The Roman Empire was a flourishing empire about 2000 years ago. Rome ruled many different lands, including Rome itself. This was known as the Roman Empire.

The Roman Empire was definitely one of the most flourishing empires throughout history. Rome introduced the world's first shopping centre, called the Trajan's Market. It was built with five levels, and contained more than 150 shops. 

The Romans built the first high-rise flats, as well. These were blocks of flats known as "insulae", in which each block had up to 100 small rooms.

The Romans just ate fruit and bread for breakfast, and lunch usually would be leftovers from the night before. Their main meal was dinner, and it usually included meat such as goose, or hare, and vegetables and fruit. Dinner took all day to prepare. 

Sometimes, during festivities, or celebration, people would invite others to dinner   (as dinner was the main meal for them). People lay on long counches surrounding a low table. People also often wore crowns and flowers during such dinner parties. 

Only boys went to school, and they began at the age of six, and left at the age of 16. They learnt reading, writing, arithmetic, history, and sport. They used an wooden counting frame called an "abacus" to work out sums.

Girls didn't go to school because they were expected to learn to be a housewife. They learnt cooking, cleaning, etc, and most were also taught how to play the lyre. 

Roman men wore a long robe called a toga, which looked good, but was usually uncomfortable to wear. Most children wore togas as well, and married women wore a dress called a "stola" and a shawl called a "pala" over it. Both men and women wore makeup, too. 

The Colosseum was a grand building which was a huge oval arena in the centre of Rome, used for fights between men called "gladiators". The Romans also enjoyed horse races. 

The Romans had a large army. They were well cared and paid for. They were often called to defend Rome from enemies. 

Villas were large Roman mansions. They were owned by the rich. The first villas were farmhouses, but they soon became magnificent mansions as Rome became powerful. Usually, the rich Romans had two houses, one in the countryside to escape the heat of Rome during the summer, and another in the city. 

The Romans worshipped many gods. Jupiter was the king of the gods, and his wife Juno was the queen. She was worshipped by married women. Mars was the god of war, and Venus the god of love. Neptune was God of the sea, and Mercury was the Messenger of the Gods. 

Finally, Rome was a truly fantastic place to live in once it grew in power, and there are many more facts and history about Rome.

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I hope you found this article interesting, if you have any suggestions on my next article, please comment below. - Shikha 

Sources: My First Question and Answer Book: Chapter 14: Ancient Rome

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