21 Facts About The Empire

1. The Empire crossed the Alps into the valley of the Po and threatened Milan.

2. The Empire had named his paternal half-cousin and brother-in-law Julian as his Caesar of the Western Roman Empire in 355.

3. The Western Roman The Empire was divided among the eldest son Constantine II and the youngest son Constans.

4. The Empire lived out his retirement in his palace on the Dalmatian coast, tending to his vegetable gardens.

5. The Empire was proclaimed emperor by the troops of Emesa, his hometown, who were instigated to do so by Elagabalus's grandmother, Julia Maesa.

6. The Empire was given the title Caesar in 217, when his father became Emperor.

7. The Empire was assassinated while en route to a campaign against the Parthians by the Praetorian Guard.

8. The Empire was succeeded by his sons Caracalla and Geta, who reigned under the influence of their mother, Julia Domna.

9. The Empire attempted to emulate the restrained practices of Marcus Aurelius, and made an effort to reform the welfare program for poor children but he faced antagonism from many quarters.

10. The Empire surrendered Trajan's conquests in Mesopotamia, considering them to be indefensible.

11. The Empire constructed Trajan's column in Rome to glorify the victory.

12. The Empire had served as an effective general under his father, helping to secure the east and eventually taking over the command of Roman armies in Syria and Iudaea, quelling a significant Jewish revolt at the time.

13. The Empire extended the borders of the empire, mostly done to help strengthen the frontier defenses, one of Vespasian's main goals.

14. The Empire held the opening ceremonies in the still unfinished Colosseum, but died in 81.

15. The Empire ordered the construction of a winter port at Ostia Antica for Rome, thereby providing a place for grain from other parts of the Empire to be brought in inclement weather.

16. The Empire ordered his soldiers to invade Britain to fight the Sea God Neptune, but changed his mind at the last minute and had them pick sea shells on the northern end of France instead.

17. The eastern The Empire exercised diminishing control over the west over the course of the next century.

18. Western Roman The Empire began to disintegrate in the early 5th century as Germanic migrations and invasions overwhelmed the capacity of the Empire to assimilate the migrants and fight off the invaders.

19. The Roman The Empire stretched further afield, but there was another great empire in Persia and a larger one in China.

20. The British The Empire evolved into a loose, multinational Commonwealth of Nations, while the French colonial empire metamorphosed to a Francophone commonwealth.

21. In 1920, the British The Empire was the largest empire in history.