State · 27 BCE – 180 CE (peak extent 117 CE)
The Pax Romana and Rome at its height
Rome (Italy)
The Pax Romana, the roughly two centuries from Augustus (27 BCE) to the death of Marcus Aurelius (180 CE), was a time of relative peace and prosperity inside the Roman Empire, though not free of revolts and frontier wars. Under Trajan, who conquered Dacia and briefly annexed Armenia and Mesopotamia, the empire reached its greatest extent at his death in 117 CE.
Its population is estimated to have peaked at about 70 million.
Why it mattered
Long internal peace let trade flourish across the Mediterranean and beyond, and because it overlapped with Han China's own era of stability it stimulated travel and commerce right across Eurasia.
Related
- The world in 100: Trajan's Rome, Han China chapter
- Cai Lun improves papermaking previous moment · 105 CE
- Kanishka and the Kushan crossroads next moment · c. 127–150 CE