Download Describe the Impact of the Roman Republic on

ANCIENT ROME
Mr. Williamson
DESCRIBE THE REPUBLICAN
FORM OF GOVERNMENT IN
ANCIENT ROME.
Before the Republic
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Rome continued to grow
under the Etruscans, until
Tarquin the Proud, the
seventh and last Roman king,
came to power. He was a
cruel ruler who ignored the
Senate and terrorized the
people.
In 509 B. C., the people
rebelled against him and
finally sent him into exile.
The Roman people decided
that they would never again
be ruled by a king.
Early Roman Republic
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When the last Etruscan king was thrown out of Rome
in 509 B.C., Roman leaders decided to begin a very
new form of government - a republic. In a republic,
citizens elect leaders to run their government.
In Rome, the leaders chosen to replace the king were
called consuls. These consuls were elected by a
group of ordinary citizens known as an assembly,
and the consuls were given advice by a group of rich
people known as the Senate.
Although the citizens elected their own
representatives, the Roman Republic was not a
democracy because not every citizen had equal
power.
Roman Senate
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The Senate was composed of leaders from the
patricians, the noble and wealthy families of
ancient Rome. They were the law makers. They
controlled spending.
Members of the Senate were not elected. They
were chosen by the Consuls. Once chosen, they
served for life.
There were 300 seats in the Senate. When a seat
opened, a new Senator was selected by the current
Consuls.
Roman Assembly
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The Assembly was composed of all the plebeian
citizens of Rome, the common man. The Assembly
did not have a building. It was the right of the
common man to assemble in the Forum and vote.
In the beginning, the Assembly had very limited
power. They could vote for or suggest laws, but the
Senate could block their decisions.
The Assembly could vote to declare war, but again,
the Senate could override them.
Roman Assembly
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However, the Assembly had one power that was very
impressive - it was the Assembly who voted each year on
which two members of the Senate would serve as Consuls.
As a noble, if you wanted to rise to the level of Consul,
the highest position in government under the Republic, you
needed to gain the support of the plebeian class.
Since it was the Consuls who filled empty seats in the
Senate, if the Assembly chose their Consuls well, they
could slowly gain power in government by putting people
in charge who were sympathetic to their needs.
Early Roman Republic
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As citizens, both
patricians and plebeians
had the right to vote.
However, only patricians
had the right to hold any
political, military or
religious offices.
All power was in the
hands of the patricians.
Plebeians Demand Change!
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By 494 B.C., the plebeians had suffered long enough. They
left Rome and formed their own assembly, which was known as
the Council of Plebeians. They also elected their own leaders,
who were called tribunes. Tribunes were to protect plebian
rights.
Patricians knew that Rome could not survive without plebeians.
Who would do the work? Who would protect the Republic from
enemy attacks? The patricians had no choice but to let the
plebeians keep their tribunes.
The plebeians could vote against any unjust law passed by the
Senate. Next, the plebeians demanded that the laws be
changed . Rome’s laws had never been written down. The
plebeians believed that patrician judges took advantage of
this fact to rule unfairly against plebeians.
Plebeians Gain Rights
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Finally in 450B.C. the laws
were engraved on 12 bronze
tablets called the Twelve
Tables. The tablets were then
displayed in the Forum, so all
citizens could see the rights
given to them, though few could
actually read them.
During the 300’s B.C., the
plebeians gained more and
more rights. Plebeians could
now become priests in the
Roman religion. Debt bondage
was outlawed. Eventually
plebeians could even become
members of the Senate.
Plebeians Gain Equal Rights
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But the plebeians and patricians still held their
meetings in different places. The laws passed by the
patrician senate applied to everyone. However, the
laws passed by the plebian assembly applied only to
plebeians
The plebeians demanded that the laws passed by
their assembly apply to all citizens.
Once again, the plebeians forced the issues by
leaving Rome. This time the Patricians gave in and in
287 B.C. agreed to meet the demands of the
plebeians. Plebeians and patricians were finally
equal under Roman laws.
DESCRIBE THE IMPACT OF THE
ROMAN REPUBLIC ON ANCIENT
ROMANS
Two Classes
Patricians-The patricians were the upper class,
the nobility and wealthy land owners.
 Plebeians- The plebeians were the lower class.
Nicknamed "plebs“ derived from plere, 'to fill
up', the plebeians included everyone in ancient
Rome (except for the nobility, the patricians)
from well-to-do tradesmen all the way down to
the very poor.

