How many years did the Roman Civilization last?
How many years did the Roman Civilization last? The Roman Empire existed from 27 BC to AD 1453 for a total of 1480 years. What? 1453! Yes, only Rome the city fell in AD 476. Western European historians (and people) are too focused on the impact of the Fall of Rome (the city), because that was a time of tumultuous change for them. The capital of the whole Roman Empire had already moved to Constantinople in AD 330 by Emperor Constantine. That was because the east had always been was the economic centre of the Empire. Ephesus (now in Turkey), Rome’s second largest city, was the terminus of the various Silk Trade Routes. The people of that day still called it the Roman Empire. It was still large but they gave up on Northern Europe. A revisionist German historian in the 16th century came up with the name Byzantine Empire. There was no such thing. The reasons why it lasted so long will be explored in walk 3 of my series on Rome Walks, starting with ...