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Augustus | Diocletian | Constantine | Fall of Rome
- Became First Roman Emperor in 27 BCE
- Nephew of Julius Caesar
- Pursued Caesar's assailants
- Diocletian reigned 284-305 CE
- Created the concept of the Tetrarchy as a form of political reform
| Augustus (West) | Augustus (East) |
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Caesar (West) |
Caesar (East) |
- Became, along with Maximianus, one of the first Augusti
- Galerius and Constantius Chlorus were the first Caesars
- The Caesars' primary purpose was to act as a frontier guard
- The plan behind the Tetrarchy was that the emperors would retire and the Caesars would then become Emperors
- In May of 305, this is exactly what happens and the first peaceful transition is made in almost a century
- Reigned 306-337 CE
- Defeats Maxentius in 312 at Battle of the Milvian Bridge, during which he converted to Christianity
- Shared rule until 324, when he became sole emperor
- Rome in the 5th century came under attack by multiple "barbarian" tribes
- These would include the Visigoths, the Ostrogoths, the Vandals, and the Franks
- Each of these tribes were initially brought in as federati - they became additional troops for Rome and prevented all out war with them. This did not always go well.
- The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE when Romulus Augustulus, the 13 year old Emperor, was deposed.
- Emperor Justinian I (reigned 527-565 CE) was obsessed with reconquering the fallen Western lands, and nearly bankrupted the Eastern Empire in his attempts to do so.
- The Eastern Roman Empire would continue until 1453. At approximately 610 CE, when it became known as the Byzantine Empire
- The Byzantine Empire was mostly Greek, unlike the Latin West. Heraclius (reigned 610-641 CE) was Emperor when Greek finally replaced Latin in the Byzantine Empire
- The Byzantine Empire would eventually fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 when they ambushed Constantinople