Western Roman Empire
The
Western Roman Empire is the name given to the western half of the
Roman Empire after its division by
Diocletian in
286. It would exist intermittently in several periods between the
3rd century and the
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 an unified Roman empire. After his death in
395 the Roman Empire was definitively divided and the Western Roman Empire ended officially with the abdication of
Romulus Augustus under pressure of the
Germanic chieftain Odoacer on the
4th of September,
476, and unofficially with the death of
Julius Nepos, in
480.
Despite brief periods of reconquest by its counterpart, the Eastern Roman empire, widely known as the
Byzantine Empire, the Western Roman Empire would never rise again. The Byzantine Empire would survive for another
millennium being eventually conquered by the Ottoman Empire in
1453.
As the Western Roman Empire fell, a new era would begin in
Western European history: the
Middle Ages.
Influenced by the most important legacy of the Western Roman Empire, the
Roman Catholic Church, the new warlike "
barbarian kingdoms" would rise from the ashes and ruins of the Western Roman Empire and would eventually adopt the Roman Catholic faith, Roman culture, and
Roman law. Increasingly, these "barbarians" would also see themselves more and more as the "true heirs" of Rome.
As the
Roman Republic expanded, it naturally reached a point in which the central government in
Rome could not expect to rule effectively the distant provinces. This was due to slow communications and relatively slow transportation methods. The news of an enemy invasion, a revolt, an epidemic outbreak or of a natural disaster was carried by ship or by mounted postal service ( the
Cursus publicus) and therefore needed "quite some time" to reach Rome and would require a similar amount of time until a response and then a reaction reached the
trouble-spot. Therefore the provinces were administrated by
governors who
de facto ruled them in the name of the Roman republic.
Shortly before the
Roman Empire, the territories of the Roman Republic had even been divided between the members of the
Second Triumvirate, composed by
Octavian,
Mark Antony and
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. This division would be repeated much later.
Antony received all the provinces in the East, namely
Achaea,
Macedonia and
Epirus (region) (roughly modern
Greece),
Bithynia,
Pontus and
Asia (roughly modern
Turkey),
Syria,
Cyprus and
Cyrenaica. This part had been previously conquered by
Alexander the Great in the
4th century BC and a large portion of the local
aristocracy were of Greek and Macedonian origin. The majority of the royal dynasties were in fact descendants of his generals. This region had been assimilated to a large degree by the Greek culture and
Greek was the
lingua-franca in most of the larger cities.
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). This part had also many Greek and Carthaginian colonies on the coastal areas, but by the large had been culturally dominated by the
Celtic tribes, like the
Gauls and the
Celtiberians.
Lepidus was given the minor province of
Africa (modern
Tunisia) to govern. After some political and military developments Octavian took the province of Africa away from Lepidus and also took possession of the much Greek-colonized island of
Sicilia (modern
Sicily).
After the defeat of Mark Antony, the victorious Octavian controlled the whole
Roman Empire from Rome. During his reign, his friend
Agrippa would temporarily rule over the eastern provinces as his personal representative. This happened again during the rule of
Tiberius who sent his
heir-apparent Germanicus to the east.
One has to be careful in order not to exaggerate, and see this early cultural East - West division as something unsurpassable, and see the later political division as something which was somehow "bound to happen" and unavoidable. The Roman Empire had many different cultures and all of them were subject to a gradual process of
Romanization. Greek was also spoken in the West and Latin was also spoken the East. Greek culture as a whole was hardly an antagonist to Latin culture, in fact it helped to unify culturally the Roman Empire and both of these cultures were equal partners in the
Greco-Roman world. Nevertheless, later military developments with its political consequences would divide the Roman Empire, and much later the Byzantine Empire would later regroup around the Greek culture.
In peacetime, it was relatively easy to rule the empire from its capital city Rome. An eventual
rebellion was expected, and would happen from time to time: a general or a governor would gain the loyalty of his officers through a mixture of personal charisma, promises and simple bribes. A conquered tribe would rebel, or a conquered city would revolt. This would be a bad, but not a catastrophic event. The legions were spread around the borders and the rebel leader would, in normal circumstances, have only one or two legions under his command. Loyal legions would be detached from other points of the empire and would eventually drown the rebellion in blood. This happened even more easily in case of a small local native uprising as the rebels would normally have no great military experience. Unless the emperor was weak, incompetent, hated, and/or universally despised, these rebellions would be a local and isolated event.
