Fall of an Empire 11-3 1. What External Threats contributed to the fall of the Western Roman Empire? How? 2. a. Who divided the empire and b. why? c. How did it contribute to Fall of Rome? 3. What Internal Threats contributed to the fall of the Western Roman Empire? How?

Fall of an Empire: 1. External Threats Germanic Farmers: Farmland near the border of the Western Roman Empire provided a large portion of their food In the 200s A.D. raids by foreign groups caused many farmers to abandon their land As a result, Rome allowed Germanic Farmers to grow crops on Roman land

German Tribes Farm Roman Land How did this arrangement with German Farmers contribute to the decline of Rome ? - Over time, the Germanic Farmers chose their own rulers and began to ignore Rome Authority: Rome no longer had control of the farmland. and… Rome was in no position to do anything about it

Fall of an Empire B. Huns 300s AD fierce warriors from Central Asia ●Invaded southeast Asia which was controlled by the Goths (Visigoths & Ostrogoths) ● Goths retreated to Eastern Roman Territory. ● Constantine successfully kept Goths out, but they settled along the Roman Border.

Once the Goths took control of the outer boundaries, C. Goths move west and defeated Rome’s Armies & settled within the borders of the Western Roman Empire Once the Goths took control of the outer boundaries, why didn’t the Romans battle them to drive them out? Perhaps the Romans thought the Goths would provide a good buffer should the Huns move toward the Western Empire.

Fall of an Empire Foreign Enemies The Goths (more Germans) To keep the Goths from attacking Rome, Rome paid them $$$ 408 AD Rome stopped paying 410 AD Visigoths attacked and destroyed Rome For the 1st time in 800 years Rome was attacked and defeated

Fall of an Empire Foreign Enemies In the West… Vandals, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Franks also raided Roman territories

Fall of an Empire 2. Political Leaders Diocletian What did Diocletian do? Divided the empire in half in 284 A.D. Said it was too big for one person to rule Appointed a ruler for the Western half while he ruled the Eastern half

A Divided Roman Empire

Fall of an Empire: Dividing the empire However, dividing the Empire… made the Eastern Empire Strong and kept the Western empire Weak

Political Leaders B. Constantine When? Circa 300 AD What did he do? Fun Fact: After a Battle, Constantine & his army converted to Christianity. From this point, The front of Roman shields displayed the cross. B. Constantine When? Circa 300 AD What did he do? -Re-united empire -Built new capital near the Bosporus strait and named it… Constantinople

Political Leaders C. Political Leaders in the West were too Weak & Corrupt to defend Rome from the foreign raids As a result By 450 AD who took control of Rome? Military Generals

Fall of an Empire Odoacer. D. Military leaders ended up fighting themselves for power leaving Rome extremely vulnerable and 476 AD marks… The Official End of the Western Roman Empire; Fun Fact: The foreign general who conquered Rome in 476 A.D. was Odoacer.

Fall of an Empire: 3. Internal Instability What other problems threatened Rome’s Empire from within? - Disease and - High Taxes - Vastness of Empire - Political Corruption Bribery & Threats to achieve own selfish goals - Decay of people’s values Inflation - Wealthy leave Rome

The Eastern Empire Meanwhile, in the East… The Eastern Roman Empire grew in wealth & Power The Eastern half of the Roman Empire became known as the… BYZANTINE EMPIRE

Byzantine Society People spoke Greek not Latin Christianity was important and reflected in works of art and magnificent churches In the 1, 000s A.D. the Christian church in Byzantine Empire became known as the Orthodox Church

Byzantine Society Meanwhile, in the West, the Christian Church continued as the Roman Catholic Church Leader of the Roman Catholic Church is the Pope

Byzantine Empire Foreign Enemies: in the East… Circa 440 A.D. Eastern territory was raided by The Huns led by Attila Attila, however, was unsuccessful

The Byzantine Empire The Eastern Empire grew in power and wealth despite the fall of the Western Empire Justinian When did he rule? 527 A.D. – 565 A.D. 1. Conquers Italy and most land around Mediterranean to… retake Rome 2. Also, reorganized the Laws

The Byzantine Empire Justinian How did he change the Laws? 1. Removed outdated unchristian laws 2. Reorganized laws into a new system referred to as Justinian’s Code

The Byzantine Empire Justinian How did Theodora help Justinian? During a rebellion when Justinian wanted to flee, she convinced him to stay and fight. As a result… he crushed the revolt and became stronger, ruling until his death.

The Byzantine Empire Justinian After Justinian’s death, the empire began a slow decline over the next several hundred years. Finally in 1453 A.D. … the Byzantine Empire was defeated by the Turks, and became part of the Ottoman Empire.

Fall of an Empire What contributed to the fall of Rome? ● Size of Empire ● Political Corruption/bad leaders ● Wealthy Romans left Rome ● Wealthy used their armies to take control of Rome ● Dividing the Empire ● Taxes soared ● Inflation soared ● Population decreased ● Foreign Invaders ● Values disappear ● Disease

Fall of an Empire Identify the three main reasons that caused the Fall of the Western Roman Empire. Political Economic Foreign Invaders – The Germans What do you think was the most important cause for the Fall of Rome? Why?

Fall of an Empire Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire - Episode 9: The Soldier's Emperor (Documentary) mid 3rd century AD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72TSbLFZc1s Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire - Episode 10: Constantine the Great (Documentary) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcrYkk6Zd8I ***Dark Ages History.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLNrxajzGCw