Hello, my name is Ms. Krijnauw, and I'm so pleased that you have joined me in this history lesson about the Romans and what it meant to be Roman.

In this lesson, we are going to travel back in time to learn about the division of the Roman Empire.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain what happened to the Roman Empire when it was split in two, and it's my job to guide you through the learning materials and the resources.

But before we start the lesson, I would like to introduce you to some key words.

These words will come up in the lesson, so you might want to take a note of them and refer back to your notes as we encounter them.

Here they are.

Legacy.

Constantinople.

Temporary.

Byzantine Empire.

Permanent.

I'm going to say these words again, but this time, I would like you to say them with me.

Here goes.

Legacy.

Constantinople.

Temporary.

Byzantine Empire.

Permanent.

Well, let's find out what these words mean.

A legacy is something from the past that's affected history and left a lasting impact on the world.

Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire.

The next word's temporary.

Temporary means something that will disappear over time and does not last for a long time.

The Byzantine Empire is the name given by historians to the eastern half of the Roman Empire.

And when something lasts a long time or forever, it is permanent.

Pause the video here to take note of these words and when you are ready for the lesson, press play.

This lesson about the division of the Roman Empire has two learning cycles and the first learning is entitled, "The Roman Empire Splits".

The Roman Empire was huge and it was very successful.

The Roman Empire was so successful that by 235 CE, it covered most of Europe, North Africa and parts of Asia.

But this caused its own problems, because the empire had become so large that the emperor in charge struggled to keep control of everything.

He couldn't keep an eye on everything that was happening in the empire.

Some provinces even started to make their own rules and decisions instead of listening to the emperor.

They started to behave as though they were not even part of the empire at all.

It seemed as though the Roman Empire was in crisis.

By 284 CE, it was clear that something needed to be done to save the empire.

That was when Emperor Diocletian came to power.

He realised that he needed to fix the empire's problems and bring order and stability back to the Roman Empire.

To solve his problem, Diocletian decided to split the empire in two parts, the Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire.

He hoped that the two smaller parts would be easier to manage and rule than one huge empire.

The Roman Empire was divided in the year 286 CE with each part ruled separately by its own emperor, but they promised to help each other if either one faced a problem, such as an attack from an enemy.

Here is a timeline of the events of Roman history we have studied so far.

In 753 BCE, Rome was founded.

509 BCE, Rome became a republic.

And then in the year 27 BCE, Augustus became the first emperor of Rome and that was when Rome became an empire and it had been very successful for a long time.

But in the year 286 CE, the Emperor Diocletian decided to split the empire in two parts.

You may want to pause the video here to study this timeline further and when you are ready to continue, press play.

Let's take a moment to check we're understanding.

Is the following statement true or false? In 286 CE, Diocletian split the Roman Empire in two.

Pause the video here and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

That statement of course is true, but let's justify our answer.

In other words, let's give a reason why we say that statement is true.

Is it because A, Diocletian's wife wanted to rule half the empire or is it B, the Empire had become too large to manage? Take a moment.

Pause the video here and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Well, let's see.

Diocletian split the Roman empire in two because the empire had become too large to manage.

Well done if you got that right.

Well for a while, this split seemed to offer a fairly good solution, but things were about to change again for the empire.

In 306 CE, a man named Constantine became a Caesar, which was like a junior emperor, of the Western Roman empire.

His goal was to reunite the Eastern and Western Roman empires and he fought to accomplish his mission.

Bit by bit, he defeated his rivals.

First, in 312 CE, he defeated Maxentius, the emperor of the Western Roman Empire in the battle of Milvian Bridge.

This victory helped Constantine become the emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

Then in 324 CE, Constantine defeated another rival, Emperor Licinius of the Eastern Roman Empire, in battle.

And following this victory, Constantine became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire.

He had achieved his goal.

The empire been reunited.

Let's consolidate our learning.

Who was the emperor who wanted to unite the Eastern and Western Roman Empires? Pause the video here and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Did you say the answer was Constantine? That's right, he was the emperor who united the Eastern and Western Roman Empires.

Constantine worked hard to make the Roman Empire strong and powerful again.

Constantine saw himself as the founder of a new Roman Empire, and so he wanted a new capital to symbolise a break from the past and the beginning of a new era.

The new capital, which was to be Constantine's legacy, was named Constantinople, in his honour, in 330 CE.

The new capital was a magnificent city.

Constantinople's location had been chosen carefully.

It is in modern day Turkey and is now known as Istanbul.

The city had water on three sides, making it difficult for enemies to attack and its central location and natural harbour made trade easy between Europe and Asia.

Constantinople soon became very wealthy.

The capital was also a centre for Christian culture and practise as Constantine had converted to Christianity.

Let's check our understanding of what we have just learned.

Is the following statement true or false? Constantinople, the new capital of the Roman Empire, was named in honour of Constantine.

Pause the video here and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Well, that statement is true.

Let's justify our answer.

Let's give a reason why we say that statement is true.

Is it because A, Constantine liked his name so much that he wanted the capital to be named after him, or B, Constantine wanted the new capital to be remembered as part of his legacy? Pause the video here and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

And the correct answer is that Constantine wanted the new capital to be remembered as part of his legacy.

Well done if you got that right.

We are now ready for the first learning task of this lesson.

This task is split into two parts.

Here is the first part.

Sort the statements according to which emperor may have said it.

Would it have been Diocletian who would've said it or Constantine who would've said it? Here are the statements.

The Roman Empire is too large and in crisis.

I would like to unite the Roman Empire.

