Ancient Rome: The Empire that Shaped the World

Ancient Rome: The Empire that Shaped the World brings to life one of the most technologically significant periods in Western history, from the triumphant victory of Julius Caesar over the Gaul in 52 BC to the transformation of Rome from a republic into the mighty Roman Empire.

Travel 2000 years back in time when massive construction and large scale technological innovation led to the largest globally-integrated economy the world had ever seen.

Highlights:

• The world's oldest printed roadmap (facsimile copy)
• Insights into military strategy, unprecedented logistics and communications
• Get up close to the gladiator’s armour, swords and shields
• Discover the secrets of the Colosseum

See many of the objects from the ancient Roman empire that shaped our modern world, and marvel at their long-lasting legacy:

• Roman coins, frescoes, mosaics and board games
• Odometers that accurately calculated distances on land and sea
• The invention of concrete and the construction of roads still in use 2000 years later
• Wax writing tablets that were the world’s first books
• Machines that harnessed the power of water to mill flour and even tell the time
• Cranes, pulleys and other ingenious engineering equipment used for constructing the Eternal City

Presented by:

Official Drive Partner:

The machines described by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio in the first century BC in his famous work De Architecturea were built by the Niccolai Teknoart Group under the auspices of La Sapienza, University of Rome.

Images: Ancient Rome: The Empire that Shaped the World, Museum of Tropical Queensland, 2021. Courtesy of Artisans of Florence International.