IMPERIVM·ROMANVM·PARS·OCCIDENTALIS Western Roman Empire Division of the Roman Empire ← 286 – 476 ↓ Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus Location of Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire in 395. Capital Milan (286-402) Ravenna (402-476) Language(s) Latin Religion Christianity Government Monarchy Western Roman Empire , 286]]|Empire }} Emperor  - 395–423 Honorius  - 475-476 Romulus Augustulus Consul  - 395 Flavius Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius, Flavius Anicius Probinus  - 476 Basiliscus, Flavius Armatus Legislature Roman Senate Historical era Late Antiquity  - Division of Diocletianus 286  - Deposition of Romulus Augustulus 476 Area  - 395[1] 4,410,000 km² (0 sq mi) Currency Solidus, Aureus, Denarius, Sestertius, As Preceded by Succeeded by Roman Empire Kingdom of Italy Ostrogothic Kingdom Domain of Soissons Romano-British Kingdoms Byzantine Empire Holy Roman Empire

The Western Roman Empire refers to the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 286; the other half of the Roman Empire became known as the Eastern Roman Empire, today widely known as the Byzantine Empire. The capital of the Western Roman Empire was in Mediolanum (modern Milan), until it was moved to Ravenna in 402.

The Western Empire existed intermittently in several periods between the 3rd century and 5th century, after Diocletian's Tetrarchy and the reunifications associated with Constantine the Great and Julian the Apostate. Theodosius I was the last Roman Emperor who ruled over a unified Roman empire. After his death in 395, the Roman Empire was permanently divided. The Western Roman Empire ended officially with the abdication of Romulus Augustus under pressure of Odoacer on 4 September 476, and unofficially with the death of Julius Nepos in 480.

Despite a brief period of reconquest by its counterpart, the Eastern Roman Empire, the Western Roman Empire would not rise again. As the Western Roman Empire fell, a new era began in Western European history: the Middle Ages.

Background

As the Roman Republic expanded, it reached a point at which the central government in Rome could not effectively rule the distant provinces. Communications and transportation were especially problematic, given the vast extent of the Empire. News of invasion, revolt, natural disaster, or epidemic outbreak was carried by ship or mounted postal service, often requiring much time to reach Rome, and for Rome's orders to be realized in the province of origin. For this reason, provincial governors had de facto rule in the name of the Roman republic.

Prior to the establishment of the Empire, the territories of the Roman Republic had been divided among the Second Triumvirate, composed of Octavian, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Antony received the provinces in the East: Achaea, Macedonia and Epirus (roughly modern Greece), Bithynia, Pontus and Asia (roughly modern Turkey), Syria, Cyprus and Cyrenaica. These lands had previously been conquered by Alexander the Great; thus, much of the aristocracy was of Greek and Macedonian origin. The whole region, especially the major cities, had been largely assimilated into Greek culture, Greek often serving as the lingua-franca.

Octavian, on the other hand, obtained the Roman provinces of the West: Italia (modern Italy), Gaul (modern France), Gallia Belgica (parts of modern Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) and Hispania (modern Spain and Portugal). These lands also included Greek and Carthaginian colonies in the coastal areas, though Celtic tribes such as Gauls and Celtiberians were culturally dominant.

Lepidus received the minor province of Africa (roughly modern Tunisia). Octavian soon took Africa from Lepidus, while adding Greek-colonized Sicilia (modern Sicily) to his holdings.

Upon the defeat of Mark Antony, a victorious Octavian controlled a united Roman Empire. While the Roman Empire featured many distinct cultures, all were often said to experience gradual Romanization. While the predominantly Greek culture of the East and the predominantly Latin culture of the West functioned effectively as an integrated whole, political and military developments would ultimately realign the Empire along those cultural and linguistic lines.

Rebellions, uprisings and political consequences

Minor rebellions and uprisings were fairly common events throughout the Empire. Conquered tribes or cities would revolt, and the legions would be detached to crush the rebellion. While this process was simple in peacetime, it could be considerably more complicated in wartime, as for example in the Great Jewish Revolt .

