Download The Rise and Fall of Rome

Rise of Rome
Despite its small size, the people of Europe have had an enormous
impact on world culture.
The Ancient Greeks and Romans, and the people of the Middle
Ages, like the Franks, the Anglo-Saxons, the Celts, and the
Vikings have all contributed to the modern “western” culture that
exists today.
European history is the story of the rise and fall of these
cultures, some by force, some by religious changes and some by
social or cultural changes.
After the Greeks fell to the Romans in 150 B.C., the Romans
dominated almost all of Europe for more than 6 Centuries (600
years). The Roman Empire became very successful.
When Rome captured an area, it was made a province. This meant
that Rome governed it and received tax money and soldiers from
that area. Many Romans in government used this tax money for
their own good and became very wealthy. These wealthy people
then bought large farms and used slaves to do the work.
The Romans copied and developed Greek arts and architecture.
They built great cities decorated with works of art, magnificent
gardens, parks, public baths, and huge open theatres. Roman
scholars and poets wrote thousands of books, and great libraries
were filled with ancient works from Greece and Egypt.
Latin was spoken everywhere in the Roman Empire. Roman law
applied to everyone, the Romans and the conquered peoples in the
provinces. For example, all Roman citizens had the right to a fair
trial. Roman law also protected people from war and from violent
outlaws on land and pirates at sea. This Roman peace (known as
the Pax Romana) allowed people to live at peace with one another,
so they had time to learn, to do business and create new and
wonderful things.
Rome became great for other reasons as well. Roman law spread
over all the world the Romans knew. The Roman calendar was
better than older calendars and remained in use for over a
thousand years. Rome built strong and long-lasting roads that
connected all parts of their empire. This also allowed the Roman
soldiers to move quickly if anybody rebelled against the Roman
government. “All roads lead to Rome.” Some of these roads are
still used even though they are over 2,000 years old! Many
Roman buildings still stand too. Roman aqueducts for carrying
water from the mountains to the cities are still bringing water
thirsty people in Rome today.
In exchange for this peace, the Roman government received
taxes, slaves and complete obedience from everyone.
The End is Near!
Like all good things, Rome eventually came to and end.
By 117 A.D. the Roman Empire had reached its peak.
But in 161 A.D. (44 years later) some of the Empire’s
neighbors began to cause problems. Because the Roman
Empire was so huge, it became harder for the Roman
soldiers to defend their empire. This allowed the
barbarians to make repeated attacks on Roman provinces.
The Romans called all those people outside of the Empire
Barbarians, meaning people who speak a different
language. Some of the barbarian groups were: the
Franks, the Goths, the Anglos, the Saxons, and the
Visigoths.
The Roman government was also in trouble. In 30 B.C.,
Rome stopped being a republic and started being ruled by
emperors rather than a government that respected
individual freedom. Many of these emperors tried to gain
control of the Empire for themselves.
The government was running out of money. The emperors
spent money on entertainment, building large palaces and
throwing lavish parties.
In 284 A.D. the Roman Emperor Diocletes divided the
Roman Empire in two in an attempt to regain control of
the Empire’s borders and reduce the cost of operating
the government. The two Roman Empires became known
as the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman
Empire.
Constantine became Emperor of the Eastern Roman
Empire (also known as the Byzantine Empire) and rebuilt
the old city of Byzantium and renamed in Constantinople.
Constantine made Constantinople the capital of his
Empire.
The Fall of Rome
By 400 A.D. the once great Roman Empire was beginning
to fade.
The Western Roman Empire saw the worse loss of
knowledge, citizenship and government.
The Western Roman Empire was constantly being
attacked by barbarians. A group of these barbarians, the
Goths, eventually invaded and sacked Rome in 410 A.D.
By 476 A.D. the last Western Roman Emperor was
overthrown, officially bringing an end to the great Roman
Empire.
As the Western Roman Empire fell, Germanic peoples like
the Franks and the Anglo-Saxons moved and settled into
the Roman provinces such as Gaul (France), Britain and
Spain. These Germanic peoples had their own laws,
customs and religions.
What replaced the Roman Empire in Europe was a large
“hodge-podge” of kingdoms and tribal groups that had
were like modern day gangs than any real type of formal
government. There was lots of fighting among the
different groups and common people just focused on
survival.
This was the beginning of what is now referred to as the
“Dark Ages”. Why use the term, the Dark Ages?
Civilization in Western Europe started to fade. Roads
became worse, travel became dangerous, and people
moved away from cities so cities became abandoned and
deserted. There was no learning, no sharing of ideas and
very little trade. Soon few people could read or write
except for monks. The Dark Ages (also known as the
Middle Ages) lasted from 476 to 800, about 334 years.