Editing History of Europe (section)

===Ancient Rome===
{{Main|Ancient Rome|Roman Republic|Roman Empire}}
[[File:Cicero Denounces Catiline in the Roman Senate by Cesare Maccari.png|thumb|[[Cicero]] addresses the [[Roman Senate]] to denounce [[Catiline]]'s conspiracy to overthrow the [[Roman Republic|Republic]], by [[Cesare Maccari]].]]

Much of Greek learning was assimilated by the nascent Roman state as it expanded outward from Italy, taking advantage of its enemies' inability to unite: the only challenge to Roman ascent came from the [[Phoenicia]]n colony of [[Carthage]], and its defeats in the three [[Punic Wars]] marked the start of Roman [[hegemony]]. First governed by [[Roman kings|kings]], then as a senatorial republic (the [[Roman Republic]]), Rome became an empire at the end of the 1st century BC, under [[Augustus]] and his authoritarian successors.

The [[Roman Empire]] had its centre in the Mediterranean, controlling all the countries on its shores; the northern border was marked by the [[Rhine]] and [[Danube]] rivers. Under the [[Roman emperor|emperor]] [[Trajan]] (2nd century AD) the empire reached its maximum expansion, controlling approximately {{convert|5900000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} of land surface, including [[Italian Peninsula|Italia]], [[Gaul|Gallia]], [[Dalmatia]], [[Aquitania]], [[Roman Britain|Britannia]], [[Baetica]], [[Hispania]], [[Odrysian kingdom|Thrace]], [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]], [[Greece]], [[Moesia]], [[Dacia (Roman province)|Dacia]], [[Pannonia]], Egypt, [[Asia Minor]], [[Cappadocia]], [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Armenia]], [[Caucasus]], North Africa, [[Levant]] and parts of [[Mesopotamia]]. [[Pax Romana]], a period of peace, [[Roman civilisation|civilisation]] and an efficient [[centralised government]] in the subject territories ended in the 3rd century, when a [[Crisis of the Third Century|series of civil wars]] undermined Rome's economic and social strength.

[[File:Colosseum Roma 2009.jpg|thumb|The [[Colosseum]] in Rome, Italy]]

In the 4th century, the emperors [[Diocletian]] and [[Constantine I of the Roman Empire|Constantine]] were able to slow down the process of decline by splitting the empire into a [[Western Roman Empire|Western]] part with a capital in Rome and an [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern]] part with the capital in Byzantium, or [[Constantinople]] (now Istanbul). [[Constantinople]] is generally considered to be the center of "[[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox civilization]]".<ref>{{cite book|title=Christianity: Religions of the World|first=Ken|last=Parry|year=2009|isbn=9781438106397|page=139|publisher=Infobase Publishing}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity|first=Ken|last=Parry|year=2010|isbn=9781444333619|page=368|publisher=John Wiley & Sons}}</ref> Whereas Diocletian severely persecuted [[Christianity]], Constantine declared an official end to state-sponsored [[persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire|persecution of Christians]] in 313 with the [[Edict of Milan]], thus setting the stage for the [[Christian Church|Church]] to become the [[state church of the Roman Empire]] in about 380.

The Roman Empire had been repeatedly attacked by invading armies from Northern Europe and in 476, Rome finally [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fell]]. [[Romulus Augustus]], the last emperor of the [[Western Roman Empire]], surrendered to the Germanic King [[Odoacer]].

<gallery widths="160" heights="120">
File:Europe-In-301BC.png|Europe in the year 301 BC
File:Cesare prima Gallia 58 a.C. jpg.jpg|The [[Roman Republic]] and its neighbours in 58 BC
File:Europe-In-117AD.png|The Roman Empire at its greatest extent in 117 AD, under the emperor [[Trajan]]
File:Partition of the Roman Empire in 395 AD.png|The partition of the Roman Empire in 395, at the death of [[Theodosius I]]: the [[Western Roman Empire]] is shown in red and the Eastern Roman Empire is shown in purple
</gallery>