Download The Fall of Rome

THE FALL OF ROME
Targets:
 I can identify the many problems that threatened the Roman Empire,
eventually leading one emperor to divide it in half
 I can analyze Rome’s decline as a result of invasions, political
(government) problems, and economic (money) problems
 I can consider the Byzantine Empire, where a new society was created
with religious traditions that were very different from Rome’s
What is happening in the world???
■ History doesn’t just happen in one place at one
time
■ At the same time:
– Rome was the greatest mega city on earth
– China was growing an empire too
■ A growing network of roads and shipping lanes
called infrastructure:
– Spread goods across 3 continents
– Ideas flowed across those places too
■ Christianity and the other world religions spread
and grew creating an interconnectedness that
mankind never knew before
– That idea is called globalization
The Roman Empire Under Augustus
Powerful!
While you watch the clip….
■ What happened to Rome in 410 AD ?
■ Who is Aleric?
■ Why did the Visthgoths attack Rome?
■ How were the Visthgoths able to defeat the Roman city?
■ Besides the invasion of Germanic tribes, what were some other
problems faced by Rome?
History Channel: The Dark Ages
Your Fall of Rome Reading…
■ Part 1
Problems in and out of the Empire
What caused the Fall of Rome (476)?
1. Germanic tribes invade from north; Inability to defend its large empire
(Visthgoths, Vandals, Franks, Saxons, Huns)
2. Weak and oppressive government  some really bad emperors
3. Smaller population (warfare, plague) and need for increased defense
 increase in taxes
Problems in and out of the Empire
What caused the Fall of Rome (476)?
4.
Weakened army (use of mercenaries),
lack of patriotism
5.
Roman expansion stopped—no new
gold, Roman govt. mints new money,
money devalued
Big Gap between rich and poor
6.
Decline of the middle class  farmers
lose land and nobles gain land; “haves
and have nots”
7.
Decline in Roman values, corruption in
the government: officials bribe to
achieve their goals – often ignoring
needs of the citizens. Being
entertained by animals eating
gladiators.
Your Fall of Rome Reading…
■ Part 2
Division of the Empire – brief revival
Diocletian
■ Believed Rome was too big
– Broke it into two and
ruled the east
■ Tried temporary measures:
– Increased taxes
– Created a budget
■
Failed: Wealthy
wouldn’t make
product
– Banned astronomy
and other types of
sciences
– Limited freedoms
■ Leaves office and
Constantine takes over…
Constantine
■ Stretched the empire a little
■ Reunited east and west for a short
time
– Moved the capital east (now
Turkey)
– Constantinople
■ Last great emperor
– Allowed Christianity with full
Roman Rights
– Strict Laws
■ Although it was still called the
“Roman Empire” it wasn’t really
Roman anymore since everything
moved east
Rome Fell Like a Game of Jenga
Social Factors
Political Factors
Economic Factors
Many factors weakened Rome over
the course of several centuries. By
the end, it was too broken to save
Military Factors
Decline…
■ Early Invasions
– Barbarians start to attack 
Romans fight to keep Goths out of
Roman territory , they even pay
them
– Rome stopped making payments 
Rome is sacked in 410
– Goth victory allowed other
barbarians, such as the Huns and
Attila to raid the empire
■ Rome had no strong leader, barbarian
generals overthrow last emperor
– This is considered the end of the
Western Roman Empire (476)
Germanic Tribes
1. Loyalty to tribes, no
countries or empires
– Even though many
barbarians were
hired by Rome &
were starving
2. Kings divided land and
gave to sons 
numerous civil wars
3. Few written laws
4. Trial by ordeal, by duel,
by honor instead of
RULE OF LAW
5. Disrupted
Trade: Unsafe to
travel cities decline
6. Decline of learning:
Germanic tribes couldn’t
read or write Only
Church maintained
literacy
7. Loss of a common
language: Latin declined
 local dialects develop
(i.e. English, Greek).
Is this your
Ancestor?
Meet the Barbarians!
 Alaric – Goth snubbed by Rome who sacked the city in 410
 Attila – Hun who controlled nearly all of Europe, but stopped
before taking Rome because of a deal with the Pope. Most
feared of the barbarian generals.
 Odoacer – Ostrogoth who received the Roman imperial
crown from Romulus Augustus in 476.
4 FACTORS WEAKENED ROME
So.. Why did Rome Fall?
Republican principles do not fit into empire building
Moral Answer:
Economic Answer:
■ Luxury & Sloth = Decline
■ low productivity – scarcity of silver &
gold
Christian Answer:
■ Fell to prepare for City of God
Physical Answer:
Free-Thinkers Answer:
■ soil depletion, deforestartion, climate
change, droughts
■ Christianity weakened & disarmed the
Romans
Political Answer:
■ Loss of national spirit
Social Answer:
■ War of social classes – institution of
slavery
Pathological Answer:
■ plague and malaria
Bio-cyclical Answer:
■ empire is like an organism and goes
through stages
Finished.
Your Fall of Rome Reading…
■ Part 3
A New Eastern Empire
The Byzantine Empire
– Despite Western Fall (Rome) the Eastern empire thrived in wealth
and power
– New society: People spoke Greek instead of Latin and interpreted
Christianity differently than western Christians
A New Eastern Empire
■ Justinian
– Ruled from 527-565 with his wife
Theodora
– Passionate about reclaiming Rome
■ Was able to take much of Italy from the
Goths, but Rome itself was exchanged
about three times
– Passionate about the law
■ Created a new legal system : Justinians
Code – simplified the law and mad
treatment fair
– Passionate about the church
■ Removed out of date/unchristian laws
■ Ordered the rebuilding of Hagia Sophia
Church
Fall of Rome = Rise of the Middle Ages and Christianity
Your Fall of Rome Reading…
■ Was there anything Rome could have done – or was it inevitable?
By the
th
5
Century…
■ The Vikings are out and about
■ At the same time, gold is discovered in the Arabian deserts
– Allows for new innovations and technology
■ The Roman Empire fell and a huge power struggle is happening in
Europe
– Barbarians are destroying towns and cities in Europe
– Europe has entered the Dark Ages
■ The world continues to fight wars over religion and territory
Target Review:::
 I can identify the many problems that threatened the Roman
Empire, eventually leading one emperor to divide it in half
 I can analyze Rome’s decline as a result of invasions,
political (government) problems, and economic (money)
problems
 I can consider the Byzantine Empire, where a new society
was created with religious traditions that were very different
from Rome’s
Can you meet your Learning Targets?
■ Summarize the factors that contributed to the decline of the
Roman Empire.