1. Section 3: The End of the Empire
Rome and Christianity
Section 3: The End of the Empire

2. Problems in the Empire
Emperors were giving up land because they feared that the empire had become too large to defend or govern efficiently.
Tribes of Germanic warriors attacked Rome’s northern boarders
Persian armies invaded the east
Internal problems in the empire:
These raids made people near the boarder nervous
They eventually abandoned their homes
To grow enough food, the Romans invited Germanic farmers to grow crops on Roman lands
Whole German communities had moved into the empire
They chose their own leaders and largely ignored the emperors

3. Disease swept through the empire, killing many
Increase in taxes was necessary to pay for the defense of the empire
Desperate, the Romans looked for a strong emperor
They found one in Diocletian
He was convinced the empire was too big for one person to rule
He ruled the eastern half and named a co-emperor to rule the west
After Diocletian left power, Constantine reunited the empire for a short time
He moved the capital to the east – Constantinople (“the city of Constantine”), which is now present-day Turkey
Rome was no longer the center of power – power had now moved to the east

4. The Decline of Rome The source of the raids were the Huns
Fierce warriors from Central Asia
They first invaded southeastern Europe
Among their victims were groups of people called the Goths
Made up of Visigoths and Ostrogoths
Unable to defeat the Huns, the Goths fled into Roman territory
Eventually, the Goths attacked and destroyed Rome
This led to many other groups to invade the western half of the empire
The Huns raided Roman territory in the east under Attila’s leadership
Military leaders took power away from the emperors
Conflict among these military leaders gave invaders an opening
One of the foreign generals overthrew the last emperor in Rome and named himself king of Italy
Many historians consider this event the end of the Western Roman Empire

5. Several causes of Rome’s decline:
Vast size of the empire
Communication among various parts of the empire was difficult, especially during times of conflict
Political crises also contributed to the decline
Corruption, the decay of people’s values, had become widespread in Roman government
Wealthy citizens fled to their country estates and created their own armies for protection
Rome’s population decreased, and schools closed
Taxes and prices soared

6. A New Eastern Empire
Justinian, an eastern emperor, wanted to reunite the old Roman Empire
His other passions were the law and church
Justinian’s Code – guaranteed fair treatment for all
After his death, the eastern empire began to decline
The Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople, bringing an end to the Eastern Roman Empire
Society in the eastern empire
Non-Roman influences took hold in the east
People spoke Greek rather than Latin
Historians call the society that developed in the Eastern Roman Empire the Byzantine Empire
Named after Byzantium, the Greek town Constantinople had replaced

7. People began to interpret and practice Christianity differently in the east and the west
Eventually led to a split in the Christian Church
Christians in the east formed the Orthodox Church
As a result, eastern and western Europe were divided by religion