Fall of the Western Roman Empire

Problems in the Empire

• The Empire was too big to control• Germanic warriors (barbarians) continued to attack

Roman territories• Captured Germanic people moved into the empire –

creating their own system of government – thus ignoring Roman laws

• Army vs. Farmers – Male citizens had to serve in the military leaving fewer people to farm = less food production

• Taxes were growing higher to help pay for the military• Wealth citizen were moving out of the city creating their

own estates

Division of the Empire

• Diocletian – Took power in the late 200’s. Decided that the empire was too big for one person to rule, so he divided it into the Eastern and Western Empires.

• Eastern:– Ruled by

Diocletian

• Western:– Ruled by

Appointed

Co-Emperor

Power Moves to the East

• Constantine – Reunited the two halves of the Roman Empire for a short time.

• Moved the capital to the east into what is now Turkey.

• He called the new capital Constantinople.

Ten Theories on Why the Roman Empire Fell

• Excessive Military Spending to Defend the Empire.

• Political Corruption

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The Fall of Rome

• Interior Technology

• Inflation

The Fall of Rome

• Unemployment

• Urban Decay

The Fall of Rome

• Decline in Morals and values

• Rise in Christianity

The Fall of Rome

• Environmental and Public Health Problems

• Barbarian Invasions

The Sack of Rome

• Barbarians Invade Rome

• Huns (warriors from Central Asia) invaded from southeastern Europe

• Goths (Eastern tribes) who could not defeat the Huns and ran into Roman territory

• Vandals (Germanic tribe from Northern Europe) invaded Gaul (France), Spain, and North Africa

The Empire in Chaos

• The Huns pushed the

Goths into Roman territory; the Goths raised an army and

were paid by the Romans not to attack.

• However, when the Romans stopped the payments, the

Goths destroyed Rome in 410.

The End of the Western Empire

• During the 400’s, Roman Emperors were weak.

• Military leaders took power away from emperor

• Military leaders began fighting for power among themselves

• 476 – Barbarian general overthrew last Roman Emperor and Named himself King of Italy