Athens and Rome were both city-states that became empires through war. Athens did not survive long, due to the dissolution of the Delian League, while the Roman Empire lasted for centuries, from approximately 31 BCE to 476 CE (Mark). The Roman Empire was different from the Roman Republic, and the republic was similar to the Athenian Empire. Although Rome took many ideas from Athens when it came to political and religious life, Rome did not make the same bad decisions as Athens. This made the Roman Empire more prosperous than the Athenian Empire. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayThe Athenian Empire was part of the Delian League, but their imperialism isolated them from allied countries, and the Peloponnesian War added to the tension. on the relations between Athens and the rest of the Delian League. Sparta revolted against Athens in 405 BCE, dissolving the Delian League. Without the Delian League, there was nothing stopping Athens from retaliating against Sparta and putting an end to classical Greece. (Britannica) Athens wanted too much power for its empire and tried to take it by force, but it was simply too small to succeed in demanding loyalty from the conquered territories. However, democracy in Athens was better than that of the first Roman Republic. It was under the leadership of Pericles that the Athenian government was most free and truly for the people. The early Roman Republic had the same basis of government as Athens, but it was not as free and was actually reserved for the wealthy. Politics was a constant battle between nobles and commoners. The commoners eventually gained some power, which was granted to them by the nobles, who could always veto anything that they felt did not benefit them as nobles. Political life began to collapse under the weight of the rapidly growing empire. Problems between rich and poor grew worse as wealthier landowners began to drive farmers off public lands and government became more for the rich and less for the commoners. Any attempt to reform these social problems ended in the death of the reformers. The Punic Wars marked a turning point for the Roman Empire. The empire was already large and powerful, but after the Third Punic War, the Roman Empire stretched from the border between Greece and Asia Minor to the Atlantic coast of Spain. The Punic Wars were among the most violent and bloodiest wars in history. At the time of the First Punic War, Rome was the dominant power on the Italian peninsula. The only thing standing in the way of Roman expansion was Carthage, the dominant power in North Africa. (History.com) Throughout the century, the Romans were involved in much more than the Punic Wars. The Macedonian Wars began when Philip V of Macedon became a threat to Rome's success, allying with Carthage in the Second Punic War. But rather than trying to avoid war, Rome provoked war on Philip V by sending him an ultimatum, "ordering him not to attack any Greek city and to pay reparations to Pergamum." Philip refused and two years later, Rome had to send a general, Flaminius, to expel Philip from Greece. With the support of the Greeks, Flaminius defeats Philip. (Kagan, p. 103) The end of the Punic Wars came when the Carthaginians surrendered "after seven days of horrible bloodshed." All threats against the empire being.