Download Rome – A Troubled Empire

Objective: What problems led to the downfall of the Roman Empire?
What problems led to Rome’s decline?
Marcus Aurelius was the last of five emperors who reigned
during the Pax Romana, a time of peace and progress.
Nearly a century of confusion and violence followed.
(Lots of chaos and disunity!)
o There were three main problems that led to Rome’s decline:
~ political confusion
~ economic weakness
~ invasions
Political Confusion
* Rome’s government grew weak while the military grew very powerful.
If the emperor didn’t pay the army enough, then the army would revolt
and kill the emperor.
Civil wars broke out as legions fought against other legions to put a
new emperor on the throne.
In 50 years Rome had 22 different emperors.
* Roman society’s values changed.
Many Romans stopped honoring the values of duty, courage, and
honesty.
Dishonest government officials took bribes.
Many stopped paying taxes.
Few talented citizens ran for office.
Economic Weakness
Roman soldiers and foreign invaders attacked farms and disrupted
trade.
This caused food shortages and food prices soared.
People had less money to spend, so they bought fewer goods. This
forced many merchants out of business, and workers lost their
jobs.
Roman money lost value, and farmers and merchants had to raise
their prices.
People began to barter (exchange goods) instead of paying with
money.
Invasions
Germanic tribes invaded the western part of the empire.
Persian armies invaded the eastern part of the empire.
Rome started hiring mercenaries* to fight for them, but the
mercenaries were not loyal to Rome.
* mercenary- professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army
Diocletian
Diocletion was a Roman general
who became emperor in 284 AD.
He introduced reforms, trying to
strengthen the empire:
built forts to protect the
frontier of the empire
split the empire into four parts,
each with its own ruler, but
Diocletian remained in charge
of the four leaders
set maximum prices for wages
and goods to prevent rising
prices
ordered workers to remain at
the same jobs until they died
When Diocletian split the empire, he created a tetrarchy.
What do you think that means?
Diocletian’s reforms did not
succeed.
People ignored his rules,
and he was not a strong
enough emperor to enforce
them.
When Diocletian left office in
A.D. 305, conflict broke out
again in the empire.