Roman Road News
May 21, 337 AD, Emperors Attempt Reform!!
Diocletian Tries to Reform
Over the years our military and economy has weakened, and lets be honest, our country is falling apart! But, Diocletian attempted to change that! Diocletian was a strong-willed army leader, who became our new emperor in 284 AD. For those of you who don't remember, he ruled with an iron fist, but he restored the empire, increased its strength, doubled the size of our army, and controlled inflation! It was at this time that Diocletian decided that the empire was too big for one ruler, and decided to split our country into East and West. He took the East, and had a co-ruler for the West, but he had the overall rule of all of Rome. After all of this Diocletian retired in 305 AD, and instead of peace, a civil war broke out immediately, and we would have been doomed if Constantine wouldn't have came to power afterwards.
Constantine
Constantine gained control of the West in 312 AD, and continued many of Diocletian's social and economic policies. In 324 AD, he got control of the East, reuniting Rome under a single ruler. In 330 AD, just 7 years ago, something big happened. Constantine moved the capital of Rome, to Byzantium, a city we are now calling Constantinople. This had huge consequences, as the East has obviously took more power than the West, shifting the control. As Constantine, our great ruler, is on his dying bed, we only have 1 question. After his death will the weak West survive?