Download Fall of the Roman Empire

Fall of the Roman
Empire
In between chapters
Fall of the Roman
Empire and rise of the
Byzantine Empire
Decline of Rome
 Invasions from Goths (Germanic
tribes)
 Financial Issues
 Changes in social order
– Leaders no longer due to Roman
Emperors
– Left military with increasing control
 Rise of Christianity
– Created a division in Rome between
christians and pagans
End of Diocletian
 Diocletian made attempts to restore order.
 Divided the empire among Caesars.
 Retired and left Constantius with much
power.
– Dies and son Constantine claims throne.
– He supports Christianity
 Crisis leads empire towards military rule.
Change in roles
 The role of the emperor changes.
– Rule by decree, appoint a few officials,
distance themselves due to assassinations, new
title “lords” power derived from gods not
people.
 Constantine appoints a new capitol
– Byzantium…he re-names it Constantinople
– City dedicated in 330 A.D. and marks the
development of new Eastern Empire
Rise of Byzantine Empire
 Development of Constantinople and
Eastern Rome mark beginning of end for
Roman Empire.
 Military rule, authoritarian = invitation for
corruption
 Embraced Christianity
Fall of Rome
 Many factors : Rome had overexerted
their power
 Didn’t have resources to expand any
more
 Couldn’t keep out invaders.
 Diocletian’s decision to divide empire
bit him in the foot…instead of
strenthening control divided empire in
two. West fell but East grew
Germanic Invasions
 German tribes and Romans had a
peaceful relationship.
 Arrival of Visigoths (“West Goths”) in
376 sped up migration of Barbarian
tribes
 Germanic tribes raid Roman Empire.
 Little resistance due to problems
within Empire.
Visigoths
 Rome raided in 410 by Goths
 Attila the Hun moved into Italy
 Many other raids took place
 476 traditionally marks fall of empire
– Emperor Romulus deposed and power to
Germanic tribes
Byzantine Empire
 Constantinople protected geographically
 Good port access for trading
 Committed to continuing success of
Empire even after fall of Rome in 476
– Justinian Emperor form 527 to 565
– Conquered most of Mediterranean territory
– Wife Theodora was an asset to his rule
 Some did not think his rule was legit
because not a blood member of family.
 He focused on keeping territory and old
empire united
 Spent lots of money
 Heavy taxes imposed
 In 565 died and left Byzantine bankrupt
Struggles of the Empire
 After Justinian they faced poverty, plagues,
anarchy.
 Heraclius in 610 helped settle empire and
end invasions
 Still danger
– Leo III also made attempts to end attacks
– Created theme system - divided empire into
provinces. Military commanders had power
over an area.
Byzantine Society
 Emperor a priest-king…Power!
 Depicted as saints
 Emperors were above law. Was their job to
establish justice and order
– Used great restraint
– Justinian had “body of civil law” basic code
and framework of laws
Society Cont.
 Hierarchial and dominated by aristocracy
 Laws applied to everyone, but punishments
varied according to status
 Nobility determined by position not by
heredity
 However, being born into noble family
often guarenteed a good position in society
Women
 Women viewed as temptation and subject
to men’s control.
 Raised children and managed the home
 Few educated women
 Lived in gynaeceum or own separate
apartments
 Rarely traveled outside of palace
– Always accompanied by servants
Christianity in Byzantine Empire
 Emperor oversaw the church but was run by
leaders
– bishops in cities
– pope in Rome
– patriarchs in
•
•
•
•
Constantinople
Alexandria
Antioch
Jerusalem
5 known as pentarchy
Gave less power to Pope more power to local leaders
Iconoclast Movement
 Religious movement to end the worship of
icons
 Church upset because they used pictures
– Love Christ should love his image
 Increased tension between east and west
Schism
 Break up of Roman Catholic Church in
west and Orthodox Church in the east.
 East was at first stronger than the West
 Eventually a bad move
– Byzantine Empire would not seek help from
west when invaded
Macedonian Era 800’s
 Strong division between eastern and western
empires
 Emperors tried to improve conditions, education
available, increased the monarchy
 1000’s began to decline under incompetent
emperors
 1071 defeated by the Turks.
Biography
 In your journal, summarize the life and
importance of the following people
– Justinian
– Leo III
– Heraclius
– St. John of Damascus
– Zoe
– Michael V