Title: The History of the City of Rome
Headings: A Brief History of Rome
A Brief History of Rome
The History of Rome, Italy
The Origins of Rome
The Roman Republic and Empire
The Fall of Rome and the Rise of the Papacy
Decline and Renaissance
The Early Modern Era
Capital City

Content: As such, Rome became the focal point of a rich and opulent culture where vast sums were spent on buildings. The city swelled to contain perhaps a million people who were dependent on grain imports and aqueducts for water. This period ensured Rome would feature in the retelling of history for millennia. Emperor Constantine instituted two changes which affected Rome in the fourth century. Firstly, he converted to Christianity and began building works dedicated to his new god, changing the form and function of the city and laying the foundations for a second life once the empire vanished. Secondly, he built a new imperial capital, Constantinople, in the east, from where Roman rulers would increasingly run just the eastern half of the empire. Indeed, after Constantine no emperor made Rome a permanent home, and as the western empire declined in size, so did the city. Yet in 410, when Alaric and the Goths sacked Rome, it still sent shocks across the ancient world. The Fall of Rome and the Rise of the Papacy
The final collapse of Rome’s western power—the last western emperor abdicated in 476—occurred shortly after a Bishop of Rome, Leo I, was stressing his role as direct heir to Peter. But for a century Rome declined, passing between warring parties including Lombards and Byzantines (Eastern Romans), the latter trying to reconquer the west and continue the Roman empire: