Why was the Roman Empire divided after it fell?

Answer 1

Not the whole of the Roman Empire fell. Only the western part crumbled under the strain of the invasions by the Germanic peoples. Eventually all of its lands were taken over. The eastern part of the empire was not affected by these invasions and continued to exist for another 1,000 years. Historians use the term Byzantine Empire to indicate the eastern part of the Roman Empire after the fall of the western part. Prior to these events the Romans had had co-emperorships with one emperor in charge of the east and one in charge of the west. The former was based in Constantinople and the latter was based in Milan and after 402, in Ravenna (both in northern Italy). In 395, after the death of the emperor Theodosius I and with the beginning of the invasions on the west these two part s of the empire lost unity. However, the Roman Empire was never actually divided by the Romans themselves, neither before nor after the fall of the western part. The western part was carved up with the formation of several kingdoms of the invading peoples.