How could such a small country maintain direct control over most of the ancient civilisations of the world, including the volatile middle east, and indirect influence over the rest for 700 odd years?

And what were the reasons for it ending?

[ 02-12-2004, 03:51 AM: Message edited by: Yorick ]

Cricket [img]smile.gif[/img]

Hold on - the absence of cricket [img]smile.gif[/img]

Yes - really ;)

Superior military tactics.

Perhaps the introduction of a working form of government. You have to remember that when the Romans began expanding through Ancient Europe there were no countries, no laws and the only social interaction was raiding the mob down the road to steal their food and rape their women. With the advance of the Romans came Laws, Taxes and Governance. With the Laws came security. With the Taxes cmae road building and public amenities. (The Romans quite liked a bath, something unheard of before in Europe! :D ) With the governance came the opportunity to prosper without the fear of having your hard work destroyed.

A bit simplistic perhaps, but you get the drift........

What Skippy1 said, an organized goverment and army.

they didn't have good tea :D :D :D

<font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#00FF00">Funny how such a little town came to rule much of the world.

Rome was/is believed to have been founded by survivors from Troy.</font>

[ 02-12-2004, 10:59 AM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

Really? I thought it was founded by farmers and merchants [img]smile.gif[/img]

Rome was founded by two twins raised by wolves.

A simple response to a very complex question:

Remember...when Rome first started conqouring Europe there weren't 'countries' as we know them today, mostly just a collection of independent city states and tirbes with local warlords.

Romes military training/organization were matched only by her revolutioanry logistic and buracratic systems. They were the first western power to REALLY create a central government that could organize all the local populations under 'one' rule' THis organization created a power so strong that no outside force could realsticlaly conqour it....and is why The Empire only collapsed when it fell in on itself.

The 2 largest factors in maintaining control over conqoured territories....1. they were technologically superior to everybody else and could provide higher quality of lives. 2. after conqouring a city, they rebuilt it, modernized it, and let those people become Roman citizens. Its like this...lets say Russia conqoured America and made sure every American citizen had a flying car, lived with playboy playmates in a Mansion, and were each mult-millionaires (meanwhile, the rest the world stayed its good old self). Would you really be bothered buy the fact that we were conqoured?