WI Alexandria is the capital of the eastern Roman empire?

I think C.A. is right about the division, Elfwine. The Theodosian Code refers only to "the Empire" in singular, I think. The idea was a unified Empire that just happened to be run by two courts for reasons of administrative convenience, rather than two separate allied states.

I cede the point on his intentions.

But I'd still say that de facto we see a division that did mean that the term "Western Roman Empire" mean something.
 
1: Emperors often divided the empire and one of his sons united it again.

2: But one of these parts didn't survive long: Illyricum
In the end there were three parts:

I: Praefectus praetorio per Orientem (Thracia, Asia, Syria. Egyptia)
II:
Praefectus praetorio Illyrici, Italiae et Africae (like the name imlies: Illyricum, Italia, Africa)
III:
Praefectus praetorio Galliarum (Britannia, Gallia, Hispania)


 
1: Emperors often divided the empire and one of his sons united it again.

2: But one of these parts didn't survive long: Illyricum
In the end there were three parts:

I: Praefectus praetorio per Orientem (Thracia, Asia, Syria. Egyptia)
II:
Praefectus praetorio Illyrici, Italiae et Africae (like the name imlies: Illyricum, Italia, Africa)
III:
Praefectus praetorio Galliarum (Britannia, Gallia, Hispania)



1: And the fact is that it didn't get united again, which means that the period between Theodosius's death and the end of the Roman Empire in the West, the term makes sense.

2: So one of the four parts got divided up among two of the others. Still cut into four pieces originally.

Really, I don't see why you're (seemingly) set on an Antioch capital. Syria is close enough (to a capital near the sea of Marmara) to be watched without being so close that bad things happening there threaten the capital - which is more likely to mean the capital falls than the Syria doesn't.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrarchy#Timeline Seems like it keeps being in four pieces.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ire_with_praetorian_prefectures_in_400_AD.png
 
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To begin with: I'm deeply sorry for changing the threads's topic

1: Like i said: noone ever thought of it as divided, they just had different administrators, who were responsible for the whole empire.

2: You just need an emperor with three sons.

3: We discussed about a possible byzantine Princedom of Antioch, remember? So atm i'm interessted about possible changes in Antioch's history.

In a wiki-article about praetorian prefects they mentioned the empire oranized in three parts... the German article of course (in the English one it isn't mentioned) I guess an Illyricum prefect is anyway too weak to survive on its own.
 
To begin with: I'm deeply sorry for changing the threads's topic

1: Like i said: noone ever thought of it as divided, they just had different administrators, who were responsible for the whole empire.

2: You just need an emperor with three sons.

3: We discussed about a possible byzantine Princedom of Antioch, remember? So atm i'm interessted about possible changes in Antioch's history.

In a wiki-article about praetorian prefects they mentioned the empire oranized in three parts... the German article of course (in the English one it isn't mentioned) I guess an Illyricum prefect is anyway too weak to survive on its own.

1: Except that they very much acted as if it was divided.

2: And a desire to give each of them a third of the empire.

3: Yeah, but that doesn't make it a good capital.

IV: It seems like it went back and forth.
 
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