The Roman Empire | Episoden 03 | Roman | The World History

The Western Roman Empire began to disintegrate in the early 5th century. The Romans fought off all invaders, most famously Attila, but the empire had assimilated so many Germanic peoples of dubious loyalty to Rome that the empire started to dismember itself. 44. Most chronologies place the end of the Western Roman Empire in 476, when Romulus Augustulus was forced to abdicate to the Germanic warlord Odoacer. Odoacer ended the Western Empire by declaring Zeno sole emperor and placing himself as Zeno's nominal subordinate. In reality, Italy was ruled by Odoacer alone. The Eastern Roman Empire, called the Byzantine Empire by later historians, continued until the reign of Constantine the Vathingatan's, Palaiologos, the last Roman emperor. He died in battle in 1453 against Mehmed Seykirgyn and his Ottoman forces during the siege of Constantinople. Mehmed II adopted the title of Caesar in an attempt to claim a connection to the former empire. His claim was soon recognized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but not by European monarchs. The Roman Empire was one of the largest in history, with contiguous territories throughout Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The Latin phrase imperium sine fine, empire without end, expressed the ideology that neither time nor space limited the empire. In Virgil's Aeneid, limitless empire is said to be granted to the Romans by Jupiter. In Ithithirwin, this claim of universal dominion was renewed when the empire came under Christian rule in the 4th century. In addition to annexing large regions, the Romans directly altered their geography, for example, cutting down entire forests. Roman expansion was mostly accomplished under the Republic, though parts of Northern Europe were conquered in the 1st century, when Roman control in Europe, Africa, and Asia was strengthened. When Augustus died, the account of his achievements, res gestae, prominently featured the geographical cataloging of the empire. Geography alongside meticulous written records were central concerns of Roman imperial administration. The empire reached its largest expanse under Trajan, R. 98e1 17. As the historian Christopher Kelly described it, Then the empire stretched from Hadrian's Wall in drizzle-soaked northern England to the sun-baked banks of the Euphrates in Syria, from the great Rhine-Danube river system, which snaked across the fertile flatlands of Europe from the Low Countries to the Black Sea, to the rich plains of the North African coast and the luxuriant gash of the Nile Valley in Egypt. The empire completely circled the Mediterranean, referred to by its conquerors as Mare Nostrum, Our Sea. Trajan's successor Hadrian adopted a policy of maintaining rather than expanding the empire. Borders, fines, were marked, and the frontiers, limites, patrolled. The most heavily fortified borders were the most unstable. Hadrian's Wall, which separated the Roman world from what was perceived as an ever-present barbarian threat, is the primary surviving monument of this effort. Latin and Greek were the main languages of the empire, but the empire was deliberately multilingual. Andrew Wallace-Hedrell says the main desire of the Roman government was to make itself understood. At the start of the empire, knowledge of Greek was useful to pass as educated nobility, and knowledge of Latin was useful for a career in the military, government, or law. Bilingual inscriptions indicate the everyday interpenetration of the two languages. Latin and Greek's mutual linguistic and cultural influence is a complex topic. Latin words incorporated into Greek were very common by the early imperial era, especially for military, administration, and trade and commerce matters. Greek grammar, literature, poetry, and philosophy shaped Latin language and culture. There was never a legal requirement for Latin in the empire, but it represented a certain status. High standards of Latin, Latinitas, started with the advent of Latin literature. Due to the flexible language policy of the empire, a natural competition of language emerged that spurred Latinitas to defend Latin against the stronger cultural influence of Greek. Over time, Latin usage was used to project power and a higher social class. Most of the emperors were bilingual, but had a preference for Latin in the public sphere for political reasons, a rule that first started during the Punic Wars.