Why is the roman empire still studied in present day ?

Why did leaders such as siddhartha gautama abandon hinduism to createbuddhism around 500 bce:

Me ! which of the following statements describes how the punic wars contributed to the development of the roman empire? a)they allowed the romans to focus more on expanding into the western mediterranean. b)they resulted in the overthrow of the roman republic and establishment of the empire. c)they marked the end of roman expansion in the mediterranean region. d) they forced the romans to reorganize their government with an emperor as ruler.

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