When did the Western Roman Empire exist?

The Western Roman Empire existed 395–476. On this map it is drawn AD 395–475.

How large was the Western Roman Empire?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Western Roman Empire covered about 2.2 million km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

Europe · Antiquity and the Roman world

Western Roman Empire

395–476

The Western Roman Empire is the term for the western administrative half of the Roman Empire after the 395 division on the death of Theodosius I, ruled from Mediolanum (Milan) and, from 402, the marsh-protected capital of Ravenna. Its first western emperor was the child Honorius (r. 395–423), whose reign was dominated first by the capable half-Vandal generalissimo Stilicho (executed 408) and then by disaster.

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Existed: 395–476
Shown on the map: AD 395–475
Peak area: 2.2M km²
Region: Europe

Overview

History

The 5th century was a story of contraction and loss. The Rhine crossing (406) and the revolt of Britain led to the permanent loss of Britain (c. 410). The Visigoths under Alaric sacked Rome in 410 — a profound psychological shock, though Rome was no longer the capital. Under Valentinian III (r. 425–455) the general Flavius Aetius ("the last of the Romans") held the west together by managing barbarian foederati, most famously halting Attila at the Catalaunian Plains (451); Aetius was murdered by Valentinian in 454, and Valentinian himself the next year. Meanwhile the Vandals took Africa (439) and sacked Rome again in 455. A succession of short-lived, increasingly powerless emperors followed, dominated by the Suevic generalissimo Ricimer.

Decline and legacy

The conventional end came in 476, when the Germanic commander Odoacer deposed the boy-emperor Romulus Augustulus and, rather than appoint a new western emperor, sent the imperial regalia to Constantinople and ruled Italy as king under nominal eastern authority. (Some scholars note that Julius Nepos, recognised in the east, remained a claimant until 480.) The "fall" is itself a historiographical battleground: catastrophic collapse (the older view) versus gradual "transformation of the Roman world." Successor states included the kingdoms of Odoacer, the Visigoths, Vandals, Suebi, Burgundians, and Franks.

Common questions

What was the Western Roman Empire?: The Western Roman Empire is the term for the western administrative half of the Roman Empire after the 395 division on the death of Theodosius I, ruled from Mediolanum (Milan) and, from 402, the marsh-protected capital of Ravenna. Its first western emperor was the child Honorius (r. 395–423), whose reign was dominated first by the capable half-Vandal generalissimo Stilicho (executed 408) and then by disaster.
When did the Western Roman Empire exist?: The Western Roman Empire existed 395–476. On this map it is drawn AD 395–475.
How large was the Western Roman Empire?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Western Roman Empire covered about 2.2 million km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Who ruled the Western Roman Empire?: The 5th century was a story of contraction and loss. The Rhine crossing (406) and the revolt of Britain led to the permanent loss of Britain (c. 410).
How did the Western Roman Empire end?: The conventional end came in 476, when the Germanic commander Odoacer deposed the boy-emperor Romulus Augustulus and, rather than appoint a new western emperor, sent the imperial regalia to Constantinople and ruled Italy as king under nominal eastern authority. (Some scholars note that Julius Nepos, recognised in the east, remained a claimant until 480.)

Sources

This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each territory and its key figures as the primary basis, with Encyclopædia Britannica, the World History Encyclopedia, and academic and primary sources — Jordanes, Procopius, Gregory of Tours, Bede, Ammianus and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, read through the secondary literature. The article this entry is anchored on:

Wikipedia — Western Roman Empire en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Roman_Empire

This entry was last updated 27 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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