Unfair, there is still actual debate amongst historians and scholars about when the Roman empire ended, and if ever, it fell.
Among which historians specifically? I’m unaware of any serious debate here other than propagandists using the name second Rome, third Rome, ceaser etc. sorry buddy Roman empire collapsed when the franks, Visigoths, ostrogoths and Huns toppled the west. Wanna know why it ended then? Byzantine had split long before into a separate entity to distance itself from Rome and when it collapsed it chugged along with it’s greek orthodox ideals
That’s ignorant of modern scholarship. Here are some serious historians you might want to look into:
- Peter Heather
- Anthony Kaldellis
- Averil Cameron
- Timothy Gregory
- John Haldon
There are others, of course.
And no. By the time the Western half collapsed, the East had not drifted apart. That started happening 2-3 centuries later, definitely after Justinian. And it was not even completed as a process until after the 4th crusade at least.