The story of ancient Rome is a story of evolution, of how a civilization's ability to adapt and dominate can lead to its survival for over 1,000 years.
Rome began as a small village on central Italy's Tiber River.
In the coming centuries, it grew into an empire that stretched from the north Atlantic all the way to the Persian Gulf.
During this transformation, Rome displayed a political, military, and cultural prowess that enabled it to become a super power and helped shape what would become known as western civilization.
The lifespan of ancient Rome can be divided into three major periods, the regal, the republican, and the imperial.
During the regal period, Rome was monarchical and ruled by a succession of about seven kings. Rome's first king, according to legend, was a man named Romulus.
He and his twin brother Remus are said to have founded Rome in 753 B.C. In 509 B.C., Rome adopted a republican system of governance in which the state was primarily ruled by two annually representatives called praetors, who were later called consuls.
One of them become a famous general and dictator, Julius Caesar.
The imperial period followed.
It was characterized by the rise of the Roman Empire and notorious leaders such as Octavian, Rome's first emperor, who issued in an era of peace, and Nero, who, some scholars believe, was Rome's cruelest emperor.