"Ancient Rome began as a village of humble dwellings on the Palatine and grew to be one of the mightiest and most successful empires of human history, before collapsing in the West under invasions of barbarian nations attracted by Rome's wealth and land, over a thousand years later. The legacy of Rome continues in the languages of modern Europe, in the calendar and the alphabet we use, and in the religion called Christianity which remains the dominant faith throughout the Western world."--