Roman Empire

Roman Empire Senatus Populusque Romanus  (Latin) Imperium Romanum[n 1]  (Latin) Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων (Ancient Greek) Basileía Rhōmaíōn
27 BC – 395 AD (unified)[1][2] 395 AD – 476/480 AD (Western) 395 AD – 1453 AD (Eastern)
Vexillum Imperial aquila
The Roman Empire at its greatest extent, 117 AD, the time of Trajan's death (with its vassals in pink).[3]
Capital	Rome (27 BC to 330 AD) Constantinople (330 AD – 1453 AD)[n 2]
Common languages	Latin (official until 610 AD) Greek (official after 610 AD) Regional / local languages
Religion	Imperial cult-driven polytheism (Before 380 AD) Nicene Christianity (State Church of the Roman Empire) (From 380 AD)
Demonym(s)	Roman
Government	Semi-elective, functionally absolute monarchy
Some Emperors
• 27 BC – 14 AD	Augustus (first)
• 98 AD – 117 AD	Trajan
• 270 AD – 275 AD	Aurelian
• 284 AD – 305 AD	Diocletian
• 306 AD – 337 AD	Constantine I
• 379 AD – 395 AD	Theodosius I[n 3]
• 474 AD – 480 AD	Julius Nepos[n 4]
• 475 AD – 476 AD	Romulus Augustus
• 527 AD – 565 AD	Justinian I
• 780 AD – 797 AD	Constantine VI[n 5]
• 976 AD – 1025 AD	Basil II
• 1449 AD – 1453 AD	Constantine XI[n 6]
Legislature	Senate
Historical era	Classical era to Late Middle Ages
• War of Actium	32 BC – 30 BC
• Empire established	30 BC – 2 BC
• Constantinople becomes capital	11 May 330 AD
• Final East-West divide	17 January 395 AD
• Fall of the Western Roman Empire	4 September 476 AD
• Murder of Emperor Julius Nepos	25 April 480 AD
• Fourth Crusade	12 April 1204
• Reconquest of Constantinople	25 July 1261
• Fall of Constantinople	29 May 1453
• Fall of Trebizond	15 August 1461
Area
25 BC[4][5]	2,750,000 km2 (1,060,000 sq mi)
117 AD[4][6][7]	5,000,000–6,500,000 km2 (1,900,000–2,500,000 sq mi)
390 AD[4]	4,400,000 km2 (1,700,000 sq mi)
Population
• 25 BC[4][5]	56,800,000
Currency	Sestertius,[n 7] Aureus, Solidus, Nomisma
Preceded by Succeeded by Roman Republic Western Roman Empire Eastern Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the largest empire of the ancient world.^{[n 8]} Its capital was Rome. The Empire was round the Mediterranean area.

The Empire started in 27 BC, when Octavian became Emperor Augustus after death of Julius Caesar. The fall of Western Roman Empire to the Germanic kings in 476 AD, marked the end of classical antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages.^[8]

The Empire was the third stage of Ancient Rome. Rome was first ruled by Roman kings, later by the Roman Republic and then by an emperor.

Many modern lands were once part of the Roman Empire such as Britain (not Scotland), Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Egypt, Levant, Crimea, Switzerland and the northern coast of Africa. The main language of the Roman Empire was Latin, with Greek as an important secondary language, especially in the Eastern provinces.

The Western half of the Roman Empire lasted for about 500 years until the barbarian general Odoacer defeated its final emperor, Romulus Augustus. On the other hand, the eastern half, consisting of the Balkans, Anatolia, The Levant and Egypt, continued for about 1000 more years. The Levant and Egypt were lost to the Arabs in the 8th century. The eastern part was the Eastern Roman Empire. Its capital was Constantinople, which is now called Istanbul.
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1. ↑ Morley, Neville (2010). The Roman Empire: Roots of Imperialism. Pluto Press. ISBN 978-0-7453-2870-6.
2. ↑ Diamond, Jared (2011). Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed: revised edition. Penguin. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-101-50200-6.
3. ↑ Bennett, Julian (1997). Trajan: Optimus Princeps : a life and times. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-16524-2.. Fig. 1. Regions east of the Euphrates river were held only in the years 116–117.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Taagepera, Rein (1979). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D". Social Science History. 3 (3/4). Duke University Press: 125. doi:10.2307/1170959. ISSN 0145-5532. JSTOR 1170959.
5. ↑ Durand, John D. (1977). "Historical estimates of world population: an evaluation". Population and Development Review. 3 (3): 253–296. doi:10.2307/1971891. JSTOR 1971891.
6. ↑ Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D (2006). "East-West orientation of historical empires" (PDF). Journal of World-systems Research. 12 (2): 222. ISSN 1076-156X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
7. ↑ Parker, Philip (2009). The Empire stops here: a journey along the frontiers of the Roman World. London: Pimlico. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-84595-003-3.
8. ↑ Kelly, Christopher (2007). The Roman Empire: a very short introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280391-7.