How Long Did the Roman Empire Last? 500 Years Is Wrong

How long did the Roman Empire last? In school you probably learned a clean number: 27 BC to 476 AD, about 500 years. Sounds neat. It's also wrong. Spoiler: the eastern half of Rome kept going for almost another thousand years, until 1453. Add that in and you get roughly 1,480 years. Add the Republic before Augustus and Rome ran for almost 2,000 years as a state. We'll show you why the school answer only tells half the story and which date actually closes the book on Rome.

The school answer: 500 years of empire

The classic answer starts on January 16, 27 BC. On that day the Roman Senate gave Octavian the title Augustus. He became the first Roman emperor. Before that, Rome was a republic with two elected consuls per year. With Augustus, the empire began.

The end date in the school answer is September 4, 476 AD. That's when a Germanic general named Odoacer deposed the last western Roman emperor. His name was Romulus Augustulus and he was still a teenager. Odoacer sent him into retirement near Naples with a pension. Western Rome was over.

From 27 BC to 476 AD, that's 503 years. That's the number you'll find in most textbooks. But it ignores the entire eastern half of the empire.

How long did the Roman Empire really last?

Rome wasn't really finished until May 29, 1453. On that day Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II captured Constantinople. That city was the capital of the eastern Roman Empire, often called the Byzantine Empire. The last emperor was Constantine XI, and he died in the battle. Only then did the Roman state actually end.

From 27 BC to 1453 AD, you get 1,480 years. That's almost three times the school answer. Quick fact: the Byzantines never called themselves Byzantines. They called themselves Rhomaioi. That means: Romans. To them, the empire never fell. It just moved.

Plot twist:

The Roman Empire outlived the famous Sack of Rome (410 AD) by more than 1,000 years. In Constantinople, people spoke Greek and called themselves Romans right up until 1453.

Add the Republic and you get almost 2,000 years

Before the empire, there was the Roman Republic. By tradition, it started in 509 BC, when the Romans threw out their last king, Tarquinius Superbus. From then on, two consuls ran Rome, elected by the people. The Republic lasted 482 years, until Augustus founded the empire in 27 BC.

Add Republic plus empire plus Byzantium and you get 1,962 years of Roman state. From 509 BC to 1453 AD. That's almost twice as long as the United States has existed since 1776, multiplied by four. It's also longer than all of recorded American, Canadian, and Mexican history combined.

If you go all the way back to the legendary founding date of 753 BC, Rome covers more than 2,200 years. But careful: the first 244 years were ruled by kings, not a republic or an empire. That's a different chapter.

Why 476 still matters anyway

Even if 476 wasn't the real end of Rome, the year still matters. It marked the end of Roman administration in western Europe. Roads, aqueducts, and Latin as the official language slowly faded. Spain, France, Britain, and Italy turned into kingdoms run by Goths, Franks, and Lombards.

Some historians even argue that 476 wasn't that big a deal. Odoacer ruled Italy afterwards in the name of the eastern emperor. On paper, Rome was still there. On the street, it wasn't.

Want more history aha-moments? Try our history estimation questions for puzzles on Rome, the Middle Ages, and more. Or check out which oldest cities in the world were already old when Rome was founded.

The Holy Roman Empire: a third claimant

There's one more candidate. In the year 800, the Pope crowned Charlemagne emperor, claiming the Roman legacy for him. That title eventually grew into the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. It officially lasted until August 6, 1806. On that day Emperor Francis II abdicated, because Napoleon was about to claim the title for himself.

Count that empire too and the idea of Rome ran for over 2,500 years. But here's the catch: the Holy Roman Empire was never really Rome. Voltaire put it best when he wrote it was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire. It was a German-Central European patchwork that borrowed the brand name.

How big Rome was at its peak

Rome reached its largest size under Emperor Trajan in 117 AD. It covered around 5 million km² (about 1.93 million square miles). For context: that's roughly half the size of the United States, but spread across three continents. The empire stretched from Hadrian's Wall in northern England to the Persian Gulf, and from Morocco to the Black Sea.

Trajan's successor Hadrian gave parts of it back almost immediately. Too big, too expensive, too hard to defend. From then on, the empire shrank slowly but steadily. Even so, it took another 1,336 years before Constantinople finally fell.

How long did the Roman Empire last in total?▾

If you only count the western Roman Empire, it lasted 503 years (27 BC to 476 AD). Including the eastern Roman Empire, it ran for 1,480 years until Constantinople fell in 1453. Add the Republic and the total Roman state ran for about 1,962 years.

When did the Roman Empire begin?▾

The empire began on January 16, 27 BC, when the Roman Senate gave Octavian the title Augustus. Before that, Rome was a republic founded in 509 BC after the Romans expelled their last king, Tarquinius Superbus.

When did the Roman Empire end?▾

It depends. The western Roman Empire ended on September 4, 476 AD when Romulus Augustulus was deposed. The eastern Roman Empire, also called Byzantium, ended on May 29, 1453 when the Ottomans captured Constantinople.

What's the difference between the western and eastern Roman Empire?▾

Emperor Diocletian split the empire in 285 AD because it was too large to govern alone. The west, ruled from Rome and later Ravenna, fell in 476. The east, ruled from Constantinople, spoke Greek and survived almost 1,000 years longer.

Why do textbooks only teach the 500-year answer?▾

Western European history books focus on western Rome. The eastern Roman Empire feels like a separate story from a western perspective, but for the people living there, it was simply Rome continued. They called themselves Romans right up until 1453.

How big was the Roman Empire at its peak?▾

Under Emperor Trajan in 117 AD, Rome covered around 5 million km² (1.93 million sq mi). That's about half the size of the United States. The empire stretched from Hadrian's Wall in Scotland to the Persian Gulf, and from Morocco to the Black Sea.

Was the Holy Roman Empire actually Roman?▾

Mostly in name. The Holy Roman Empire began in 800 with Charlemagne's coronation and lasted until 1806. It claimed the Roman legacy but was a German-Central European state. Voltaire mocked it as neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.

Take-away: Rome didn't last 500 years. It lasted 1,480, or almost 2,000 if you count the Republic. The school answer isn't wrong, just incomplete. Want to test your history instincts? Try our history estimation questions. Or read up on the tallest structures in human history. Spoiler: a few of them would have fit right into Imperial Rome.

How Long Did the Roman Empire Really Last?