1. The Decline of the Roman Empire
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2. Objectives
Identify cause and effect relationships in the decline of the Roman Empire
Describe and compare the two empires into which the Roman Empire divided
Identify legacies of the empire

3. Video

4. Other groups of people began to grow…
Invasions from the north would eventually bring many changes to the Roman Empire (“barbarians”)
The Pax Romana came to an end while new groups moved through the lands of the empire

5. The Empire Under Attack
Northern invaders were German-speaking peoples
Raids from the north destroyed cities and farmlands
Trade suffered – roads were no longer safe
Most invasions took place in the west

6. What effects did the Roman Empire’s great size cause?
The Empire is Divided
Emperor Diocletian came to power
He realized the empire was too big to be ruled by one person: divided the empire
3 assistants took over the west
Diocletian ruled the east (Judea)
Rome was no longer the most important city in the empire– power was shifting from west to east
What effects did the Roman
Empire’s great size cause?
Breakdown in communication and tax collection and weakening of the army

7. Why did Emperor Constantine choose this location for his new
imperial capital?
A capital in the East
Constantine became emperor in the east
Based his empire in Byzantine (renamed Constantinople – today it is called Istanbul)
Constantinople was well protected by water and had many Christian churches
It was easy to protect, was on major
trade routes, and was far from the
old imperial capital, Rome, and its
traditions

8. Freedom for Christians
Earlier emperors had Christians killed
Constantine supported Christianity, and later in life gave his life to Christ
Constantine gave freedom to Christians and donated money to build Christian churches
Appointed Christians to important government posts

9. How did the eastern empire fare better than the western empire?
End of the Roman Empire
How did the eastern empire
fare better than the western
empire?
The WEST weakened
Rome was overtaken by the northern peoples
The EAST empire lived on – it became know as the Byzantine Empire
It survived as the Byzantine Empire

10. The Byzantine Empire
Greek culture spread: people spoke Greek instead of Latin
Christianity spread
Western Christians regarded the Pope as the only leader who could speak for the church
Eastern Christians did not agree – their religion was Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Many Roman laws and traditions still managed to live on in the Byzantine Empire

11. Why was Roman civilization richer for borrowing from other
civilizations? Why are we richer
for borrowing from it?
The Legacy of Rome
Law and government: founders of the U.S. were inspired by the republic’s idea of three branches
Many new languages grew out of Latin (Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Romanian)
The Roman style of letters became the base of the ones we use today
Western Christianity was later known as Roman Catholicism
Cultural borrowing builds up ideas –
later civilizations have some work
already done for them and can
move on to develop new cultural ideas

12. BrainPop Video
oftheromanempire

13. Sum it up What brought about the end of the Pax Romana?
How did Romans use the legacies of other civilizations? What Roman legacies affect our lives today?
Why did the western empire finally collapse?
What conclusions can you make about the changes that occurred in the Eastern Roman Empire under Constantine?