The Rise of the Romans!

      You might think that the high and mighty Ancient Romans (well not anymore) started off as a humongous empire. Well, this will prove you wrong, the Ancient Roman Empire started off as a small farming village that was near the Tiber River (the Tiber is Italy's third longest river).
   
      You are probably thinking Roman Empire actually start. Well, to answer that question, the Romans were ruled by kings and queens up until 509 B.C.. However, when the last king was driven out of Rome, Rome became a republic. The Roman Republic was ruled by a Senate (the men who were in the Senate all came from important and rich families in Rome). Due to being governed by a Senate, Rome began to take over all of Italy.
     

Julius Caesar

      The Punic Wars were a series of wars fought by the Romans and the People of Carthage. This war was fought because both of the Empires wanted to rule the Mediterranean Sea alone. The Punic Wars were ended in 146 B.C with Carthage crushed like a bug by the Romans. The Romans soon took over Carthage and then began conquering lands near Carthage. Do keep in mind that my this time, the Roman Empire was getting pretty big.

      Almost everybody knows the name Julius Caesar right? Well, you might not know the Julius        part ,but surely you know Caesar (like the one in Caesar salad? No?). Julius Caesar was a general in the Roman military. In the year of 49 B.C. Rome's Senate demanded that Caesar handed over his army, since he was going to attack. Julius Caesar ignored this demand and continued on with his troops into Italy. He then took control of Rome. The Senate got back at him too, Julius Caesar was stabbed to death during a Senate meeting.

Augustus Caesar

      One thing that you should know is that there was a lot of struggles for power after Julius Caesar had died. However, Julius' great nephew,Octavian, defeated all of his rivals, including Mark Anthony. Octavian changed his name to Augustus or "respected one". As a result of defeating his rivals, he became the Roman Empire's first emperor. Augustus brought on almost one hundred years of peace and prosperity to the Roman Empire. Augustus was often shown in artworks as a young and good-looking man- even when he grew old.

-ThePersonFromMars