In 286 CE, Emperor Diocletian decided to divide Rome into two sections to try and stabilize the empire. For a hundred years Rome experienced even more divisions until the empire was finally divided in 395 CE and became the Western Empire and the Eastern Empire. This division changed Roman life and government forever.

Rome Divides into Two In 285 AD, Emperor Diocletian decided that the Roman Empire was too big to manage. He divided the Empire into two parts, the Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire. Over the next hundred years or so, Rome would be reunited, split into three parts, and split in two again.

Explanation: The Roman Empire had become too large to be ruled by one emperor by the third century (this was one of the causes of the Crisis of the Third Century). It was divided, by Emperor Diocletian, into a tetrarchy. This tetrarchy was then dissolved in favor of an Eastern and Western Roman Empire.

There are only 3 reasons why the Roman Empire was split into the Eastern and Western Roman Empire. First, it was becoming impossible for the Emperor to guard the borders of the entire Empire. Second, over the 3rd century the eastern side of the Empire was becoming wealthy while the western was not.

Constantine enacted another change that helped accelerate the fall of the Roman Empire. In 330 C.E., he split the empire into two parts: the western half centered in Rome and the eastern half centered in Constantinople, a city he named after himself.