During real wartime however, which could develop from a rebellion or an uprising, like the massive
Great Jewish Revolt, this was totally and dangerously different. In a full-blown
military campaign the
legions under the command of generals like
Vespasian, were of a much greater number. Therefore to be certain of the commander's loyalty, a paranoid or wise emperor would hold some members of the general's family as
hostages. In effect,
Nero held
Domitian and
Quintus Petillius Cerialis the governor of
Ostia, who were respectively the younger son and the brother-in-law of Vespasian. This would in normal circumstances be quite enough. In fact, the rule of Nero only ended with the revolt of the
Praetorian Guard who had been bribed in the name of
Galba. It became all too obvious that the Praetorian Guard was a sword of
Damocles, whose loyalty was all too often bought and who became increasingly greedy. Following their example the legions at the borders would also increasingly participate in the
civil wars. This was a dangerous development as this would weaken the whole Roman Army.
The main enemy, in the West, were arguably the "barbarian tribes" behind the rivers
Rhine and
Danube. Octavian had tried to conquer them, but ultimately failed and these "barbarians" were greatly feared. But by the large, they were left in peace, in order to fight amongst themselves, and were simply too divided to pose a serious threat.
 |
the empire of Parthia, the arch-rival of Rome, at its greatest extent, c. 60 BC. |
Parthia, in the East, on the other hand, was simply too far away to be conquered. Any Parthian invasion was confronted and usually defeated, but the threat itself was ultimately impossible to destroy.
In the case of a Roman civil war these two enemies would seize the opportunity to invade Roman territory in order to raid and plunder. The two respective military frontiers became a matter of major political importance due to the high number of legions stationed there. All too often the local generals would rebel, starting a new civil war. To control the western border from Rome was reasonably easy, as it was relatively close. To control 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. It was no longer enough to be a good administrator, emperors were increasingly near the troops in order to control them, and no single emperor could be at the two frontiers at the same time. This problem would plague the ruling emperors time and time again, and many future emperors would follow this path to power.
Rome and the
Italian peninsula began to experience an economic slowdown as industries and money began to move outward. By the beginning of the second century the economic stagnation of
Italia could easily be seen in the
provincial born Emperors such as
Trajan and
Hadrian. Economic problems of the Late Empire increased in strength and frequency.
Starting on the
March 18 235, with the assassination of the Emperor
Alexander Severus, the Roman Empire fell into a period of fifty years of civil war, today known as the
Crisis of the Third Century. The rise of the warlike
Sassanid dynasty in
Parthia had created 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 was in the eastern frontier, fighting. The son of Gallienus,
Saloninus and the
Praetorian Prefect Silvanus were residing in Colonia Agrippina (modern
Cologne) trying to maintain the loyalty of the local legions. Nevertheless, the local governor of the German provinces,
Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus rebelled and assaulted Colonia Agrippina, killing Saloninus and the prefect, and created an independent state today known as the
Gallic Empire.
Its
capital was Augusta Treverorum (modern
Trier), and it quickly expanded its control not just over the German and Gaulish provinces, but also 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 returned to Roman rule.
At roughly the same time, the eastern provinces seceded as the Empire of
Palmyra, ruled by Queen
Zenobia.
One should see the tacit acceptance of the
Gallic Empire and the Empire of
Palmyra and other later breakaway empires at the beginning of any civil war through a
real-politik perspective. The "rightful" Emperor would slowly deal with all the "Rebels or/and Usurpers" , one by one in due time. In fact, many Emperors we today take for "rightful" were former "Rebels or/and Usurpers" who simply won their respective civil war.
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, and in the next year, the Gallic Empire also fell. Due to a secret deal between Aurelian and the Gallic Emperor
Tetricus I and his son
Tetricus II, the Gallic army was swiftly defeated. In exchange, Aurelian spared their lives and went so far as to give the two former rebels important positions in Italy.
