Why Are We “The West?”
Most people would think that the terms “Western” and “Eastern” had to do with the 20th century confrontation between the United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The origin of this distinction between what is “East” and what is “West” actually goes back 17 additional centuries to 285 CE when the Emperor Diocletian divided the Roman Empire into its Eastern and Western halves. After Diocletian, the Roman Empire was united and divided several times until the final division in 395 when the Emperor Theodosius I gave half to each of his two sons by his first wife. The western half went into a period of rapid decline, and was overrun by various surrounding tribes in various places and at various times. Some date the fall of the Western Roman Empire as early as 455 CE, when Rome was overrun by barbarian tribes, but the last widely-recognized Emperor of the West formally abdicated his rule on October 4, 476 CE.
The Eastern Roman Empire, which is usually called the Byzantine Empire, continued on for many centuries, however. Its founding is sometimes taken as May 11, 330, when the Emperor Constantine, who ruled over both East and West, formally consecrated his new capitol as Nova Roma (New Rome). However, after his death, the city became known as Constantine’s City, or Constantinople. To distinguish this long-lasting empire from the older Roman Empire, the eastern empire is frequently referred to as the Byzantine Empire, a name which is taken from the name of Constantinople prior to Constintine’s extreme makeover. Before then, the small town which stood at that site was called Byzantium, a trading post town established in the 7th century BCE.
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