The Fall of the Roman Empire

Emperors After Augustus Bad Emperors: Caligula Nero – persecuted Christians Good Emperors: Trajan – empire at its largest; vast building program Hadrian – reorganized the government/administration Antonius Pius – reigned during peace and prosperity Marcus Aurelias – brought empire to the height of economic prosperity

Marcus Aurelius Last Emperor of the Pax Romana Dies without naming an heir Usually heir named and Senate approved Civil War breaks out from 234-284 AD 26 Emperors rule during this time Extremely bloody and violent time

Economy Weakens Economy Weakened Ran out of gold and silver Started making coins with less silver and gold which led to Inflation (drop in value of money) Agriculture suffered due to loss of fertile soil War destroyed farmland Disruption of trade – bandits and pirates High taxes for everyone Decline in population due to disease and food shortage

Military and Political Turmoil Soldiers became loyal to generals instead of Rome Generals fought amongst themselves for the throne Mercenaries – hired foreign soldiers who fought for money to protect the Roman empire from increasing threats Mercenaries didn’t care about the empire

Empire Split in Half Diocletian believed the Empire was too large to be governed by one person Split the Empire into West and East Took the East for himself because of its greater wealth Appointed Co-Emperor to West who reported back to Diocletian Diocletian retired in 305 because of ill health Civil war broke out immediately

Constantine Won control of the western empire in 312 Won control of the east in 324 Ruled both west and east alone 330 Moves capital from Rome to Byzantium Renamed Byzantium Constantinople Ruled Empire from the West

Reasons for the Move Closer to trade routes and major trade cities More secure from attack More Christian city Constantine declared Christianity to be accepted in the Empire – Edict of Milan and is also considered the 1st Christian Emperor

Fall of the Western Empire Following Constantine’s death, the empire was divided again. The east survived but the west fell

Germanic Tribes & The Huns Germanic tribes on northern border of empire coexisted for the most part with Rome The Huns – Mongolian nomadic tribe from central Asia Destroyed everything in their path Germanic tribes moved into Roman lands to get away from the Huns

Rome Attacked Romans didn’t have an army that could stop the Germanic tribes 410 – The Visigoths attacked Rome Battle of Adrianople – Visigoths beat Romans Proved that Roman Empire was vulnerable to attack Germanic tribes continued to attack and raid Roman Empire

Attila the Hun 444, Huns united under Attila the Hun Attacked and plundered 70 cities in the East, but could never get to Constantinople Attila advanced to Rome but failed again due to bouts of disease and famine 453 – Attila died but the Germanic tribes continued to attack the Roman Empire

Fall of Rome Romulus Augustulus – 14 year old emperor of Rome was ousted by German forces in 476 476 – Fall of the Western Roman Empire Eastern half survived and flourished Eastern half called Byzantine Empire Lasted another 1,000 years 1453 – fell to the Ottoman Turks