Download Roman Empire: Guided Notes

The Fall of the Roman Empire: Guided Notes
I. Challenging the Status Quo
Rome tolerated many religions and tolerated the fact that people worshiped
many Gods, but when the religion __________________ started, it worshiped 1
God. Rome didn’t like this idea of worshipping just one god is called
____________________. The individual who is given credit for the inspiration is
a man that many refer to as the son of God. His name is __________________.
Another group who challenged Rome by believing in only 1 God was
the___________________. Neither group would worship the Emperors, or the
Roman Gods.
The Jews had harsh restrictions put on them, so when they tried to rebel,
their holy temple (THE HOLIEST OF SHRINES TODAY) was burned to the
ground. A half of a million Jews died in the resistance. The Romans then tried
to build a shrine to _______________ in the same place as the Jewish Temple.
Again rebellion, and another half million Jews lost their lives.
The Christians were even more hated than the Jews. A ruler named
___________________ordered the first persecution of the Christians. It was
said that during the reign of Marcus Aurelius’s approval, many Christians were
brought to trial to give up Christianity, if they refused, the were sent to the
_____________in the ______________. It is said that they died as a
___________________.
II. The Empire Declined and Fell
Most historians agree that the Roman Empire fell with Marcus Aurelius’s son,
____________________. This again brought back the problem of
_________________. It is said that Rome’s decline happened in 4 stages the
first was based on ______________________, __________________,
__________________, and _________________ turmoil.
Describe these 4:
1
2
3
4
The second stage was a time of revival, where Rome found
itself____________________ into an Eastern and Western part. The third stage
was when the Empire fell into the hands of _______________________.
Rome continued with the help of two of the last great Emperors. Their names
were _________________, and _____________________.
Diocletian’s reforms:
1
2
3
4
5
Civil war broke out after Diocletian retired causing ______________________. A
young noble Christian took over the western half of the Empire. Constantine
stopped the Christian _______________________. The ___________________
allowed people to choose their religion. This made Constantine very popular, so
popular that he moved the capitol, Rome, to a new location, ________________.
It wasn’t long before they named it _______________________, after their
might Emperor.
The final blow came when several barbaric___________________ tribes invaded
and conquered the western half. They were more or less forced into Rome
because all the Germanic tribes were deathly afraid of the _____________.
Their great leader_____________________, was on his way to conquering
possibly all of the Empire but was stopped in his tracks by ________________.
History doesn’t know what was said, but it was powerful enough to stop this
mighty bunch. Rome was basically done at this point anyway. The last Roman
Emperor was a 14 year-old boy, who was eventually banished. The new Empire
was called the Byzantine Empire. The east prospered while Rome did not. The
Christian church was ruled by _____________________ out of Rome.
Even though the Roman Empire crumbled, it’s culture continued to inspire and
influence the rest of the world, even still to this day!!!