Which was the superior half of the Roman Empire?

WHICH IS THE SUPERIOR HALF OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE?

Superior:

1, Militarily

2, Economically

3, Level of Learning

etc

Originally posted by poirot WHICH IS THE SUPERIOR HALF OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE?

End of West Roman Empire: 476 AD
End of East Roman Empire: 1453 AD


Any more questions?

Apologize for not clarifying.  What I meant was the Eastern and Western Roman Empires prior to 476 A.D.  I usually term the Eastern Roman Empire after 476 A.D. as the Byzantine Empire.

In the glory days of Rome, the Western Empire was the strongest. However, over an extended period of time the western part was gradually weakened, and by the time of Constantine I the scales had shifted in favour of the eastern part.

Admittedly the eastern part had always been the richest, but that doesn't really matter as during the glory days this wealth was transported back to Rome. To illustrate my point; the agriculturual capacities of the Nile delta far exceeded that of the Roman heartland, but that didn't do Egypt any good other than making it the breadbasket of the Romans.

As Imperatore said, there was no "Eastern Empire" until the full split until the start of the end of the western one. Consatntinople was created by COnsatntine BECAUSE the west was weakening. Later on, the east also got the better slice of the bread and had the better emperors.

I would have to go with the Eastern half. They remained a cultural and formidible military force for 1000+ years. In that time the west broke into varied city states. Then they were no longer united under the western umbrella.

Byzantium of course!

Easy way to answer the question. If the best W. Roman military unit met the best E. Roman unit, who'd win.

E.g. if J. Caesar's 10th Legion and Gallic auxilliary cavalry ever met Belisarius' 5,000-man unit which retook rome from the Ostrogoths whou would win? I'd bet on Belisarius' 5000, even if the 10th and auxilliaries would have a slight numerical advantage.

 E. Roman cataphracts would pepper the old legionaries with arrows all day, then ride them down with their lances.

Originally posted by poirot Apologize for not clarifying.  What I meant was the Eastern and Western Roman Empires prior to 476 A.D.  I usually term the Eastern Roman Empire after 476 A.D. as the Byzantine Empire.

Which itself (the term Byzantine) is a misnomer....   It was renamed mainly because influential historians of a particular age didn't think the Empire of Constantinople deserved the title "Roman"..