Beyond the imperial frontiers, the German peoples have been experiencing a period of major upheaval, which affects the Romans through a much increased pressure on their frontiers. Roman emperors are having to spend more and more of their time on campaign. This trend will only continue, and shortly the empire – and with it the Graeco-Roman civilization it shelters – will enter its long period of decline. New religions

These centuries have also seen the western Church, headed by the popes in Rome, reach the height of its power. Church against state

Riley, J. C. (2005). Estimates of regional and global life expectancy, 1800–2001. Population and Development Review, 31(3), 537–543. These developments are laying the foundations for European global pre-eminence in the centuries to come.

Glei, D. A., & Horiuchi, S. (2007). The narrowing sex differential in life expectancy in high-income populations: Effects of differences in the age pattern of mortality. Population Studies, 61(2), 141–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/00324720701331433 Tsar Alexander I (1801-25) was intent on further westernisation and liberalisation. His plans for reform, however, had to be put on hold by the war against Napoleon. These kingdoms are home to a new cosmopolitan civilization, a hybrid of Greek and Middle Eastern cultures which modern scholars label “ Hellenistic“. The Romans Graeco-Roman civilization has taken a major hit in these former Roman provinces, and society is experiencing huge changes. The city-based way of life enjoyed by the Romans is in steep decline. But the gender gap varies between countries and is not constant over time, as you can see in the chart.Partly as a reaction to the religious conflicts. a new intellectual movement is now discernible in Europe, This is the Enlightenment, which emphasises rationality as the basis for the pursuit of truth rather then beliefs received from religious institutions or royal governments. The Soviet Union breaks up. The countries of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan are formed. Finally, in 476, the last Roman emperor in the West abdicated. This left the kingdoms of the Visigoths, the Burgundians and the Franks to divide Gaul between them, while the Visigoths and Seubi shared the Iberian Peninsula. North Africa has been occupied by another German tribe, the Vandals. Southern Britain is being settled by north German peoples who came to be known to history as the Anglo-Saxons. The previous two centuries have seen Europe on the defensive. The Crusader states have completely vanished from the Middle East, a people from central Asian have conquered a huge slice of eastern Europe, and a pandemic has killed an enormous number of people. Yet the region has made huge cultural and technological strides, and is poised for extraordinary growth.