Paris under Napoleon Each of the twelve arrondissements had its own mayor, but their power was limited to enforcing the decrees of Napoleon's ministers. After he crowned himself Emperor on December 2, 1804, Napoleon began a series of projects to make Paris into an imperial capital to rival ancient Rome. He built monuments to French military glory, including the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, the column in Place Vendôme, and the future church of the Madeleine, intended as a temple to military heroes; and began the Arc de Triomphe. To improve the circulation of traffic in central Paris, he built a wide new
Coronation of the Emperor of Brazil towards the emperor, and standing before him, he recited aloud two of the invocations of the litany that were specific to the coronation rite: the first asked God "deign to bless this emperor-elect who is about to be crowned" (a sign of the cross being made over the emperor at the word "bless"), and the second asking God to "bless and consecrate this emperor-elect who is about to be crowned" (two additional signs of the cross being made over the emperor at the words "bless" and "consecrate"). After this, the officiating archbishop or bishop returned to his place and the