Download Decline and Fall of the Empire

 In the late 200’s Rome began to decline, although most
people who lived in the empire did not realize it was
happening. There were many internal problems that
led to the decline:
 Economic and Social
 Agricultural
 Military and Political
 The empire stopped growing, so there
was no new money or items coming in.
This made money short and caused the
government to raise taxes.
 Also, education became more expensive
which made it hard for many people to
afford it – so less people were being
educated.
 What happens when people aren’t
educated about their government?
Economic and
Social Problems
 Another thing that weakened the empire
was bad harvests from farms. The soil or
dirt had been overused or destroyed by
war, so less food was being produced.
Also slave labor was used to farm the
land making it less likely that any new
improvements to farming techniques
would be developed.
Agriculture
 Also, the once powerful army of Rome
was showing signs of trouble. The
soldiers were becoming less disciplined
and loyal – they pledged themselves to
individual leaders not to Rome.
 Politically, regular citizens grew less
loyal too. The government had become
corrupt so many people did not trust it.
This made citizens lose their pride in
government and made them less willing
to sacrifice for Rome.
Military and
Political
 The Emperor Diocletian became the
leader of Rome in 284. He was very
strict and did not tolerate people
standing up to him. He decided to split
the empire into two, making an eastern
and western empire. He thought it
would be easier to control the empire by
making it smaller.
Rome Divides
 The emperor Constantine came after
Diocletian. He is known for two
important things. One was putting an
end to the attacks on Christians. The
other was moving the capital city of the
empire from Rome to the Greek city of
Byzantium. Byzantium eventually had
its name changed to Constantinople in
honor of Constantine.
Rome Divides
 With the empire weakened, the Huns,
and Germanic tribes like the Vandals,
Ostrogoths, and Visigoths invaded Rome
looking for land, food, and money.
These attacks weakened the empire even
more.
Invasions
 In 476 Germanic tribes invaded Rome
itself. This is the date of the official fall
of the Western Roman empire. About 10
years later, a Germanic leader named
Clovis conquered the remaining Roman
lands and established a powerful
kingdom. The western empire had
fallen, but the eastern empire continued
for about a thousand more years.