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The King’s period (753-509 BC) began with the founding of Rome and
passed under the sign of complete domination of the Etruscans, finished with the
expulsion of the last king of Tarquinia and the establishment of the aristocratic
republican system.

The Republican period (509-31 BC) was the epoch of the formation of Rome
as an invincible military and political mechanism, filled with incessant wars of the
Italians and neighboring Latins, then with Carthage in the Punic Wars and the

creation of a superpower after conquering Macedonia and conquest of Greece, and
finally, the struggle between the patricians and plebeians, the crisis of the
republican political institutions and following civil wars.

The Imperial period - the early one (31 BC - 193 AD), during which the
Roman state reached the peak of its power and prosperity under the conditions
established by Augustus ‘Roman Peace’ and great success in the romanization of

the conquered peoples. The late stage of the period (193 - 476) was characterized
primarily by the transition from defensive to aggressive policy strategy aimed at
keeping the occupied territories and violent attempts to preservation of the integrity
of the state

True encyclopedias of the ancient Greek mythology and language, integrators
of the entire Hellenic world were the epic poems of legendary Greek poet Homer –

‘Iliad‘ and ‘Odyssey’ that provide some guidelines for getting to know the ancient
culture in general.
We turn to a brief description of the ancient cultures according to the above
mentioned periodization.

3. Culture of Ancient Greece
The Aegean culture was discovered at the turn of the XIXth and XXth

centuries by English scholar and aristocrat Arthur Evans. The center of this culture
was the island of Crete as well as the city-states of Knossos, Festus, Agia (Ayia),
Triada on the north coast. The complete lack of fortifications around the city and

harbor was a characteristic feature of this culture which had a powerful navy.
The Cretan palaces, Knossos palace above all, had a very intricate spatial
organization. They had been built over decades, without a specific plan,

multifunctional premises became adjacent to the nucleus, which was a spacious
courtyard adapted to the Cretan terrain and had form two to five floors. Despite a
complex structure and a huge number of buildings, palaces had a good system of
lighting, ventilation and sanitation. The so-called ‘global wells’ were a remarkable

feature of the palace architecture of Crete served as ventilation shafts.
There is a scientific hypothesis confirmed by serious facts that the rulers
embodied a hypostasis of the supreme god. For example, legendary Cretan king

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