Download The Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire A. Crisis of the 1

The Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire
A. Crisis of the 1st and 2nd Century
a. More threats beginning on the borders
b. Germanic Tribes, Ostrogoth and Visigoths from West, Kingdom of Parthia in the
East.
i. By 180 – Rome had 500,000 troops patrolling the borders
B. The Romanization of the Barbarians
a. The Roman Army played a huge role in Romanization of the Provinces
i. The garrisons were more than just military outpost, they were centers of
trade and became cities in their own right.
ii. During the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, there were perhaps 100,000 troops on
the frontier
iii. Rome had a long tradition of using Auxiliary troops from “Barbarian
Tribes”
1. This allowed the exchange of tactics, weapons and ideas to
influence both Rome and the Barbarians.
b. Assimilation through Trade
i. Rome took in raw materials and exported finished products, glass,
pottery, jewelry, textiles, wine and olive oil.
ii. Let’s not forget weapons.
iii. Roman coins found throughout the Northern Barbarians
c. Exchange of people
i. Through slavery and immigration
C. The Frontier by 200 AD
a. There were clear lines, but much of it unguarded so there was free movement of
peoples
b. Romans sought to control immigration, rather than stop it.
i. Many peoples showed up on the frontier seeking refuge
ii. Each done by individual arrangements
1. In 262, defeated Goths were settled in the Balkans by Claudius II
2. Often they were separated into smaller communities.
3. Roman coins, minted in 348–352, celebrated the long tradition of
immigration by depicting a Roman emperor leading two
barbarians out of their hut for resettlement in the empire.
D. Parthia and the East
a. Perhaps the largest threat in the East was Parthia
b. It was an organized state not
E. Economic Decline
a. Political anarchy
i. This accelerated economic decline
b. Decline of Agriculture in Italy
i. Farmland turned into residential estates
1. Because of political unrest in the cities caused the rich to move to
fortified estates
ii. Farmers were overly taxed, could not keep maintenance of land
iii. Cheap competition of imported grain
c. Depletion of Precious Metals
i. Many emperors diluted the content of silver and gold in coins
ii. Led to often disastrous effects.
d. Interruption of Trade by Pirates and highwaymen.
e. The End of Roman Expansion
i. Expansion had fueled economic growth
F. Imperial attempts at Reforms
a. Septimus Severus (193-211)
i. Came to power as the Praetorian Guard killed Emperor Commodus
1. The Guard then auctioned the Imperial Position
2. A Rich Roman named Julianus bought throne
3. People clamored for the legions to return and overthrow him.
4. Severus marched on Rome and promised each soldier more
money.
5. Severus was the first to march the army in Rome (193)
ii. Severus Rule
1. He made the Principate a hereditary military monarchy.
2. He showered the Army by increasing their pay.
3. Recruitment was difficult still
4. He opened even the highest ranks in the military to men in the
provinces
5. Results –
a. It widened the relationship between citizens and the army
as Germans and other barbarians joined the army.
b. Warlord Period
i. 235-283
ii. 26 emperors, only one died naturally
iii. All of them bribed the army to attain power.
c. Diocletian – 284
i. Reorganization of the Empire
1. Divides the Empire in two.
a. With two rulers
b. Also to divide the armies, for quicker response while
limiting the potential of anarchy.
c. Geographically, it was into four prefectures
ii. Last Persecution of the Christians
1. Christians by Diocletian had survived numerous persecutions.
a. From Nero (54-68), Marcus Aurelius (161-180) Valerian
(253-260)
b. This usually coincided with threat of barbarian invasion
2. 303 – Diocletian ordered all out persecution and confiscation of
Christian property.
a. Christian rose in revolt
3. In 305 – Diocletian abdicated, leaving his successors to finish his
work
4. Persecutions lasted for 8 more years
5. Quote – Durant p. 652 “ There is no greater drama in human
record than the sigh of a few Christians, scorned or oppressed by
a succession of emperors, bearing all trials with a fierce tenacity,
multiplying quietly, building order while their enemies generated
chaos, fighting the sword with the word, brutality with hope, and
at last defeating the strongest state that history has known.
Caesar and Christ had met in the arena, and Christ had won. “
iii.
G. Constantine (312-337)
a. The Rise of Constantine
i. His father was in charge of the Western Prefect, but he was a hostage of
the Emperor
ii. He escaped and joined his father in the West.
iii. In 306 – after his father died, his army proclaimed Augustus by them.
1. In Rome, the Praetorian Guard, proclaimed another Emperor
2. Others took the title for themselves as well
3. Constantine emerged victorious Battle of Mulvian Bridge
b. Constantinople and the Eastern Empire
i. Economic activity and wealth had long shifted to the East
The Decline of the Roman Empire
A. Historians Differ in their opinions
a. Older historians ( Principally Edward Gibbon)blame Christians as chief cause
i. Destroyed old faith and character of the romans
ii. Destroyed science, philosophy, literature and art
iii. Turned men away from the present world to prepare for cosmic
catastrophe
iv. Salvation if the individual replaced a collective salvation of devotion to
the state
b. Problems
B.
C.
D.
E.
i. It was more of an effect of Rome’s decay
ii. Moral decline began before when Romans conquered Greece
iii. If anything Christianity uplifted the morals
c. Henri Pieriene
i. He puts the fall of the Empire in the 700’s
ii. He disagreed with Gibbons, he opposed ending the empire at the death
of the last Emperor (476)
iii. Continuity of the Economy
iv. Barbarians were not trying to destroy Rome but take part in its benefits
v. He blames Arab Expansion
1. They disrupted the economic ties of the Mediterranean
2. This turned Europe into a virtual backwater
3. By Charlemagne Western Europe was a substinence economy
4. Minting of coins above the Alps ended in the 7th century.
5. No more paper, cut off from Egypt
a. Decline in record keeping.
d. Not one cause, but many
e. Was not an event, it was a 300 year process
i. “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed
from within”-Durant
Economic causes
a. Dependence of foreign grain
b. Collapse of slave supply
c. Deterioration of transport and trade
d. Loss of markets to provincial competition
e. Drain in previous metal
Political causes
a. Increased despotism, destroyed civic sense and statesmanship
b. When you could only get power through violence, romans turned to business ‘n
pleasure
c. Local government interfered w/by corrupt imperial thugs
d. Rising cost of government, bribes, payoffs, games etc.
Depopulation
a. Family limitation (1st educated classes then to lower)
b. The ablest men bred late, little, and died soon
c. Pestilence, revelation and war
d. Q-666
Moral Decay
a. From struggle and ardor to vices and pleasure
b. Urban congestion
c. Immigration brought hundreds of different cultures with turned to cultural
indifference.
F. External Causes
a. Hastened by Hsuing-nu = the Huns from northwest Asia
i. Defeated by Chinese armies in the east, they turned west
ii. 355 they reached Volga
iii. They created domino effect Sarmatians displaced Goths, Goths moved
closer toward Roman borders
b. Goth
i. Allowed to settle in 376
ii. Mistreated, they revolted
iii. 378 – defeated Roman army, threatened Constantinople
c. Visigoths
i. 400- Alaric led them over the alps
ii. 410- they sacked Rome
d. Vandals
i. 429- conquered Spain and Africa
ii. 455- they sacked Rome
e. Odoacer – King of Italy
i. 472- barbarian mercenaries deposed the last emperor proclaimed their
leader king
ii. He was accepted as Vassal by Eastern Emperor