DESCENT INTO ANARCHY:THE FALL OF ROME

Year of the Four Emperors

Nero commits suicide in 68 AD 69 3 emperors take power…all three

assassinated …one after the other The fourth emperor, Vespasian, survives

and starts the Flavian Dynasty

Flavian Dynasty, AD 69-96

Vespasian (69-79) builds the 70,000 seat Flavian Amphitheatre…the Coliseum of Rome

Titus (79-81) Reigns during the destruction of Pompeii

by Mount Vesuvius Domitian (81-96)

Invaded and conquered Britain Got himself assassinated

The Five Good Emperors

Nerva (96-98) Recognizes that there’s no system for

picking successors Establishes system of adopting his successor The five good emperors are all capable

administrators and leaders: Trajan (98-117) Hadrian (117-138) Antoninus Pius (138-161) Marcus Aurielius (161-180)

Unleash Chaos

After the death of Commodus in 193, 5 emperors ruled in 193 The last one, Severus, starts a dynasty

that lasts from 193-235

From 235 to 284, twenty-five different men claimed to be emperor Average reign lasted 2 years Almost all of them got assassinated

Divide and Conquer

By 286 it is clear that one man cannot rule the empire alone

Diocletian divides the empire into an eastern and western half Ruled by an Augustus and a Caesar

Constantine builds a new capital at Byzantium, and renames it Constantinople in 306

Several emperors try to reunite the two halves…all attempts fail

East and West in 395

Sack of Rome

Rome is sacked by the Visigoths in 410 under Alaric

Rome is sacked again in 455 by the Vandals The Vandals were so destructive that they gave

us the words vandalism and vandalize

The last Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, is deposed (kicked out) on September 4, 476

Why Rome Fell

The empire became too big for one person to rule Violent transitions between emperors

The Roman army became weak The Romans came to rely on Germanic

tribes that were not as loyal The economy collapsed

The currency was devalued and there was no budgetary control over the treasury