Download Classical rome * rise and fall

CLASSICAL ROME – RISE
AND FALL
RISE AND FALL OF ROME NOTES
Rome Gains Power
Power = Problems Attempts at Reform
Fall of Rome
Legacy of Rome
Rome Spreads Its Power and Influence

Rome Conquers Italy
 Roman
power continued to grow, they controlled
central Italy and eventually they defeated the
Etruscans and controlled nearly all of Italy
 Roman power eventually spread far beyond Italy
Rome’s Commercial Network

Rome’s Commercial Network
 Location
allowed for land and sea trade
 One city in Carthage (Northern Africa) interfered
with Roman access to the Mediterranean
Punic Wars

War with Carthage
 Punic
Wars – Rome vs. Carthage
 First War – lasted 23 years for control over Sicily and
the Mediterranean ended in a Roman victory
 Second War – led by Carthaginian General, Hannibal
– marched army and elephants through Spain, over the
Alps and down through Italy, Hannibal won
 Third War – Rome laid siege on Carthage, burned the
city to the ground and sold its residents into slavery

Rome Triumphs
 Rome
dominated the western Mediterranean
BOX ONE – WRITE THIS

Trade and war made Rome
powerful and they dominated the
Mediterranean
Growth of Power Leads to Problems


Rome faced many problems with its expanding
borders
What problems might the empire face?

Rome’s Economy Weakens
 Hostile
tribes and piracy on the seas interrupted
trade
 Stopped spreading empire and lacked new
resources
 Inflation
 Agricultural problems – overworked the land, food
shortages and disease spread, population declined

Military and Political Turmoil
 Roman
soldiers were becoming less loyal and
weren’t disciplined
 Soldiers fought for commanders, not for Rome
 Government had to hire mercenaries to protect the
empire, felt no loyalty to Rome
 People were no longer willing to sacrifice their lives
for the greater good of Rome, loss of patriotism
BOX TWO – WRITE THIS
Economic Turmoil – trade
interrupted, inflation,
agricultural problems, lack of
new resources
Military Turmoil – soldiers lost
loyalty

Attempts at Reform

Diocletian Reforms the Empire
 Restored
order to the Roman Empire, was ruthless,
limited personal freedoms
 Divided empire into two parts
 Greek speaking in the East (Greece, Anatolia,
Syria and Egypt)
 Latin speaking in the West (Italy, Gaul, Britain and
Spain)

Constantine Moves the Capital
 Constantine
gained control over the West in 312
and gained control over the East in 324
 Moved the capital to the East to a city called
Byzantium, power shifted from West to East, the
city was renamed Constantinople
 Empire divided again, the East survived, the West
crumbled
BOX THREE – WRITE THIS
Diocletian divided the empire into
East and West, limited personal
freedoms
 Constantine moved the capital to
the East, capital city
Constantinople, West fell, East
survived

The Fall of Rome – Western Empire
Crumbles

Germanic Invasions
 Germanic
people had always settled on the outskirts of
the Roman empire and they got along well
 A group of Mongol nomads, the Huns, began to push
their way into the region
 Germanic people fled into the Roman empire and were
called “barbarians” (any non-Roman)
 The Germanic people continued to flee into all of the
Eastern Roman Empire and once they reached the
Western Empire, they destroyed it

Attila the Hun
 Huns
were indirectly responsible for the plundering
of Western Rome by the Germans and became a
threat
 United under Attila, 100,000 troops terrorized
both sides of the empire but failed to take
Constantinople
 Attila moved forward to the Western half of the
empire and tried to take Rome, but his army faced
famine and disease and were unsuccessful

An Empire No More
 Last
Roman emperor was Romulus Augustulus was
taken out by Germanic forces
 Roman power in the West had completely
disappeared
 Eastern Roman Empire became known as the
Byzantine Empire
BOX FOUR – WRITE THIS
Mongol tribes (Huns) were moving
into northern Europe, forcing
Germanic tribes (Vandals &
Visigoths) to move south, into Rome
 Western Roman Empire fell and the
East survived, eventually became
Byzantine Empire

Legacy of Rome – Roots of Western
Civilization

The Latin Language
 Latin
language dominated
 Language was later adopted by neighboring
people and transformed into the romance
languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and
Romanian
 Many English words have Latin roots

Master Builders
 Arch,
dome, concrete allowed for spectacular
buildings
 Aqueducts carried water
 Many American buildings borrow this architecture
 Vast network of roads – some still used today

Roman System of Law
 Greatest
 All
legacy
persons deserve equal protection under the law
 Innocent until proven guilty
 Burden of proof rested on the accuser, not the accused
 Punished for actions, not thoughts
 Any unfair law could be abolished

Rome’s Enduring Influence
 Rome
is the foundation for modern Western
civilization
BOX FIVE – WRITE THIS
Language, buildings, law,
Christianity, foundation for
Western Civilization
