According to ancient Roman legend, the city of Rome was founded by Romulus, who, along with his twin Remus, was abandoned by his birth mother and raised by a wolf. Besides this bit of lore, not much is known about Rome's origins. However, we do know quite a bit about the powerful, sprawling empire that the city became.

Ancient Rome was located near the Tiber River, and as the empire expanded from the Italian peninsula to encompass much of modern-day Western Europe, it became a hub of maritime trade in the Mediterranean. As a trading powerhouse in the ancient world, Rome was in close contact with England, Egypt, India and China. Romans had ships that could hold up to 1,000 passengers, and their land routes like the Appian Way evolved into busy roads that are still in use today. Ancient Rome put a lot of stock in civil engineering; even the empire's bridges and aqueducts are still functional.

As a society, the ancient Romans were pragmatic people who were more interested in meeting their basic needs than fulfilling their hedonistic urges; however, as the empire became wealthier, more Romans became pleasure-seekers. Ancient Rome was divided into two classes: wealthy patricians and working plebeians. Slaves were a class unto themselves and were excluded from government. Most Romans were farmers, fishermen and miners who produced olive oil, wine and metal weapons. The people worshipped gods of the hearth and harvest and would later adopt members of the Greek pantheon for their own spiritual purposes.

The ancient Romans set many important precedents for language, government and science that continue to influence our modern societies. For a closer look at the gladiators, Epicureans and the original Senate, step inside the ancient Roman portal through HowStuffWorks.