Stilicho to secure for Honorius the restoration of eastern Illyricum,
which had been attached by Gratian to the sphere of the eastern emperor,
were the immediate causes of the complete and formal division of the
empire into an eastern and a western half, a condition which had been
foreshadowed by the division of the imperial power throughout the greater
part of the fourth century.

The fiction of imperial unity was still preserved by the nomination of one
consul in Rome and one in Constantinople, by the association of the
statues of both Augusti in each part of the empire, and by the issuance of
imperial enactments under their joint names. Nevertheless, there was a
complete separation of administrative authority, the edicts issued by one
emperor required the sanction of the other before attaining validity
within his territory, and upon the death of one Augustus the actual
government of the whole empire did not pass into the hands of the
survivor. The empire had really split into two independent states.

*The Germanic invasions.* In addition to the partition of the empire, the
period between 395 and 493 is marked by the complete breakdown of the
Roman resistance to barbarian invasions, and the penetration and
occupation of the western provinces and Italy itself by peoples of
Germanic stock. The position of Roman and barbarian is reversed; the
latter become the rulers, the former their subjects, and the power passes
from the Roman officials to the Germanic kings. Finally, a barbarian
soldier seats himself upon the throne of the western emperor, and a
Germanic kingdom is established in Italy.

*The military dictators.* During this period of disintegration, the real
power in the western empire was in the hands of a series of military
dictators, who with the office of master of the soldiers secured the
position of commander-in-chief of the imperial armies. Beside them the
emperors exercised only nominal authority. But as these dictators were
either barbarians themselves, or depended upon barbarian troops for their
support, they were continually intrigued against and opposed by the Roman
or civilian element, headed by the civil officers of the court. Yet the
fall of one "kingmaker" was always followed by the rise of another, for by
their aid alone could the Romans offer any effective resistance to the
flood of barbarian invasion.

*The empire maintained in the East.* But while the western empire was thus
absorbed by the G