u/oaky-vibe

The standard Roman Empire map always bugged me. Just a blob with no context for what was actually going on inside it.

So I built something where you can click each province and read the full story. Modern day location, capital, how Rome got it, what it was worth, and what was happening there when Trajan died.

That last part was the rabbit hole. Some highlights:

• Britannia was in full revolt. A whole Roman Legion vanished from the historical record right around this time. The empire's greatest moment in the east was happening simultaneously with one of its worst crises in the northwest.
• Trajan's new eastern provinces lasted about a year. He pushed all the way to the Persian Gulf and Hadrian gave it all back almost immediately after taking power.

Full interactive version in the comments. Curious what people find most surprising.

The standard Roman Empire map always bugged me. Just a blob with no context for what was actually going on inside it.

So I built something where you can click each province and read the full story. Modern day location, capital, how Rome got it, what it was worth, and what was happening there when Trajan died.

That last part was the rabbit hole. Some highlights:

• Britannia was in full revolt. A whole Roman Legion vanished from the historical record right around this time. The empire's greatest moment in the east was happening simultaneously with one of its worst crises in the northwest.
• Trajan's new eastern provinces lasted about a year. He pushed all the way to the Persian Gulf and Hadrian gave it all back almost immediately after taking power.

Full interactive version in the comments. Curious what people find most surprising.

The standard Roman Empire map always bugged me. Just a blob with no context for what was actually going on inside it.

So I built something where you can click each province and read the full story. Modern day location, capital, how Rome got it, what it was worth, and what was happening there when Trajan died.

That last part was the rabbit hole. Some highlights:

• Britannia was in full revolt. A whole Roman Legion vanished from the historical record right around this time. The empire's greatest moment in the east was happening simultaneously with one of its worst crises in the northwest.
• Trajan's new eastern provinces lasted about a year. He pushed all the way to the Persian Gulf and Hadrian gave it all back almost immediately after taking power.

Full interactive version in the comments. Curious what people find most surprising.

Quick edit: I realize posting to reddit opens the map up to scrutiny and that is absolutely welcomed. If you google “Rome 117 AD Map” you will see that no two maps are the same. I tried my best :) lol I cannot vouch for scale but it should be at least close!

Edit 2: I understand Hispania and Gaul are regions. When I was making the map the provinces inside this regions made the map a little hard to read. I chose to keep those at the region level and then add information about those provinces inside the event details popup.

The standard Roman Empire map always bugged me. Just a blob with no context for what was actually going on inside it.

So I built something where you can click each province and read the full story. Modern day location, capital, how Rome got it, what it was worth, and what was happening there when Trajan died.

That last part was the rabbit hole. Some highlights:

• Britannia was in full revolt. A whole Roman Legion vanished from the historical record right around this time. The empire's greatest moment in the east was happening simultaneously with one of its worst crises in the northwest.
• Trajan's new eastern provinces lasted about a year. He pushed all the way to the Persian Gulf and Hadrian gave it all back almost immediately after taking power.

Full interactive version in the comments. Curious what people find most surprising.

Some edits: I realize posting to reddit opens the map up to scrutiny and that is absolutely welcomed. If you google “Rome 117 AD Map” you will see that no two maps are the same. I tried my best :) lol I cannot vouch for scale but it should be at least close!
I understand Hispania and Gaul are regions. When I was making the map the provinces inside these regions made the map a little hard to read. I chose to keep those at the region level and then add information about those provinces inside the event details popup after you click the region.

Always wanted something that showed the full run of Roman emperors in one place without having to dig through Wikipedia for an hour. Considering I just finished HBO's Rome, I got the itch, and decided to make a timeline of all the Roman Emperors. Yes, I started Rome-maxxing.

Every emperor from Augustus to Romulus Augustulus. Dynasty, reign length, what they did well, what they messed up, one sentence TLDR.

Some stuff that stood out putting it together:

The Crisis of the Third Century is genuinely hard to follow even in timeline form. Something like 26 emperors in 50 years. Most lasted less than a year. Honestly I can't vouch for accuracy after this point, but I promise I tried my best!

Nerva-Antonine dynasty on the other hand just looks so stable compared to everything around it. Hadrian 21 years, Antoninus Pius 23, Marcus Aurelius 19. Makes the rest of Roman history look even more chaotic by comparison.

Aurelian is criminally underrated for a five year reign. He reunited the empire, pushed out the Palmyrenes and the Gallic Empire, built the Aurelian Wall, and was dead within a year of doing all of it. Also Restitutor Orbis is in the running for coolest moniker.

Link in the comments. Curious who people think is most overrated on the list. I have a feeling Nero and Caligula hog attention that other emperors probably deserve.

Always wanted something that showed the full run of Roman emperors in one place without having to dig through Wikipedia for an hour. Considering I just finished HBO's Rome, I got the itch, and decided to make a timeline of all the Roman Emperors. Yes, I started Rome-maxxing.

Every emperor from Augustus to Romulus Augustulus. Dynasty, reign length, what they did well, what they messed up, one sentence TLDR.

Some stuff that stood out putting it together:

The Crisis of the Third Century is genuinely hard to follow even in timeline form. Something like 26 emperors in 50 years. Most lasted less than a year. Honestly I can't vouch for accuracy after this point, but I promise I tried my best!

Nerva-Antonine dynasty on the other hand just looks so stable compared to everything around it. Hadrian 21 years, Antoninus Pius 23, Marcus Aurelius 19. Makes the rest of Roman history look even more chaotic by comparison.

Aurelian is criminally underrated for a five year reign. He reunited the empire, pushed out the Palmyrenes and the Gallic Empire, built the Aurelian Wall, and was dead within a year of doing all of it. Also Restitutor Orbis is in the running for coolest moniker.

Link in the comments. Curious who people think is most overrated on the list. I have a feeling Nero and Caligula hog attention that other emperors probably deserve.

Always wanted something that showed the full run of Roman emperors in one place without having to dig through Wikipedia for an hour. Considering I just finished HBO's Rome, I got the itch, and decided to make a timeline of all the Roman Emperors. Yes, I started Rome-maxxing.

Every emperor from Augustus to Romulus Augustulus. Dynasty, reign length, what they did well, what they messed up, one sentence TLDR.

Some stuff that stood out putting it together:

The Crisis of the Third Century is genuinely hard to follow even in timeline form. Something like 26 emperors in 50 years. Most lasted less than a year. Honestly I can't vouch for accuracy after this point, but I promise I tried my best!

Nerva-Antonine dynasty on the other hand just looks so stable compared to everything around it. Hadrian 21 years, Antoninus Pius 23, Marcus Aurelius 19. Makes the rest of Roman history look even more chaotic by comparison.

Aurelian is criminally underrated for a five year reign. He reunited the empire, pushed out the Palmyrenes and the Gallic Empire, built the Aurelian Wall, and was dead within a year of doing all of it. Also Restitutor Orbis is in the running for coolest moniker.

Link in the comments. Curious who people think is most overrated on the list. I have a feeling Nero and Caligula hog attention that other emperors probably deserve.