the decline and fall of the roman empire

THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE

ROMAN EMPIRE

Essential Question:What factors led to the collapseof the Roman Empire and what effect did the fall of Rome have on the Mediterranean world?

Warm-Up Question:In the cartoon on the next slide, identify as many Roman achievements as possible

The Roman Republic & Empire: A Brief Overview

Rome began as a city-state that was heavily influenced by Greek culture

The Roman Republic By 509 BCE,

Rome was ruled by elected Senators who served in the Roman Republic

The Roman Republic During the Republic, Rome expanded by

defeating Carthage in the Punic Wars and later under generals

like Julius Caesar

The Roman Republic

The Republic weakened due to corruption, civil

wars, and the assassination of Julius

Caesar in 44 B.C.E.

The Roman Empire

After Julius Caesar’s death, Rome became

an empire ruled by the Emperor

Augustus

The Roman Empire

Pax Romana

Under Augustus, Rome entered an era

of peace and prosperity known as

the Pax Romana

The Roman Empire

Pax Romana

Era of decline

After 207 years of prosperity during the Pax Romana, the Empire began to decline and was

conquered in 476 A.D.

The Decline of the Roman EmpireThe decline and fall of the Roman Empire

happened gradually, in three stages

FIRST STAGE: internal problems with politics, the economy, and the military began an era of decline

SECOND STAGE: there was a brief period of revival as Emperors Diocletian and Constantine enacted

reforms; however, some of these reforms would help bring about the Empire’s end

THIRD STAGE: repeated invasions by Germanic “barbarian” tribes would lead to the conquest of

Rome, bringing the Roman Empire to an end

Rome’s Internal ProblemsPOLITICAL and SOCIAL

The empire was too large for one emperor to control

Emperors after the Pax Romana

were weak


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XnNLKT7lPpU/TWNZoj-dgBI/AAAAAAAAELU/C5vKXan1DWQ/s1600/glm.jpg

Citizens experienced a loss of confidence, patriotism, and loyalty to

the Roman government


Rome’s Internal ProblemsECONOMIC

Outside groups disrupted trade

Poor harvests led to food shortages

Rome’s Internal ProblemsECONOMIC

The government raised taxes and

minted new coins which led to inflation

The economic decline left many Romans

very poor

Rome had a trade imbalance (they

bought more than they produced)

Rome’s Internal ProblemsMILITARY

Germanic tribes from Northern Europe, outside of the Roman Empire, were gaining strength


The Roman military was growing ineffective due to poor leadership: generals

had their own interests and were challenging the authority of the emperors


To save money, Romans found it cheaper to hire foreign soldiers

instead of employing more Romans; these “mercenaries” were not truly loyal to Rome

Attempts To Reform The Roman EmpireEMPEROR DIOCLETIAN

In 284 CE, Emperor Diocletian came to power; he began a series

of reforms that temporarily halted Rome’s decline

To fix the problems of the military, he doubled the size of

the Roman Army

To help the economy and stop inflation, he fixed the prices of

certain goods


In an attempt to do something about the lack of loyalty and patriotism of many Roman citizens,

Diocletian presented himself as a godlike leader

He wanted to boost the prestige of the position of

emperor, so he claimed descent from the gods and had numerous ceremonies

to glorify himself


Diocletian’s most important reform was dividing the Roman Empire into two parts: the

Eastern Empire and the Western Empire


Diocletian’s most important was reform was dividing the Roman Empire into two parts: the

Eastern Empire and the Western Empire

Western

Eastern


The Roman Empire was divided by language: the mostly Latin-speaking Western half and the

mostly Greek-speaking Eastern half

Western

Eastern


However, the Empire was also divided by wealth: the East was far richer than the West because it contained more major cities and trade centers

