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== Later Roman Empire == {{Main|Later Roman Empire}} [[File:Venice city scenes - in St. Mark's square - St Mark's Basilica (11002237996).jpg|thumb|A late Roman sculpture [[Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs|depicting the four Tetrarchs]], now in [[Venice]], Italy<ref name=Tansey242>Tansey, et al. ''Gardner's Art Through the Ages'' p. 242</ref>]] The [[Roman Empire]] reached its greatest territorial extent during the 2nd century AD; the following two centuries witnessed the slow decline of Roman control over its outlying territories.<ref name=Cunliffe391>Cunliffe ''Europe Between the Oceans'' pp. 391β393</ref> Economic issues, including inflation, and external pressure on the frontiers combined to create the [[Crisis of the Third Century]], with emperors coming to the throne only to be rapidly replaced by new usurpers.<ref name=Collins3>Collins ''Early Medieval Europe'' pp. 3β5</ref> Military expenses increased steadily during the 3rd century, mainly in response to the [[RomanβPersian Wars#RomanβSassanid War|war]] with the [[Sasanian Empire]], which revived in the middle of the 3rd century.<ref name=Heather111 /> The army doubled in size, and cavalry and smaller units replaced the [[Roman legion]] as the main tactical unit.<ref name=Brown24-25>Brown ''World of Late Antiquity'' pp. 24β25</ref> The need for revenue led to increased taxes and a decline in numbers of the [[curiales|curial]], or landowning, class, and decreasing numbers of them willing to shoulder the burdens of holding office in their native towns.<ref name=Heather111>Heather ''Fall of the Roman Empire'' p. 111</ref> More bureaucrats were needed in the central administration to deal with the needs of the army, which led to complaints from civilians that there were more tax-collectors in the empire than tax-payers.<ref name=Brown24-25 /> The Emperor [[Diocletian]] (r. 284β305) split the empire into separately administered [[Byzantine Empire|eastern]] and [[Western Roman Empire|western]] halves in 286; the empire was not considered divided by its inhabitants or rulers, as legal and administrative [[promulgation]]s in one division were considered valid in the other.<ref name=Collins9>Collins ''Early Medieval Europe'' p. 9</ref>{{efn-ua|This system, which eventually encompassed two senior co-emperors and two junior co-emperors, is known as the [[Tetrarchy]].<ref name=Collins9 />}} In 330, after a period of civil war, [[Constantine the Great]] (r. 306β337) refounded the city of [[Byzantium]] as the newly renamed eastern capital, [[Constantinople]].<ref name=Collins24>Collins ''Early Medieval Europe'' p. 24</ref> Diocletian's reforms strengthened the governmental bureaucracy, reformed taxation, and strengthened the army, which bought the empire time but did not resolve the problems it was facing: excessive taxation, a declining birthrate, and pressures on its frontiers, among others.<ref name=Cunliffe405>Cunliffe ''Europe Between the Oceans'' pp. 405β406</ref> Civil war between rival emperors became common in the middle of the 4th century, diverting soldiers from the empire's frontier forces and allowing [[Barbarian#Modern academia|invaders]] to encroach.<ref name=Collins31>Collins ''Early Medieval Europe'' pp. 31β33</ref> For much of the 4th century, Roman society stabilised in a new form that differed from the earlier [[Culture of ancient Rome|classical period]], with a widening gulf between the rich and poor, and a decline in the vitality of the smaller towns.<ref name=Brown34>Brown ''World of Late Antiquity'' p. 34</ref> Another change was the [[Christianisation]], or conversion of the empire to [[Christianity]], a gradual process that lasted from the 2nd to the 5th centuries.<ref name=Brown65>Brown ''World of Late Antiquity'' pp. 65β68</ref><ref name=Brown82>Brown ''World of Late Antiquity'' pp. 82β94</ref> [[File:Europe map 450.PNG|thumb|upright=1.6|left|Map of the approximate political boundaries in Europe around 450 AD]] In 376, the [[Goths]], fleeing from the [[Huns]], received permission from Emperor [[Valens]] (r. 364β378) to settle in the Roman province of [[Thracia]] in the [[Balkans]]. The settlement did not go smoothly, and the Goths began to raid and plunder when Roman officials mishandled the situation.