In a full-blown military campaign, the legions, under generals such as Vespasian, were far more numerous. To ensure a commander's loyalty, a pragmatic emperor might hold some members of the general's family hostage. To this end, Nero effectively held Domitian and Quintus Petillius Cerialis, governor of Ostia, who were respectively the younger son and brother-in-law of Vespasian. The rule of Nero ended only with the revolt of the Praetorian Guard, who had been bribed in the name of Galba. The Praetorian Guard, a figurative "sword of Damocles", were often perceived as being of dubious loyalty. Following their example, the legions at the borders increasingly participated in the civil wars.

The main enemy in the West was arguably the Germanic tribes behind the rivers Rhine and Danube. Augustus had tried to conquer them but ultimately pulled back after the Teutonberg reversal.

Parthia, in the East, on the other hand, was too remote and powerful to be conquered. Any Parthian invasion was confronted and usually defeated, and the Parthians similarly repelled any Roman invasion, creating a stalemate situation.

Controlling the western border of Rome was reasonably easy, because it was relatively near, but controlling both frontiers at the same time during wartime was difficult. If the emperor was near the border in the East, chances were high that an ambitious general would rebel in the West and vice-versa, making the Empire doubly vulnerable. This wartime opportunism plagued many ruling emperors, and indeed paved the road to power for several future emperors.

Economic stagnation in the West

Rome and the Italian peninsula began to experience an economic slowdown as industries and money began to move outward. By the beginning of the 2nd century AD, the economic stagnation of Italia was seen in the provincial-born Emperors, such as Trajan and Hadrian. Economic problems increased in strength and frequency.

Crisis of the 3rd century

Starting on 18 March 235, with the assassination of the Emperor Alexander Severus, the Roman Empire sank into a 50-year civil war, known today as the Crisis of the Third Century. The rise of the bellicose Sassanid dynasty in Parthia posed a major threat to Rome in the east. Demonstrating the increased danger, Emperor Valerian was captured by Shapur I in 259. His eldest son and heir-apparent, Gallienus, succeeded and took up the fight on the eastern frontier. Gallienus' son, Saloninus, and the Praetorian Prefect Silvanus, were residing in Colonia Agrippina (modern Cologne) to solidify the loyalty of the local legions. Nevertheless, Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus, the local governor of the German provinces, rebelled; his assault on Colonia Agrippina resulted in the deaths of Saloninus and the prefect. In the confusion that followed, an independent state known as the Gallic Empire emerged.

Its capital was Augusta Treverorum (modern Trier), and it quickly expanded its control over the German and Gaulish provinces and over all of Hispania and Britannia. It had its own senate, and a partial list of its consuls still survives. It maintained Roman religion, language, and culture, and was far more concerned with fighting the Germanic tribes than other Romans. However, in the reign of Claudius Gothicus (268 to 270), large expanses of the Gallic Empire were restored to Roman rule.

At roughly the same time, the eastern provinces seceded as the Empire of Palmyra, or the Palmyrene Empire, under the rule of Queen Zenobia.

In 272, Emperor Aurelian finally managed to subdue Palmyra and reclaim its territory for the empire. With the East secure, he turned his attention to the West, taking the Gallic Empire a year later. Because of a secret deal between Aurelian and Gallic Emperor Tetricus I and his son Tetricus II, the Gallic army was swiftly defeated. In exchange, Aurelian spared their lives and gave the two former rebels important positions in Italy.

Tetrarchy

Main article: Tetrarchy

The external borders were mostly quiet for the remainder of the Crisis of the Third Century, although between the death of Aurelian in 275 and the accession of Diocletian ten years later, at least eight emperors or would-be emperors were killed, many assassinated by their own troops.

Under Diocletian, the political division of the Roman Empire began. In 286, through the creation of the Tetrarchy, he gave the western part to Maximian as Augustus and named Constantius Chlorus as his subordinate (Caesar). This system effectively divided the empire into four parts and created separate capitals besides Rome as a way to avoid the civil unrest that had marked the 3rd century. In the West, the capitals were Maximian's Mediolanum (now Milan) and Constantius' Trier. On 1 May 305, the two senior Augusti stepped down and were replaced by their respective Caesars.

