The Roman Empire is a large state covering the whole Mediterranean basin. This map features the extent of this great country in AD 200. Click on the image to reach the Euratlas Periodis gazetteer for that exact year, and you will be able to highlight every Roman province or non-Roman known population. Euratlas Periodis displays also the maps AD 1 and AD 100.
During the 5th century, several foreign populations have invaded the Western part of the Roman Empire to found smaller polities within its territory, while the Roman Empire is extant in the East. Click to reach the Euratlas Periodis page for the year 500 so that you can highlight every entity and population. Keep in mind that Euratlas Periodis offers 21 detailed maps, one for each centennial year, that is at the beginning of each century.
At the end of the 8th century, the Franks, a Germanic elite controlling ancient Gaul, have restored a large polity in the West, including a large portion of the old Roman Empire and many territories north of the Rhine, mainly Alamannia, Thuringia and Saxony. Of course, you can display the in-between maps - AD 600 or AD 700 - to see how the political situation evolved since AD 500.
While the areas West of the Rhine are divided into several principalities, the lands North and South of the Alps are united and form the "Empire of the Romans", commonly called "Holy Roman Empire" to make the difference with the East of the old Roman Empire extant in Constantinople (or Byzantium). The Euratlas maps do not explain the causes of the events but give only snapshots in the flow of time. Have a look at our Explanation and FAQ page.
In AD 1300, Europe is a fragmented continent. A great lot of small and medium lordships sharing an incomplete public power cover the major part of the continent. Only England and France, away at war, are becoming powerful states. To draw your own historical detailed maps for a specific historical period, you may use Euratlas Periodis Editor.
In AD 1600, the House of Habsburg is ruling almost the half of Europe, that is Spain, Netherlands and the hereditary lands of Austria, while the Ottoman Empire covers eastern Europe and religion wars are tearing the countries between the Pyraeneans and the Baltic Sea. If you want to edit such a map with a GIS program, consider the Euratlas GIS Data available for each centennial year. There are also site licenses for these data.
From year 1800 on, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars will dissolve the Holy Roman Empire and contribute to the creation of nation states facing the Central Powers in Europe. The previous maps give a short summary of European history but you can display each of the 21 centennial maps with Euratlas Periodis Web or with the commercial version Euratlas Periodis Expert, which offers highly detailed maps with powerful zoom.
The AD 2000 map shows how many changes have occurred in Europe since AD 200. This map allows comparison with the past and with the future. One can edit such a map in vector format by purchasing The Physical Vector Map of Europe 2009. This file offers a simple way to add features on the modern map of our continent or to change the drawing of the borders. You can also download the Periodis Guidebook to see more maps of Western Europe.
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