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The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, Northern Africa, and Western Asia ruled by emperors. From the accession of Caesar Augustus to the military anarchy of the 3rd century, it was a principate with Italy as metropole of the provinces and the city of Rome as sole capital (27 BC – AD 286). After the military crisis, the empire was ruled by multiple emperors who shared rule over the Western Roman Empire and over the Eastern Roman Empire (also known as the Byzantine Empire). Rome remained the nominal capital of both parts until AD 476, when the imperial insignia were sent to Constantinople, following the capture of Ravenna by the barbarians of Odoacer and the subsequent deposition of Romulus Augustulus. The adoption of Christianity as the state church of the Roman Empire in AD 380 and the fall of the Western Roman Empire to Germanic kings conventionally marks the end of Classical antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. Those events, along with the gradual hellenization of the Eastern Roman Empire is why historians distinguish the medieval Roman Empire that remained in the Eastern provinces as the Byzantine Empire.
List of sights
Appian Way26 photos
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Coordinates: 41° 51′ 7″ N, 12° 31′ 15″ E
The Appian Way was one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, Puglia, in south-east Italy. The road is named after Appius Claudius Caecus, the Roman censor who began and… [See more]
Aula Ottagona48 photos
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Coordinates: 41° 54′ 14″ N, 12° 29′ 45″ E
The Aula Ottagona is part of Diocletian’s Baths and used to be called the Hall of Minerva. Probably designed originally to provide a concourse area, it is octagonal in shape with four semi-circular niches in the corners. [See more]
Capitoline Hill19 photos
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Coordinates: 41° 53′ 36″ N, 12° 28′ 59″ E
The Capitoline Hill (Campidoglio), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. It was the citadel (equivalent of the ancient Greek acropolis) of the earliest Romans. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become … [See more]
Capitoline Museums77 photos
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Coordinates: 41° 53′ 36″ N, 12° 28′ 59″ E
The Capitoline Museums (Italian Musei Capitolini) are a group of art and archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The museums are contained in three palazzi surrounding a central trapezoidal… [See more]
Ercolano103 photos
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Coordinates: 40° 48′ 22″ N, 14° 20′ 57″ E
Ercolano (Herculaneum) is an ancient Roman town, located in the province of Naples which has been destroyed, along with Pompeii, in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius beginning on August 24, AD 79. [See more]
Glyptothek (Munich)93 photos
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Coordinates: 48° 8′ 46″ N, 11° 33′ 56″ E
The Glyptothek is a museum in Munich, Germany, which was commissioned by the Bavarian King Ludwig I to house his collection of Greek and Roman sculptures. It was designed by Leo von Klenze in the neoclassical style, and built from 1816 to 1830.… [See more]
Isola Sacra12 photos
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Coordinates: 41° 46′ 8″ N, 12° 15′ 51″ E
The Isola Sacra Necropolis was the first large-scale pagan cemetery of Roman Imperial times to be excavated. The excavator-in-chief of most of Isola Sacra was Guido Calza. The necropolis was found on the manmade island of Isola Sacra, which lies… [See more]
Metaponto34 photos
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Coordinates: 40° 24′ 58″ N, 16° 49′ 2″ E
Metaponto is a small town of about 1,000 people in the province of Matera, Basilicata. Metapontum was a Greek city founded by an Achaean Colony. Pythagoras tomb was shown at Metapontum in the time of Cicero. Metapontum or Metapontium was an… [See more]
Ostia Antica96 photos
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Coordinates: 41° 45′ 22″ N, 12° 17′ 29″ E
As main port of the antic Rome, Ostia (Ostia Antica) was a busy trading centre over 6 centuries until the 5th century. [See more]
Paestum62 photos
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Coordinates: 40° 25′ 27″ N, 15° 0′ 23″ E
Paestum, situated close to the tyrrhenian coast on the road linking Agropoli to Battipaglia, was founded around the end of the 7th century BC by colonists from the Greek city of Sybaris, and originally known as Poseidonia. Outside of archaeological… [See more]
Pantheon (Rome)15 photos
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Coordinates: 41° 53′ 57″ N, 12° 28′ 36″ E
The Pantheon is a building in Rome, commissioned by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in about 126 AD. The building is circular with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns (eight in… [See more]
Parco degli Acquedotti41 photos
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Coordinates: 41° 50′ 56″ N, 12° 33′ 25″ E
The Parco degli Acquedotti is a public park in Rome, named after the aqueducts, crossed by the Aqua Felix and containing part of the Aqua Claudia and the remains of Villa delle Vignacce to the South East. Although just 8 km from the centre of … [See more]
Piazza Colonna5 photos
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Coordinates: 41° 54′ 3″ N, 12° 28′ 48″ E
Piazza Colonna is a piazza at the centre of the Rione of Colonna in the historic heart of Rome. It is named for the marble Column of Marcus Aurelius which has stood there since 193 CE. The bronze statue of Saint Paul that crowns the column was… [See more]
Roman Forum84 photos
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Coordinates: 41° 53′ 33″ N, 12° 29′ 7″ E
The Roman Forum (Forum Romanum, Foro Romano) is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the centre of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally… [See more]
Roman Villas138 photos
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Coordinates: 40° 44′ 60″ N, 14° 28′ 0″ E
Oplontis was a town near Pompeii, in the Roman Empire. On August 24 AD 79, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried it under large levels of ash. [See more]
Theatre of Marcellus11 photos
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Coordinates: 41° 53′ 32″ N, 12° 28′ 48″ E
The Theatre of Marcellus is an ancient open-air theatre in Rome, built in the closing years of the Roman Republic. At the theatre, locals and visitors alike were able to watch performances of drama and song. It was named after Marcus Marcellus, … [See more]
Tivoli152 photos
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Coordinates: 41° 57′ 45″ N, 12° 47′ 49″ E
Tivoli, the classical Tibur, is an ancient town in Lazio, about 30 km from Rome, at the falls of the Aniene River, where it issues from the Sabine hills. [See more]
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