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.

See also

• Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Franks, and Vandals