How did the Roman Empire differ from the Holy Roman Empire?
Although the Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire occupied most of the same regions in western and central Europe, the Roman Empire was ruled by the Romans and the Holy Roman Empire was ruled by the Germans. The Roman Empire began in 27 B.C. when Augustus (63 B.C.–A.D. 14; also called Octavian) transformed the Roman Republic into a dictatorship called the Roman Empire. This empire lasted approximately 500 years, ending when Germanic tribes under Odoacer (c. 435–493) conquered Rome around A.D. 476. He overthrew Romulus Augustulus (?–476), the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire. The Holy Roman Empire began in the mid-900s with the ascent of German king Otto I (912–973), who controlled most of northern and central Italy. Pope John XII (937–964), head of the Roman Catholic Church based in Rome, crowned Otto emperor in 962….
