2-668-142 - © CM Dixon/Heritage Images

Children in religious procession, Roman wall painting from Ostia, c2nd-3rd century. The late imperial period corresponds to the expansion of political and cultural influence of the Roman Empire. Late 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD. The Roman imperial period in this sense would end with the reforms under Diocletian (r. 284-305) and the beginning Christianization of the Roman Empire.