The external borders were largely 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. It was under Diocletian that the political division of the Roman Empire would start. 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
Milan and Constantius'
Trier. On
May 1,
305, the two senior Augusti stepped down and were replaced by their respective Caesars.
The system of the Tetrarchy quickly ran aground as 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 power 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 the murder of Licinius following the
Battle of Chrysopolis.
The Tetrarchy was dead, but the idea of dividing the Roman Empire between two Emperors, one of them in the East and the other in the West, had been proven too good to be simply ignored and forgotten. 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.
The Roman Empire was ruled by 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 the complete reunification of the whole empire occurred in
353, with
Constantius II.
Notably, Constantius II focused most of his power in the East, and he 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 took 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.
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 the barbarians intensified, especially with the
Huns and the
Goths. A serious problem in the West was a political reaction caused by paganism against the Christianizing emperors. In
379, Valentine I's son and successor
Gratian declined to wear the mantle of
pontifex maximus and in
382 he rescinded the rights of pagan priests, as well as removing the pagan altar from the
Roman Curia.
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 and ask for the aid of the Eastern Emperor
Theodosius I who quickly restored him to power, but also caused a ban on 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 until he was defeated in
394 by Theodosius I, who, having ruled both East and West for a year, died in 395. This was the last time in which a single ruler ruled over both parts of the Roman Empire.
A short period of stability under the puppet emperor
Flavius Augustus Honorius controlled by
Flavius Stilicho ended at Stilicho's death in
408. After this, the two empires truly diverged, as the east began a slow recovery and consolidation, while the west began to collapse entirely.
While the West was experiencing a huge economic decline throughout the late empire, the East was not so economically decadent, especially as Emperors like
Constantine the Great and
Constantius II began pouring vast sums of money into the eastern economy. The economic decline of the West, especially following the Crisis of the Third Century in the end helped to aid in the eventual collapse of this area of the empire. Without sufficient taxes, the state could not maintain an expensive professional army and resorted to hiring unreliable mercenaries. As the central power weakened, the State also lost control of its borders and provinces and the vital control over the
Mediterranean Sea. To the last Roman Emperors tried to keep the '
barbarians' away from it, but once the
Vandals conquered North Africa the imperial authorities had to cover too much ground with too few resources. Decisive intervention from the East could have reversed the situation. The Roman institutions collapsed along with the economic stability. Most barbarian 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 lack of economic viability and political stability. Because most of the economy of
Classical antiquity was based upon agriculture, this was a severe economic blow. This occurred because most plots of land require a certain investment of time and money in simple maintenance to maintain production. Unfortunately, this meant that any attempt to recover the West by the East was very difficult, for the huge decline in the economy made these new reconquests too expensive to maintain.
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 barbarian invasions, particularly by the Vandals and
Visigoths. In
410, Rome was sacked by barbarians for the first time since the Gallic invasions of the
4th century BC. The instability caused by usurpers throughout the Western Empire helped the barbarians in their conquests, and in the
5th century the barbarians became usurpers themselves. In
475,
Orestes, a former secretary of
Attila the Hun drove the Emperor
Julius Nepos out of
Ravenna and proclaimed his son
Romulus Augustus as Emperor. Although some pockets of Roman civilization continued, (in north-western
Gaul under
Syagrius and
Britannia, with
Ambrosius Aurelianus) the rule of Rome over the West had effectively ended. In
476, Orestes refused to grant the
Heruli led by
Odoacer federated status, and Odoacer sacked Rome and sent the imperial insignia to Constantinople, installing himself as King over Italy.
The last Emperor, Romulus Augustus or Julius Nepos ?
History regards that the Western Roman Empire ended on the 4th of September
476 as Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustus. However the issue is not as simple and clear as that. Julius Nepos still ruled in the
rump state of
Dalmatia, claiming sovereignty over the Western Roman Empire and was recognized as such by the Byzantine emperor
Zeno, and by
Syagrius who had managed to preserve a Roman
exclave in Gaul, known today as the
Kingdom of Soissons. Odoacer proclaimed himself ruler of Italy and began to negotiate with the Byzantine emperor. Zeno eventually did acknowledge Odoacer's position as
patrician of the Roman Empire and accepted him as his own viceroy of Italy, but insisted that Odoacer acknowledged in his turn Nepos formally as western emperor. Odoacer did this, and even issued coins in Nepos' name throughout Italy. It was largely an empty political gesture, as Odoacer never returned any real power to Nepos, who was eventually murdered in
480. Upon this Odoacer invaded and quickly conquered Dalmatia. A similar situation occurred in northern Gaul where the Roman general Syagrius minted coins in Nepos' name until his own defeat in
486. Nevertheless, Julius Nepos is largely ignored and Romulus Augustulus entered history as the
Last (Western) Roman Emperor.
