman history! Decimus is familiar with Roman history since he studied the ancient Roman historian Livy's book Ab Urbe Condita, which discusses the history of Rome from the founding of the city.

Your first Latin challenge is to discover more about the three distinct periods of Roman history to assist Decimus in passing the history requirement. Let's take a look below.

Roman Monarchy

The earliest period of ancient Roman history was a monarchy, lasting from 753 BCE - 509 BCE. The monarchy began with the founding of Rome by the first king, Romulus, and ended with the ousting of the seventh king, Tarquinius Superbus.

Learn more about the Roman monarchy and the seven kings of Rome below.

Roman Republic

The next period of ancient Roman history was called the republic, lasting from 509 BCE - 27 BCE. During this period of Roman history, the Romans were governed by an executive branch, run by two consuls, elected yearly, and a legislative branch, which was called the senate.

During the period of Roman history known as the Republic, Rome expanded its borders throughout all of Italy and into the Mediterranean world. Rome was governed by two annually elected consuls and laws were established by the Senate. During this time, Rome waged many wars, perhaps the most famous being the Punic Wars against Carthage and Julius Caesar's campaigns in Gaul and Britain. Rome also experienced tensions during the late republic between the social classes. This eventually led to several civil wars. The exact date of the end of the Roman republic is disputed, yet most historians name the start of Octavian Augustus' rule as emperor in 27 BCE as the defining transitional event ending the republic.

Roman Empire

The final period of ancient Roman history was called the empire, lasting from 27 BCE - 476 CE. During this time period, Rome was ruled by an Emperor, though the senate was still present as an advisory board.

During this final period of ancient Roman history, Rome was no longer ruled by the two annually elected consuls, but by a single emperor. It expanded its territory into the parts of Asia, Africa and Europe surrounding the Mediterranean Sea and all the way north to Britain. During the first two centuries of the empire, Rome experienced a relatively peaceful time often called the Pax Romana - the Roman Peace. The first five emperors, the Julio-Claudians, were Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. The second set of emperors belonged to the Flavian family: Vespasian, Titus and Domitian. Decimus's story begins in 78 CE nearing the end of emperor Vespasian's reign.