More than fifteen centuries after its fall, the Roman Empire remains one
of the most formative influences on the history of Europe. Its physical
remains dot the landscape from Scotland to Syria. Its cities are still
the great metropolises of the continent. Its law and institutions have
shaped modern practice, and its ideal of a united Europe has haunted
politicians ever since. Fully illustrated and featuring more than sixty
full- colour maps, this atlas traces the rise and fall of the first
great multinational state. It looks at its provinces and cities, its
trade and economy, its armies and frontier defences; follows its foreign
ward and internecine struggles; and charts its transformation into a
Christian theocracy and its fall in 476.