I'm always fascinated in the ways that historical events continue to reverberate for centuries. On the coastal islands of the mid-Atlantic United States, there are people who still speak a version of English very similar to what the original colonists spoke. In the English Channel, there is an island that is owned by the Queen, but not officially part of the United Kingdom, which only technically gave up feudalism in 2008. Things like that.
Anyway, while the Roman Republic was already a world power, Augustus essentially founded the Empire after his defeat of Mark Anthony at Actium in 31 BCE, and his subsequent consolidation of power over his remaining decades. Constantine moved the center of power from Rome to Byzantium, where the Roman Empire survived in its Eastern incarnation until the middle of the 15th century.
However, the Western Empire had collapsed in the 5th century, and the Eastern Empire had lost its ability to exert its influence there. So, in the 8th century, Pope Stephen II turned away from the East and toward the Franks for protection, a decision that culminated in the revival of the Western imperium in 800, when Charlemagne was declared Emperor.
The new Western Empire came to be called the Holy Roman Empire, and evolved into an essentially German state - or rather, a federation of states under a single, but not autocratic, Emperor. It withstood threats from within and without, but could not stand against Napoleon. On this day, in 1806, Francis II abdicated, ending the Holy Roman Empire, the last polity to claim authority descended from ancient Rome, just a month shy of 1,836 years after Augustus started it all.
When Napoleon was finally defeated, Francis, who was already Emperor, not only of Rome, but of Austria, had no desire to revive the Empire again (or, if he did, could not do so in the face of newfound Prussian power), and the rest of the European powers settled on the formation of the German Confederation as its replacement, a decision that eventually led to Prussian wars with Austria and France, the unification of Germany, and two world wars.
Anyway, in most ways that matter, the Holy Roman Empire that ended in 1806 was not the Roman Empire of Augustus. But it did represent the end of over 18 centuries of rulers claiming the same authority, dating back to the center of the ancient Western world. Eighteen centuries is a really, really long time. I find the way those tentacles of history can survive and move and motivate and influence the progression of history for so long to be fascinating almost beyond comprehension.
Anyway, while the Roman Republic was already a world power, Augustus essentially founded the Empire after his defeat of Mark Anthony at Actium in 31 BCE, and his subsequent consolidation of power over his remaining decades. Constantine moved the center of power from Rome to Byzantium, where the Roman Empire survived in its Eastern incarnation until the middle of the 15th century.
However, the Western Empire had collapsed in the 5th century, and the Eastern Empire had lost its ability to exert its influence there. So, in the 8th century, Pope Stephen II turned away from the East and toward the Franks for protection, a decision that culminated in the revival of the Western imperium in 800, when Charlemagne was declared Emperor.
The new Western Empire came to be called the Holy Roman Empire, and evolved into an essentially German state - or rather, a federation of states under a single, but not autocratic, Emperor. It withstood threats from within and without, but could not stand against Napoleon. On this day, in 1806, Francis II abdicated, ending the Holy Roman Empire, the last polity to claim authority descended from ancient Rome, just a month shy of 1,836 years after Augustus started it all.
When Napoleon was finally defeated, Francis, who was already Emperor, not only of Rome, but of Austria, had no desire to revive the Empire again (or, if he did, could not do so in the face of newfound Prussian power), and the rest of the European powers settled on the formation of the German Confederation as its replacement, a decision that eventually led to Prussian wars with Austria and France, the unification of Germany, and two world wars.
Anyway, in most ways that matter, the Holy Roman Empire that ended in 1806 was not the Roman Empire of Augustus. But it did represent the end of over 18 centuries of rulers claiming the same authority, dating back to the center of the ancient Western world. Eighteen centuries is a really, really long time. I find the way those tentacles of history can survive and move and motivate and influence the progression of history for so long to be fascinating almost beyond comprehension.
