constantinople, the “new rome”. from then on, the empire would be dependent on its far holdings for money, supplies, food, workers, slaves, and even emperors. bankers and the moneyed elite would replace the citizen-soldier landholder, and mercenaries would replace the once-great roman legions. the western half of the roman empire itself declined until its last emperor, romulus augustus, was deposed by barbarians in the fifth century ad.