Constantine

Main article: Constantine I (emperor)

The system of the Tetrarchy quickly ran aground when the Western Empire's Constantius died unexpectedly in 306, and his son Constantine was proclaimed Augustus of the West by the legions in Britain. A crisis followed as several claimants attempted to rule the Western half. In 308, the Augustus of the East, Galerius, arranged a conference at Carnuntum which revived the Tetrarchy by dividing the West between Constantine and a newcomer named Licinius. Constantine was far more interested in reconquering the whole empire. Through a series of battles in the East and the West, Licinius and Constantine stabilized their respective parts of the Roman Empire by 314, and they now competed for sole control of a reunified state. Constantine emerged victorious in 324 after the surrender and murder of Licinius following the Battle of Chrysopolis.

The Tetrarchy was dead, but the idea of dividing the Roman Empire between two emperors had been validated. Very strong emperors would reunite it under their single rule, but with their death the Roman Empire would be divided again and again between the East and the West.

Second division

The Roman Empire was under the rule of a single Emperor, but with the death of Constantine in 337, civil war erupted among his three sons, dividing the empire into three parts. The West was reunified in 340, and a complete reunification of the whole empire occurred in 353, with Constantius II.

Constantius II focused most of his power in the East, and is often regarded as the first emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Under his rule, the city of Byzantium, only recently refounded as Constantinople, was fully developed as a capital.

In 361, Constantius II became ill and died, and Constantius Chlorus' grandson Julian, who had served as Constantius II's Caesar, took power. Julian was killed carrying on Constantius II's war against Persia in 363 and was replaced by Jovian who ruled only until 364.

Final division

Following the death of Jovian, the empire fell again into a new period of civil war similar to the Crisis of the Third Century. In 364 Valentinian I emerged. He immediately divided the empire once again, giving the eastern half to his brother Valens. Stability was not achieved for long in either half as the conflicts with outside forces intensified, especially with the Huns and the Goths. A serious problem in the West was a political reaction caused by the indigenous paganism against the Christianizing emperors. In 379 Valentinian I's son and successor Gratian declined to wear the mantle of pontifex maximus, and in 382 he rescinded the rights of pagan priests and removed the pagan altar from the Roman Curia, and gave the title of Pontifex Maximus to the Pope.

In 388, a powerful and popular general named Magnus Maximus seized power in the west and forced Gratian's son Valentinian II to flee to the east for aid; Eastern Emperor Theodosius I promptly restored him to power. He also caused a ban on the native paganism to be implemented in the west in 391, enforcing Christianity. In 392 the Frankish and pagan magister militum Arbogast assassinated Valentinian II, and a senator named Eugenius was proclaimed emperor. Eugenius was overcome in 394 by Theodosius I, the latter ruling both East and West for a year up to his death in 395. This was the last instance in which a single ruler ruled both parts of the Roman Empire.

A short period of stability under Emperor Flavius Augustus Honorius (controlled by Flavius Stilicho) ended with Stilicho's death in 408. Now the two empires truly diverged, as the East began a slow recovery and consolidation, while the West began to collapse entirely.

Economic factors

While the West was experiencing an economic decline throughout the late empire, the East was not so destitute, as Emperors like Constantine the Great and Constantius II had invested heavily in the eastern economy. The economic decline of the West contributed to its eventual collapse. The Byzantine Empire could afford large numbers of professional soldiers and augment them with mercenaries while the Western Roman Empire couldn't afford this to the same extent. Even in the case of a major defeat the East could, certainly not without difficulties, buy its enemies off with a ransom.

As the central power weakened, the State also lost control of its borders and provinces, as well as control over the Mediterranean Sea. Roman Emperors tried to maintain control of the sea, but once the Vandals conquered North Africa, imperial authorities had to cover too much ground with too few resources. The Roman institutions collapsed along with the economic stability. Most invaders required a third of the land they conquered from their Roman subjects, and this could turn into much more, as different tribes conquered the same province.

Tens of square kilometres of carefully developed land was abandoned due to political instability. As most of the economy of Classical antiquity was based upon agriculture, this was a severe economic blow.

Conquest of Rome and fall of the Western Roman Empire

With the death of Stilicho in 408, Honorius was left in charge, and although he ruled until his death in 423, his reign was filled with usurpations and invasions, particularly by the Vandals and Visigoths. In 410, Rome was sacked by outside forces for the first time since the Gallic invasions of the 4th century BC. The instability caused by usurpers throughout the Western Empire helped these tribes in their conquests, and in the 5th century the Germanic tribes became usurpers themselves. In 475, Orestes, a former secretary of Attila the Hun, drove Emperor Julius Nepos out of Ravenna and proclaimed his own son Romulus Augustus as emperor.

