Western Roman Empire

The Western Roman Empire is the name given to the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 286 AD. It would exist intermittently in several periods between the 3rd Century and the 5th Century, after Diocletian's Tetrarchy and the reunifications associated with Constantine the Great and his later successors, and is generally held to have ended with the abdication of Romulus Augustus on September 4, 476, under pressure of the Germanic chieftain Odoacer. Its counterpart, the Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantine Empire, survived for another 1,000 years.

Byzantine reconquest

Several times throughout the middle ages, the eastern Byzantine Empire managed to reconquer large areas of the west which had been occupied by barbarian tribes. The first such case was the campaigns of the Byzantine generals Belisarius and Narses on behalf of the Emperor Justinian I from 535 to 554. Regaining much of the then Vandal occupied former Roman territory in North Africa, particularly the territory centred around the city of Carthage, the campaign eventually moved into Italy itself, eventually reconquering the entirety of the peninsula, with some minor territory being taken as far west as the southern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.

Related Topics:
Middle ages - Byzantine Empire - Belisarius - Narses - Justinian I - Vandal - North Africa - Carthage - Italy - Peninsula - Iberian Peninsula

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It appeared at the time that perhaps the Roman state as it existed could be saved. Throughout the empire's history, there had been times when great losses of territory were later reversed, however, the barbarian influence had caused far too much damage to these former Roman provinces, both economically and culturally. Not only were they extremely costly to maintain, the invasion and propagation of the barbarian tribes throughout these territories meant that much of the Roman cultural influence that had held the empire together had been destroyed, or at the very least severely damaged. This eventually resulted in the east abandoning these territories for the most part.

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Although eastern emperors would occasionally attempt to reconquer the west, none would be as successful as Justinian. The division between the empires would only grow as the influence of the Pope on the former territories of the west grew, resulting in growing rivalry between the east and west. While the east held on to isolated pockets of territory throughout the middle-ages, after Justinian, the emperors focused on acquiring and defending territory closer to Constantinople. The east no longer had the ability to project power like it had in the early days of that empire's history, spelling the end of any hope for reunification.

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