Download Lesson One: The Fall of Rome

The Fall of Rome:
An Exercise in Research, Historical Analysis, and Current
Events
Your challenge is to gather detailed information on the variety of causes for the fall of the
Roman Empire. You will have one week of structured class time to work with a group of
four to complete this assignment which is due at the start of class on September 15th
Part I. Research
Step One: I will give you a quick overview of the reasons for Rome’s fall. While doing
this, you will want to copy down the outline of topics and main ideas for the fall of
Rome.
Step Two: Read pages 169-174 in Late Roman Civilization. Record any details that help
explain the main ideas in your Fall of Rome outline
Step Three: Read the handout, “8 Reasons for the Fall of Rome.” Add any new details
to your Fall of Rome outline.
Now you should have a complete and detailed outline of information as to what
contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire.
Step Four: Research current events to compare to the main ideas for the fall of Rome.
Historical Analysis and Connection: You will put together a side by side
comparison of how Rome fell to what is going on in our society. The finished product
will be in a word document (like the example below).
o Pick a topic from your Fall of Rome Outline. Make sure that each person in your
group is picking a topic from one of the different reasons why Rome fell. In other
words, someone needs to pick from social reasons, someone from government
reasons, someone from military reasons, and someone from economic reasons.
o Your thesis question is
Based on what happened to Rome, is the United States
falling or not?
o You have to show a reason that Rome fell, and then argue whether or not the same
thing is happening to us. Your whole group must argue that the US is currently
falling or not.
Example:
Political:
Immigration brought down the Roman Empire, but it is not bringing down the US
One reason for the fall of Rome was due to the
Today, the United States has an issue with illegal
migration of German people into the Empire.
immigration. It is estimated that almost 12 million
Tribes like the Visigoths wanted to enter the Empire people, mostly from Mexico and other parts of Latin
to escape from violence in their own homeland and
and Central America are immigrating into the
for opportunities in the empire like land and serving United States. Most of these immigrants are
in the army. However, when the Roman officials
coming to the United States for job opportunities.
starved the Visigoths the Visigoths turned their
swords on the Romans and sacked the city of Rome,
killing thousands of Romans.
Both Rome and the US have issues with immigration, but they do not create the same problem. Immigrants
like the Goths turned violent and attacked the Romans because the Romans were corrupt. Immigrants in
the US are not currently armed and violent. If we find a way to deal with them humanely, there is no
reason that they would attack the United States like the Goths did the Romans.
Rubric
Thesis
Statement
(4 points)
Visual
Representation
(4 points)
Content:
Historical
Analysis &
Current Event
(20 points)
Conclusion
(4 points)
Excellent
Good
Clearly and
concisely states
the purpose in a
single
sentence, which
is engaging,
and thought
provoking.
Includes two
images that are
easily identified
as representing
the main idea
Clearly states
the purpose in a
single sentence.
Includes two
images
representing the
main idea, but
the connection
between the
images and
content is not
easily identified
Covers topic in- Includes
depth
essential
with details and knowledge
examples.
about the
Subject
topic. Subject
knowledge is
knowledge
excellent
appears good
Restates the
Restates the
thesis and
thesis but lacks
compares the
a clear
content
comparison
between the
content
Needs
Improvement
States the
purpose in a
single sentence.
Poor
Incomplete and
or unfocused
Includes one
image and the
connection is
not easily
identified
No images are
included
Includes
essential
information
about the
topic, but there
may be some
factual errors
Restates the
thesis
Content is
minimal, OR
there are many
factual errors.
This Rubric applies to each
topic. You are responsible for
the topic you complete within
the group.
Does not
address the
thesis