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
Napoleon I as Emperor the Château de Saint-Cloud, and returned to Versailles in 1894. The painting depicts the emperor Napoleon I at his coronation on 2 December 1804. He is standing before a blue-cushioned gilt throne, wearing a white robe embroidered with gold thread, a long red trimmed with ermine, and white . His head is crowned with golden laurels, and he is wearing a golden collar of the Légion d'honneur. He is holding a staff topped by an eagle in his right hand, and his left hand is resting by his side; further to his right is a stool bearing an orb and