Emperors Reform the Roman Empire
Analyze how Emperors Diocletian and Constantine reformed the Roman Empire through division, religious change, and new capital cities to address its crisis in Grade 7 history.
Key Concepts
As the empire weakened, Emperor Diocletian took strong measures to restore order. He set price controls to fight economic problems. To make the vast territory easier to govern, he divided the empire into an eastern and a western part, with a co emperor for each.
Later, Emperor Constantine continued many of Diocletian's reforms. In 330 C.E., he moved the capital from Rome to the city of Byzantium, renaming it Constantinople . This shift in power to the east was a major turning point for the empire.
Common Questions
How did Emperor Diocletian reform the weakening Roman Empire?
Diocletian implemented major reforms to stabilize the empire. He set price controls to fight rampant inflation, divided the empire into eastern and western halves with co-emperors for easier governance, and reorganized the military. These practical measures bought the empire time, though they didn't resolve its fundamental problems.
What changes did Emperor Constantine make to the Roman Empire?
Emperor Constantine made two transformative decisions. He legalized Christianity in 313 CE with the Edict of Milan, ending centuries of persecution. He also moved the empire's capital from Rome to a new city he called Constantinople on the Bosphorus strait, shifting the empire's center of gravity eastward.
Why did reforming the Roman Empire ultimately fail to prevent its collapse?
Diocletian and Constantine's reforms addressed symptoms without curing underlying causes—political corruption, economic stress, military overextension, and social fragmentation. The reforms stabilized the empire temporarily but didn't eliminate the structural weaknesses that continued to erode imperial power. The Western Empire finally fell to Germanic invasions in 476 CE.