Download The Fall of the Roman Empire: There are 3 main reasons for the

The Fall of the Roman Empire:
There are 3 main reasons for the demise of the Roman Empire:
1) Threat of barbarian tribes:

Many tribes on the outskirts of Empire, jealous of Roman wealth.

Called Barbarians because they could not write and didn’t have
civilised cities.

Vandals, Goths, Saxons and Franks.

Germany was invaded by the Huns (a tribe from Asia).

This meant tribes in Germany were pushed into the Roman Empire.
2) Rome grows weaker:

By 400AD Rome was not as strong as it had been before, historians
are unsure why. Here are some suggestions:
o The Climate changed = less food grown = declining population.
o Lead poisoning from water pipes
o Loss of business in the city: Emperor Constantine moved a
lot of important business to Constantinople in the east,
taking the importance out of Rome the city.
3) The defeat of Rome:

City of Rome defeated by Goths tribe and treasure taken.

476AD a barbarian called Odoacer removed the last emperor.

More barbarian tribes moved in and took over different parts of
the Empire.

Barbarian tribes were not as organised as the Romans and a lot of
Roman builds (temples, aqueducts etc) went into ruin.

Roman Empire not complete lost: moved to the east and was known
as the Byzantine Empire.
The influence Ancient Rome has on us today:
There are many things in our lives that were influenced by the Romans.
1) The Alphabet:
We use the same alphabet as the Romans and our letters are shaped the
same.
2) The Romance languages:
French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian all derive from Latin. Latin is
still taught in some schools today.
3) The Roman calendar:
We use the same calendar as the Romans. It was developed by Julius
Caesar.
4) Months of the year:
Many of the months have Roman names. E.g: March comes from the Roman
god Mars. Where do you think July and August came from?
5) Science:
All plants and animals have a name in Latin.
6) 30% of English words come from Latin:
Circus, villa, senate
7) Laws:
Many European laws are based on the Roman law. The court system here
in Ireland is the same as the Roman system & the names of the officials,
such as barrister, comes from Roman officials.
8) Engineering and Architecture:
Many of our building resemble the architecture and engineering style of
Roman buildings. For example, Romans had under-floor heating, the first
apartment blocks and shopping centres.