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THE FALL OF ROME
• Events and conditions inside and outside the
Roman Empire weakened it and led to its collapse
• Essential Question: What led to the weakening and
eventual collapse of the Roman Empire in the west?
THE FALL OF ROME
• Empire Weakens
• When the Pax Romana ended in 180 CE the Roman
Empire began to weaken as it faced challenges
from both inside and outside the empire
• Roman Army could not stop the Hun invasion. Rome faced
threats from the east and west
• No strong emperors, many civil wars occur as military
dictators depose each other for power
• 20 emperors between 235-284 all but one died violently
THE FALL OF ROME
Economic Troubles
Empire’s instability led to robberies
Cost of the military raised= taxes raised
New money coined with less silver to help with economic
trouble but it worsened it because no one would accept the
coins
• Economic crisis – increased costs for military led to decreased
prosperity, increased taxes, decreased trade, new money
coined causing value of money to decrease and prices to rise
- inflation
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THE FALL OF ROME
• The crisis of the 200’s let to attempts at reform
• Diocletian – successful reformer - becomes emperor in 284
CE
• Changes empire government structure to an absolute
monarchy
• Split the empire into two (Western Roman Empire and Eastern
Roman Empire)
• Co-emperor in the West, both had advisors who were Caesars
• Regulated all aspects of Roman life (sons followed the trades
and social positions of their fathers, peasants were permanently
tied to the land they farmed)
• Increased size and budget for military
• Switched economy to military production
• Introduced new tax system
THE FALL OF ROME
• Constantine
• In 305 Diocletain abdicated the throne with his coemperor so their Caesars could rise as emperors.
Soon civil war broke out
• Order was not restored until 312 when Constantine
was proclaimed the new emperor by his troops
THE FALL OF ROME
Constantine continued policies enacted under Diocletian –
became emperor in 312 CE
• State control over society
• Converted to Christianity and legalized the practice of the
religion in 313 CE in the Edict of Milan
• Built a new capital in Eastern Roman Empire – Constantinople
• Because the east was richer and better protected than the west.
• Reforms enacted under Diocletian and Constantine
only slowed the decline and eventual fall of the
Roman Empire
THE FALL OF ROME
• Invasion and Fall of Rome
• TURN TO PAGE 191-Read aloud Invasion and Fall of
Rome
• Increasing shifts of population from Asia into Europe pushed
tribes into Roman Empire
• Under direction from the Huns, Germanic tribes, the
Ostrogoths and Visigoths attacked the Roman Empire and
Alaric, the Visigoth King sacked Rome
• The Vandals tribe attacked Rome
• Attila, a strong leader for the Huns, attacked Gaul and tried
to attack Rome, but was convinced not to by Pope Leo I
THE FALL OF ROME
• The Western Roman Empire falls in 476 CE after an attack
led by the barbarian commander Odoacer
• The Eastern Roman Empire does not collapse, but over time
evolves into the Byzantine Empire due to influences from
other cultures, especially Greek
Causes and Effects of the Fall of
Rome
Causes
•Weak leadership after 180 CE *Invasions
•Economic Crises
*Social Unrest and
Insecurity
Effects
*In the west, the disappearance of central authority and
the creation of small kingdoms
*In the east, the continuation of the Roman Empire ruled
from Constantinople