Question: When did the empire that colonized the sunniest country in the world in the 1st century end and start?

<P0-S0> iran is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, beginning with the formation of the proto-elamite and elamite kingdoms in 3200–2800 bc. <P0-S1> the iranian medes unified the area into the first of many empires in 625 bc, after which it became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. <P0-S2> iran reached the pinnacle of its power during the achaemenid empire founded by cyrus the great in 550 bc, which at its greatest extent comprised major portions of the ancient world, stretching from parts of the balkans (thrace-macedonia, bulgaria-paeonia) and eastern europe proper in the west, to the indus valley in the east, making it the largest empire the world had yet seen. <P0-S3> the empire collapsed in 330 bc following the conquests of alexander the great. <P0-S4> the parthian empire emerged from the ashes and was succeeded by the sassanid dynasty in 224 ad, under which iran again became one of the leading powers in the world, along with the roman-byzantine empire, for a period of more than four centuries. <SEP> <P1-S0> The Roman Empire (Latin: Imperium Rōmānum, Classical Latin: (ɪmˈpɛ. <P1-S1> ri. <P1-S2> ũː roːˈmaː. <P1-S3> nũː); Koine and Medieval Greek: Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, tr. <P1-S4> Basileia tōn Rhōmaiōn) was the post-Roman Republic period of the ancient Roman civilization, with a government headed by emperors and large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, Africa and Asia. <P1-S5> The city of Rome was the largest city in the world c. 100 BC -- c. AD 400, with Constantinople (New Rome) becoming the largest around AD 500, and the Empire's population grew to an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants (roughly 20% of the world's population at the time). <P1-S6> The 500 - year - old republic which preceded it had been severely destabilized in a series of civil wars and political conflict, during which Julius Caesar was appointed as perpetual dictator and then assassinated in 44 BC. <P1-S7> Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesar's adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. <P1-S8> Octavian's power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power and the new title Augustus, effectively marking the end of the Roman Republic. <SEP> <P2-S0> during the dutch golden age in the late 16th century onward, the dutch republic dominated world trade in the 17th century, conquering a vast colonial empire and operating the largest fleet of merchantmen of any nation. <P2-S1> the county of holland was the wealthiest and most urbanized region in the world. <SEP> <P3-S0> In 332 BC, Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great conquered Egypt as he toppled the Achaemenids and established the Hellenistic Ptolemaic Kingdom, whose first ruler was one of Alexander's former generals, Ptolemy I Soter. <P3-S1> The Ptolemies had to fight native rebellions and were involved in foreign and civil wars that led to the decline of the kingdom and its final annexation by Rome. <P3-S2> The death of Cleopatra ended the nominal independence of Egypt resulting in Egypt becoming one of the provinces of the Roman Empire. <SEP> <P4-S0> Most of Egypt's rain falls in the winter months. <P4-S1> South of Cairo, rainfall averages only around 2 to 5 mm (0.1 to 0.2 in) per year and at intervals of many years. <P4-S2> On a very thin strip of the northern coast the rainfall can be as high as 410 mm (16.1 in), mostly between October and March. <P4-S3> Snow falls on Sinai's mountains and some of the north coastal cities such as Damietta, Baltim, Sidi Barrany, etc. <P4-S4> and rarely in Alexandria. <P4-S5> A very small amount of snow fell on Cairo on 13 December 2013, the first time Cairo received snowfall in many decades. <P4-S6> Frost is also known in mid-Sinai and mid-Egypt. <P4-S7> Egypt is the driest and the sunniest country in the world, and most of its land surface is desert.