Roman Empire

A powerful army, a developed system of government and great road building – this is how Rome achieved an empire!For the early part of its history Rome was ruled by kings, like most other places in the ancient world. But in 510 BC, the Romans decided they were sick of obeying powerful monarchs. They took the momentous step of abolishing the monarchy and electing their leaders as a Roman republic. This was done so no one could have power without the support of the people.This form of government was a novel idea, but in time these elected leaders soon came to have the same power of kings anyway. One such leader was a young man called Octavian. Octavian had the support of the people but ended up being declared emperor. His supporters changed his name to Augustus, meaning the revered one, and he is now officially known as the first Roman Emperor. Augustus’ power was based on the support of the army, the Senate and the middle classes.