When it ruled the most land ,the Roman Empire was enormous . It covered much of the known world. to the north , it stretched as far as England . to the west , it ruled land in Spain and western Africa. to the south , it covered much land in Africa . and to the east , it stretched far into the Middle East .however , the most important city in the empire was always Rome.there was an important saying: all roads lead to Rome. at that time ,the emperors were trying to be connected to their provinces far from the the capital . so they built many roads . and all of them led back to the capital . when Rome was powerful ,too. when Rome was weak , the empire was weak . in later years ,Rome was defeated by invaders from Germany . How did the invaders get to Rome ? they went there on one of the Roman roads!