The fall of the roman empire All over in 476……

A Century of Crisis Decline began after Marcus Aurelius (161- 180), the last of the five good emperors Incompetent leaders followed

Rome’s Economy Declines Hostile tribes on borderlands and pirates on the Mediterranean disrupted trade Wealthy spend on luxury goods from Asia, thus draining empire of gold and silver Government raised taxes to pay for costly wars Minted new coins, which caused inflation Soil lost fertility due to war and being overworked- so less productive = less food Cheap slave labor had discouraged innovation in agriculture Disease wiped out the population

Rome Faces military upheaval Increasing attacks by Germanic tribes in north and Persians in the east (260 Persians captured emperor Valerian) No discipline or loyalty in the army anymore Soldiers loyal to commanders Army forced to hire mercenaries (foreign soldiers who accepted lower pay but were not really loyal to Rome)

Roman politics decay Citizens lost sense of patriotism By 200s few chose to serve in government (partly because the costly bread and circuses came out of politicians’ own pockets) Only armies remained interested in politics and would begin to proclaim generals as emperors of the provinces

Diocletian reforms the empire 284 Diocletian becomes emperor Restored order in the empire by governing as an absolute ruler and limiting personal freedom Doubled the size of the armies Hired German mercenaries Set fixed prices for goods to control inflation Claimed descent from Roman gods Passed decrees to persecute the Christians

Diocletian divides the empire Divided the empire into east and west East- Greek speaking with better trade routes and centers and he ruled it West - Latin speaking- appointed General Maximian ruled it 305 he retired Civil war broke out and by 311 four people claimed power

Constantine moves the capital 312 he gained control of west and in 324 gained control of the east, thus reestablishing a single ruler 330 he moved the capital to the Greek city of Byzantium Center of power then moved east City renamed Constantinople, city of Constantine After his death the empire split again. The west collapsed but the east survived

Inavaders overrun the empire 376-476 large numbers of Germans moved into Roman territory- Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Angles, Saxons, Vandals, etc. They drive the last emperor from the throne

The Huns Move west Reason for the Germanic invasions of the west was because the Huns had moved into Europe Huns were a fierce Mongol nomads from Central Asia

Germanic invasions As the Huns entered, Germanic tribes fled and kept moving through the Roman pronices By early 5th century, Rome vulnerable to attack 410 hordes of Visigoths stormed Rome

Attila the hun 444 Huns united under powerful chieftain Attila Attila renewed attacks against the empire until famine and disease weakened the armies After Attila’s death in 453 the Germanic invasions continued Famine struck Rome, dropping its population significantly

Rome’s last emperor Last emperor was a 14 year old named Romulus Augustuleus In 476 he was deposed by a Odoacer, a German general, and sent into exile Roman power in the west was gone Eastern half of the empire came to be called the Byzantine empire and would endure until 1453 when the Ottoman Turks took it over Byzantium would preserve much of the Greco-Roman world