Patricians
Both classes could
vote
 Only Patricians could
hold important
positions in the
military, government,
or religious sectors (in
early Republic)
 Power rested in the
hands of the
Patricians
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Plebeians
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Some Plebeians were
wealthy and believed
that they should have the
same rights as the
Patricians.
Poor plebeians believed
that the system was
unfair.
Plebeians had fewer
rights than the patricians
they still had to serve in
the army and pay taxes
to the very people who
oppressed them.
Women
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Women citizens could not vote or take part in the
government although they were protected by Roman
laws.
However, women could discuss matters with their
husbands and attempt to influence their decisions.
Women’s guardian, her husband or father, had
complete control over her activities. In most families,
women could shop, visit a temple, or chat in public. But
she could not participate in government.
Few women wanted additional rights.
Women
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During the 500 years that
Rome was an Empire, women
gained considerable freedom.
Under the Empire, it became
legal for women to own land,
run businesses, free slaves,
make wills, inherit wealth, and
get a paid job.
Women were still considered
to be under the guardianship
of her father or husband.
Slaves
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Slaves which were war
captives, were owned by
citizens and had no
rights.
Slaves were at the
mercy of their masters
and could be beaten or
tortured.
Slaves could be set free
or buy freedom
Provincials
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Provincials who lived in
territories conquered by
Rome, citizens of Roman
states and Roman allies
could be given Roman
citizenship.
To receive Roman citizenship
Provincials had to speak
Latin, worship in the manner
the emperor chooses, and
pay taxes.
HOW THE ROMAN REPUBLIC IS
RELATED TO CURRENT FORMS OF
GOVERNMENT
How the Roman Republic is Related
to Current Forms of Government
Like Rome’s, the United States’ government is a
republic, where citizens vote for other citizens
who represent them in the government.
 The ancient Roman republic was a model our
“founding fathers” used to develop our modern
Republic.
 The “founding fathers” took several ideas from
the Roman republic in the creation of our
modern republic (see next slides).

How the Roman Republic is Related to
Current Forms of Government
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Checks and Balances- system to control the power so one
branch doesn’t become more powerful than another. This was
an important element of the Roman republic.
For example, The consuls were in charge of government and
also of the army.
Only the Assembly could approve or disapprove of one of
their laws and only the assembly elected Candidates for the
office of consul.
The modern US constitution is based on these basic concepts
of checks and balances within the ancient government of the
Roman Republic. Whether it be the President, the Congress,
or the courts, none can dominate the government.
How the Roman Republic is Related
to Current Forms of Government
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Veto – “I forbid” - action to stop passage of laws.
The Roman consuls and tribunes used veto power to
no. The two consuls could block a military or civil
decision by the other; any tribune had the power to
refuse laws passed by the Roman Senate.
The writers of the Constitution gave the president the
right to veto laws although that veto can be
overridden by the vote of two-thirds of the House
and Senate.
How the Roman Republic is Related
to Current Forms of Government
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Voting - The Romans voted to choose their
leaders, the way we vote for United States
President and Congress do today.
In the beginning of the United States only
certain male property owners had the right to
vote. The “founding fathers” followed these
rules from ancient Rome.
Remember in ancient Rome, only men had the
right to vote and only landowners could serve
in the Senate.
How the Roman Republic is Related to
Current Forms of Government
The idea of Bicameralism came from the
ancient Romans.
 Bicameralism means consisting of two
legislative chambers – upper and lower
Houses.
 The Upper House in ancient Rome was the
Senate and in the US it is also the Senate.
 The Lower House – in ancient Rome was the
Assembly and in the US it is the House of
Representatives.
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How the Roman Republic is Related
to Current Forms of Government
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The Roman Legal System gave us the
Professional Lawyers, Rules of Evidence,
Rights of Defendants, and concept that one is
innocent until proven guilty.
The founding fathers copied the Roman
Republican past, and paid respect to Rome's ,
Twelve Tables which codified the rights of
Roman citizens before their government. Our
Bill of Rights was modeled after the Twelve
Tables.
How the Roman Republic is Related to
Current Forms of Government
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What is in a name?
Capitoline Hill is the Roman
Capital and Capitol Hill is
the US Capital.
The United States Senate is
named after the Roman
Senate and has the same
functions as Roman Senate.
The head of the Roman
republic was the two Consuls
which had the same function
as a US President.
How the Roman Republic is Related to
Current Forms of Government
Benjamin Franklin
himself, during the
Constitutional
Convention of 1787,
would refer to the
nation he was helping
create as both a
“republic” and an
“empire.”
 Is the United States
not an empire?

