Ancient Rome was a civilization that started in the city of Rome and the land of Latium on the Italian Peninsula. Roman civilization was the most important civilization in the Mediterranean region, Europe, and the Near East from the late 3rd century BC. Roman civilization was in existence all through Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and the Middle Ages, but "ancient Rome" means the ancient history of Roman civilization before the Middle Ages. Traditionally, the fall of the western Roman Empire during the 5th century AD is named the start of the Middle Ages in western Europe.