In 476, Orestes refused to grant the Odoacer-led Heruli federated status, prompting Odoacer to sack Rome and send the imperial insignia to Constantinople, installing himself as king over Italy. Although some isolated pockets of Roman rule continued even after 476, the city of Rome itself was under the rule of the barbarians, and the control of Rome over the West had effectively ended. The remnants were conquered within a decade.

Last emperor

Historical convention has determined that the Western Roman Empire ended on 4 September 476, when Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustus. However, the issue in practice is not clear-cut.

Julius Nepos still claimed to be Emperor of the West, ruling the rump state of Dalmatia, and was recognized as such by Byzantine Emperor Zeno and by Syagrius, who had managed to preserve a Roman enclave in northern Gaul, known today as the Domain of Soissons. Odoacer proclaimed himself ruler of Italy and began to negotiate with Zeno. The Byzantine emperor eventually did grant Odoacer patrician status as a recognition of his authority and accepted him as his own viceroy of Italy. Zeno however insisted that Odoacer payed homage to Nepos as western emperor. Odoacer accepted this condition and even issued coins in Nepos' name throughout Italy. This however was mainly an empty political gesture as Odoacer never returned any real power or territories to Nepos. Nepos was eventually murdered in 480 and Odoacer quickly invaded and conquered Dalmatia.

Theodoric

The last hope for a reunited Empire came in 493, as Odoacer was replaced by Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. Theodoric had been recruited by Zeno to deal with a dangerous Odoacer. While in principle Theodoric was a subordinate, a viceroy of the emperor of the East, actually he was an equal.

Following Theodoric's death in 526, the West no longer resembled the East. The West was now fully controlled by invading outside tribes, while the East had retreated and Hellenized. While the East would make some attempts to recapture the West, the Roman Empire was never the same again.

Byzantine reconquest

Throughout the Middle Ages, the eastern Byzantine Empire laid claims on areas of the West which had been occupied by several tribes. In the 6th century, the Byzantine Empire managed to reconquer large areas of the former Western Roman Empire. The most successful were the campaigns of the Byzantine generals Belisarius and Narses on behalf of Emperor Justinian I from 533 to 554. The Vandal-occupied former Roman territory in North Africa was regained, particularly the territory centred around the city of Carthage. The campaign eventually moved into Italy and reconquered it completely. Minor territories were taken as far west as the southern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.

It appeared at the time that perhaps Rome could be reconstituted. However, the tribal influence had caused far too much damage to these former Roman provinces, both economically and culturally. Not only were they extremely costly to maintain, the invasion and propagation of the Germanic tribes throughout these territories meant that much of the Roman culture and identity that had held the empire together had been destroyed or severely damaged.

Although some eastern emperors occasionally attempted to reconquer some parts of the West, none were as successful as Justinian. The division between the two areas grew, resulting in a growing rivalry. While the Eastern Roman Empire continued after Justinian, the eastern emperors focused mainly on defending its traditional territory. The East no longer had the necessary military strength, spelling the end of any hope for reunification.

Legacy

Further information: Roman Catholic Church, Romance languages, Corpus Juris Civilis, Civil law (legal system), Latin alphabet

As the Western Roman Empire crumbled, the new Germanic rulers who conquered the provinces nonetheless upheld many Roman laws and traditions. Many of the invading Germanic tribes were already Christianised, though most were followers of Arianism. They quickly converted to Catholicism, gaining more loyalty from local Romanized populations, as well as the recognition and support of the powerful Roman Catholic Church. Although they initially continued to recognise indigenous tribal laws, they were more influenced by Roman Law and gradually incorporated it as well.

Roman Law, particularly the Corpus Juris Civilis collected by order of Justinian I, is the ancient basis on which the modern Civil law stands. In contrast, Common law is based on the Germanic Anglo-Saxon law.

Latin as a language never really disappeared. It combined with neighboring Germanic and Celtic languages, giving rise to many modern Romance languages such as Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian and Romansh. Latin also influenced Germanic languages such as English, German, and Dutch. It survives in its "purer" form as the language of the Roman Catholic Church (the Mass was spoken exclusively in Latin until 1965) and was used as a lingua franca between many nations. It remained the language of medicine, law, diplomacy (most treaties were written in Latin), of intellectuals and scholarship.