DESCRIBE THE SCIENTIFIC AND
CULTURAL ADVANCEMENTS
Utilities
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As Roman towns got bigger, in the course of the
Roman Republic, it got too hard for the people
who lived in the towns to get drinking and washing
water.
Because raw sewage was draining into the rivers,
people who drank river water often got very sick
or died.
Local governments, first in the city of Rome and
then elsewhere in the growing Empire, decided to
build long stone channels to carry clean water
from nearby hills to the towns.
Utilities
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These were called
aqueducts, from the
Latin word for water
(aqua) and the Latin
word for channel
(ductus).
By the time of the
Empire, most Roman
towns had at least one
aqueduct to bring in
fresh water, and big
cities like Rome had ten
or more.
Utilities
Utilities
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These aqueducts were quite a challenge to build. The
engineering had to be just right in order to get the
water to run through the channels and get to the city
without stagnating in the channel or coming too fast
into the city.
They had to keep the slope the same all the time, so
sometimes the aqueducts had to run on high arches,
and other times along the ground in stone channels, or
even under the ground in tunnels.
Utilities
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They also built public
bathrooms and systems of
sewage pipes to carry
sewage out of the streets
and dump it into the river.
This was a big
improvement on Greek
sewage arrangements,
where people just poured
their waste into the street
however they wanted.
Roman Sewer
Utilities
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There were also
big public toilets
that had room
for lots of
people at the
same time.
Utilities
Roman people usually didn't have hot baths in
their houses, because it was too hard to heat
up the water.
 So instead they used to go to public baths.
 Public baths were something like our
community centers today, or like a health club.
They had swimming pools fed by aqueducts,
and hot tubs, and exercise equipment, and
often gardens and libraries and theaters as
well.
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Utilities
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But unlike most community
centers today, Roman baths
were made to be really
impressive, beautiful
buildings.
They had high, vaulted
ceilings, and the walls were
decorated with marble and
frescoes or painting is done
on fresh, wet plaster walls .
The floors had complicated
mosaics.
Utilities
Transportation
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The Romans built thousands of miles of wonderful roads, to
connect every part of the empire back to Rome.
The Romans were the first ancient civilization to build paved
roads, which did not prevent travel during or after bad
weather.
The Romans built roads so that the army could march from one
place to another. They tried to build the roads as straight as
possible, so that the army could take the shortest route.
Of course, the roads were used for trade, connecting parts of
the Roman Empire to itself and the rest of the known world.
Transportation
Transportation
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To help people find their
way, while traveling these
roads, the Romans more or
less invented the milestone
which grew increasingly
wordy, and increasingly tall,
to be easily readable from
a vehicle. Some are 6 feet
tall.
The milestone usually gave
the mileage to the nearest
large city, sometimes to an
intermediate place as well;
and the date and perhaps
who paid for the road.
Transportation
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Up until about a
hundred years ago,
people were still using
these roads, as roads! In
recent years, instead of
building new roads,
modern engineers simply
covered many of the old
Roman roads with a coat
of asphalt.
Arts
Roman art did not get a start until 500 B. C.
Before this the Romans copied the art of the
Etruscans.
 About 200 B. C. the Romans conquered the
Greeks and began copying their art style.
During their conquest of Greece, the Romans
looted the towns. They brought the art home.
 They also captured sculptors and brought them
to Rome as slaves.
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Arts
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Beginning with the Roman
Republic the Romans started
making statues that really
looked like one particular
person.
The Romans were far more
realistic than the Greeks with
their statues. The Greeks tried
to build statues to illustrate the
"ideal" person.
The Romans believed that
having a good image of
somebody's face kept its ghost
happy.
Arts
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They made statues and
portraits too. Statues
were life-like and of
gods, goddesses,
emperors, and important
people.
Many statues are just the
head and shoulders of
an emperors. They were
called portraits.
Arts
Frescoes, painting on plaster, became popular
during the first century A. D. The paintings
were painted on a specially prepared wall
with three layers of plaster and three layers of
a special coating.
 Colors were applied to the top layer while it
was wet. This made the fresco durable and
able to hold up well over a long period of
time.

