PERIODS OF ROMAN HISTORY

Roman history is traditionally divided into a number of distinct periods, based on the changing structure of Rome’s government.

The first period, the Monarchy, begins with the traditional foundation date of Rome, 753 bc, and lasts until the expulsion of the last king, in 509 bc.

The second period is the Republic. For almost five centuries following 510 bc, Rome was governed according to a republican constitution.

The third and final period, the Empire, began in 27 bc. From this year, the governance of Rome and its empire lay ultimately in the hands of one man, the emperor, who was in substance a monarch, though not named as such. Through time, the nature of the emperor’s role as being in effect that of a monarch became more explicit. Accordingly, the Empire is further subdivided into two periods. In the earlier period, the Principate, the Re­publican constitution was preserved relatively intact, though subject to the ultimate authority of the emperor. In the later period, the Dominate, the importance of the Republican institutions had declined to the point where the emperor could be openly seen as dominus, or master, of the Roman world. The Dominate is dated from the accession of the emperor Diocletian in ad 284, and lasted in the Western Empire until its fall in ad 476. The Eastern Empire survived until the fall of its capital to the Ottomans in 1453.