What were the main characteristics of late Roman civilization?
Beginning in the mid third century CE, the main characteristic was the constant rivalries amongst military generals for the title of “Emperor”. That is why in the fourth century, Rome ceased to be the administrative capitol of the empire (because the emperors had to leave all the time to put down a rival usurper). Emperors would rule out of Milan when in the west & Nicomedia when in the east. Eventually, the empire became too complicated for one man to rule alone. Compromises had to be made, & most of the time, the empire was ruled by two co-emperors. In the year 300 CE,emperor Diocletian shared the power with three other men making the empire into a “Tetrachy” although this wouldn’t last very long. Starting in 395 CE, never again would the empire be ruled by one emperor alone & unofficially, the empire was split in two. The western Roman empire would fall in 476 CE & the eastern Roman empire (known as the Byzantine empire) would last another 1000 years.