Arts
Arts
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The Romans painted
murals.
These showed everyday
scenes around Rome.
They also painted
mythological scenes such
as the heroic deeds of
Hercules, Achilles,
Ulysses, and Theseus.
Arts
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Roman pottery began
with Etruscan-style
pottery, but soon
developed a tradition of
its own.
In general, pottery in
Italy tended to be made
in one color, and the
decorations were
molded into the clay
rather than painted.
Arts
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The floors of Roman
buildings were often richly
decorated with mosaics
(decoration on a surface
made by setting small pieces
of glass, tile, or stone of
different colors into another
material so as to make
pictures or patterns)
many showed scenes of
history and everyday life.
Some mosaics were bought
'off the shelf' as a standard
design, while the wealthy
villa owners could afford
more personalized designs.
Architecture
One of the things the Romans are most
famous for is their architecture.
 The ancient Romans were great builders.
They built things to last!
 The Romans brought a lot of new ideas to
architecture, of which the three most
important are the arch, the baked brick,
and the use of concrete.

Architecture
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The Romans introduced stone
arch technology over two
thousand years ago. They
applied to bridges they
constructed across the known
world and examples can still
be seen today.
The technology they used
has stood the test of time
and some Roman construction
methods are still used today.
The arch is an prime
example of Roman
technology that is still used
world wide even though
modern materials are now
used.
Architecture
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The Forum was the main marketplace and business
center, where the ancient Romans went to do their
banking, trading, shopping, and marketing. It was
also a place for public speaking.
People crowding the Forum would stop and listen,
then wander away to do their shopping, and perhaps
leave a gift at a temple for one of their gods.
The Forum was also used for festivals and religious
ceremonies. It was a very busy place.
Architecture
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Outside of Rome, people began to build stone
amphitheaters for entertainment.
They were called amphitheaters because they were
built like two theaters facing each other.
In the 6c BC (about 2,500 years ago!), the ancient
Romans built the Circus Maximus in the city of Rome.
Basically, the Circus Maximus was a race track. It was
designed to race chariots.
The original Circus Maximus was built out of wood. It
burnt down a couple of times. During the Roman
Empire, the Circus Maximus was rebuilt using marble
and concrete.
Architecture
Architecture
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Then in 69 AD Vespasian tore down some of the
Golden House to build the Colosseum.
The Colosseum was a place where a lot of
people could sit and watch entertainment.
The entertainment was mostly people killing
animals, or people killing each other. It was almost
exactly like a football stadium today.
It was built of concrete and marble and limestone.
Colosseum
Architecture
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Ancient Roman concrete
has withstood the attack
by elements for over
2,000 years.
Roman cement was made
up of aggregate or
gravel, chunks of stone
and rubble, broken bricks
which was a binding
agent, and mixed with
water.
Architecture
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The Pantheon was a temple first built in the very
early days of the Roman Empire.
It was dedicated to all the Roman gods.
The Romans used concrete to build the dome of the
Pantheon, which even today is still one of the
largest single-span domes in the world.
The construction of this building greatly influenced
modern architecture.
Take a tour:
IDENTIFY THE ROLES
AND CONTRIBUTIONS
Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar
was a great
general and an
important
leader in
ancient Rome.
Julius Caesar
During his lifetime, he achieved just about
every important title in the Roman Republic
including consul, tribune of the people, high
commander of the army, and high priest.
 He suggested many new laws, most of which
were approved by the Senate. He
reorganized the army. He improved the way
the provinces were governed. The Romans
even named a month after him - the month
of July is named for Julius Caesar.

Julius Caesar
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When Julius Caesar announced he had something to
say, the people flocked to the Forum to hear him. His
ideas had been good ones. The people trusted him.
Julius Caesar told the people that he could solve
Rome's problems. Certainly, Rome had problems.
Crime was everywhere. Taxes were
outrageous. People were hungry. Many were out of
work. For the rich, it was easier to use slaves to do
work than hire Roman people.
The people were angry that their government had not
been able to solve the many problems facing the
Republic.
Julius Caesar
As Julius Caesar became more powerful, and
more popular with the people, leaders in the
Senate began to worry. They were afraid that
Julius Caesar wanted to take over the
government and rule Rome as a king.
 The leaders of ancient Rome had vowed that
the Roman people would never be ruled by a
king again. That promise went back over 500
years in time, to when the Roman Republic first
began.

