Starting in 1797 with his first conquest of a great power, Austria, Napoleon Bonaparte built an empire greater than those of Caesar, Charlemagne, and Hitler. When he crowned himself emperor of the French in 1804, he was master of a France that dominated Italy, Switzerland, the left bank of the Rhine, and the Low Countries. Whether conquered by him or by the forces that Revolutionary France unleashed on Europe while Bonaparte was a mere junior officer, Napoleon presented himself to the French people as the guarantor of the gains of the Revolution, be it territory or equality before the law. By the beginning of 1806, he had defeated the European powers in no less than three coalition wars. His aggrandizement, partly the cause of these wars and partly the result of them, brought Napoleon new laurels. He was king of Italy, protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, and mediator of the Swiss. Ancient and historic cities such as Rome, Geneva, Brussels, Antwerp, and Amsterdam belonged to France proper, and Naples, Milan, Venice, Mainz, Frankfurt, and Hamburg were among those of the Grand Empire. Following another victorious war in 1806–7, Napoleon distributed the crowns of Europe to his siblings. Joseph became the king of Spain, Caroline the queen of Naples, Louis the king of Holland, and Jerome the king of Westphalia. By 1808, Napoleon was master of Europe.