Roman Empire

an empire including the lands in Europe and Africa and Asia that were ruled by ancient Rome

• empire — the domain ruled by an emperor or empress

• Roman — an inhabitant of the ancient Roman Empire

• Holy Roman Empire, First Reich — the lands ruled by Charlemagne; a continuation of the Roman Empire in Europe
• Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire — a continuation of the Roman Empire in the East after AD 330 when Constantine the Great rebuilt Byzantium and called it Constantinople and made it his capital

• Africa — the second largest continent; located south of Europe and bordered to the west by the South Atlantic and to the east by the India Ocean
• Asia — the largest continent with 60% of the earth's population; it is joined to Europe on the west to form Eurasia; it is the site of some of the world's earliest civilizations
• Europe — the 2nd smallest continent (actually a vast peninsula of Eurasia); the British use `Europe' to refer to all of the continent except the British Isles