the fall of the roman empire

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The Fall of the Roman Empire

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The Fall of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire at its Height. The Roman Empire became huge It covered most of Europe, North Africa, and some of Asia The Empire reached its height under Emperor Diocletian (284-305 CE). Expansion: Good or Bad?. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire

Page 2: The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Roman Empire at its Height

• The Roman Empire became huge

• It covered most of Europe, North Africa, and some of Asia

• The Empire reached its height under Emperor Diocletian (284-305 CE)

Page 4: The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Decline Begins• 180 CE Marcus

Aurelius died• His son, Commodus,

took control of Rome• Commodus was a poor

leader, killed by his bodyguard

• Time of disarray followsCommodus from the

movie Gladiator

Page 6: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Social Problems• Taxes were too great,

many rich people stopped paying

• People stopped attending school

• Large number of people enslaved

• Plague (disease) spread throughout Rome, killing 1 in 10

• Famine: There was not enough food to feed people

Page 7: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Economic Problems• Farmers lost land, unable to

grow and sell crops, out of work (and famine)

• People bought fewer goods, shops closed

• Inflation occurred: Rapidly rising prices. Money lost value because fewer taxes paid.

• Coins lost value: Less gold put in, people found out (caused inflation)

• Bartering grew: sell goods without using money

• No taxes, no money

Page 8: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Military Problems• Military only in it for

money (mercenaries)• No money to pay military

= weak military• Constant threat of

invaders on empire’s borders

• Weak military, unable to stop border invasions

Page 9: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Diocletian

• 284 CE, Diocletian became emperor

• Tried reforms (political changes)

• Set price limits (if a person went beyond limits, put to death) and ordered workers to stay in jobs to death

Page 10: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Diocletian’s most important reform was realizing Rome was too large & dividing the empire into

the Western Eastern Roman Empires The empire was divided between Greek-speaking & Latin-speaking halves

The East was far wealthier than the West because it had most of the great cities & trade centers

But, the empire was also divided

by wealth

Page 11: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Dividing the Empire• Diocletian felt that the only

way to save the empire was to divide it in half

• Created two empires: Western and Eastern

• Western Empire: Europe/ North Africa and city of Rome

• Eastern Empire: Turkey/ Asia and city of Byzantium

• Two emperors, emperor in charge of Rome was senior

Page 12: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Constantine• Diocletian retired and

Constantine took his place as emperor

• Constantine (312 CE) united the empire again under one ruler

• First Christian emperor• Edict of Milan?• Attempted reforms• Main reform: sons had to

follow fathers’ trade

Page 13: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Attempts to Reform the Empire • After Diocletian, the emperor Constantine

came to power & continued to reform Rome–To help unify Rome, he

ended persecutions & converted to Christianity

–He moved the official capital from Rome to a new city in the East, called Constantinople

Page 14: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Then Constantine the Great ascended the throne, he had a different view on Christianity, to show his support he built many cathedrals for the Christians.

In 313 A.D. Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict Milan which allowed toleration of all religions in the Roman Empire. For the first time in ancient Rome Christians could practice their religion without fear.

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It is said that on the night before the Battle of the Milivian Bridge, Constantine the Great had a dream. In the dream, he received directions to paint the first 2 Greek letters of the word “Christ” – Chi (X) and Rho (P) – on his soldiers’ shields. When he woke up and did just that he won the war. Since then, he became a committed Christian and continued to have his armies bear this unique symbol of Christ, known as the labarum.

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Constantine spread Christianity to all corners of the Roman Empire, and it eventually became its sole religion in 380 A.D.

Page 17: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Constantinople was a major trade center & was easy to defend; They city was built in the Roman

style but had a strong Greek & Christian influence

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Constantinople

• Rome continued to decline

• Constantine moved the capital from Rome to city of Byzantium

• City name changed to Constantinople (today is Istanbul)

Page 19: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Current Day

Page 20: The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Collapse of the Roman Empire After Emperors Diocletian & Constantine, the Western Roman Empire continued to decline

Disease, corruption, & declining economy exposed the West to attack from outside invasions

Page 21: The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Decline of the Roman Empire• The fall of the Roman Empire happened

in 3 major stages:–An era of decline due to internal

problems within Rome –A brief period of revival due to reforms

by Emperors Diocletian & Constantine–Continued decline, invasion by Germanic

“barbarians”, & the conquest of Rome

Page 22: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Rome invaded• Western Empire unable to

hold off German tribes on its borders

• Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Saxons

• German tribes wanted warmer area, Roman riches, and to flee the Huns

Page 23: The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Collapse of the Roman Empire

By 370 A.D., “barbarian” groups outside Rome, led by the Huns, began

to attack

The weak Roman army in the West could do little to stop the invasions; By 476, Germanic

barbarians conquered Western Rome

Page 24: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Visigoths• Rome agreed to allow the

Visigoths to live inside of Roman boundaries

• Romans treated Visigoths badly

• Visigoths rebelled and defeated the Romans

• Visigoth leader, Alaric, captured Rome in 410 CE

Page 25: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Vandals• Vandals followed Visigoths

and spent 12 days stripping Rome of valuables (vandalism)

• Many more German invaders followed

• Finally, a German general named Odoacer defeated the western emperor Romulus Augustulus (14 years old, little Augustus)

Page 26: The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Fall• Augustulus was defeated

in 476 CE• For this reason, this date is

given as the fall of the Western Roman Empire

• Western Empire was divided into many kingdoms that adopted many of the customs of Rome

Page 27: The Fall of the Roman Empire

The decline of the Western Roman Empire led to the Middle Ages

Page 28: The Fall of the Roman Empire
Page 29: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Eastern Roman Empire

• Although the Western Empire fell in 476 CE, the Eastern Roman Empire continued to prosper for 1,000 more years

• Became known as the Byzantine Empire

Page 30: The Fall of the Roman Empire

After the Fall of Rome The East became the Byzantine Empire & flourished for another thousand years

The Byzantine Empire kept alive the cultural achievements of ancient Greece & Rome

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Page 32: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Answer the Following Questions

1. How did the last good emperor Marcus Aurelius help lead to the fall of the Roman Empire?

2. Give four other examples/reasons of why the Roman Empire fell apart.

3. What group forced the Germanic tribes into the boundaries of the Roman Empire?

4. What is inflation?

5. What was the end result for Europe when the Roman Empire fell?