Fall of the Roman Empire In between chapters Fall of the Roman Empire and rise of the Byzantine Empire

Decline of Rome  Invasions from Goths (Germanic tribes)  Financial Issues  Changes in social order – Leaders no longer due to Roman Emperors – Left military with increasing control  Rise of Christianity – Created a division in Rome between christians and pagans

End of Diocletian  Diocletian made attempts to restore order.  Divided the empire among Caesars.  Retired and left Constantius with much power. – Dies and son Constantine claims throne. – He supports Christianity  Crisis leads empire towards military rule.

Change in roles  The role of the emperor changes. – Rule by decree, appoint a few officials, distance themselves due to assassinations, new title “lords” power derived from gods not people.  Constantine appoints a new capitol – Byzantium…he re-names it Constantinople – City dedicated in 330 A.D. and marks the development of new Eastern Empire

Rise of Byzantine Empire  Development of Constantinople and Eastern Rome mark beginning of end for Roman Empire.  Military rule, authoritarian = invitation for corruption  Embraced Christianity

Fall of Rome  Many factors : Rome had overexerted their power  Didn’t have resources to expand any more  Couldn’t keep out invaders.  Diocletian’s decision to divide empire bit him in the foot…instead of strenthening control divided empire in two. West fell but East grew

Germanic Invasions  German tribes and Romans had a peaceful relationship.  Arrival of Visigoths (“West Goths”) in 376 sped up migration of Barbarian tribes  Germanic tribes raid Roman Empire.  Little resistance due to problems within Empire.

Visigoths  Rome raided in 410 by Goths  Attila the Hun moved into Italy  Many other raids took place  476 traditionally marks fall of empire – Emperor Romulus deposed and power to Germanic tribes

Byzantine Empire  Constantinople protected geographically  Good port access for trading  Committed to continuing success of Empire even after fall of Rome in 476 – Justinian Emperor form 527 to 565 – Conquered most of Mediterranean territory – Wife Theodora was an asset to his rule

 Some did not think his rule was legit because not a blood member of family.  He focused on keeping territory and old empire united  Spent lots of money  Heavy taxes imposed  In 565 died and left Byzantine bankrupt

Struggles of the Empire  After Justinian they faced poverty, plagues, anarchy.  Heraclius in 610 helped settle empire and end invasions  Still danger – Leo III also made attempts to end attacks – Created theme system - divided empire into provinces. Military commanders had power over an area.

Byzantine Society  Emperor a priest-king…Power!  Depicted as saints  Emperors were above law. Was their job to establish justice and order – Used great restraint – Justinian had “body of civil law” basic code and framework of laws

Society Cont.  Hierarchial and dominated by aristocracy  Laws applied to everyone, but punishments varied according to status  Nobility determined by position not by heredity  However, being born into noble family often guarenteed a good position in society

Women  Women viewed as temptation and subject to men’s control.  Raised children and managed the home  Few educated women  Lived in gynaeceum or own separate apartments  Rarely traveled outside of palace – Always accompanied by servants

Christianity in Byzantine Empire  Emperor oversaw the church but was run by leaders – bishops in cities – pope in Rome – patriarchs in Constantinople Alexandria Antioch Jerusalem 5 known as pentarchy Gave less power to Pope more power to local leaders

Iconoclast Movement  Religious movement to end the worship of icons  Church upset because they used pictures – Love Christ should love his image  Increased tension between east and west

Schism  Break up of Roman Catholic Church in west and Orthodox Church in the east.  East was at first stronger than the West  Eventually a bad move – Byzantine Empire would not seek help from west when invaded

Macedonian Era 800’s  Strong division between eastern and western empires  Emperors tried to improve conditions, education available, increased the monarchy  1000’s began to decline under incompetent emperors  1071 defeated by the Turks.

Biography  In your journal, summarize the life and importance of the following people – Justinian – Leo III – Heraclius – St. John of Damascus – Zoe – Michael V