Printable ScholarRoman Empire Map
Free printable map of the Roman Empire at its greatest extent under Emperor Trajan in AD 117, showing the empire’s reach across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Choose your version
Labeled or blank.
Both are free PDFs sized for US Letter paper.
Labeled
Regions, cities, rivers and seas named, on shaded relief.
downloadLabeled PDF
Blank
The same terrain, border and city markers with no names, for labeling practice.
downloadBlank PDFInk-saving black and white
The same empire on a plain outline map. The blank one numbers the cities and has a word bank.
Black and white
Labeled, with no terrain shading.
downloadBlack and white PDF
Black and white blank
Numbered cities and a word bank.
downloadBlack and white blank PDF
Teaching pack · Grades 5–7
Teaching Ancient Rome? The whole unit, ready to teach.
Two weeks of lessons in one download: slides to present, notes for students to fill in, and printable pages that use these maps and pictures.
- 20 lesson slides (PowerPoint you can edit, teacher notes on every slide) and 2 pages of guided notes
- 4 illustrated reading pages and a GRAPES organizer
- Maps: labeled, blank, Read and Measure the Map with Hannibal's route, and a "Where would you found your city?" decision with the reveal
- Activities: picture studies of a Pompeii street and a Roman legionary, how an aqueduct worked (labeled, blank and the steps), who was who in Rome and how the Republic was run, Roman numerals on real inscriptions, the Twelve Tables, a timeline sort and Republic vs. Empire
- A 15-question quiz, a teacher guide with a two-week plan, and answer keys for everything
Every answer is in the pack. The readings, slides, maps and pictures teach everything the sheets and quiz ask, so no textbook is needed.
Get the Ancient Rome pack for $7Teaching more than one? Get all six ancient civilizations (Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, China and India) for $29: about twelve weeks of lessons.
Get all 6 packs for $29See all six packsOr get every history pack (18) in one download:Get all 18 for $49
One-time purchase. Instant download. Color and ink-saving black-and-white editions. Secure checkout by Stripe.
The Roman Empire
At its greatest extent under Emperor Trajan in AD 117, the Roman Empire stretched from the Atlantic coast of Iberia to the borders of Mesopotamia, and from southern Britain to the Sahara Desert. It covered all of modern Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal; the Balkans and Greece; all of Turkey; the Levant from Syria to Egypt; and the North African coast from Morocco to Egypt.
Rome began as a small city-state on the Tiber River. Through centuries of conquest and alliance, the Roman Republic expanded across the Mediterranean basin. The shift from republic to empire came under Augustus in 27 BC. Over the next century and a half, emperors including Claudius, Vespasian, and Trajan pushed the frontiers ever outward.
Trajan’s campaigns (98–117 AD) added Dacia (modern Romania) and Arabia Petraea (modern Jordan). His successor Hadrian abandoned the most distant conquests as indefensible and instead fortified the frontiers — Hadrian’s Wall across northern Britain dates from around AD 122. The Rhine and Danube rivers formed the empire’s permanent northern boundary.
Pair it with a timeline
Add the dates to the geography with the free printable Ancient Rome Timeline.
Ancient Rome TimelineFind it on the map
- The Rhine and Danube rivers, which formed the northern frontier
- The Sahara Desert, where the empire stopped in Africa
- The Alps, between Italy and Gaul
The empire boundary is from the Ancient World Mapping Center (ODbL), based on the Barrington Atlas. The striped area is Armenia and Mesopotamia, which Trajan conquered in 114 to 116 and Hadrian gave up in 117; its outline is approximate. Coastlines and rivers are shown as they are today.
Frequently asked questions
How big was the Roman Empire at its peak?
At its greatest extent under Trajan in AD 117, the Roman Empire covered approximately 5 million square kilometers (about 2 million square miles) and had a population estimated at 50–60 million — roughly 20% of the world’s population at that time.
Which modern countries were part of the Roman Empire?
The Roman Empire covered most of modern Western Europe (Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland), England and Wales, the Balkans (Greece, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, and more), all of Turkey, the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan), Egypt’s Nile valley, and the North African coast of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and northern Morocco.
Where do the boundaries on this map come from?
The empire outline is drawn from the Ancient World Mapping Center’s boundary data for AD 117, which is based on the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. The frontier followed natural features: the Rhine and Danube rivers in the north, the edge of the Sahara in the south, and the Euphrates in the east. The striped area shows Armenia and Mesopotamia, which Trajan conquered in 114–116 and Hadrian gave up in 117.
Did Rome control all of Britain?
Rome controlled England and Wales (called Britannia) from roughly AD 43 to 410. Scotland was never permanently conquered. Hadrian’s Wall, built across northern England around AD 122, marked the permanent northern frontier of Roman Britain.
