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The Fall of the Roman Empire

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Presentation on theme: "The Fall of the Roman Empire"— Presentation transcript:

1 The Fall of the Roman Empire
All Good Things Must Come to An End…

2 The Roman Empire The Roman Empire became huge
Included most of Europe, North Africa, and some of Asia The Empire reached its height under Emperor Diocletian ( CE)

3 The Roman Empire

4 Expansion: Good or Bad? What are some problems that an empire or country might have by being stretched out too far?

5 The Decline Begins 180 CE Marcus Aurelius dies
His son, Commodus, takes control of Rome Ends practice of Adoptive Emperors Commodus - poor leader Military and Political outsider Fascinated with Hercules & Gladiators Assassinated in 193 CE Declared Enemy of the State by Senate Time of disarray follows Marcus Aurelius Commodus

6 Political Instability
Ineffective and inconsistent leadership Roman Emperor nearly became a death sentence Civil war thrust the empire into chaos 20+ men took the throne in the span of only 75 years usually after the murder of their predecessor The Praetorian Guard—the emperor’s personal bodyguards—killed and installed new leaders at will Corruption and incompetence in the Senate resulted in limited checks on the Emperor’s power Roman citizens lost trust in their leadership

7 Christianity & the loss of Traditional values
Fall of Rome coincided with the spread of Christianity Christianity Legalized in 313, State religion in 380 ended centuries of persecution, eroded the traditional Roman values displaced the polytheistic Roman religion emperor no longer holds divine status the glory of the state shifts onto a sole deity Church leaders enter political affairs- further complicate leadership

8 Economic Problems Constant wars and expansion cost a lot of money
high taxation and inflation widened the gap between rich and poor To avoid taxes the wealthy fled to the countryside and set up independent fiefdoms Rome’s economy depended on slaves Military Expansion = More Slaves No Expansion = No New Slaves Agricultural Production Declines Pirates disrupt Mediterranean Trade routes

9 Weakening of the Legion
the makeup of the legions began to change began hiring foreign mercenaries to fill ranks Began using the Latin word “barbarus” in place of “soldier.” Fierce warriors, but little or no loyalty to the empire officers often turned against Roman employers many of the barbarians who sacked Rome served in Roman legions

10 Diocletian Roman Emperor 284-305 Major Reforms to State and Military
Divide Rule of the Empire in Half Too Big, Only way to save it East vs West 2 Senior Emperors, assisted by 2 Junior Emperors Sides still interacted, but split Created standing armies to stop uprisings Attempted to destroy Christianity Tear down Churches Killed followers

11 An Empire Divided Western Empire: Europe/ North Africa
Capital: Rome Eastern Empire: Turkey/ Asia Capital: Byzantium

12 Constantine 306-337 CE Followed Diocletian
united the empire under one ruler First Christian Emperor Rome continued to decline Capital moved to Byzantium City name changed to Constantinople Modern Day Istanbul Dies in 337 CE Empire Divided Again

13 Rome Invaded Western Empire unable to hold off German tribes on its borders Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Saxons wanted warmer climate, Riches, and to flee the Huns

14 Rome Invaded

15 Visigoths Rome allows the Visigoths to live inside borders
treated Visigoths badly Visigoths rebelled and defeated the Romans Visigoth leader, Alaric, captured Rome in 410 CE

16 Vandals Vandals followed Visigoths and spent 12 days stripping Rome of valuables (vandalism) Many more German invaders followed 476 CE- Western Emperor Romulus Augustulus is defeated 14 years old

17 The End (in the West) 476 CE is given as the fall of the Western Roman Empire divided into many kingdoms that adopted many of the customs of Rome

18 Odoacer

19 Justinian 527-565 CE Justinian Code
the emperor made all of the laws and interpreted the laws as well Many modern laws can be traced back to the Justinian Code Goal of re-uniting the Roman Empire. sent out armies to take back Western Empire  armies were successful, took back parts of Africa and most of Italy Advances eventually slowed and costs were high After Justinian’s death various Barbarians retook Europe

20

21 Greek Fire 672 the Byzantines create new weapon: Greek Fire
thrown at the enemy and could not be extinguished The formula was a secret, lost to history saved the Byzantine Empire and Christianity for several hundred years Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453 culture and ideas moved to the Christian West renewed interest in classic Greek and Roman ideas, called the Renaissance. 

22 Eastern Roman Empire Eastern Roman Empire continued to prosper for 1,000 more years Became known as the Byzantine Empire

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