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Historians see the death of Theodosius in 395 as the point at which the eastern and western parts of the Roman Empire split. This was not due to an imperial decision to do so. It was a loss of unity. It happened because the two sons of Theodosius, whom he designated as co-emperors (Arcadius in the east and Honorius in the west) were young, inexperienced and incompetent. Powerful politicians in the east and the west took advantage of this to conspire against each other. There was also a plot in the west to seize some of the land of the east. This was one of two major factors in this development. The other one was the Germanic invasions of the western part of the Roman Empire which begun 11 years later. The western part started to crumble under the weight of these invasions and eventually fell.

This part of the empire lost political cohesion. There was a lot of infighting and a string of usurpations. There were shadow emperors who were powerful men who installed puppet emperors and were the effective rulers. One of them was Ricimer, a Germanic who was commander in chief of the western Roman army and installed three emperors (Majorian, Libius Severus and Olybrius). His nephew, Gundobad, installed Glycerius, but did not hold the strings of power as he had to return to his native Burgundy to deal with feuds there. Orestes installed his 15-year old son, Romulus Augustus, who was the last emperor of the west. One emperor, Avitus, was proclaimed emperor by Theodoric II, the king of the Visigoths.

Some emperors of the east interfered with politics in the west. One was Leo I the Thracian, who in 467 proclaimed Anthemius (an eastern Roman military commander) emperor of the west because he wanted the two parts of the empire to join forces to fight the Vandals who were attacking southern Italy and southern Greece for their base in northwest Africa. He sent Anthemius to Italy with an army and wanted him to gather troops in the west. In 474 the emperor Leo I rejected the proclamation of Glycerius as emperor of the west by the army of the west. He proclaimed his nephew-in-law, Julius Nepos (Nepos means nephew) emperor of the west and sent him to Italy to depose Glycerius who surrendered without fighting. In 487 the emperor of the east Zeno sent his ally, Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths (who had been allowed to settle in the eastern part of the empire) to invade Italy to depose a usurper there. In theory, Theodoric was meant to be like a viceroy of Zeno. In reality he became the ruler of Italy.

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What was the emperor's purpose for dividing the Roman Empire?

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Which Roman Emperor Temporarily Reunited The Roman Empire after it Was Split In Half?

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What year did Roman Empire get divided into the East and West empire?

The Empire was divided by Diocletian in 285 CE. However, the empire was also reunified on many occasions such as during the reigns of Theodosius I, Constantine the Great, and Julian the Apostate. These reunification were all short-lived and died with the death of their respective emperors.


What happened in 395 ad?

In 395 AD, the Roman Empire was officially divided into two separate entities: the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire (later known as the Byzantine Empire). This division followed the death of Emperor Theodosius I, who was the last emperor to rule over a unified Roman Empire. His sons, Arcadius and Honorius, became emperors of the Eastern and Western Empires, respectively. This split marked a significant turning point in the history of Rome, leading to distinct political and cultural developments in both regions.