Roman
Empire was one of the greatest empires of the ancient world and the greatest in ancient European history. Roman Empire was founded in 27 BC when Augustus became Emperor and replaced
the Roman Republic with Roman
Empire. In 117 AD, the Roman Empire reached its zenith when many parts of western and southern Europe, North Arica, and western Asia came under the control of the Empire.
But due to the expansion of
the empire in the far-flung areas, it became much more difficult for the emperors to
control the areas away from the center. The Crisis of the Third Century (235-284 AD) made it impossible for the
emperor to rule the whole of the Roman Empire. Consequently, it disintegrated into the
Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) and Western Roman Empire in 285
AD.
Reasons
Roman
Empire faced threats from both its eastern and western sides. Germanic Tribes were their main enemy
on the western side while they fought against the Parthian Empire (and Sassanid
Empire later) of Persia on their eastern side. Despite its
efforts, the Roman Empire could not vanish any opponents at its right
and left flank. Therefore, it was becoming more and more difficult for the Empire to
keep full attention on both sides.
Uprisings
and rebellions were common in the Empire. Most of the time, the Roman Empire remained successful against rebellions. However, rebellions during wartime were
much harder for the Roman Empire to be defeated.
Roman
Emperor Alexander Severus was
assassinated in 235 AD. This assassination led to a long civil war, lasting for 50 years (235-284 AD), and is known as the
Crisis of the Third Century. This
crisis was the main cause of the First
Division of the Roman Empire.
First
Division
In 285 AD,
Roman Emperor Diocletian appointed Maximian as the Emperor of the Western
areas of the Empire. Both emperors were aided by two Caesars (subordinates), Galerius and Constantius Chlorus.
Practically, there were four emperors of the Roman Empire, due to which this system
is known as Tetrarchy.
This
division didn’t last long as Constantine
the Great defeated all his opponents and became the sole emperor of the
whole Roman Empire in 324 AD.
Second
Division
Constantine
died in 337 AD, after which a civil war started between the three sons of
Constantine for the control of the Roman Empire. It resulted in the division of
the empire into three parts. Later, Constantius
II reunited the Roman Empire in 353 AD and became its Emperor. He is known
as the first ruler of the Byzantine Empire
(Eastern Roman Empire) as he moved his capital to the city of Byzantium (later
Constantinople and now Istanbul).
Last
Division
In 364 AD, Valentinian I became the emperor of the
Roman Empire and immediately divided the Roman Empire again into the eastern and
western sides by giving the eastern side of the empire to his brother Valens. This division lasted afterward as no one tried to reunite the whole Roman Empire again.
Aftermath
The Western
Roman Empire could not survive longer as it vanished in 476 AD after
the Battle of Ravenna when Germanic
tribes easily defeated the remnants of the Roman army. They divided different areas of Italy among various Germanic tribes.
On the
contrary, the Eastern Roman or the Byzantine
Empire survived for around 1000 more years. In the 7th
Century, they lost their Arab and North African parts to the invading Muslim Arab armies. However, their capital Constantinople fell in 1453 AD at the hands of the Ottomans. This event marked the end of the Byzantine Empire.
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