[Sidenote: =How Rome ruled=]
=288. Great Lawmakers and Governors.= Of all the ancient nations Rome
was the most famous in establishing laws in regard to the ownership of
property and in regard to the way men should act toward one another.
Her consuls and senators were men skillful in planning laws not only
for Rome but for the nations which she had conquered.
[Sidenote: =The Colosseum=]
=289. Romans Were Great Builders.= The buildings of Greece were
beautiful but those of Rome were large and strong. The Colosseum, built
as a place of entertainment for the people, was a gigantic affair
seating 87,000 people. In this were held fights between gladiators, men
trained to kill each other, and between men and wild beasts. The effect
was to make the Romans lovers of such cruel sports.
Other famous buildings put up by the Romans were the Forum and the
Pantheon. You may see remains of these now in Rome. They are visited by
hundreds of Americans every year.
[Sidenote: =Roman roads=]
The Romans also built wonderful roads in all parts of the empire for
the use of armies and for travel and trade. Some of these roads are
still used. They built strong bridges over the rivers and erected
aqueducts in different parts of the empire. These Roman aqueducts
brought good, pure water from the hills to supply the needs of the
townspeople.
[Illustration: ROMAN BRIDGE AND AQUEDUCT NEAR NIMES, FRANCE]
=290. The Romans Gave a Literature to the World.= Not all Romans were
educated. All boys and girls did not then go to school, as they do in
America. Only the sons of the well-to-do could become educated.
[Sidenote: =Classic Roman writers=]
Rome became famous for her great writers. Even Julius Caesar found time
to write the story of his war against the Gauls. High school boys and
girls read Caesar's _Commentaries_. There was Vergil, a great poet, who
told the story of how the Greeks beat the Trojans. Vergil made these
Greek heroes the ancestors of the Romans. Horace was another of Rome's
great poets. He amused the Romans "by his genial and quiet humor." But
Cicero was the great orator of Rome. His voice went ringing down the
senate halls as he challenged Catiline, who had plotted to overthrow
the republic.
=291. Rome Prepared the Way for the Spread of Christianity.= When Rome
seemed sunk in wickedness there came out of Palestine the story of
Jesus. His disciples were carrying the glad news everywhere over the
empire. Paul, the most learned of these followers of Christ, carried
the story to Greece and to Rome.
[Sidenote: =Early Christian martyrs=]
The emperors tried to stamp out the new religion, but the more they
opposed the more it grew. Hundreds of Christians perished holding firm
to the faith. Many were destroyed by wild beasts in the Colosseum
before the eyes of thousands of Romans. But the new religion appealed
to many, and especially to the poorer classes. The Emperor Constantine
(305 A. D.) soon accepted the new religion and gave it protection. It
then spread rapidly. Priests were sent into the villages to preach and
to set up churches. Above the priest was a bishop in charge of all the
churches in a district or province.
The government of the new church was formed like that of the empire
and became strong. Other religions were driven out. In time the many
offices of the empire were in the hands of the priests or under their
influence. Many years later these two governments of the church and the
empire quarreled over their rights to rule the people.