The Latin alphabet was expanded with the letters J, K, W and Z and is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. Roman numerals continue to be used but were mostly replaced by Arabic numerals.

The ideal of the Roman Empire as a mighty Christian Empire with a single ruler continued to seduce many powerful rulers. Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Lombards, was even crowned as Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III in 800. Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire like Frederick I Barbarossa, Frederick II and Charles V, and mighty Sultans like Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire, among others, tried to a certain extent to resurrect it, but none of their attempts were successful.

A very visible legacy of the Western Roman Empire is the Roman Catholic Church. The Church slowly began to replace Roman institutions in the West, even helping to negotiate the safety of Rome during the late 5th Century. As Rome was invaded by Germanic tribes, many assimilated, and by the middle of the medieval period (c.9th and 10th centuries) the central, western and northern parts of Europe had been largely converted to the Roman Catholic Church and acknowledged the Pope as the Vicar of Christ.

List of Western Roman emperors

Gallic Emperors (259 to 273)

• Postumus: 259 to 268
• Laelianus: 268 Usurper
• Marcus Aurelius Marius: 268
• Victorinus: 268 to 271
• Domitianus: 271 Usurper
• Tetricus I: 271 to 273
• Tetricus II: 271 to 273 Son and co-emperor of Tetricus I

Tetrarchy (293 to 313)

Augusti are shown with their Caesares and regents further indented

• Maximian: 293 to 305
• Constantius Chlorus: 293 to 305
• Constantius Chlorus: 305 to 306
• Flavius Valerius Severus: 305 to 306
• Flavius Valerius Severus: 306 to 307
• Constantine I: 306 to 313
• Maxentius/Maximian: 307 to 308
• Licinius: 308 to 313
• Maxentius: 308 to 312 Usurper
• Domitius Alexander: 308 to 309 African usurper

Constantinian dynasty (313 to 363)

• Constantine I: 313 to 337 Sole emperor of the whole Roman Empire 324 to 337
• Constantine II: 337 to 340 Emperor of Gaul, Britannia, and Hispania
• Constans I: 337 to 350 Initially emperor of Italy and Africa; emperor of the west 340 to 350
• Magnentius: 350 to 353 Usurper
• Constantius II: 353 to 361 Sole emperor
• Julian: 355 to 361
• Julian: 361 to 363

Non-dynastic (363 to 364)

• Jovian: 363 to 364

Valentinian dynasty (364 to 392)

• Valentinian I: 364 to 375
• Gratian: 367 to 375
• Gratian: 375 to 383
• Valentinian II: 375 to 383
• Magnus Maximus: 383 to 388 Usurper
• Valentinian II: 383 to 392

Non-dynastic (392 to 394)

• Eugenius: 392 to 394

Theodosian dynasty (394 to 455)

• Theodosius I: 394 to 395 Sole emperor
• Honorius: 395 to 423
• Flavius Stilicho: 395 to 408 Power behind the throne
• Constantius III: 421
• Constantine III: 407 to 411 Usurper
• Priscus Attalus: 409 to 410/414 to 415 Usurper
• Jovinus: 411 to 412 Usurper
• Valentinian III: 423 to 455
• Galla Placidia: 423 to 433 Regent
• Aëtius: 433 to 454 Regent
• Joannes: 423 to 425 Usurper

Non-dynastic (455 to 480)

• Petronius Maximus: 455
• Avitus: 455 to 456
• Ricimer: 456 to 472 Power behind the throne
• Majorian: 457 to 461
• Libius Severus: 461 to 465
• Anthemius: 465 to 472
• Olybrius: 472
• Glycerius: 473 to 474
• Julius Nepos: 474 to 480 In exile 475 to 480
• Romulus Augustus: 475 to 476
• Flavius Orestes: 475 to 476 Power behind the throne

Flavius Orestes was killed by revolting Germanic mercenaries. Their chieftain, Odoacer, assumed control of Italy as a de jure representative of Julius Nepos and Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno.

See also

• Eastern Roman Empire
• Holy Roman Empire

References

External links

• www.roman-empire.net
• De Imperatoribus Romanis

History of Ancient Rome	[ edit ]
Founding | Roman Kingdom | Roman Republic | Roman Empire | Decline