After the fracture of the Roman Empire in 285 CE, this civilization was divided into two territories: The Western Roman Empire based in Milan and The Eastern Roman Empire based in Nicomedia. However, due to the fall of the Western Empire in 324, the Eastern part decided to shift its capital to Constantinople, which is nowadays known as Istanbul. This was home to the Roman emperor until the fall of the city at the hand's of the Ottoman Empire in 1453.