TimeMaps

Ancient Rome
30BC

Rome now dominates the Mediterranean lands, but not before an orgy of civil wars between ambitious generals have convulsed the entire Mediterranean world.

This turmoil has now been ended (31 BC) by the first of the Roman emperors, Augustus, the adopted son of Rome's most famous general Julius Caesar. In all but name, he has replaced the old republic with a monarchy, concentrating effective (i.e. military) power in his own hands. Augustus' statesmanship has brought about peace and stability, which will hold for two centuries or more with only one brief intermission. With peace has come an increase in trade, and the Graeco-Roman cities of Europe and the Mediterranean have entered a phase of prosperity and expansion.

 

For more information about The Roman Empire see our Interactive History Maps on The Rise of The Roman Empire and The Fall of the Roman Empire.

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Ancient Rome
200AD

The Roman Empire has continued to flourish and expand over the past two century. A brief civil war followed the death of the emperor Nero in 68, but stability was quickly restored. For most of the past century the Roman world has been ruled by a succession of able rulers such as Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius. The reign of the dreadful Commodus was followed by a civil war in 193-6; but peace and stability have again returned under the victor, the Emperor Septimius Severus.

The empire is divided into many provinces, each under the authority of a governor. The ancient cities – together with hundreds of new cities founded by the Romans – retain much of their autonomy, however. Millions of the empire’s inhabitants now enjoy the rights of Roman citizenship, with full access to the famed Roman legal system.

 

For more information about The Roman Empire see our Interactive History Maps on The Rise of The Roman Empire and The Fall of the Roman Empire.

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Ancient Rome
500AD

In the third century AD the Roman empire came under great pressure from neighbouring peoples along all her frontiers. Soon, barbarian invasions were penetrating deep into Roman territory, and in the middle of that century the empire came very near to breaking up before a succession of very able soldier-emperors retrieved the situation. In the fourth century the emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, which shortly became the official religion of the empire. He also founded a new city, called Constantinople, to act as the joint capital of the empire.

In 410 a barbarian army sacked the city of Rome – a huge shock to the entire Roman world. Within a few decades the Roman empire had disappeared in the west; its place taken by a group of barbarian kingdoms. In the eastern Mediterranean the Roman empire is still very much a going concern, wealthy, civilized and stable.

 

For more information about The Roman Empire see our Interactive History Maps on The Rise of The Roman Empire and The Fall of the Roman Empire.

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