Map of the Roman Empire: beginnings, greatest extent and fall

★★★★★ «A truly fascinating map. Seeing the Roman Empire at the moment of its greatest extent is something extraordinary. A piece that combines a passion for history with the pleasure of decorating with taste.»Alessandro M., Rome · translated from Italian

In AD 117, when Trajan died, Rome ruled a territory stretching from Britain to the Sahara and from Portugal to Mesopotamia. The Mediterranean was an inland lake, the Mare Nostrum, and one in four people in the ancient world was born and died under the rule of the Caesars. No image tells the story of Rome's power like the map of that moment.

On this page we follow, map after map, how a small city in Latium got there and how, in three and a half centuries, it lost the West. At the heart of the story is the map of the greatest extent: the one we chose to print by hand on Amalfi paper, so you can have it in front of you every day.

Map of Rome at the beginning of Republican expansion (c. 300 BC)

It all starts in a very small space. Around 300 BC Rome controlled little more than Latium: the Tiber to the north, the Apennines to the east, the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. Around it lived the declining Etruscans, the Samnites in the mountains and the rich Greek cities of Campania, such as Cumae and Neapolis.

Yet the signs of the future were already there. In 312 BC work began on the Via Appia towards Capua: Rome understood early that roads are a tool of conquest, because they move legions faster than the enemy.

Map of the Roman Republic at the end of the First Punic War (241 BC)

With its victory over Carthage, Rome left the Italian peninsula for the first time. Sicily became its first province, soon followed by Sardinia and Corsica. A land power became a sea power: Rome now controlled the grain routes and no longer feared an invasion from the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Map of the Roman Republic at the end of the Second Punic War (201 BC)

Hannibal had been defeated and Carthage, without a fleet, was reduced to a regional power. The Iberian provinces, with their mines, appear on the map, and all of Italy was now under Rome. From here on the Republic was no longer defending itself: it began to look towards Greece and the East.

Map of the Roman Empire under Augustus (27 BC – AD 14)

With Augustus the empire proper was born. The Mediterranean was almost entirely Roman, Cleopatra's Egypt had become the capital's granary and the legions were stationed permanently on the Rhine and the Danube. The Pax Romana began: for the first time power was measured not by conquest, but by the ability to govern.

Augustus left his successors clear advice: do not extend the borders any further. A century later, an emperor from Spain would ignore it.

Map of the Roman Empire at its greatest extent under Trajan (AD 117)

This is the map of the peak. Under Trajan the empire stretched from the Atlantic to the Euphrates and from the moors of Britain to the African desert. The Mediterranean was entirely surrounded by Roman lands.

The great novelty is Dacia, today's Romania, conquered in two wars and rich in gold mines: for the first time Rome crossed the Danube in force. In the east, the campaign against the Parthians carried the Roman standards as far as Mesopotamia and Ctesiphon. These conquests would not last, but on the map they draw the largest dominion Rome ever had.

In Britain the border stopped short of Caledonia, where a few years later Hadrian's Wall would rise. In Africa a long fertile strip, from today's Tunisia to Libya, fed the capital together with Egypt, which opened the way to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

It is a map to look at both up close and from afar. From afar, the shape strikes you: an empire embracing an entire sea. Up close, you can read the provinces, the cities and the roads that held three continents together.

Why it is not a poster

A map like this can be printed on any paper. We chose the oldest paper in Italy.

From those who already have it on their wall

★★★★★ «Beautiful! I was looking for something original for my study and this map is exactly the kind of piece I had in mind. Elegant, interesting and above all different from the usual decorative prints.»Francesca R., Milan · translated from Italian

★★★★★ «For anyone who loves Roman history, this piece deserves attention. I really love the idea of having the extent reached by the Empire right in front of my eyes. A depiction that invites you to observe, study and reflect.»Marco P., Florence · translated from Italian

★★★★★ «A wonderful idea for lovers of ancient history. The map is full of charm and also works beautifully as a decorative piece. It is the kind of object that immediately catches the eye and sparks curiosity.»Giulia B., Turin · translated from Italian

Map of the Roman Empire under the reforms of Diocletian and the Tetrarchy (c. AD 300)

Two centuries after Trajan the map tells another story. Dacia is lost, the borders are under pressure and the empire has gone through a century of crisis, usurpations and invasions. Diocletian divides it among four rulers, two Augusti and two Caesars, and breaks the large provinces into smaller units. Rome becomes a symbolic capital: the empire is governed from Nicomedia and from Mediolanum, the future Milan. It no longer conquers; it defends itself.

Map of the Roman Empire under Constantine and the founding of Constantinople (AD 324–337)

Constantine reunites the empire under his rule and in 330 founds a new capital on the Bosphorus: Constantinople, between Europe and Asia. Rome's centre of gravity shifts east, where the richest and most populous cities are, and with the Edict of Milan of 313 Christianity enters the heart of power.

Map of the Roman Empire at the death of Theodosius I in AD 395

On the death of Theodosius the division becomes final. The West, with its capital at Ravenna, is more fragile: it lives on African grain and struggles to defend the Rhine and the Danube. The East, with its capital at Constantinople, is more populous, richer and easier to defend, and will become the Byzantine Empire.

Map at the fall of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476

In 476 Odoacer deposes Romulus Augustulus, the last emperor of the West. In place of the provinces stand the kingdoms of the Franks, the Visigoths and the Vandals, who have also taken Africa and its grain. The Mare Nostrum is divided among many masters.

Simply place this map next to the one of 117 to measure the distance: in little more than three and a half centuries, from an empire embracing an entire sea to a mosaic of kingdoms. That is why, of all of them, we chose to print the map of the greatest extent: the moment when Rome was greater than ever.

Where to hang it, and who to give it to

In a study or a library, where you read and work. In the office of someone who runs a business and loves big projects. In a hallway or an entrance, where everyone who comes in stops to look at it. And as a gift, for someone who has read everything about ancient Rome and already owns all the books: you will not find a map like this in a bookshop.

Frequently asked questions