• The decline of the Roman Empire (A.D. 180–c. 350)
• Words to Know: The Fall of the Roman Empire
• The fall of Rome (c. 350–476)
• Roman Numerals
• Augustine and the City of God
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The fall of the Roman Empire is usually considered the starting point for the Middle Ages. In ancient times, Rome—a term that stood not only for the city of Rome, but for the entire world dominated by the Romans—was one of the world's great civilizations. The city itself was founded, according to tradition, in 753 B.C., and over the years that followed, it gradually began to dominate other cities in Italy. In 507 B.C. the Roman Republic, comprising Rome...