Western Roman Empire

Examples of Western Roman Empire in the following topics:

• The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

  • The Fall of the Western Roman Empire was the period of decline in the Western Roman Empire in which it disintegrated and split into numerous successor states.
  • The Fall of the Western Roman Empire was the process of decline in the Western Roman Empire in which it failed to enforce its rule, and its vast territory was divided into several successor polities.
  • By 476 CE, when Odoacer deposed the Emperor Romulus, the Western Roman Empire wielded negligible military, political, or financial power and had no effective control over the scattered Western domains that could still be described as Roman.
  • It is important to note, however, that the so-called fall of the Roman Empire specifically refers to the fall of the Western Roman Empire, since the Eastern Roman Empire, or what became known as the Byzantine Empire, whose capital was founded by Constantine, remained for another 1000 years.
  • The Ostrogothic Kingdom, which rose from the ruins of the Western Roman Empire.

• Naming of the Byzantine Empire

  • While the Western Roman Empire fell, the Eastern Roman Empire, now known as the Byzantine Empire, thrived.
  • It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
  • However, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world; calling it the "Byzantine Empire" helped to emphasize its differences from the earlier Latin-speaking Roman Empire centered on Rome.
  • The term "Byzantine" was also useful to the many Western European states that also claimed to be the true successors of the Roman Empire, as it was used to delegitimize the claims of the Byzantines as true Romans.
  • A map of the territories controlled by Eastern and Western Roman Empires as of 476 CE.

• The Catholic Church

  • After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, the Catholic Church became a powerful social and political institution and its influence spread throughout Europe.
  • Christianity spread throughout the early Roman Empire despite persecutions due to conflicts with the pagan state religion.
  • In 380, under Emperor Theodosius I, Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire by the decree of the emperor, which would persist until the fall of the Western Empire, and later with the Eastern Roman Empire until the fall of Constantinople.
  • After the destruction of the Western Roman Empire, the church in the West was a major factor in preserving classical civilization, establishing monasteries, and sending missionaries to convert the peoples of northern Europe as far north as Ireland.
  • After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, the Catholic faith competed with Arianism for the conversion of the barbarian tribes.

• The Eastern Roman Empire, Constantine the Great, and Byzantium

  • It is a matter of debate when the Roman Empire officially ended and transformed into the Byzantine Empire.
  • After Constantine, few emperors ruled the entire Roman Empire.
  • Usually, there was an emperor of the Western Roman Empire ruling from Italy or Gaul and an emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire ruling from Constantinople.
  • In 476 CE, the last Western Roman Emperor was deposed and the Western Roman Empire was no more.
  • Thus the Eastern Roman Empire was the only Roman Empire left standing.

• Fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire

  • The Holy Roman Empire was not a highly centralized state like most countries today.
  • At the Battle of Vienna (1683), the Army of the Holy Roman Empire, led by the Polish King John III Sobieski, decisively defeated a large Turkish army, ending the western colonial Ottoman advance and leading to the eventual dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire in Europe.
  • The Empire's army was half Polish/Lithuanian Commonwealth forces, mostly cavalry, and half Holy Roman Empire forces (German/Austrian), mostly infantry.
  • The Holy Roman Empire after the Peace of Westphalia, 1648.
  • Describe what happened to the Holy Roman Empire in the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation

• Crises of the Roman Empire

  • By 268, the Empire had split into three competing states: the Gallic Empire, including the Roman provinces of Gaul, Britannia and (briefly) Hispania; the Palmyrene Empire, including the eastern provinces of Syria Palaestina and Aegyptus; and the Italian-centered and independent Roman Empire, proper, between them.
  • The Roman provinces of Gaul, Britain and Hispania broke off to form the Gallic Empire.
  • By late 274, the Roman Empire was reunited into a single entity, and the frontier troops were back in place.
  • However, dozens of formerly thriving cities, especially in the Western Empire, had been ruined, their populations dispersed and, with the breakdown of the economic system, could not be rebuilt.
  • Describe the problems afflicting the Roman Empire during the third century

• Rise of the Holy Roman Empire

  • The formation of the Holy Roman Empire was initiated by Charlemagne's coronation as "Emperor of the Romans" in 800, and consolidated by Otto I when he was crowned Emperor in 962 by Pope John XII.
  • The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806.
  • In 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe after more than three centuries.
  • After Charlemagne died in 814, the imperial crown was disputed among the Carolingian rulers of Western Francia and Eastern Francia, with first the western king (Charles the Bald) and then the eastern (Charles the Fat) attaining the prize.
  • The territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 962 to 1806

• Break from the Seleucid Empire and Rise of the Parthian Empire

  • Seleucid expansion into Anatolia and Greece was abruptly halted after decisive defeats at the hands of the Roman army.
  • The empire, located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and the Han Empire of China, became a center of trade and commerce.
  • The Parthians controlled the major trade routes between the Roman Empire and the Han Empire of China, which became the foundation of Parthia's wealth and power.
  • Parthia, shaded yellow, alongside the Seleucid Empire (blue) and the Roman Republic (purple) around 200 BCE
  • Parthia declared its independence from the Seleucid Empire around 250 BCE when its rulers were overextended and distracted by western wars.

• The Coronation of 800 CE

  • When Odoacer compelled the abdication of Romulus Augustulus, he did not abolish the Western Empire as a separate power, but cause it to be reunited with or sink into the Eastern, so that from that time there was a single undivided Roman Empire ...
  • Whether he actually desired a coronation at all, remains controversial - his biographer Einhard related that Charlemagne had been surprised by the Pope - but Byzantium felt its role as the sole heir of the Roman Empire threatened and began to emphasize its superiority and its Roman identity.
  • As far as Western Europe was concerned, the Throne of the Emperors was vacant: Irene's claim to it was merely an additional proof, if any were needed, of the degradation into which the so-called Roman Empire had fallen.
  • In any event, Charlemagne used these circumstances to claim that he was the renewer of the Roman Empire, which was perceived to have fallen into degradation under the Byzantines.
  • The empire would remain in continuous existence for nearly a millennium, as the Holy Roman Empire, a true imperial successor to Charles.

• The Holy Roman Empire and the Church