The bimillennial anniversary of the death of Emperor August (14 AD), the death of Charlemagne (814), the Vienna Congress (1814-15), and the outbreak of the First World War (1914) are European affairs with a global dimension.
Although the Roman Empire did not last as long as the Holy Roman Empire or the Ottoman Empire, it beat the short-lived Carolingian or Napoleonic Empires by almost four centuries.
The devastating European ideological empires of the twentieth century did not make it into the next century, and only a very few regret their disappearance.
All other European empires contributed positively to the development of European economic, cultural, and social life, notwithstanding their often belligerent and authoritarian character and systems. The significance of Charlemagne (768-814) is not, first and foremost, political but cultural.
Although today’s European politicians celebrate Charlemagne as the precursor to European unity, his legacy strongly contributed to European political conflicts and wars. The rivalry between the German Empire and the French Kingdom and the long dispute over territories (a consequence of the Treaty of Verdun, 843) lasted until 1945.
Charlemagne had no European unity in mind at all, but a Christian Frankish dynasty, established by ruthless conquests. From this point of view, he rather resembles Emperor Napoleon (1768-1821).
It goes without saying that Charlemagne paved the way for Western European cultural revival after the decline of the West-Roman Empire, however.
Napoleon’s contribution to Europe is the concept of the nation-state, as well as the reform of the law, administration, and education.
The Roman Empire, just as ruthless as the previously mentioned empires, is by far the most relevant for Europe’s and worldwide history. This Empire created the conditions for the Christian sect to become a global religion.
The First World War created the conditions for the European totalitarian ideologies, and the Roman Empire paved the way for Christianity. The cultural, social, economic, political and legal significance of this Empire is proverbial today, but was far from self-evident when August (63 BC – 14 AD) took over control.
Emperor August rebuilt Rome and created the foundations of the eternal city, and within two generations, the whole Roman Empire was covered with copies of Rome.
(Source: P. Zanker, The power of images in the Age of Augustus (Ann Arbor 1988).