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East and West: The Roman Empire divided |
Copper-alloy weight showing the personification of Constantinople surrounded by two emperors, possibly the heirs of Theodosius I (reigned 379-395).
In 395 the Roman Empire was divided between the sons of Theodosius I into Eastern and Western, and until 476 Roman emperors ruled in both parts. The two halves became progressively more and more alienated, following different courses. The advance of the various Germanic tribes, while successfully confronted by the rulers of the East, led to the final abolition of the western part of the Roman Empire, by the end of the 5th century. The eastern part, on the other hand, named by historians Byzantium or the Byzantine Empire, managed to survive for over a thousand years, until its final defeat by the Ottoman Turks, in 1453.
© 1998 Oxfordshire Museum Service,
Setúbal Museums and the Benaki Museum
