xǔ duō xī là de zhī shí bèi luó mǎ xī shōu，
tā lì yòng dí rén de bù tuán jié cóng yì dà lì xiàng wài kuò zhāng，
wéi yī zhēn zhèng duì luó mǎ de jué qǐ de tiǎo zhàn lái zì féi ní jī rén de zhí mín dì jiā tài jī ,
tā bèi jī bài zài gōng yuán qián 3
shì jì，
zhè yī shì jiàn biāo zhì luó mǎ tǒng zhì de kāi shǐ。
luó mǎ shǒu xiān bèi guó wáng tǒng zhì，
hòu lái shì yuán lǎo yuàn gòng hé (
luó mǎ gòng hé guó ),
zuì hòu zài gōng yuán qián 1
shì jì chéng wéi dì guó，
shòu '
ào gǔ sī dū hé jì rèn de dú cái zhě men de tǒng zhì。
luó mǎ dì guó shì lì zài dì zhōng hǎi ,
kòng zhì zhe yán '
àn suǒ yòu guó jiā。
tā de běi bù biān jiè shì lāi yīn hé hé duō nǎo hé。
zài huáng dì tú lā zhēn（
gōng yuán 2
shì jì）
tǒng zhì shí，
dì guó lǐng tǔ dá dào liǎo zuì dà，
kòng zhì zhe jìn sì 5， 900， 000
píng fāng gōng lǐ de lù dì miàn jī，
bāo kuò bù liè diān ,
luó mǎ ní yà hé bù fēn měi suǒ bù dá mǐ yà。
dì guó dài lái liǎo hé píng，
wén míng hé zhōng yāng zhèng fǔ duì zhì xià lǐng tǔ yòu xiào de guǎn lǐ，
dàn shì zài 3
shì jì yī lián chuàn de nèi zhàn xiāo ruò liǎo tā de jīng jì hé shè huì lì liàng。
zài 4
shì jì，
huáng dì dài kè lǐ xiān hé jūn shì tǎn dīng bǎ guó jiā fēn chéng liǎo dōng xī liǎng bù fēn。
suī rán dài kè lǐ xiān cán kù pò hài jī dū tú，
dàn shì jūn shì tǎn dīng hái shì yú 313
nián zài mǐ lán chì lìng zhōng xuān bù tíng zhǐ guó jiā zhī chí de duì jī dū jiào de pò hài，
cóng '
ér wéi dì guó zhī hòu yú 380
nián jiāng jī dū jiào zuò wéi guó jiào mái xià fú bǐ，
shǐ tiān zhù jiào huì chéng wéi yī gè zhòng yào de zǔ zhì。
Much of Greek learning was assimilated by the nascent Roman state as it expanded outward from Italy, taking advantage of its enemies' inability to unite: the only real challenge to Roman ascent came from the Phoenician colony of Carthage, and its defeat in the end of the 3rd century BCE marked the start of Roman hegemony. First governed by kings, then as a senatorial republic (the Roman Republic), Rome finally became an empire at the end of the 1st century BCE, under Augustus and his authoritarian successors. The Roman Empire had its centre in the Mediterranean Sea, controlling all the countries on its shores; the northern border was marked by the Rhine and Danube rivers. Under emperor Trajan (2nd century AD) the empire reached its maximum expansion, controlling approximately 5,900,000 km² (2,300,000 sq mi) of land surface, including Britain, Romania and parts of Mesopotamia. The empire brought peace, civilization and an efficient centralized government to the subject territories, but in the 3rd century a series of civil wars undermined its economic and social strength. In the 4th century, the emperors Diocletian and Constantine were able to slow down the process of decline by splitting the empire into a Western and an Eastern part. Whereas Diocletian severely persecuted Christianity, Constantine declared an official end to state-sponsored persecution of Christians in 313 with the Edict of Milan, thus setting the stage for the empire to later become officially Christian in about 380 (which would cause the Church to become an important institution).