The Roman Empire was marvelous. When looking at an empire such as Rome, you must first understand the extreme difficulties required to maintain such a vast amount of land where so many people lived. Rome had justice, ambition, strength, power and many more elements that attracted the gaze of the envious, which turned out to be a huge factor in its downfall.
Despite the corruption of Rome in the Late BCs, one has to admire Rome’s Republic. Even though the Roman Republic is around 2000 years old, it was nevertheless one of the fairest democracies ever. Take for example the Roman courts. Much like the courts today, the ancient Roman courts had a judge, advocates, witnesses, etc. The reason the courts today are so like those of the Romans is due to the huge influence ancient Rome has had on modern-day society. In like manner was the ancient Roman voting system, which again, was much like voting today, for the same reasons.
Equally important is the Roman military, which allowed a small village in Italy to become one of the greatest empires ever. One of the huge reasons that ancient Rome conquered so much land is because of its ambition, which was essentially endless. The Romans first conquered their neighboring villages and cities, providing loot and funds to advance their military power. This allowed them to control all of Italy, then the rest of Europe. Ancient Rome’s power peaked under the rule of the Emperor Trajan.
However, all great things come to an end at some point, and this was the case with the Roman empire. The main problem was that Rome was too ambitious, which led them to have so much land that they didn't know what to do with it, or not enough men to defend it. In essence, Rome had conquered so much land that, at the time, there was no more land worth conquering or looting, but instead was full of looters, envious of their great empire. So, as a result, the Romans were forced to defend their borders from vikings, tribes, looters, etc while having to deal with the huge crisis right in their capital. The mob crisis.
Rome had a huge, rioting, disgusting mob who needed to pleased, so as to not riot or be the reason a civil war starts. Staging gladiator fights, parties, shows etc to please the mob was not only a way to keep the mob in check, but also means to gain a political position, so people would vote for you. So goes the saying, “Bread and circus”, which comes into full effect throughout Roman history, meaning to please to mob or enjoy the consequences.
Rome was a stunning empire that had a great influence on modern society. It was powerful, just, and ambitious. I believe that Rome was the most powerful empire ever to exist for hundreds of years, much like America today.
(Don’t get the wrong idea though, comparing the Roman Empire to America. Their only resemblance is power. From my point of view, the Roman Empire resembles the most like modern day Arabia.)