04-18-2006, 11:34 PM
Hello,
I made a lenghty online inquiry about the maximal territorial extension of the Roman Empire and all I ended up with were some strange and contradictory figures, largley left unexplained ("1.7 million square miles", "2.2 million square miles", "2.3 million square miles at its height", "3,34 Mio km²"). Obviously I have detected a major deficiency of the Internet there.
So, out of lack of a better one, I made an inquiry of my own and calculated the extent of the Roman Empire on the basis of the modern states, sharing its former territory. I did it by guessimating while looking on a modern map, but I still think that approach wields much more precise results than the above. But see for yourself:
Countries belonging fully to the RE:
92.345 km² - Portugal
504.782 km² - Spain
543.965 km² - France
32.545 km² - Belgium
301.336 km² - Italy
110.994 km² - Bulgaria
28 748 km² - Albania
131.957 km² - Greece
130.395 km² - England
20.761 km² - Wales
779.452 km² - Turkey
41.285 km² - Switzerland
185.180 km² - Syria
20.991 km² - Israel (borders of 1948)
6.831 km² - Israel (occupied territories)
Countries belonging to the greater part to the RE:
83.871,1 km² - Austria
255.804 km² - Ex-Jugoslavia
92.300 km² - Jordania
163.610 km² - Tunisia
Countries belonging half to the RE:
238.391 km² - Rumania
1.001.450 km² - Egypt
Countries belonging to the smaller part to the RE:
458.730 km² - Marokko (one fourth)
2.381.741 km² - Algeria (one seventh)
1.759.540 km² - Libya (one tenth)
93.030 km² - Hungary (two fifth)
41.526 km² - Netherlands (one third)
357.050 km² - Germany
-- 34.083,52 km² NRW (one fourth)
-- 35.751,65 km² BW (almost completely)
My calculation: 4.6 Mio. km² for the whole Empire without Armenia and Mesopotamia, which were only occupied very briefly (114-117).
With Armenia and Mesopotamia perhaps 5,1 Mio. km².
Tp put this for fun into a general context: http://www.hostkingdom.net/earthrul.html
(I dont know though how he came to his 5,698,000 km²)
I have two related questions:
- What figures does the literature give (with source please)?
- Are there any online or printed articles treating the population history of the Roman Empire?
I made a lenghty online inquiry about the maximal territorial extension of the Roman Empire and all I ended up with were some strange and contradictory figures, largley left unexplained ("1.7 million square miles", "2.2 million square miles", "2.3 million square miles at its height", "3,34 Mio km²"). Obviously I have detected a major deficiency of the Internet there.
So, out of lack of a better one, I made an inquiry of my own and calculated the extent of the Roman Empire on the basis of the modern states, sharing its former territory. I did it by guessimating while looking on a modern map, but I still think that approach wields much more precise results than the above. But see for yourself:
Countries belonging fully to the RE:
92.345 km² - Portugal
504.782 km² - Spain
543.965 km² - France
32.545 km² - Belgium
301.336 km² - Italy
110.994 km² - Bulgaria
28 748 km² - Albania
131.957 km² - Greece
130.395 km² - England
20.761 km² - Wales
779.452 km² - Turkey
41.285 km² - Switzerland
185.180 km² - Syria
20.991 km² - Israel (borders of 1948)
6.831 km² - Israel (occupied territories)
Countries belonging to the greater part to the RE:
83.871,1 km² - Austria
255.804 km² - Ex-Jugoslavia
92.300 km² - Jordania
163.610 km² - Tunisia
Countries belonging half to the RE:
238.391 km² - Rumania
1.001.450 km² - Egypt
Countries belonging to the smaller part to the RE:
458.730 km² - Marokko (one fourth)
2.381.741 km² - Algeria (one seventh)
1.759.540 km² - Libya (one tenth)
93.030 km² - Hungary (two fifth)
41.526 km² - Netherlands (one third)
357.050 km² - Germany
-- 34.083,52 km² NRW (one fourth)
-- 35.751,65 km² BW (almost completely)
My calculation: 4.6 Mio. km² for the whole Empire without Armenia and Mesopotamia, which were only occupied very briefly (114-117).
With Armenia and Mesopotamia perhaps 5,1 Mio. km².
Tp put this for fun into a general context: http://www.hostkingdom.net/earthrul.html
(I dont know though how he came to his 5,698,000 km²)
I have two related questions:
- What figures does the literature give (with source please)?
- Are there any online or printed articles treating the population history of the Roman Empire?
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
