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The eastern and western parts of the Roman Empire were not separate. They were two units of the same empire. The terms Eastern Roman Empire and Western Roman Empire have been coined by historians. The Romans did not use them. The political difference between these parts of the empire occurred when there were co-emperorships with one emperor in charge of the east and one in charge of the west. Therefore, in such cases they were two jurisdictions, one under each emperor.

In the 280s Diocletian established Nicomedia (in north-western Turkey) as the imperial seat in the east and Milan (in northern Italy) as the imperial seat in the west. Constantine the Great designated Byzantium (in Greece, some 70 miles west of Nicomedia) as his imperial seat in 330 and renamed it Constantinople. He ruled from there as sole emperor. Twenty-seven year after the death of Constantine, two brothers, Valentinian and Valens established a co-emperorship, with the former in charge of the west and the latter in charge of the latter.

Historians argue that after the death of Theodosius the Great in 390 the empire became split. This was not due to a political decision. It was down to circumstances. Theodosius I was succeeded by his two sons (Arcadius in the east and Honorius in the west) who were young, inexperienced and incompetent. This resulted in politicians in the east and west conspiring against each other and a loss of unity. Moreover, soon after this the western part of the empire was invaded by Germanic peoples. Under the strain of this, the western part lost political cohesion. There was infighting and usurpations, resulting in the Romans being unable to deal with the invaders effectively. Eventually this part of the empire fell. At times the eastern part of the empire meddled in the affairs of the western part.

The eastern part of the Roman Empire was not affected by the mentioned invasions and continued to exit for nearly 1000 years. Historians have coined the term Byzantine Empire to indicate the eastern part of the empire after the fall of the western part.

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Related Questions

When did the western emperor fall from power?

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