1. The fall of the roman empire
All over in 476……

2. A Century of Crisis
Decline began after Marcus Aurelius ( ), the last of the five good emperors
Incompetent leaders followed

3. Rome’s Economy Declines
Hostile tribes on borderlands and pirates on the Mediterranean disrupted trade
Wealthy spend on luxury goods from Asia, thus draining empire of gold and silver
Government raised taxes to pay for costly wars
Minted new coins, which caused inflation
Soil lost fertility due to war and being overworked- so less productive = less food
Cheap slave labor had discouraged innovation in agriculture
Disease wiped out the population

4. Rome Faces military upheaval
Increasing attacks by Germanic tribes in north and Persians in the east (260 Persians captured emperor Valerian)
No discipline or loyalty in the army anymore
Soldiers loyal to commanders
Army forced to hire mercenaries (foreign soldiers who accepted lower pay but were not really loyal to Rome)

5. Roman politics decay Citizens lost sense of patriotism
By 200s few chose to serve in government (partly because the costly bread and circuses came out of politicians’ own pockets)
Only armies remained interested in politics and would begin to proclaim generals as emperors of the provinces

6. Diocletian reforms the empire
284 Diocletian becomes emperor
Restored order in the empire by governing as an absolute ruler and limiting personal freedom
Doubled the size of the armies
Hired German mercenaries
Set fixed prices for goods to control inflation
Claimed descent from Roman gods
Passed decrees to persecute the Christians

7. Diocletian divides the empire
Divided the empire into east and west
East- Greek speaking with better trade routes and centers and he ruled it
West - Latin speaking- appointed General Maximian ruled it
305 he retired
Civil war broke out and by 311 four people claimed power

8. Constantine moves the capital
312 he gained control of west and in 324 gained control of the east, thus reestablishing a single ruler
330 he moved the capital to the Greek city of Byzantium
Center of power then moved east
City renamed Constantinople, city of Constantine
After his death the empire split again. The west collapsed but the east survived

9. Inavaders overrun the empire
large numbers of Germans moved into Roman territory- Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Angles, Saxons, Vandals, etc.
They drive the last emperor from the throne

10. The Huns Move west
Reason for the Germanic invasions of the west was because the Huns had moved into Europe
Huns were a fierce Mongol nomads from Central Asia

11. Germanic invasions
As the Huns entered, Germanic tribes fled and kept moving through the Roman pronices
By early 5th century, Rome vulnerable to attack
410 hordes of Visigoths stormed Rome

12. Attila the hun 444 Huns united under powerful chieftain Attila
Attila renewed attacks against the empire until famine and disease weakened the armies
After Attila’s death in 453 the Germanic invasions continued
Famine struck Rome, dropping its population significantly

13. Rome’s last emperor
Last emperor was a 14 year old named Romulus Augustuleus
In 476 he was deposed by a Odoacer, a German general, and sent into exile
Roman power in the west was gone
Eastern half of the empire came to be called the Byzantine empire and would endure until 1453 when the Ottoman Turks took it over
Byzantium would preserve much of the Greco-Roman world