Rome
(This article is about the term "Roman." For the Season 2 story, see The Romans.)
Roman or Romans has several meanings, primarily related to the Roman citizens, but also applicable to typography, math, and several geographic locations. Roman most often refers to one of three eras of ancient Rome:
- Roman Kingdom (753 BC to 509 BC) — there were seven traditional Kings of Rome before the establishment of the Roman Republic.
- Roman Republic (509 BC to 44 BC) — the government of Rome and its territories from 509 BC until the establishment of the Roman Empire, typically placed at 44 BC or 27 BC.
- Roman Empire (44 BC to 476 CE) — conventionally used to describe the Roman state in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Caesar Augustus.
The Doctor has visited the Mediterranean area of Earth at many times during the Roman period, particularly the last two eras listed above. Among those historical humans native to this time which he has claimed to have met are Hannibal("Robot") and Cleopatra("The Masque of Mandragora"). He was also familiar with the accounts of Julius Caesar and Tacitus on the customs of the Celts and their Druid priests, noting them as among the few historically reliable ones, but with no great detail ("The Stones of Blood").
A group of soldiers from an unknown point in ancient Rome's history were kidnapped and used by the War Lords in their war games("The War Games"). One of Scaroth's temporal splinters is known to have posed as a high-ranking Roman, possibly even an emperor ("The City of Death"). The Cult of Demnos flourished in Italy duing the Roman era, around the 5th century BCE("The Masque of Mandragora"). After leaving the planet Skaro, the human scientist Dr. Who inadvertantly landed his TARDIS in the midst of a marching legion of Roman soldiers ("Dr. Who and the Daleks"). Shortly after she became his travelling companion, the Ninth Doctor offered to show Rose Tyler the New Roman Empire, which flourished around the year 12,005.
Stories set during the time of the Roman Empire include:
- The Last Days (Short story)
- Byzantium! (BBC Past Doctor Adventure)
- Romans Cutaway (Short story)
- The Romans (TV story)
- The Council of Nicaea (Big Finish Audio Drama)
- State of Change (Virgin Missing Adventure)
