Changes

== After "the Fall" ==

== After "the Fall" ==

The Roman Empire continued with the Eastern (or [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]]) Empire until its fall in 1453 A.D. Despite the fact that the Eastern Empire shifted away from Roman culture as the [[Middle Ages]] progressed,<ref>{{harvnb|Ahrweiler|Laiou|1998|p=vii}}; {{harvnb|Davies|1996|p=245}}; {{harvnb|Gross|1999|p=45}}; {{harvnb|Lapidge|Blair|Keynes|1998|p=79}}; {{harvnb|Millar|2006|pages=2, 15}}; {{harvnb|Moravcsik|1970|pp=11–12}}; {{harvnb|Ostrogorsky|1969|pp=28, 146}}; {{harvnb|Browning|1983|p=113}}.</ref> it was the direct continuation of the Roman Empire, and was continued to be known and called by its inhabitants as the Roman Empire.<ref>{{harvnb|Cinnamus|1976|p=240}}; [[Theodore the Studite]], ''Epistulae'', 145, line 19 ("ἡ ταπεινὴ Γραικία"), and 458, line 28 ("ἐν Ἀρμενίᾳ καὶ Γραικίᾳ").</ref>

The Roman Empire continued with the Eastern (or [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]]) Empire until its fall in 1453 A.D. Despite the fact that the Eastern Empire shifted away from Roman culture as the [[Middle Ages]] progressed, it was the direct continuation of the Roman Empire, and was continued to be known and called by its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, who also continued to refer to themselves as Romans.<ref>Teall, John L. & Nicol, Donald MacGillivray. [https://www.britannica.com/place/Byzantine-Empire Byzantine Empire]. ''Encyclopedia Britannica''. Retrieved September 9, 2016.</ref><ref name="Boundless">[https://www.boundless.com/world-history/textbooks/boundless-world-history-i-ancient-civilizations-enlightenment-textbook/the-byzantine-empire-6/byzantium-the-new-rome-35/naming-of-the-byzantine-empire-134-13338/ Naming of the Byzantine Empire]. ''boundless.com''. Retrieved September 9, 2016.</ref> The terms "Eastern Roman Empire" and "Byzantine Empire" are modern historiographical terms that were created after the fall of the empire in 1453.<ref name="Boundless"/>

Accounts of the Roman world's immediate descent into poverty have been greatly exaggerated.  Rather, rulers such as [[Theoderic the Ostrogoth]] and his followers (the [[Amal]] clan) ruled from [[Ravenna]] in the Roman style, maintaining much of Roman life and infrastructure.<ref>Peter Wolfram, ''The Goths''</ref>  Theoderic even employed Romans to ensure this continuity and sense of Roman stability.  Indeed, in the eyes of the people of Italy, the formal pronouncement of the end of the Roman empire wasn't apparent; that is only a label that was put on in retrospect due to the One example was [[Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator]] (or just Cassiodorus), who, writing as Theoderic, famously urged all Romans to "clothe themselves with the morals of the [[toga]]" - i.e., retain your Roman ways, in spite of the "barbarian" rule.

Accounts of the Roman world's immediate descent into poverty have been greatly exaggerated.  Rather, rulers such as [[Theoderic the Ostrogoth]] and his followers (the [[Amal]] clan) ruled from [[Ravenna]] in the Roman style, maintaining much of Roman life and infrastructure.<ref>Peter Wolfram, ''The Goths''</ref>  Theoderic even employed Romans to ensure this continuity and sense of Roman stability.  Indeed, in the eyes of the people of Italy, the formal pronouncement of the end of the Roman empire wasn't apparent; that is only a label that was put on in retrospect due to the One example was [[Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator]] (or just Cassiodorus), who, writing as Theoderic, famously urged all Romans to "clothe themselves with the morals of the [[toga]]" - i.e., retain your Roman ways, in spite of the "barbarian" rule.