Download Fall of the Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire
Emperors After Augustus
• Emperors After Augustus:
Bad Emperors:
Caligula
Nero – persecuted Christians
Good Emperors:
Trajan – empire at its largest; vast building program
Hadrian – reorganized the government/administration
Antonius Pius – reigned during peace and prosperity
Marcus Aurelias – brought empire to the height of
economic prosperity
Marcus Aurelius
• Last Emperor of the
Pax Romana Dies
without naming an heir
Usually heir named
and Senate approved
Civil War breaks out
from 234-284 AD 26
Emperors rule during
this time Extremely
bloody and violent
time
Economy Weakens
• Economy Weakened
• Ran out of gold and silver
• Started making coins with less silver
and gold which led to Inflation (drop in
value of money)
• Agriculture suffered due to loss of
fertile soil
• War destroyed farmland
• Disruption of trade – bandits and
pirates
• High taxes for everyone
• Decline in population due to disease
and food shortage
Military and Political Turmoil
• Soldiers became loyal
to generals instead of
Rome
• Generals fought
amongst themselves
for the throne
• Mercenaries – hired
foreign soldiers who
fought for money to
protect the Roman
empire from
increasing threats
• Mercenaries didn’t
care about the empire
Empire Split in Half
• Diocletian believed the Empire
was too large to be governed by
one person
• Split the Empire into West and
East
• Took the East for himself because
of its greater wealth
• Appointed Co-Emperor to West
who reported back to Diocletian
• Diocletian retired in 305 because
of ill health Civil war broke out
immediately
Constantine
• Won control of the western
empire in 312
• Won control of the east in 324
• Ruled both west and east
alone 330
• Moves capital from Rome to
Byzantium
• Renamed Byzantium
Constantinople
• Ruled Empire from the West
Reasons for the Move
• Closer to trade
routes and major
trade cities
• More secure
from attack
• More Christian
city
• Constantine
declared
Christianity to be
accepted in the
Empire – Edict of
Milan and is also
considered the
1st Christian
Emperor
Fall of the Western Empire
• Following
Constantine’
s death, the
empire was
divided
again.
• The east
survived but
the west fell
Germanic Tribes & The Huns
• Germanic tribes on
northern border of
empire coexisted for the
most part with Rome
• The Huns – Mongolian
nomadic tribe from
central Asia Destroyed
everything in their path
• Germanic tribes moved
into Roman lands to get
away from the Huns
• Romans didn’t have
an army that could
stop the Germanic
tribes
• 410 – The Visigoths
attacked Rome Battle
of Adrianople –
Visigoths beat
Romans
• Proved that Roman
Empire was
vulnerable to attack
• Germanic tribes
continued to attack
and raid Roman
Empire
Rome Attacked
Attila the Hun
• 444, Huns united under
Attila the Hun
• Attacked and plundered 70
cities in the East, but could
never get to Constantinople
• Attila advanced to Rome but
failed again due to bouts of
disease and famine
• 453 – Attila died but the
Germanic tribes continued to
attack the Roman Empire
Fall of Rome
• Romulus Augustulus – 14
year old emperor of Rome
was ousted by German
forces in 476
• 476 – Fall of the Western
Roman Empire Eastern
half survived and
flourished Eastern half
called Byzantine Empire
Lasted another 1,000
years
• 1453 – fell to the Ottoman
Turks