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U2LG2.5 –
The Fall of Rome
Learning Obj. 2.5: Describe the major political, religious/philosophical and cultural
influences of classical Greece and Rome. (3A, 19B, 21B,22B, 25B)
• The collapse of Roman rule left a large political
and economic vacuum in western Europe and
decentralized rule followed
• Populations fell vulnerable to invading groups
without the protection of the Roman army
• Trade stagnated, cultural backwardness and lack
of scientific growth
• A new era for the Christian Church emerged as
church leaders filled the political void
• Power shifted to the East-especially
Constantinople and the Byzantine empire grew
• Decline of Rome caused by political upheaval, civil wars,
plague, empire too large to manage, bloated
bureaucracy, inflation, failure to advance technologically,
barbarian (Germanic tribes) invasions
• Franks emerged as the dominate Germanic tribe and for
a time worked to reconstitute the Roman Empire under
the rule of Charlemagne
• Christianity was the only institution to survive the fall of
Rome and served to unite Germanic tribes after Clovis’
conversion
• With no Roman army for protection system of feudalism
developed and trade was disrupted
• Christianity culturally united Europe
Why did Rome fall?
Disruption of
trade
Raids from hostile tribes / pirates
on the Mediterranean.
Rome’s over-dependence on foreign grain was
no secret – even to Rome’s enemies.
From what foreign territories
“Choking off” that supply
was Rome getting it’s grain
Disrupting that trade…
from?
…had devastating consequences.
CONDITION
CAUSE
Gold & Silver Frequent wars cost millions.
drain
Lavish spending by the rich on
foreign-made luxury items meant
silver & gold was being spent
outside of Rome…not in Rome.
What costly wars has the United States engaged in
recently?
What types of items do Americans purchase that are
produced mainly in foreign countries?
“Panem et circenses”
- the Roman poet Juvenal
As things grew worse in the Empire,
the Roman citizens were fed their regula “bread and
circuses”
Diocletian
Doubled the size of the army, fixed prices, ordered farmers
to stay on their lands, claimed he descended from the gods
(to restore respect to his office),
And he divided the Empire into two parts:
In the West the capital would remain Rome.
In the East the capital would be Byzantium.
Diocletian
284-305 A.D.
CONSIDER:
How well do you think this solution of Diocletian’s
worked?
Two capitals?
Two emperors?
PP Design of T. Loessin; Akins H.S.
Who was Constantine?
Extended the reforms of Diocletian but restored the
concept of One ruler and moves the capital to
Byzantium – renaming the city Constantinople.
The Arch of Constantine
in Rome Italy today.
Constantine
“First Christian
Emperor of Rome”
284-337 A.D.
What caused the final collapse of the western
Roman Empire?
•The Germanic tribes (Visigoths) and the Huns invaded. As
things grew worse in the West
•the wealthier Eastern half broke away and became the new
Byzantine Empire.
•476 Romulus Augstulus was deposed by the Germanic
tribal leader
The FALL of the Western Roman
Empire – 476 A.D.
PP Design of T. Loessin; Akins H.S.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ifur2iTDKA
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Identify
What were the contributions of the following scientist?
Archimedes
Established the value of pi (π)
Explained the workings of levers
Invented the screw pump
Eratosthenes
Calculated the circumference of the earth
Pythagoras
Responsible for proving that in a right triangle, the sum of the squares of the two right-angle sides will always be the same as the
square of the hypotenuse (the long side). A2 + B2 = C2.