After the formation of the Roman Republic in 509 B C., the Romans expanded the borders of their realm through near-continuous warfare. At its greatest extent, in the early second century A.D, the Roman Empire reached from the Euphrates River in southwest Asia to Scotland in the West. The vast territory ringed the Mediterranean Sea-mare nostrum, or "our sea," the Romans called it. As the Romans absorbed the peoples they conquered, they imposed on them a legal, administrative, and cultural structure that endured for some five centuries-in the eastern Mediterranean until the fifteenth century AD-and left a lasting mark on the civilizations that emerged in Europe.

Conquering and maintaining a vast empire required not only inspired leadership and tactics but also careful planning, massive logistical support, and great administrative skill. Some of Rome's most enduring contributions to Western civilization-its system of law, its governmental and administrative structures, and its sophisticated civil engineering and architecture-reflect these qualities.

To facilitate the development and administration of the empire, as well as to make city life comfortable and attractive to its citizens, the Roman government undertook building programs of unprecedented scale and complexity, mandating the construction of central administrative and legal centers (forums and basilicas), recreational facilities (racetracks and stadiums), theaters, public baths, roads, bridges, aqueducts (bridge-like structures for carrying fresh water from the mountains), middle-class housing, and even new towns. To accomplish these tasks without sacrificing beauty, efficiency, and human well-being, Roman builders and architects developed rational plans using easily worked but durable materials and highly sophisticated engineering methods. The architect Vitruvius described these accomplishments in his Ten Books of Architecture.

To move their armies about efficiently, speed communications between Rome and the farthest reaches of the empire, and promote commerce, the Romans built a vast and sophisticated network of roads and bridges. Many modern European highways still follow the lines laid down by Roman engineers, and foundations dating from the Roman era underlie the streets of many cities Roman bridges are still in use. and remnants of Roman aqueducts need only repairs and connecting links to enable them to function again The Pont du Gard, near Nimes in southern France, for example, is a powerful reminder of Rome' s rapid spread and enduring impact Entirely functional, the Roman aqueduct conveys the balance, proportion, and rhythmic harmony of a great work of art and fits naturally into the landscape, a reflection of the Romans' attitude toward the land.

Despite their sophistication as city-dwellers, Romans liked to portray themselves as simple country folk who had never lost their love of nature. The middle classes enjoyed their town-home gardens, wealthy city dwellers maintained rural estates, and Roman emperors had country villas that were both functioning farms and places of recreation. Wealthy Romans even brought nature indoors by commissioning artists to paint landscapes on the interior walls of their homes.

The Romans particularly admired Greek art. Historians have even suggested that although Rome conquered the Greek world, Greek culture conquered Rome. The Romans used Greek designs and Greek styles of columns in their architecture, imported Greek art, and employed Greek artists. In 146 B.C., for example, they stripped the Greek city of Corinth of its art treasures and shipped them back to Rome Ironically, this love of Greek art was not accompanied by admiration for its artists. In Rome, as in Greece, professional artists were generally considered little more than skilled laborers.

Although the Romans had gods of their own, they also adopted many Greek gods and myths and assimilated Greek religious beliefs and practices into a form of state religion. To these gods they added their own deified emperors, in part to maintain the allegiance of the culturally diverse populations of the empire. Worship of ancient gods mingled with homage to past rulers, and oaths of allegiance to the living ruler made the official religion a political duty­increasingly ritualized, perfunctory, and distant from the everyday life of the average person As a result, many Romans adopted the more personal religious beliefs of the people they had conquered These unauthorized religions flourished, despite occasional government efforts to suppress them.