ul.(49) Everyone was thankful when he was assassinated in 41 AD. Caligula was succeeded by several emperors who did nothing governmentally, including Claudius and Nero.Around the second century AD, the Empire began to crumble. Wave after wave of barbarian invaders, especially the Huns, chipped away at the state. Eventually some of the provinces had to be abandoned. At the end of the third century, Emperor Diocletian decided the empire was two big, and split it in two. He ruled the east from Turkey, and commissioned Maximian to rule the west from Milan. He called this form of government the Dominate, from Latin dominus, meaning master. There were two Augusti, who ruled the east and west, and under them there were two Caesars, who were like vice-presidents. The two Caesars of the east and west were Constantine and Galerius, respectively. Diocletian turned his empire into something like afeudal system, where peasants were deprived of personal freedom and tied to the soil. He renamed citizens to subjects. In 305, Diocletian and Maximian stepped down as Augusti, resulting in civil wars between the old Caesars and new Augusti. Eventually, Constantine the Great came out on top in 312. Constantine's troops made him emperor, and he ruled the entire Empire from Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople. Constantine was the first Christian ruler of the Empire.Alaric of the Visgoths helped the emperor Theodosius crush a rebellion. Unfortunately, Theodosius died before he could reward Alaric. The new emperor, Honorius, cut Alaric off from Rome, which he resented deeply. Alaric took his army to Constantinople, but found it too well guarded. He then led his army to the city of Rome, where, in the fifth century, sacked it.The Empire continued to fall to barbarians. The east and west sides of the Empire were in a virtual state of war. In 429, Vandals conquered Africa. In 410, Britain fell. In 451, the Huns took most of Europe. When Atilla the Hun came ...
