The Fall of the Roman Empire

Weak Roman Government

• Poor leaders weakened the government

• Frequent fights for power• Many officials took

bribes• Talented people chose not

to serve due to dangers of government life

Social Problems

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

• Famine: There was not enough food to feed people

Economic Problems

• Income and wages fall due to inflation and lack of work.

• Wealthy Romans stop paying taxes– No taxes, no

money

Dividing the Empire

• The empire was to divide it in half to save the empire.

• Created two empires:• Western Empire:

Europe/ North Africa • Eastern Empire:

Turkey/ Asia.

Christianity

• Began in the 1st century A.D. as a breakaway Jewish sect

• Focused around the spiritual leader Jesus of Nazareth.

• Jesus was put to death by the Roman provincial government.

Christianity• Followers of Jesus

spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire.

• Persecuted first by the Jewish People.

• Nero had Christianity made a crime punishable by death.

Constantine

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

• First Christian emperor

• Stopped the persecution of Christians

Rome invaded

• Western Empire unable to hold off German tribes on its borders

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

The Fall

• Rome was defeated in 476 CE

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

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