The great, ancient civilization of Rome is without a doubt one of the mightiest and most influential of all the cultures that came before and after. There were few things the Romans did not master. Today we look back and marvel at how, in fields ranging from engineering to warfare, the mighty Romans were before their time.

Roma sprang up as a small, agricultural civilization in the 10th century BC, supposedly founded by the mythological twins Remus and Romulus. By the time the empire fell the reach of the Romans had far surpassed Rome itself, dominating the Mediterranean region, the Balkans, as well as South and Western Europe.