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This is a situation map of the ancient Mediterranean — the kind of map proconsuls and emperors governed by, redrawn as the centuries turn. It opens in 264 BC, when Rome is one Italian power among several: Carthage rules the western sea, Alexander’s successor kingdoms divide the east, and the peoples of Gaul, Germania and the steppe hold everything beyond. Watch the red advance for five hundred years — and then watch what five hundred years of victory could not prevent.
Twelve chapters follow the arc: the duel with Carthage, the fall of the Greek east, the Republic devouring itself, Caesar and Augustus, the long Roman peace, and the crisis, division and unraveling of the most durable empire the West has known. Every battle, arrow and boundary is drawn where it happened. Take the guided tour — or scrub the timeline and interrogate the map yourself.
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This is one of thirteen atlases — the ★ at the top left returns to the library at any time.