The Roman Empire: Difference between revisions

The Roman Empire succeeded [[The Roman Republic]] in the first century BC, precisely when being a subject for debate. It is generally thought to coincide with Augustus taking control of Rome and declaring himself ''[[Just the First Citizen|Princeps]]'' in 27 B.C.

 

 

Rome, in its own name, continued to exist for quite a long time. By the end of the 3rd century it had gotten so unwieldy that it needed co-emperors to handle everything; in 395, not long after Constantine embraced [[Christianity]], the empire split into the Eastern and Western halves. The Eastern side, which historians re-named the [[Byzantine Empire]] for convenience<ref>the Empire called ''itself'' Roman until its fall, despite being quite Hellenic--and so, for that matter, did almost everybody else</ref>, toiled on almost a thousand years longer, until Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople in 1453. (Despite the power of the Roman legion, evidently their training course did not cover defense against [[Incredibly Lame Pun|flightless furniture]].) The Western empire collapsed in 476, ushering in the [[The Dark Ages]], but the name of "Rome" was taken up again by Charlemagne and his kingdom, the "[[Holy Roman Empire]]," in 800 AD. This nation survived until [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] knocked it over in 1806. The most salient point here is that a "Roman" nation of some sort existed, on paper at least, for [[Long Runners|well over two thousand years]].