A Different Destiny: The Two Parts of the Roman Empire

Fill in the essential words that are missing from the description below. Use the words provided in the word list. Listen to parts of the video again if some details escape you, but you should be able to work out the answers mostly from the context.

administer • barbarian • Byzantium • colonised • Constantinople

decline • Eastern • empire • emperor • Istanbul

loyalty • mercenaries • sacked • stability • Western

Rome was an ancient superpower that invaded, conquered or  (set up their own communities in) many other states. A state with this kind of power over several other states is referred to as a/n  (state that rules over others).

As its territories became more extensive, Rome became more difficult to  (organise, run), which may have been a factor in its ultimate  (deterioration). From AD 200 onwards, there were very frequent changes of  (powerful ruler), which contributed to a general lack of  (predictability in government and society).

Meanwhile, the Germanic  (so-called because they were not Roman) tribes that had always been a thorn in Rome's side were gradually incorporated into the Roman army, fighting as  (paid soldiers). Although this provided a short-term solution to their war-like and rebellious behaviour, there was also a distinct disadvantage. The Roman army now included men whose sole  (allegiance) was to their general rather than to the Roman state.

The city of Rome, after a long period of susceptibility to attack, was finally  (plundered, destroyed) in AD 476 by the barbarian tribes that had long fought against the Romans.

These details apply to the  part (the part that fell in AD476) of the Roman Empire. The part, with its capital in , was more compact, more populous, richer and not vulnerable to the attacks of the Germanic tribes. Constantine renamed the capital city in AD 330. This part of the Empire was to continue to flourish for over 1000 more years, until it was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The city is now called  (modern capital of Turkey).