Write a paragraph explaining the problems of the Romans. Get out your homework.

Attempts to Reform the Empire In 284 A.D. Emperor Diocletian came to power & made a series of reforms that temporarily halted Rome’s decline – To fix the military, he doubled the size of the Roman army – To fix the economy, he fixed prices for goods – To fix the lack of loyalty, he presented himself as a godlike emperor

Diocletian’s most important reform was realizing Rome was too large & dividing the empire into the Western Eastern Roman Empires The empire was divided between Greek-speaking & Latin-speaking halves The East was far wealthier than the West because it had most of the great cities & trade centers But, the empire was also divided by wealth

I can analyze the impact of Constantine on the Roman Empire. 7.1 Analyze the legacy of the Roman Empire.

Attempts to Reform the Empire After Diocletian, the emperor Constantine came to power & continued to reform Rome – To help unify Rome, he ended persecutions & converted to Christianity – He moved the official capital from Rome to a new city in the East, called Constantinople

Constantinople was a major trade center & was easy to defend; They city was built in the Roman style but had a strong Greek & Christian influence

The Decline of the Roman Empire The fall of the Roman Empire happened in 3 major stages: – An era of decline due to internal problems within Rome – A brief period of revival due to reforms by Emperors Diocletian & Constantine – Continued decline, invasion by Germanic “barbarians”, & the conquest of Rome

The Collapse of the Roman Empire After Emperors Diocletian & Constantine, the Western Roman Empire continued to decline Disease, corruption, & declining economy exposed the West to attack from outside invasions

By 370 A.D., “barbarian” groups outside Rome, led by the Huns, began to attack The weak Roman army in the West could do little to stop the invasions; By 476, Germanic barbarians conquered Western Rome

THE FALL OF ROME

The decline of the Western Roman Empire led to the Middle Ages

After the Fall of Rome The East became the Byzantine Empire & flourished for another thousand years The Byzantine Empire kept alive the cultural achievements of ancient Greece & Rome

The civilizations of the Classical Era produced important achievements that are still used today The combination of Greek & Roman achievements are known as Greco-Roman culture

EMPEROR CONSTANTINE

Emperor Constantine Constantine was born in Naissus or Nish in modern Serbia probably from 274 to 288 CE. His parents were Constantius, an emperor, and Elena, a Christian. Constantine was name emporer in 306 CE. In a dream, he saw a cross in the sky and the words “conquer in this sign.” He saw this as proof of the power of Christ and the superiority of the Christian religion.

What did Constantine do for the Christians? In 312 CE onwards, he favored Christianity openly and supported it in every way. In 313 CE he granted Christianity full equality with all religions in the empire. In 315 CE, he decreed the abolition of death on the cross. In 321 CE, he gave the church permission to accept bequests and donations and decreed Sunday as a public holiday. In this council, Constantine was known as the Pontifex Maximus which means “the greatest bridge-maker.” WHY WAS HE A BRIDGE MAKER?

Emperor Constantine made Christianity a part of the public life and because of this the Church faced a truly new world situation. Constantine was wary of alienating his pagan subjects by seizing their sites and temples. In 356 CE, Constantine’s son Constantius decreed that all pagan temples should close and he prohibited sacrifices to the gods on pain of death. Christians turned from persecuted to persecutors in the Roman world.

How would you feel if the President made an announcement stating that all Americans must follow 1 religion? All people are required to become Pastafarians and worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster. What would you do?

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