{{efn-ua|The commanders of the Roman military in the area appear to have taken food and other supplies intended to be given to the Goths and instead sold them to the Goths. The revolt was triggered when one of the Roman military commanders attempted to take the Gothic leaders hostage but failed to secure all of them.<ref name=Collins51>Collins ''Early Medieval Europe'' p. 51</ref>}} Valens, attempting to put down the disorder, was killed fighting the Goths at the [[Battle of Adrianople]] on 9 August 378.<ref name=Bauer47>Bauer ''History of the Medieval World'' pp. 47β49</ref> In addition to the threat from such tribal confederacies in the north, internal divisions within the empire, especially within the Christian Church, caused problems.<ref name=Bauer56>Bauer ''History of the Medieval World'' pp. 56β59</ref> In 400, the [[Visigoths]] invaded the Western Roman Empire and, although briefly forced back from Italy, in 410 [[Sack of Rome (410)|sacked the city of Rome]].<ref name=Bauer80>Bauer ''History of the Medieval World'' pp. 80β83</ref> In 406 the [[Alans]], [[Vandals]], and [[Suevi]] crossed into [[Gaul]]; over the next three years they spread across Gaul and in 409 crossed the [[Pyrenees Mountains]] into modern-day Spain.<ref name=Collins59>Collins ''Early Medieval Europe'' pp. 59β60</ref> The [[Migration Period]] began, when various peoples, initially largely [[Germanic peoples]], moved across Europe. The [[Franks]], [[Alemanni]], and the [[Burgundians]] all ended up in northern Gaul while the [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]], [[Saxons]], and [[Jutes]] [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|settled in Britain]],<ref name=Cunliffe417 /> and the Vandals went on to cross the strait of Gibraltar after which they conquered the province of [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa]].<ref name=Collins80>Collins ''Early Medieval Europe'' p. 80</ref> In the 430s the Huns began invading the empire; their king [[Attila]] (r. 434β453) led invasions into the Balkans in 442 and 447, Gaul in 451, and Italy in 452.<ref name=James67>James ''Europe's Barbarians'' pp. 67β68</ref> The Hunnic threat remained until Attila's death in 453, when the [[Huns#Unified Empire under Attila|Hunnic confederation]] he led fell apart.<ref name=Bauer117>Bauer ''History of the Medieval World'' pp. 117β118</ref> These invasions by the tribes completely changed the political and demographic nature of what had been the Western Roman Empire.<ref name=Cunliffe417>Cunliffe ''Europe Between the Oceans'' p. 417</ref> By the end of the 5th century, the western section of the empire was divided into smaller political units ruled by the tribes that had invaded in the early part of the century.<ref name=Wickham79>Wickham ''Inheritance of Rome'' p. 79</ref> The deposition of the last emperor of the west, [[Romulus Augustulus]], in 476 has traditionally marked the end of the Western Roman Empire.<ref name=Wickham86>Wickham ''Inheritance of Rome'' p. 86</ref>{{efn-ua|An alternative date of 480 is sometimes given, as that was the year Romulus Augustulus' predecessor [[Julius Nepos]] died; Nepos had continued to assert that he was the Western emperor while holding onto [[Dalmatia]].<ref name=Wickham86 />}} By 493 the Italian peninsula was conquered by the [[Ostrogoths]].<ref name=Collins107>Collins ''Early Medieval Europe'' pp. 107β109</ref> The Eastern Roman Empire, often referred to as the Byzantine Empire after the fall of its western counterpart, had little ability to assert control over the lost western territories. The [[Byzantine emperors]] maintained a claim over the territory, but while none of the new kings in the west dared to elevate himself to the position of emperor of the west, Byzantine control of most of the Western Empire could not be sustained; the reconquest of the Mediterranean periphery and the [[Italian Peninsula]] ([[Gothic War (535β554)|Gothic War]]) in the reign of [[Justinian]] (r. 527β565) was the sole, and temporary, exception.<ref name=Collins116>Collins ''Early Medieval Europe'' pp. 116β134</ref>
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