The Roman Empire began in 27BC; however, Rome itself can be dated back to the year 753BC but began to grow in the 6th century BC. In the early days, Rome was a Republic, therefore, it was not ruled by one person but a group of men called a Senate. This was until the 1st century BC when the republic collapsed and the empire started in 27BC. Rome’s first emperor was Augustus whose great-uncle and adoptive father, Julius Caesar, was a well-known General who was killed for trying to change the government to become a General. A consequence of this was: It encouraged Augustus to lead the change from republic to empire during the years after Caesar’s Assassination. The Roman Empire spread over the many years of its existence, conquering a vast majority of Europe, England, North Africa’s coastal region and a section of the Middle East. This was in 117AD when the Empire was strongest and ruled as far as Mesopotamia. The Romans used the help of their army, who used many tactics such as divide and conquer to rule over all this land. Despite this, the Romans were constantly attacked by people they called ‘barbarians’. In AD476, Romulus Augustus (the last Roman emperor) lost his rule of the empire to a German Prince named Odovacar. From then on, the empire was ruled by many kings and prices form outside of Italy.