Greek civilization gave way to that of the Romans.  Using their enormous military power the Romans created a huge empire over several centuries.  The Romans understood the value in maintaining stability in conquered territories by absorbing the local cultural traditions and so the Empire was multicultural. For the romans themselves, the tradition of the Greeks remained deeply significant. Although the Romans conquered the Greek world they so admired Greek culture and ideas that they adopted and adapted them to more closely reflect their more pragmatic, practical view of the world and their own destiny.  The Romans were a very practical people who seized every opportunity to use art and architecture to reinforce their authority. This can be seen clearly in the civil engineering projects, buildings and monuments erected throughout their Empire.  The impressive scale and engineering prowess demonstrated in these projects was a useful propaganda tool for the Romans. Roman engineering and architectural innovation produced some of the most brilliant cities, roads, buildings of the ancient world. The practical benefit of such roads, aqueducts, city planning was easy to grasp, but in addition the permanence and grandeur of these many projects made manifest the enduring power of Rome. They adapted structural and architectural forms from Greece (e.g.Greek Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders of architecture) and then re-engineered them to function in the new Roman context and to serve the Roman vision of state. The development of the round arch, new vaulting systems and domes added to the new vocabulary of architectural structures that were used to develop old sites into large cities or to build new cities. The development of stronger, more versatile concrete enabled Roman engineers to build whole structures with this versatile medium. The potential of vaults and arches and the use of concrete were explored by the Romans in such buildings as the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and the Basilica of Constantine. The vast Empire of Rome was centered in the Imperial city of Rome  which grew to a gigantic scale with structures intended to demonstrate the enduring power of Rome.

At its peak over a million people inhabited the city of Rome.  They lived in apartment complexes or villas depending on their social status and economic means. Little of the daily domestic life of the Ancient Romans can seen in Rome today but the remains of Pompeii and Herculaneum offer extraordinary insights into daily life for Roman citizens. The buildings that do remain today in Rome demonstrate the brilliance of Roman building and engineering. They also offer insight into the major concerns of the Romans: religion, entertainment, shopping, relaxing and socializing and propaganda to support the Roman rulers claims to power.

Not only was the city planning of Roman engineers but also Roman engineering of roads and aqueducts meant that Roman culture was the physical “footprint” of modern European culture.  The Romans founded many of the great cities of Europe which still dominate European culture such as  London, and Paris.

Another another critical way that Rome proved to be the footprint of later European (indeed all western culture) is that Rome was the crossroads for two foundational trends in western thought Classicism and Christianity