Geographic HistoryMap of the Roman Empire
On the Geographic History map, the Roman Empire appears from 26 BC to AD 395. It reaches its largest mapped extent in AD 117: about 5.3 million km² across 333 provinces.
The Roman Empire began in 27 BC, when Octavian took the title Augustus, and at its peak under Trajan in AD 117 it surrounded the whole Mediterranean, from Britain to Mesopotamia. Its roads, law, Latin language and cities shaped Europe for centuries afterwards. After the death of Theodosius I in 395 it was permanently divided into western and eastern halves.
Mapped area over time
The Roman Empire on the world maps
Largest other states in AD 117
| State | Mapped area |
|---|---|
| Han | 4.1 million km² |
| Xianbei | 2.3 million km² |
| Parthia | 1.9 million km² |
| Kushan | 1.2 million km² |
| Satavahana | 750 thousand km² |
| Kangju | 660 thousand km² |
| Xiongnu | 580 thousand km² |
| Meroe | 550 thousand km² |
About this map
Territory comes from the Chronas historical dataset used by the Geographic History app. Areas are approximate, computed from about 2,400 province shapes, and describe this map rather than official historical figures - border data for the ancient and medieval world is necessarily a reconstruction.
Every year has a map
Drag a timeline across 2,500 years in the free Geographic History app - every province, ruler and battle, also offline.