Julius Caesar
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One of the laws of the original Twelve Tables was
that no general could enter the city with his army.
Julius Caesar ignored this law.
In 49 BCE, he entered Rome with the Roman Legion,
and took over the government. The poor people of
Rome, who made up the bulk of the population, were
glad. The people called him "father of the
homeland“.
The Senate was furious.
Julius Caesar
Ultimately, he fought a great Civil War with
Pompey for mastery of Rome, and ruled for
four years afterwards as Dictator. Senate
gave him the title of “dictator for life“.
 However, the Roman senators did not want
to return to the time of dictators or kings.
Besides, Julius Caesar had made many
enemies in Rome.

Julius Caesar

On the Ides of
March or March
15, 44 B.C., he was
assassinated by a
group of Senators,
including his best
friend, Brutus.
Augustus
Augustus was the
first emperor of
Rome.
 He replaced the
Roman republic with
a monarchy and
during his long reign
brought peace and
stability.

Augustus
Julius Caesar, was assassinated and in his
will, Octavius, known as Octavian, was
named as his heir. He was Caesar’s
adopted son.
 He fought to avenge Caesar and in 31
BC defeated Antony and Cleopatra at
the Battle of Actium.
 He was now undisputed ruler of Rome.

Augustus
Octavian just kept ruling almost as if he
were king, nobody tried to stop him.
 He made people call him Augustus (which
means The Good) instead of Octavian.
 But he was smarter than his uncle Julius
Caesar had been.
 He didn't call himself dictator, but First
Citizen.

Augustus
He didn't disband the Senate; he made the
Senate do what he wanted.
 He had himself elected tribune, so he could
veto whatever the Senate did that he didn't
like.
 People knew that Augustus was really taking
over, but as long as there was peace and he
didn't say he was taking over, it was okay with
them.

Augustus
Octavian took measures to earn the loyalty of
the Roman army.
 He encouraged the soldiers to retire from the
army by providing them with land.
 Once the soldiers retired, Octavian did not
have to be concerned with the army turning on
him. Further, Octavian knew he could count on
the soldiers’ support if he was challenged by
the Senate.

Augustus
Octavian restored peace and order to Rome.
He made sure the lands throughout the empire
were well run and taxes were fair.
 Octavian built massive roads and bridges,
government buildings, and huge public baths.
He said, “I left Rome a city of marble, though I
found it a city of bricks.”

Augustus

The two hundred
year period that
began with the rule
of Augustus was
known as the Pax
Romana, or the
“Peace of Rome.”
DESCRIBE THE TRANSITION
FROM THE ROMAN EMPIRE TO
BYZANTINE EMPIRE
“Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”
Rome had quite a run. First a monarchy, then a
republic, then an empire – all roads led to
Rome for over 1200 years.
 In the Mediterranean, Rome was in charge.
During the Imperial period, Rome had some
wonderful emperors. Rome also suffered from
a series of bad, corrupt and just plain crazy
emperors.
 There were lots of reasons why Rome fell.

Reason for the Fall of Rome
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The empire was too large to govern
effectively.
The army was not what it used to be.
There was corruption in the military dishonest generals and non-Roman
soldiers.
Civil wars broke out between different
political groups.
Reason for the Fall of Rome
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Emperors were often selected by violence, or by
birth, so the head of government was not always a
capable leader.
The increased use of slaves put many Romans out
of work
The rich became lazy and showed little interest in
trying to solve Rome problems.
The poor were overtaxed and overworked. They
were very unhappy.
Reason for the Fall of Rome
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Prices increased, trade decreased.
The population was shrinking due to
starvation and disease. That made it
difficult to manage farms and government
effectively.
The Empire starting shrinking. The Huns,
Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Saxons and other
barbarian tribes overran the empire.
Roman Empire Splits
When the old emperor died, the army selected
General Diocletian to be the new emperor of
Rome.
 One of the first things Emperor Diocletian did
was to put price controls in place to help stop
inflation.
 He created a law that stated if you charged
more than the price limit, you could be killed.
The punishment for breaking any of his laws
was quite severe.