I will divide the empire into the Eastern Empire and the Western Empire.

I want to make Constantinople the capital of the Roman Empire.

Pause the video here and once you have sorted the statements according to whether Diocletian would've said it or whether Constantine would've said it, press play.

Let's sort the statements.

The first one.

The Roman Empire is too large and in crisis.

That statement belongs to Diocletian.

I would like to unite the Roman Empire.

That statement would have been most likely said by Constantine.

I will divide the empire into the Eastern Empire and the Western Empire.

That statement belongs to Diocletian.

And the last statement, I want to make Constantinople the capital of the Roman Empire.

That one belongs to Constantine.

Well done if you managed to sort those correctly.

Let's move on to the second part of this learning task.

It says, "Fill in the speech bubbles to explain why the emperors may have made these statements." Pause the video here and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Here is an example of an answer that you could have given.

Diocletian says, "The capital of the Roman Empire as part of my legacy." Well done if your answers look similar to this one.

We will now move on to the second learning cycle of this lesson, which is entitled, "The Byzantine Empire." Let's take a moment to go back to the timeline, because this will give us a taste of what we are about to learn.

In 395 CE, the Roman Empire will split permanently.

In 476 CE, the Western Roman Empire would fall.

Pause the video here.

You could pause the video here to give yourself a bit more time to study this timeline.

When you are ready to continue with the lesson, press play.

Unfortunately, this united Roman Empire was only temporary and it didn't last very long.

After Constantine's death in 337 CE, the whole empire was once again divided into separate Western and Roman Empires with separate emperors.

In 395 CE, this split became permanent when Emperor Theodosius the First died.

He was the last emperor to rule over both the Eastern and Western Roman Empires.

The empire was then divided between his sons.

Let's check our understanding of what we have just learned.

Is this statement true or false? Emperor Constantine made sure that the empire would be united permanently.

Pause the video here and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Well, that is of course false.

Well, let's justify why we say that statement is false.

Is it A, the united empire was not permanent, only temporary, or B, after Diocletian split the empire, it was never reunited.

Pause the video here and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

And the correct answer is that the united empire was not permanent.

It didn't last forever.

It was only temporary.

Well done if you got that right.

The capital of the Western Roman Empire was Rome.

The Western Empire.

The capital of the Western Roman Empire was Rome.

The Western Empire continued to face many challenges and ultimately fell in 476 CE.

This meant that the Eastern Roman Empire was now the only remaining part of the original Roman Empire.

The Eastern Roman Empire later became known as the Byzantine Empire.

The term Byzantine Empire was not used during the time of the empire itself.

The Byzantine Empire is a modern term that historians use to describe the eastern part of the Roman Empire after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE.

The Byzantine Empire lasted for over 1,100 years and Constantinople remained as its capital.

Let's consolidate our learning.

Complete the following sentence by filling in the blanks.

The Eastern Roman Empire became known as the (blank) with (blank) as its capital.

Pause the video here and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Let's find out what the answer is.

The Eastern Roman Empire became known as the Byzantine Empire with Constantinople as its capital.

Good work if you got that correct.

The people living in the Eastern Empire still refer to themselves as Roman and they considered their state to be a continuation of the Roman Empire, but over time, the culture and traditions started to change.

For example, Latin had always been the main language of the Roman Empire, but in the Byzantine period, Greek became the most common language.

Similarly, Greek art and writing also became very popular.

Some historians believe that the Byzantine Empire's main legacy is that it helped spread Christianity.

The Byzantines saw themselves as Christian and defenders of the Christian faith.

Byzantine art often used Christian themes, for example, Roman mosaics showing saints and stories from the Bible.

They believed that the success of the empire was because of their Christianity.

Let's check our understanding of what we have just learned.

Which one is not an example of how culture and traditions in the Byzantine Empire changed over time.

Is it A, Greek became the main language used.

B, Greek art and writing became popular.

C, Latin continued to be the main language used.

Pause the video here and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Of course, the correct answer is that Latin continued to be the main language used.

Well done if you got that right.

And let's answer the following question.

One of the Byzantine Empire's main legacies is that it helped spread which religion? Is it A, Islam, B, Christianity or C Judaism? Pause a video here and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

The answer is Christianity.

Good work.

We are now ready for the second learning task of this lesson.

It says, "Write one paragraph explaining happened after the Roman Empire permanently split in two in 395 CE.

Use the following words to help you.

Western Roman Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Constantinople and Greek." Pause the video here to give yourself enough time to write one paragraph and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Here is an example of an answer that you could have given.

The Western Roman Empire continued to face many challenges and ultimately fell in 476 CE.

The Eastern Roman Empire became known as a Byzantine Empire and had Constantinople as its capital.

Over time, the culture and traditions in the Byzantine Empire started to change.

For example, Greek replaced Latin as the main language.

Well done if your answer is similar to this and an extra well done if you managed to use all the words highlighted in green.

We have now come to the end of this lesson, but before we go, let's summarise what we have learned.

The Emperor Diocletian thought that the Roman Empire had too many problems and that it should be split in two.

Emperor Constantine fought to reunite the empire.

He created a new capital called Constantinople in 330 CE.

The reunited Roman Empire was only temporary and it separated permanently in 395 CE.

The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE.

The Eastern Roman Empire became the Byzantine Empire.

The Byzantine Empire was still thought of as Roman, but over time, the culture and traditions changed.

And that brings us to the end of this lesson about the division of the Roman Empire.

I am so pleased you joined me and I really enjoyed going on this learning adventure with you.

See you next time.