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Rome....
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The Roman Empire, political system established by
Rome
that lasted for nearly five centuries. Historians usually date the beginning
of the Roman Empire from 27 BC when the Roman Senate gave Gaius Octavius the
name Augustus and he became the undisputed emperor after years of bitter
civil war. At its peak the empire included lands throughout the
Mediterranean world. Rome
had first expanded into other parts of Italy and
neighboring territories during the Roman Republic (509-27 BC), but made
wider conquests and solidified political control of these lands during the
empire. The empire lasted until Germanic invasions, economic decline, and
internal unrest in the 4th and 5th centuries AD ended Rome's ability to
dominate such a huge territory. The Romans and their empire gave cultural
and political shape to the subsequent history of Europe from the
Middle Ages
and the Renaissance to the present day. |
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In 44 BC Gaius Julius Caesar, the Roman leader who ruled
the Roman Republic as a dictator, was assassinated.
Rome descended into more
than ten years of civil war and political upheaval. After Caesar's heir Gaius Octavius (also known as Octavian) defeated his last rivals, the Senate
in 27 BC proclaimed him Augustus, meaning the exalted or holy one. In this
way Augustus established the monarchy that became known as the Roman Empire.
The Roman Republic, which had lasted nearly 500 years, was dead, never to be
revived. The empire would endure for another 500 years until AD 476. |
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The Romans formed that synthesis during the longest
continuous period of peaceful prosperity that the
Mediterranean world has
ever known. Even after a German invader in AD 476 deposed Romulus Augustulus,
the last emperor residing in Rome, emperors who called themselves "Roman"
(although they are known historically as Byzantine) continued to rule in
Constantinople until AD 1453. The impact of the
Roman people endures until the present day. |
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