The last hope for a reunited Empire came in
493, when Odoacer was replaced by the
Ostrogoth Theodoric the Great. Theodoric had been recruited by Zeno to reconquer the western portion of the empire, Rome most importantly.
De jure he was a subordinate, a
Viceroy of the Emperor of the East.
De facto Theodoric was an equal. Following Theodoric's death in
526, the west no longer resembled the east, as both had transformed. The west was now fully controlled by barbarians, while the east retreated and hellenized. While the East would make some further attempts to recapture the West, it would never more be the old Roman Empire.
Several times throughout the
Middle Ages, the eastern
Byzantine Empire managed to reconquer large areas of the West which had been occupied by several barbarian tribes. The greatest success were the campaigns of the Byzantine generals
Belisarius and
Narses on behalf of the Emperor
Justinian I from 535 to 554. Much of the then 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 itself, eventually reconquering it completely, with some minor territory being taken as far west as the southern coast of the
Iberian Peninsula.
It appeared at the time that perhaps Rome could be saved. Throughout the empire's history, there had been times when great losses of territory were later reversed. However, the barbarian 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 barbarian tribes throughout these territories meant that much of the Roman cultural influence that had held the empire together had been destroyed, or at the very least severely damaged.
Although some eastern emperors would occasionally attempt to reconquer some parts of the West, none would be as successful as Justinian. The division between the empires would only grow as the influence of the
Pope on the former territories of the West 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 itself no longer had the military strength like it had in the early days, spelling the end of any hope for reunification.
As the Western Roman Empire crumbled, the barbarian warlords who had conquered the provinces felt compelled to uphold many Roman laws and traditions. These "barbarians" were already Christians, but most of them were followers of
Arianism. Wisely, they quickly converted to the Roman Catholic faith, gaining more loyalty by the local Romanized population and at the same time recognition and support by the powerful
Roman Catholic Church. Although they initially continued to obey tribal laws, they were more and more influenced by Roman Law and began gradually to use it.
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 old English law.
Latin as a language never really disappeared. It combined with the "barbarian" languages, giving origin to many modern
Romance languages such as:
Italian,
French,
Spanish,
Portuguese,
Romanian and
Romansh, and influenced many
Germanic languages such as
English,
German,
Dutch and many others to a certain extent. It survives in its "purer" form as the language of the Roman Catholic Church (the
Mass was spoken in Latin until 1970) 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.
Another Roman legacy is the
Latin alphabet which was improved with new letters: J, K, W and Z.
Roman numerals also continue to be used, but were largely replaced by
Arabic numerals.
The ideal of the Roman Empire, as a mighty Christian Empire with a single Ruler, would continue 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. All of them (and some others) tried to a certain extent to resurrect it, but it was a hopelessly impossible task and none of their attempts were successful.
The most important 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 the barbarians invaded, many converted, and by the middle of the medieval period (ca.
9th and
10th centuries) the central, western and northern parts of
Europe had been largely converted to the Roman Catholic Faith and acknowledged the
Pope as the Vicar of Christ.
Ironically, Rome's final victory and conquest of the Germans and Slavs came after her fall as an Empire through the church-sponsored missionaries spreading ever further north, until
paganism was stamped out throughout Europe.
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 ITetrarchy (293 to 313)
Augusti are shown with their
Caesares, regents, etc., 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 usurperConstantinian 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
UsurperNon-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 throneOrestes was killed by revolting
barbarian mercenaries. Their leader
Odoacer assumed control of Italy as a
de jure representative of Julius Nepos and
Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno.
*
www.roman-empire.net*
De Imperatoribus Romanis
