Rome's history was fractured in many places. It all started with a power struggle in the end of the 3rd century, beginning of the 4th century. In 305 AD Rome had a tetrarchy in place. Namely, there were four different emperors. Each wanted to become the supreme emperor of Rome, and they battled. The four principle emperors were; from the east, Diocletian and Galarius. They were Greek speaking rulers. In the west, Maximus (no, not that Maximus) and Constantine. They were the Latin speaking rulers.

For years the four generals battled. Galarius and Maximus were eliminated. Diocletian and Constantine were the last two standing. During a battle, Constantine's soldiers were on a bridge and it collapsed. In this time of disaster, Constantine looked up in the sky and saw a light and a symbol. The symbol was that of Christ, the P with an X through it. Constantine also heard a voice, "Under this, thou shall conquer."

West			East
Constantine			Diocletian
Maximus			Galarius

Constantine had his soldiers paint that symbol on their shields. The next day Constantine was victorious and became the supreme Emperor of Rome. Constantine was not a real religious person, but in 313 AD he made the Edict of Milan which permitted the open worship of any religion. By 324 AD he banned paganism all together. This meant the ancient Roman and Greek gods died that day. One of the victims of this was the Olympics. The Olympics were a festival in honor of Zeus.

Constantine's mother made him make many churches and monuments to honor God, Jesus, and all the Saints. Constantine stayed pagan until he was on his death bed. It was then he was baptized and converted to Christianity.

After 324 AD, the eastern part of the Roman Empire felt neglected. By the 6th century the western part of the Roman Empire was destroyed by the barbarian tribes of Europe. All that was left was the Eastern Empire. The Eastern Empire is also known as the Byzantine Empire. Their captial was found in Constantinople, it is also called Byzantium.

From this point on, most Byzantine Emperors would pledge and try to restore the Roman Empire. The last Emperor closest to restoring the Empire was Justinian in 527 AD. The last great Emperor had a great wife, Theodora. Theodora was a former dancer/prostitute and was never given the proper credit she earned. The Byzantine Empire lasted until 1453 AD when the Ottoman Turks destroyed it.

There are various reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire. In no particular order

1. Rome was too big. Rome could not handle all the variety and various types of people found in the empire. The senate was made mostly of people from the peninsula of Italy and other ancient lands. Many of the lands were not represented in the Roman senate.

2. Christianity: The legalization of Christianity made religious leaders most important than the leaders of the Roman government. Of course the lack of leadership from Roman leaders made this choice easier.

3. Barbarians: Barbarian tribes from Eastern Europe and beyond started to re-enter Roman lands. They were absorbed into the Roman Empire. Those who fought Rome unified and made it more difficult for Rome to defend it's large borders.

4. Decay: Rome was not as industrious as it once was.

5. Inflation: Economics and value of materials were making their economy difficult

6. Language: There were two major languages spoken, Latin and Greek. Neither side felt to really embrace the other and they separated into the Eastern and Western Empire.