Division of the Roman Empire

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Domains

Political Geography

Dates

Date of occurrence 395

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Location)

Resources

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Theodosius divides the Roman empire between his sons, leaving the eastern part to Arcadius and the western to Honorius. The object of the division was to clarify and strengthen the administration of both Oriental and Occidental parts, but whereas the Oriental (Byzantium) prospered the Occidental foundered, arguably because the east contained fewer of the wealthy provinces. There was little exchange of wealth or military resources between the two halves of the Empire after this division. After the Vandals completed their invasion of Africa the Occidental Empire was left vulnerable to attack and without enough resources to adequately defend itself. It was was invaded by the Visigoths, led by Alaric, several times in the early 400s and this campaign culminated with the sack of Rome in 410.

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125 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Division of the Roman Empire". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 November 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1633, accessed 24 April 2024.]

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