Three goals in 13 second-half minutes did the damage as lowly Empoli slumped to their fifth defeat of the season.
Roma had threatened to open the scoring on several occasions during the first half but, despite the speed and movement of Mohamed Salah and Gervinho, were unable to unlock the resilient Empoli defence.
Miralem Pjanic broke the deadlock in the 56th minute with a long-range free kick after Alessandro Florenzi was brought down by Leandro Paredes.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Midfielder De Rossi, in his 15th season at the club, headed a Pjanic corner past Lukasz Skorupski three minutes later to delight the home fans.
Roma’s two most eye-catching players on the day then combined in the 69th minute for the third.
Gervinho tore down the left flank, outpacing Marco Zambelli, before sending a cross into the box for Salah, who evaded the attentions of Mario Rui and beat Skorupski with a powerful shot into the roof of the net.
Empoli grabbed a 75th minute consolation goal when Marcel Buchel beat Wojciech Szczesny from outside the area, but Roma held on for their fifth league victory of the campaign.
The win left Roma on 17 points, one behind leaders Fiorentina who travel to Napoli on Sunday.
Inter Milan and Lazio can overtake Roma if they defeat Juventus and Sassuolo respectively.
(Editing by Alan Baldwin)
