The Empire Divides – Homeschool Lesson about the Fall of the Roman Empire
Diocletian, a Roman General, became emperor in 284. He realized the empire was too big for one man to rule so he split the empire in two, the Eastern Empire and the Western Empire.
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Diocletian ruled the Eastern Empire, while his co-ruler Maximian was in charge of the Western Empire. Each emperor had a deputy. Diocletian and Maximian took the title Augustus, while their deputies were called Caeser. This group of 4 rulers was called a Tetrarchy.
Maximian (Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus) , was an army commander but was unable to stop the revolt of Carausius. After a lot of political ups downs, he was forced to commit suicide in 310.
Under Diocletian the army was increased by a third to 500,000 men and was fairly successful in crushing rebellions. He also increased the status of emperor. He declared that he wasn’t just a ruler, but a god. He was always very careful to appear godlike to the people. One way he did that was to always wear a pearl crown and make people kneel to kiss his robe.
Diocletian and Maximian were succeeded by their caesers, but eventually Constantine grabbed all the power (after yet another civil war) and became the sole emperor over both east and west.
The Eastern Empire gained in wealth and power, while the Western Empire struggled and ground to a halt. Instead of helping the West fight off invaders, the East stayed out of it. Centuries later, when the Turks invaded, the West sent too little help too late to save them and the Eastern Empire fell too.
