The Fall of the Roman Empire World History Ms. Costas.
-
Upload
shon-mills -
Category
Documents
-
view
221 -
download
2
Transcript of The Fall of the Roman Empire World History Ms. Costas.
The Fall of the Roman Empire
World HistoryMs. Costas
Rome’s Golden Age
• As Rome became more stable, it had a 200 year span of peace and prosperity– Known as “Pax Romana”
• Means Roman Peace
• Rome was strong in many areas– Military was strong – Government was stable and
functioning fairly– Economy was flourishing
• This leads to the happiness and peacefulness of the people
Rome Weakens
• The end of Roman greatness did not occur overnight
• After the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180 A.D., the Pax Romana ended– For 100 years political and
economic turmoil rocked the Roman Empire
• One of the major signs of weakness was the size of the empire– It was too big to be
controlled by one person• Split into two halves
Emperor Diocletian
• Emperor Diocletian split the empire in two to make it easier to govern
• He made several reforms to fix the empire’s growing economic concerns– Boys had to follow
their father’s profession
– He fixed prices for goods and services• This prevented
inflation
Emperor Constantine
• Emperor Constantine followed Diocletian to the throne
• He followed in many of Diocletian’s footsteps in making reforms– Granted toleration of
Christianity– Built a new capital
city, Constantinople
The Long Decline
• Rome did not fall in one day…– It took over 100 years for
the Empire to truly fall from power• Rome never disappeared, it
simply weakened and became much smaller and far less powerful
• There are many causes for the fall of the empire– They can be put into 4
categories• Military• Political• Economic• Social
Barbarian Invasions
• For years the army had been strong and held the Roman borders
• As civil war continued within the empire, the military could not defend the borders– They had to hire mercenaries to
defend the borders• This cost the empire a TON of
money
• Germanic invaders chipped away at the Roman borders in the west– The destroyed and looted
everything left over
• The Huns, led by Attila the Hun, were on their way to Rome to take the Western part of the empire.
Decline in Morals and Values
• There was a decline in traditional values– Patriotism– Discipline– Devotion
• Crimes and violence made the city unsafe– A large emphasis on
violence contributed social problems
• People became greedy and wasteful– The wealthy drained the
empire of money spent on lavish parties
Poor Conditions & Health
• Wealthy Romans lived in nice homes– Upper-class is thought to
have been affected by lead poisoning
• Most Romans were not rich– Lived in small, cramped
apartments called “islands”• Houses with six of more stories
– At one point there was more than 44,000 islands inside of Rome
• These terrible conditions contributed to the unhappiness of citizens– Perpetuated sickness and
disease
Political Corruption
• It became difficult to choose new emperors– No longer did the emperor
choose their successor– Caused violence and struggles
for power
• It was decided that the Praetorian Guard would choose the new emperor
• Praetorian guard = emperor’s private army
– They began selling the position to the highest bidder
• In 100 years Rome saw 37 different emperors– 25 of whom were
assassinated
Rise in Christianity
• Many Romans began pledging their loyalty to their religion rather than their country– Decreased patriotism
• Some people believed Christianity made people pacifists– Pacifist = someone
opposed to war• This was shown in a decline in
people partaking in the army
• Much of the money that was needed to help the empire went to building new churches
Inflation & Taxes
• To make up for the lack of funds, the government began charging higher taxes– Many Romans could not pay
these taxes• This caused them to lose their
land, homes, belongings
• This also led to inflation• Inflation = rapid rise of prices
– People could no longer afford every day things
– This made the value of money decrease
• The once very wealthy Roman Empire was now economically weak
Rome’s Demise• It’s important to note that Rome did
not fall overnight– Think more like it splintered into pieces
• Rome does not officially “fall”– It never disappears– It shrinks to a small, less powerful
civilization
• Rome leaves an incredible legacy– At its height, Rome had a very rich
culture• Future civilizations strive to recreate Rome