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The Roman Empire: The Eastern And Western European Kingdoms

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At the peak of the Roman Empire, the territory spanned from the western reaches of Spain to the deserts of Egypt. Such power had never been seen in the Western world before the Romans. Sadly, due to massive size, the power the Roman Empire possessed hardly served to last. Over time and multiple emperors, the empire slowly decayed, financially and politically. Eventually, the empire was split into Eastern and Western portions in the hopes to ease political and economic struggles. Each side of the empire was influenced by Roman culture and political structure in different aspects of life. What would become the Byzantine Empire and the Western European Kingdoms grew from their Roman roots like weeds; blooming into flowers that seemed to poorly emulate the Roman Empire’s original beauty. In order to gain a better understanding of how the Eastern and Western Empires differed in their “Romanness”, it is important to look at the seed they sprouted from. The Imperial Roman Empire itself stemmed from the bloodied remains of the Roman Republic which valued order, military strength, and the faith. To keep order, punishments for crimes were dictated by the emperor who, under emperor Diocletian, had full control of law creation and enforcement. Emperors held total power in general, even if it was disguised in the Early Roman Empire. The first Roman Code, the Twelve Tables, not only showed the brutality of such punishments that were upheld by later Roman emperors, but also exhibited the

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