Ancient Rome began as a small city-state, but by force it was established as the dominant power of the Mediterranean. Rome was founded by Romulus on April 21, 753 BC and reached its peak in the lands it controlled around 120 AD, only to slowly fall. During Rome's heyday, the Roman Empire controlled all of Gaul, part of Germania and Brittany, as well as most of the Mediterranean. Because the Romans controlled much of the territory, their important leaders, events, and religions impacted much of the world. To begin with, there were many important people in Rome. An important Roman general born around 157 BC was named Gaius Marius. He improved the Roman army, transforming it into a deadly force. He was the chief general in a major battle called Aqnae Sextiae. Aqnae Sextiae was against two Germanic tribes, the Teutons and the Ambrones, who invaded part of the Roman Empire in 102 BC. After him, born in July 100 BC, was a Roman general named Gaius Julius Caesar, who later became Rome's first dictator. . In 58 BC, Julius invaded Gaul and in 50 BC, he conquered Gaul. In his honor, the Roman Senate named July after him. On March 15, 44 BC, the senators assassinated Julius. Roman generals and others attempted to seize power, but ultimately Julius' adopted nephew Octavian, later known as Augustus, took power. He establishes himself as emperor. In the eyes of many, Augustus was the better emperor. He improved Roman cities with the construction of aqueducts and roads, which led to improved Roman trade. August is named after him. Another great emperor was Trajan. He was very wise and improved the daily lives of Roman citizens. One generous thing he did was create funds for the poor. Trajan conquered Dacia, a country...... middle of paper ......that guarded food. Christianity was not a popular religion around 50 AD; as Nero had begun to persecute Christians. However, around 300 AD, Constantine had a vision of Christ. Constantine went on and defeated his rival in battle and became a Christian emperor. He gave money and support to the Christian Church and with his support, Christianity became the dominant religion and the traditional Roman religion was gradually forgotten. The Roman Empire, although probably the largest empire, began as a small city-state. Ancient Rome was a large and interesting empire. Rome had many important leaders and events, and Rome had a strange religion. Because the Roman Empire was created by a single city-state and, in turn, that city-state was created solely by Romulus, Rome should represent that even a single person can have a great effect on the world..