Editing Roman Empire (section)

== Division and legacy ==
The western administration weakened during the fifth century as military commanders, court officials, and Germanic federate forces competed for control. Roman authority was lost in Britain, Gaul, Hispania, and North Africa. In AD 476, the Germanic commander [[Odoacer]] removed the western emperor [[Romulus Augustulus]] and governed Italy as king.

The eastern administration survived with Constantinople as its capital. Its inhabitants and rulers continued to identify their state as Roman. It retained Roman government, law, imperial titles, and political institutions while Greek gradually became the main administrative language. This eastern Roman state is commonly known as the Byzantine Empire and continued until the Ottoman capture of Constantinople in 1453.<ref name="greece-history"/><ref name="turkey-history"/>

Roman institutions influenced later systems of law, government, taxation, military organisation, urban planning, architecture, language, and religion. Latin developed into the Romance languages and remained important in law, education, religion, and scholarship. Roman roads, city plans, bridges, walls, and aqueducts continued to shape settlement and transport across former imperial territory.

Later rulers and states used Roman titles and political traditions to support claims of imperial authority. The Byzantine emperors ruled as Roman emperors, while the [[Holy Roman Empire]] adopted Roman imperial terminology in western Europe. Rome also remained a major religious centre through the development of the Roman Catholic Church.