Western

Eastern


Diocletian’s reasons for the division: he believed that the Empire had grown too large

and too complex for one ruler

He took the Eastern half for himself and appointed a co-

emperor to run the West; however, Diocletian had overall

control of the Empire

Attempts To Reform The Roman EmpireEMPEROR CONSTANTINE

After Diocletian’s death, there was a power struggle among several men who wanted to

rule the EmpireEmerging victorious and

becoming the new emperor of the West was Constantine

Constantine continued many of Diocletian’s reforms, but he reversed the biggest reform:

he reclaimed the East and the Roman Empire once again had

a single ruler


Constantine made other changes: wanting to unify Rome and

recognizing that Christianity was on the rise and could not be destroyed, he ended persecutions of Christians

and made it a legal religion

Constantine later converted to Christianity himself

The emperor after him would go on to make Christianity the official

religion of Rome; this would have unexpected consequences

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In 330 CE, Constantine made a change that would have far-reaching consequences for

the world: he moved the capital

of the Roman Empire and his seat

of power from Rome to a Greek

city called Byzantium

Byzantium, the new capital

Rome, the old capitalByzantium was perfectly

located to be the center of trade between East and West

Given its location on the Bosporus Strait, the city was also in a more easily defensible position from

Northern invaders than Rome was

When it was constructed, Byzantium had a strong Greek and Christian influence; the new capital was soon

protected by massive walls and later was the home to many great new structures built in the Roman style

Byzantium eventually took on a new name: Constantinople (or “City of Constantine”)

After Diocletian and Constantine died, the Eastern half of the Empire continued

to grow wealthier and more powerful

The Western half, on the other hand, once again began to decline

Reasons why the Western side of the Roman Empire once again slid into decline: political corruption,

weakening economy, and terrible plagues

Also, Roman citizens were less concerned with the fate of the Roman Empire and more

preoccupied with thoughts of the afterlife (because of the dominance of Christianity)

The Decline of the Roman Empire

All of these issues made the Western Roman Empire weak and vulnerable (open to attack)

The Decline of the Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire

By 370 CE, “barbarian” tribes from Asia and Northern Europe were attacking both halves of the Empire


The Eastern half was well-protected, organized, strong, and prosperous; it fought off the invaders

The Western half was vulnerable, disorganized, and weak; it could not defend itself from the invaders


A marauding barbarian tribe from Central Asia called the Huns began the

invasions

The Huns swept into Northern Europe, conquering all in

their path


When the Huns invaded Northern Europe, they

were so fierce that they even made the Germanic tribes want to avoid them


To avoid the Huns, the Germanic tribes moved south into the Western Roman Empire’s territory


These Germanic groups (such as the

Vandals, Goths, Visigoths, Franks,

and Ostrogoths) did not move into

Roman territory peacefully

They repeatedly attacked the

Western Romans

The Fall of the Roman EmpireWhen a vicious new leader

named Attila united the Hun tribes, the Huns also

attacked both sides of the Roman Empire

The Eastern side, centered around Constantinople,

successfully fought off the attacking Huns

The Western side, attacked at several places by the Huns

and Germanic tribes, crumbled and was

conquered ATTILA THE HUN


The city of Rome itself was captured and looted by the Visigoths in 410 CE


The German warrior Odoacer removed the last Roman emperor

from power

The Fall of the Roman EmpireThe weak Western Roman Army could do little to stop

the invasions; by 476 CE, Germanic barbarians took over the city of Rome and

conquered the West

The once-united Western Roman Empire broke up into numerous smaller kingdoms and territories, each

ruled over by different Germanic groups

The fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of numerous small kingdoms led Europe

to the Middle Ages

The Eastern Roman Empire, now known as the Byzantine Empire, not only remained together but

survived for nearly a thousand more years

The Importance of the Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire kept alive the cultural achievements of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome at

the same time as Han China and Gupta India were creating their own great civilizations

The combination of Greek, Roman, and Hellenistic (the blend of Greek and Asian cultures) achievements

are known as Greco-Roman culture

If the Byzantine Empire also fell, it is possible that the great innovations and achievements of these great

civilizations could have been lost foreverGreco-Roman achievements are the

foundation of Western civilization, the culture Americans live in today

the decline and fall of the roman empire

Documents

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