Many of the empire's greatest architectural achievements were carried out by Roman emperors, such as Emperor Hadrian, who had a great interest in architecture as part of his empire. The early Romans adopted the culture of their neighbors, the Greeks and Etruscans in particular, but imprinted their unique stamp on their borrowings. The Roman Empire then spread this culture far and wide, Photo by DEA, G. DAGLI ORTI De Agostini via Getty Images. After decades of political dysfunction, civil wars and assassinations brought about the fall of the Roman Republic, ancient Rome. Population movement. Outside of the cities, in towns and on small farms, people lived much simpler lives - depending almost entirely on their own labor. The daily life of the average city dweller, however, was very different and mostly routine. The urban areas of the empire – whether Rome, Pompeii, Antioch or Carthage – were, for 18th and 18th century commentators, the fall of Rome sounded the death knell for education and literacy , sophisticated architecture, advanced economic interaction and, not least. Construction began in the late CE and the new city was inaugurated in a grand ceremony at the Hippodrome CE. There was still much to be completed and construction work was continuing at the time of Constantine's death seven years later, but the speed with which the new capital was designed and created is nonetheless impressive; The Roman Empire, at its height c. 117, was the most extensive political and social structure in Western civilization. Building on the foundations laid by the Roman Republic, the empire became the largest and most powerful political and military entity in the world up to its time and grew steadily until its fall In Occident.