What did Ancient Rome look like at its peak in 117 AD?
The map below fromVisual Capitalistshows themaximum territorial extent ever achieved by the Roman Empire, just after their successful wars in the east, where Emperor Trajan captured Dacia (Romania), Armenia, Mesopotamia, Assyria, and the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon (in modern-day Iraq).
AsVisual Capitalistexplains further, although Trajan is rated asone of the bestRoman Emperors by historians and was considered one of the strongest military leaders in Roman history, the reality is thatthe peak he achieved was very short-lived.
We’ll dig into that and more as we explain this map, which covers one of the most interesting periods in history, leveraging classical and modern sources including Cassius Dio, Plutarch, Cambridge Ancient History, Walter Scheidel, Fergus Millar, Adrian Goldsworthy, Anthony Everitt, and Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Trajan was born in Italica, Spain, near modern-day Seville. He was a career soldier and became an extremely competent and respected general. He was adopted as the heir to the childless Nerva, and became emperor after Nerva’s passing in 98 AD.
Once emperor, Trajan was famous for his civic investment and military expansion. He built roads, harbors, aqueducts, and the Forum of Trajan in Rome—but he also conquered distant lands decisively.
Various limits—cultural, geographical, logistical, and administrative—seem to preventhistorical empiresfrom achieving infinite expansion.
Trajan tested these limits and eventually came upon the breaking point. Dacia (Romania) was arguably his greatest military achievement and remained a Roman province for almost two centuries after. His experiments to the East, however, were less of a slam dunk.
His battles with Parthia (the other Mediterranean superpower at the time) led to quick expansion into Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Assyria. However, these vast territorial gains were fragile:
In hindsight, the map captures not just Rome’s greatest triumph—but the moment it became overextended.
Source: ZeroHedge News
