Roman Empire
Italy, 27 BCE–476 CE.
Augustus turned the republic into a monarchy in all but name. For two centuries the Pax Romana brought peace and trade from Britain to Egypt. The western empire ended when its last emperor was deposed in 476.
Seat of power: Rome
Rulers
Augustus
Emperor, 27 BCE–14 CE
Kept the forms of the republic but held the real power: command of the armies, control of the provinces and the right to propose laws. He boasted that he found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble.
Portrait of Augustus: Justin Benttinen, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Hadrian
Emperor, 117 CE–138 CE
Stopped expanding the empire and fortified its borders, including Hadrian's Wall in Britain. He spent much of his reign touring the provinces in person and rebuilt the Pantheon.
Portrait of Hadrian: Djehouty, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Constantine the Great
Emperor, 306 CE–337 CE
Won control of the whole empire through civil wars, legalised Christianity in 313 and moved the capital to his new city, Constantinople, in 330.
Portrait of Constantine the Great: Apaleutos25, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Culture
- Virgil writes the Aeneid, the national epic of Rome.
- The Colosseum opens in 80 CE and holds about 50,000 spectators.
- The Pantheon, rebuilt under Hadrian, still has the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world.
Picture
The Colosseum, the largest amphitheatre ever built.
Image: FeaturedPics, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
