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Travelling in time - a visit to the Roman Empire

Where would you like to go if you could time travel? Among other things, we would like to visit the Roman Empire. No, we would not want to live in the Roman Empire, but it would be very exciting to make a short visit. During our trip to Europe, we visited many places in the former Roman Empire, and since coming home we have been reading and watching a TV series about the Roman Empire.

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The impressive Roman Empire

The Roman Empire, or the Roman Empire, was a civilisation based on the city of... Rome which eventually spread throughout the Mediterranean and much of Europe. The empire was initially a kingdom, then transformed into a republic and finally became an empire.

It is of course difficult to give exact dates, but according to tradition the city of Rome was founded in 753 BC and the last Roman emperor was deposed in 476 AD. In its heyday, the empire had around 88 million inhabitants, making it the largest in the world!

Forum Romanum
Roman Forum in Rome - the ruins of the centre of the Roman Empire
Romarriket
Amphitheatre Arena in Pula, Croatia

Power struggles and murders

Rome's history was filled with fierce power struggles and brutal murders. It wasn't easy to get to the top of the empire, but neither was it easy to stay there. Everyone plotted against each other, and anyone perceived as a threat could be wiped out by a quick stab or a poisoned glass of wine.

Romare

Julius Caesar's journey to the top

Julius Caeser came from a wealthy family, but after his father bet his cards on the 'wrong' side, he had to start his career from the bottom, as a foot soldier in a Roman army. Armed with tremendous determination and tireless energy, he rose step by step up the hierarchy until he was elected leader of the country, and then proclaimed himself dictator for life.

Forum Romanum Rom
This, the Roman Forum, was once the centre of the Roman Empire.

To gain respect on his way to the top, Julius Caesar looked to expand the empire by conquering new territories with his troops and incorporating them into the Roman Empire. This included conquering large parts of Gaul, the equivalent of modern-day France, Belgium, western Switzerland, and parts of Germany and the Netherlands.

Among other things, he conquered and rebuilt the German city. Trier, which we visited last summer. If you want to hear more about the history of Julius Caesar, check out the TV series "The Roman Empire" on Netflix - extremely exciting and interesting!

Amfiteater Trier
The amphitheatre in Trier, Germany
Trier Romartiden
Trier is packed with remains from the Roman era

What did they eat in the Roman Empire?

It is not only power struggles at the top that are exciting when you are interested in history, but also how people lived day by day. I suddenly became really interested in something like what people ate in the Roman Empire, and I've done a lot of research. It turned out that you know a lot, because there is a cookery book preserved and also things like shopping lists!

Amfiteater Arles
Memories of the Roman Empire in Arles, France

The basic diet of the Romans apparently consisted of wheat, wine and olives. For breakfast and lunch, people usually ate something simple on the spot. For breakfast it might be bread and cheese, and for lunch bread, vegetables, fruit, cold cut meat and possibly a splash of wine.

Dinner was the most important meal. Ordinary people ate things like pea pudding, soup or sausages. Rich people could eat all sorts of exclusive dishes, such as shellfish, entrails and odd cuts of animals like pheasant or nightingale. It was very common to use a special fish sauce, spices were popular and people would sit down and eat their dinner ...

Olivskörd
Olives were an important part of the diet in the Roman Empire.

Escaping everyday life with time travel

"Travelling" back to Roman times has been a nice escape from reality for me when life around me has been too stressful. Of course, you can escape everyday life with the help of exciting TV series, films or games. If you want to do some real travelling, there are plenty of countries and cities around the Mediterranean with Roman remains. Where would you prefer to travel if time travel was possible?

Spanien, Tarragona
Alley in Tarragona, Spain

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