Rome is one of the greatest civilizations in the Ancient World and Antiquity. In the period starting from 753 BC (the year of its foundation) until the partition of the Roman Empire in 476 AD, due to internal turmoil, external attacks and other factors, it endured three successive stages of development: the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. The state went through various forms of government - from a monarchy through an oligarchic republic then towards an autocratic empire. 

In its history, Rome conquered and ruled most of the Hellenistic countries in the Mediterranean and Celtic regions of Western Europe. The administration of the Empire was gradually divided into two separate halves: Eastern and Western, leading to cultural separation.

By the year 476, the Western half was already developing in its own way. The church gradually became a paramount element and took charge of a number of administrative functions from the secular authority. The Eastern half of the Empire (Byzantium), centrally located in Constantinople, retained some of the Roman state's spirit until 1453, when the capital fell under the pressure of the Ottoman Turks.

The influence of the Roman Empire on Europe, the Middle East and North Africa is unmatched. The material and spiritual cultures that have been forming and developing since the end of the first millennium BC to the 5th century AD, left lasting traces to this day.

Rome brought together, preserved and developed under a common idea the achievements of different cultures during Antiquity and laid the foundations on which European civilization is based. Roman concrete was introduced (2nd century BC), limestone mortar was applied to brickwork, which brought the construction and architecture to a whole new level. Forums, triumphal arches, thermal baths, amphitheaters, rich residences and villas equipped with atriums and peristyles, multi-storey residential buildings were built. Arches, arcades, vaults, domes, architectural drafts were also used. The monumental sculpture and the historical relief were at their zenith and painting also acquired a decorative character. Architecture and urban planning inherited from Roman civilization retained their appearance for centuries.