The phrase
Classical Rome refers conventionally to the
culture,
society and
history of the ancient
Roman Republic and the classical unitary
Roman Empire. It thus covers the period from (approximately) the
5th century BC to the
6th century AD, and clumps together elements ranging from the affairs of a small
city state on the banks of the river
Tiber to the
sociology of an
empire sprawling from
Cumbria and
Morocco to the
Euphrates.