When we talk about Ancient Rome, we are actually referring to a civilization that spanned over two thousand years of history, from the city of Rome's legendary rounding as a kingdom in the 8th century BCE, through the Roman Republic, and finally the empire, the eastern wing of which lasted until 1453 CE. Roman life and society evolved greatly during this time, meaning that while much of what we know may be true in one specific period, it isn't necessarily applicable to all Roman history. And because so much time has passed, a lot of myths and misconceptions have emerged, especially about the emperors. For example, contrary to popular belief, Nero did not fiddle while Rome burned and Caligula never appointed his horse as consul, though he may have threatened to.

One of the most popular topics in Roman history today is Gladiators. While many early gladiators were enslaved people or prisoners of war, this gradually changed, especially after the revolt led by the enslaved Gladiator, Spartacus. This revolt made Romans rethink the idea of keeping large numbers of highly trained, enslaved men within the city. The opening of the Colosseum amphitheater as a massive, centralized entertainment space also prompted more free-men and former soldiers to sign up and become gladiators, hoping to find regular employment and potentially fame and fortune.

The Roman diet is also a popular topic of conversation today, though they certainly didn't have dedicated rooms for vomiting after they ate too much. And just like today, there were different ideas about what constituted a healthy diet, with some groups embracing vegetarianism.

One of the the biggest misconceptions about Rome is that the empire fell in 476 CE. By the third century, the empire was so big that it split into eastern and western halves, with each governed by its own emperor. The last emperor of the western empire, Romulus Augustus, was overthrown in 476 CE in a military coup led by his German generals. But the general who replaced him, Odoacer, didn't make sweeping changes to the government. When the eastern emperor sent his Gothic general, Theodoric, to reclaim the territory, Theodoric simply deposed Odoacer and declared himself the new king of Italy. Under Odoacer and Theodoric, Roman political and cultural life flourished and military conquests continued.

It was only in the early 6th century, when the future emperor Justinian wanted an excuse to invade Italy that the year 476 was identified as a major turning point. The true turning point of decline was not the overthrow of Romulus Augustus, but Justinian's wars of reconquest, which devastated much of the Italian peninsula. Without a strong mediating power base, western Rome's former territories in places like Tunisia, Spain, and France fell into fighting amongst themselves or against each other. In the east, the Roman empire survived for another thousand years- becoming what is now known as the Byzantine Empire as a way to differentiate it from Italian-centered Roman history.