From twin babies and a wolf to a huge empire, and the ruins you can still walk through.
The Romans told a story: their city was founded in 753 BC by Romulus, a boy raised by a wolf. The real story is slower, but just as amazing. A village of shepherds on the river Tiber became the capital of an empire from Britain to Egypt.
First Rome had kings. Then, around 509 BC, the Romans threw out the last king and started a republic, led by the Senate and by elected leaders. Rome grew through war, roads and trade. After Julius Caesar was killed, his adopted son Augustus became the first emperor. Emperors built baths, temples and the Colosseum to keep the people happy. The empire also ran on the work of huge numbers of enslaved people, and many gladiators were enslaved too. In 476 the last emperor in the West lost his throne. But Rome never really disappeared. Its language, its laws and its arches are still all around us. Look down when you walk in Rome: the ancient city is often a few metres under your feet.
Pick a colour to follow one story. Every moment shows where you can still see it.
Legend says twin boys were saved by a she-wolf. Romulus founds Rome on the Palatine Hill and becomes its first king.
See it at: Capitoline MuseumsThe Romans throw out their last king and start a republic. Every year they elect two consuls to lead them.
Work starts on the Via Appia, the first great Roman road. It ran south from Rome and later reached all the way to Brindisi.
See it at: Museo delle MuraJulius Caesar is stabbed to death at a meeting of the Senate. A long civil war follows.
See it at: Largo di Torre ArgentinaAugustus, the first emperor, dedicates the Ara Pacis, the Altar of Peace. On its sides, his family walks in a procession.
See it at: Ara Pacis MuseumThe volcano buries Pompeii and Herculaneum under ash. The disaster keeps a frozen picture of everyday Roman life.
See it at: PompeiiEmperor Titus opens the great amphitheatre with 100 days of games. Gladiator fights and animal hunts become shows for tens of thousands of people.
See it at: ColosseumUnder Emperor Hadrian, the Pantheon gets its concrete dome with a round hole at the top. It stays the biggest dome in the world until the Renaissance.
See it at: PantheonEmperor Constantine allows Christians to practise their faith openly. Soon the first big churches rise in Rome.
See it at: Capitoline MuseumsThe general Odoacer removes the young emperor Romulus Augustulus. The Western Empire ends, but the Eastern Empire carries on from Constantinople.
The museums and places where this story comes alive.
Often called the oldest public museum in the world: a pope gave the first bronzes to the people of Rome in 1471. See the she-wolf, the giant head and hand of Constantine, and a great view over the Forum.
Some of the best Roman art anywhere: the bronze Boxer at rest, portraits of real people and a whole painted garden room from the villa of Livia, the wife of Augustus.
A white modern building around an ancient marble altar. On the side panels, look for a small child holding on to an adult's toga.
It started as the tomb of Emperor Hadrian. Later it became a fortress, a prison and a hiding place for popes. Walk up the ramp inside the old tomb to the terrace.
Ancient statues stand between the huge machines of an old power station. White marble gods and black engines: a strange mix that really works.
Aquileia was one of the great Roman cities of the north. Its museum is full of mosaics, carved gems, glass and gravestones of ordinary people.
The she-wolf with the twins is still the symbol of Rome.
Oculus is Latin for eye. Rain falls in, and the floor has small drain holes.
Funny enough, he carried the names of Rome's founder and of its first emperor.