Polity · 395 CE – 475 CE
Western Roman Empire
Imperium Romanum Occidentale
- Peak recorded area
- 2,132,840 km²
- 396 CE
- Rulers on record
- 3
- from 367 CE
- Data series
- 18
- 395 CE–456 CE
Overview
In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the Roman Empire's western provinces collectively during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. Particularly during the period from AD 395 to 476, there were separate, coequal courts dividing the governance of the empire into western and eastern provinces with a distinct imperial succession in the separate courts.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
18 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before 475 CE, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Largest Settlement Pop | 500Kpersons400 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Economy
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Agricultural Sophistication | 0.9738score400 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Monetary Complexity | 0.8333score400 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Military
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Military Levels | 8.5levels395 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Military Sophistication | 0.5625score400 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Territory & resources
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Polity Territory | 6.3score400 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Territory km² | 2Msq km400 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Governance
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Admin Levels | 8levels395 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Religious Hierarchy | 8levels395 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Development
6 of 9 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Government Complexity | 0.8636score400 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Hierarchy Levels | 7.5score400 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Information Complexity | 0.9231score400 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Infrastructure | 0.9909score400 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Known Ancient Places | 3,504places456 CE · Pleiades Gazetteer |
| Known Ancient Settlements | 1,326settlements456 CE · Pleiades Gazetteer |
Rulers
3 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- GratianRoman emperor367 CE – 383 CE
- Valentinian IIRoman emperor375 CE – 392 CE
- Flavius VictorRoman emperor384 CE – 388 CE
Language & currency
- Official & national languages
- Latin
- Currency
- Roman currency
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
Pleiades Gazetteer2024 snapshot
Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.). Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places.
CC BY 3.0
Seshat Equinox 2020Equinox 2020
Turchin, P. et al. Seshat Global History Databank, Equinox 2020 release.
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Western Roman Empire is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.