Roman Empire Splits

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1.
2.
In 293, Diocletian
divided the Empire into
an eastern and
western half
The empire was split to
make it easier to rule
or manage
Diocletian ruled the Eastern half
Maximian ruled the Western
half
Roman Empire Splits
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The Western Roman
Empire (Europe/North
Africa) included the city of
Rome.
The Eastern Roman
Empire (Turkey/parts of
Asia) included the city of
Byzantium.
Rather than rule Rome,
Diocletian chose to rule the
Eastern Roman Empire
Roman Empire Split
This created two Roman empires - the Western
Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire.
 Each side had a ruler in charge of it. But the
ruler who was in charge of Rome was the
senior ruler. He placed a good friend in
charge of Rome.
 Before he left town, Emperor Diocletian moved
a great deal of Rome's money over to the
Eastern Roman Empire. He left Rome forever.

Capital Moved to
Constantinople/Byzantium

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In AD 307, Constantine
became emperor and united
the empire
He believed that Rome was
too far away from vital
areas of the empire to be of
value
Constantine moved capital
of the empire to a new city Constantinople
Capital Moved to
Constantinople/Byzantium

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
Constantinople was a new
city that was built on the old
city of Byzantium.
Constantinople was much
further east than Rome and
firmly in the eastern empire.
This left the western empire
very vulnerable – though the
eastern empire was hardly
free from attacks.
Capital Moved to
Constantinople/Byzantium
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Constantine founded a new
capital city to reflect the
growing weakness of the
Western part of the Roman
Empire and the strength of the
Eastern part.
Constantinople means the city
of Constantine.
Constantinople was also
halfway between the fighting
against the Germans in the
north and the fighting against
the Sassanids in the East,
making it easier for the
Emperor to get where he
needed to be.
Capital Moved to
Constantinople/Byzantium

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Constantine had a dream in which
a cross appeared in the sky and
he heard the words, "Under this
sign you will win."
Constantine figured that this meant
he would win the battle if he had
his soldiers paint a cross on their
shields. He did have the soldiers
paint the cross on their shields, and
they did win the battle.
Constantine was very impressed
with the power of the Christian
god, and became a Christian.
Germanic Invasions
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Without money to use for repairs, the famous Roman roads
started to fall into disrepair. Without good roads, fresh
supplies of men and goods did not always reach the far ends
of the empire. Nor were needed goods getting back to Rome.
Barbarian tribes had always raided the Roman Empire. These
days, barbarian raids on the provinces were becoming more
successful.
What is a Barbarian? In ancient Rome, a barbarian was the
name given to any people who lived outside the borders of the
Roman Empire. You were also called a barbarian if you did
not speak Latin.
Germanic Invasions


There were five main barbarian tribes in Europe.
Each wanted to conquer the famous Roman
Empire. These tribes were the Huns, Franks,
Vandals, Saxons, and Visigoths.
They were all attacking various pieces of the
Western Roman Empire at the same time. Forts
and strongholds along the road were destroyed.
There were few cities in the outlying regions of the
empire, but those that existed were attacked.
Germanic Invasions
Germanic Invasions
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
Rather than try to defend against all the
barbarian tribes who had turned their eyes on
Rome, Emperor Valens tried to turn one barbarian
tribe against another.
Since the barbarian tribes rarely got along
anyway, it was a smart thing to do. Valens went
one step further. He believed that if he could get
some of the barbarians working for him, he might
be able to restore order.
Germanic Invasions
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But Emperor Valens did not keep his promises. His army
was spread all over the empire, trying to hold back the
invading barbarians.
Still, supplies did not reach Rome in large enough numbers
to support the Visigoths as promised. The Visigoths
rebelled.
It was the beginning of the end of the Western Roman
Empire.
In A.D. 476 the German soldier Odoacer captured the
city of Rome, and killed the emperor. He named himself
king of Italy. Many historians consider this the official date
of the fall of Rome.
Important Dates

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In 410, Visogoths
captured and looted
Rome.
In 455 Vandals took
Rome
In 476 Ostrogoths
removed the Roman
Emperor Romulus
Augustus, this end more
than 1000 years of
Roman glory
Was the Fall of Rome, Really the Fall of Rome?
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Even though the city of
Rome fell to barbarian
invaders on 476, the
Eastern Empire remained
strong – Byzantine
Empire.
Constantinople became
the center of a new
empire – Byzantine
Empire which lasted for
1000’s of years.