The Split That Survived

In 285 CE, Emperor Diocletian split the empire into eastern and western halves, each with its own emperor. The decision shaped the next thousand years. The Western Empire crumbled within two centuries, falling to Germanic invasions in 476 CE.

The Eastern Empire, ruled from Constantinople, endured for another thousand years after Rome fell in 476 CE. It preserved Roman law, Greek philosophy, and Christian theology while western Europe descended into fragmentation.