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This made Rome very uncomfortable as an Imperial residence. Constantine(who ruled from 323 to 337) looked for a new capital. He chose Byzantium, the gate-way for the commerce between Europe and Asia. The city was renamed Constantinople, and the court moved eastward. When Constantine died, his two sons, for the sake of a more efficient administration, divided the Empire between them. The elder lived in Rome and ruled in the west. The younger stayed in Constantinople and was master of the east.
這樣的事情常常發生，使得作為帝國首都的羅馬變成了一個令人不快的居所。康士坦丁皇帝（公元23至337年在位）開始尋找一個新首都。他選擇了位于歐亞之間的通商門戶拜占庭，將其重新命名為君士坦丁堡，把皇宮遷到這里。康士坦丁死后，為更有效率地管理，他的兩個兒子便將羅馬帝國一分為二。哥哥住在羅馬，統治帝國的西部；弟弟留在君士坦丁堡，成為東羅馬的主人。
Then came the fourth century and the terrible visitation of the Huns, those mysterious Asiatic horsemen who for more than two centuries maintained themselves in Northern Europe and continued their career of bloodshed until they were defeated near Chalonssur-Marne in France in the year 451. As soon as the Huns had reached the Danube they had begun to press hard upon the Goths. The Goths, in order to save themselves, were thereupon obliged to invade Rome. The Emperor Valens tried to stop them, but was killed near Adrianople in the year 378. Twenty-two years later, under their king, Alaric, these same West Goths marched westward and attacked Rome. They did not plunder, and destroyed only a few palaces. Next came the Vandals, and showed less respect for the venerable traditions of the city. Then the Burgundians. Then the East Goths. Then the Alemanni. Then the Franks. There was no end to the invasions. Rome at last was at the mercy of every ambitious highway robber who could gather a few followers.
接下來到了公元4世紀，可怕的匈奴人造訪歐洲。這些神秘的亞洲騎兵在歐洲北部整整馳騁了兩個世紀，以殺人流血為職業，禍患四方，直到公元 451年在法國沙隆的馬恩河被徹底擊敗為止。當匈奴人進軍到多瑙河附近，對當地定居的哥特人產生了極大的威脅。為了生存，哥特人被迫侵人羅馬境內。瓦倫斯皇帝試圖抵御哥特人，在公元378年戰死于亞特里亞堡。22年后，同一群西哥特人在國王阿拉里克的率領下，向西挺進，襲擊了羅馬。他們沒有大肆劫掠，只是毀壞了幾座宮殿。接著來犯的是汪達爾人，他們對這座具有悠久歷史傳統的城市缺乏敬意，縱火搶劫，造成極大的破壞。接下來是勃艮弟人，然后東哥特人，阿拉曼尼人，法蘭克人……，侵略沒完沒了。羅馬最終變成了任何野心家都唾手可得的獵物，只要他能召集一批追隨的亡命之徒。
