<P> The Western Roman Empire existed intermittently in several periods between the 3rd and 5th centuries , after Diocletian 's Tetrarchy and the reunifications associated with Constantine the Great and Julian the Apostate ( 331 / 2 -- 363 ) . Theodosius I divided the Empire upon his death ( in 395 ) between his two sons . Finally , eighty - five years later in AD 480 , Zeno of the Eastern Empire recognized the reality of the Western Empire 's reduced domain -- effective central control had ceased to exist even in the Italian Peninsula -- after the deposition of Romulus Augustus and the subsequent death of Julius Nepos , and therefore abolished the Western court and proclaimed himself the sole emperor of the Roman Empire . </P>
<P> The Western Roman Empire existed intermittently in several periods between the 3rd and 5th centuries , after Diocletian 's Tetrarchy and the reunifications associated with Constantine the Great and Julian the Apostate ( 331 / 2 -- 363 ) . Theodosius I divided the Empire upon his death ( in 395 ) between his two sons . Finally , eighty - five years later in AD 480 , Zeno of the Eastern Empire recognized the reality of the Western Empire 's reduced domain -- effective central control had ceased to exist even in the Italian Peninsula -- after the deposition of Romulus Augustus and the subsequent death of Julius Nepos , and therefore abolished the Western court and proclaimed himself the sole emperor of the Roman Empire . </P>
the ruler of the holy roman empire that split his empire in half between his two sons was who
the ruler of the holy roman empire that split his empire in half between his two sons was who
Theodosius I
Theodosius I