The Romans. Great soldiers. Gladiators.

There is a legend about the first men that built the city Rome. Two little boys named Romulus and Remus, were found in the bushes near a river bank. A mother wolf was passing through and heard their sobs. When the boys saw the wolf, instead of getting scared they clung to her. The mother wolf took them to a cave and raised them like her own. Later the boys were found by a herdsman and his wife, and they stayed with them until they were old.

Rome, as we know today is a city built by these two brothers near the same river bank.

Of course, there is no way of knowing if that story is true and that is why it is a legend.

Most people think that the Ancients Romans were war loving people. They were as strong and fierce as the wolves and were indeed good fighters. However, they were much more to them than just being good fighters. They were the rulers of the western world. The senate, as we know today was a part of the roman empire. The forum or the senate made laws. These laws were to be followed by the rich and the poor. Most of the laws were good laws. They had a nice government. The laws helped them govern well over a huge roman empire.

Many western laws are based on the roman laws.

People lived mostly as we do. Some lived in villas where as some lived in houses built over the shops. They were not allowed to cook inside the home as the homes could catch fire, so they mostly ate out. Romans believed in good hygiene and had two supplies of water – drinking water and bathing water.

They built roads using rocks and stones throughout their empire. Some of those roads still exist.

Romans were particularly impressed by Greek architecture and their style of teaching. So a lot of their buildings look similar to Greek buildings. They borrowed some of Greek alphabets and changed them to fit into their language. Today, most of the English alphabets are based on roman alphabets.

Rome became very rich as the soldiers brought the riches from all the places that they conquered. Some of the kings became evil. They encouraged sports like gladiators, or groups of people fighting with lions. Colosseum was built for these sports. The Romans cheered when people got hurt.

While most of us remember them as harsh people, let us also remember the greatness of Roman empire. The laws, concepts and the language that they introduced are still a part of our current life.

Image Credit: Featured Image by Flickr User mikecogh, via CC