The story in brief
Fifty years of soldier emperors, an empire split four ways, a sign in the sky, Goths at the gates. Then a teenage emperor quietly retires and almost nobody notices. How the West slipped away in 476, and why the East held on until 1453.
The chapters
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Chapter 1 · 5 min · Free
Fifty Years of Chaos
More than twenty emperors in fifty years. Most of them die by the sword.
Sources: Eutropius, Breviarium 9; Zosimus, New History 1; Lactantius, Deaths of the Persecutors 5; Cyprian, To Demetrianus 3; Aurelius Victor, Caesars 24–35
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Chapter 2 · 5 min · Free
Four Rulers
One empire, too big for one man. So Diocletian hires three more.
Sources: Lactantius, Deaths of the Persecutors 7–19; Aurelius Victor, Caesars 39; Epitome de Caesaribus 39; Edict on Maximum Prices (inscription)
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Chapter 3 · 5 min
In This Sign
A sign in the sky, a bridge over the Tiber, and an empire that changes gods.
Sources: Lactantius, Deaths of the Persecutors 44, 48; Eusebius, Life of Constantine 1.28–31, 3.6–14, 4.61–62; Zosimus, New History 2
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Chapter 4 · 5 min
The Goths at the Door
Horsemen from the steppe set off a chain reaction that ends with Rome itself sacked.
Sources: Ammianus Marcellinus 31; Jerome, Letter 127; Orosius 7.39; Zosimus 5–6; Jordanes, Getica 35–42; Procopius, Vandal War 1.5
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Chapter 5 · 5 min
The Last Emperor
A teenage emperor is retired with a pension. It takes the world a while to notice an empire has ended.
Sources: Jordanes, Getica 45–46; Anonymus Valesianus 8.37–38; Procopius, Gothic War 5.1; Malchus, fragment 14; Marcellinus Comes, Chronicle; Gibbon, Decline and Fall 71; Demandt, Der Fall Roms
Who’s who
The people you meet. Each one is a hero card you can collect.
- ZenobiaQueen · Rebel · Empress of the East
- DiocletianSoldier · Reformer · Retired Gardener
- ConstantineEmperor · Convert · City Founder
- AlaricGothic King · Rebel · Sacker of Rome
- OdoacerSoldier · King of Italy · Emperor Remover
- AttilaKing of the Huns · Scourge of God
What you’ll be able to tell
This story belongs to the journey “The Empire”. By the end of it, you can tell why July and August are named after two Romans, and what actually happened in 476.
Stories in this journey
- Augustus and the Roman Peace: The First Emperor
- The Fall of Rome: Rome Divided
Sources
- Eutropius
- Lactantius
- Eusebius, Life of Constantine
- Ammianus Marcellinus
- Jerome, Letters
- Jordanes, Getica
- Procopius
