By what seems a miracle, a collection of rustic 8th century B.C. huts on a hill gradually grew into a kingdom, a republic, and finally an empire that dominated three continents. At its height in the 2nd century A.D. Roman territory stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Persian Gulf and from the British Isles to the upper reaches of the Nile.
Nothing can recreate the splendor and scale of Rome's achievement. What can be evoked are some specific aspects...
Studia Archaeologica, 167
2009, pp. 210