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Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire
Citizens lost confidence Army deteriorated Invasion Population declined Roman cities declined Political corruption Economy weakened famine unemployment inflation inferior technology Public Health Decay of Leadership and values
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The Dynastic Cycle New Dynasty Old Dynasty loses the Mandate of Heaven
Defeat of old ruling family Brings peace and prosperity Population increases Mandate of Heaven creates loyalty (Re)builds public works Gives land to the peasants Protects the people Old Dynasty loses the Mandate of Heaven Old Dynasty Problems: Natural events: floods, famine, earthquakes, etc. Bandits raid the countryside Invaders attack the empire Tax collections grow smaller Nobles begin to seize power Peasants revolt as dynasty loses the Mandate of Heaven Generations go by, New Dynasty becomes the Old Dynasty New Dynasty claims the Mandate of Heaven Old Dynasty Less able rulers come to power Officials and bureaucrats become corrupt Taxes people too much Not enough taxes to defend kingdom and repair/build public works Public works neglected and decay Stop protecting people Treat people unfairly
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Citizens lost confidence in Imperial Government
Upper class left cities for the security of their own latifundia-- large landed self-sufficient rural estates 2. Roman nobility made little effort to help solve the problems of the Empire—couldn’t solve problem so they ignored it and protected what they had 3. Government spending on military to stop threat of invasion took spending away from largest group of citizens
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Citizens lost confidence in Imperial Government
4. Source of government monies—heavy taxes and seizure of food and property 5. Government forced citizens to repair public works Combination of 4 and 5 ruined the townspeople and farmers 6. Citizens became indifferent to the needs and fate of the Empire
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Deterioration of the Legions
Land owning citizens found ways not to serve in the legions Typical soldier was from the lower classes or less civilized parts of the Empire These soldiers did not understand the original goals of the legions in maintaining peace and order Avoidance of military service forced government to recruit men from Germanic tribes In time, much of the army was not Roman, but Germanic
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Deterioration of the Legions
Loyalty of legions continued to be with their commanders and not the Empire Possibility of border area legions to declare their commander emperor Constant threat of invasion along the empire’s borders
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Roman Legion Border Positions
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Border Invasions Barbarian Invasions
410 AD Visigoths attack and loot the city of Rome 451 AD Huns attack northern Italy 455 AD Vandals attack and loot the city of Rome Border legions recalled to the Italian Peninsula to defend Rome Borders left undefended Large sections of the Empire given up to invaders
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Border Invasions Invader Imperial Homeland Visigoths Spain, S. France
Ostrogoths Italian Peninsula Vandals North Africa Franks Northern France Angles Britain Saxons Britain Jutes Britain Huns Hungary Lombards Northern Italy Suevi Northern Spain Burgundians SE France
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Population Declined Pax Romana to the late 4th century-- population declined from 70 million to 50 million Warfare, famine, declining birthrate, and plagues Results of population decline Smaller number of taxpayers Fewer people to farm the land Finding soldiers for the army
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Advantages of Roman City Life Declined
Fighting in the provinces drained money from the cities Wealthy left the cities because the cities no longer took care of their needs Unemployed and landless fled to the cities
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Advantages of Roman City Life Declined
New social and political order developed on the latifundia which favored the wealthy—beginnings of feudalism Farm workers tied to the land and no longer independent Landowning nobility became political power unto themselves City crime increased sharply
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Political Corruption End of the law of succession produced conflict between the old emperor, the Senate, the Praetorian Guard, and the army over who the new emperor would be Praetorian Guard gained complete authority to choose the new emperor Sale of the emperorship by the Praetorian Guard create a cycle of corruption Provincial government positions were sold to the highest bidders Provincial officials, particularly, the governors became wealthy by stealing from the Empire
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Weak Economy Famine reduced the amount of food produced
result: food shortages and result: higher prices for food that was available Unemployment Large number of available, inexpensive slaves increased the number of unemployed people in cities
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Weak Economy Inflation
Reduction of amount of gold and silver in coins (devaluation) caused an increase in prices as merchants tried to make up the loss in value by raising prices people moved to bartering, salaries paid in food and clothing, and taxes were collected in food or property Inferior technology Inexpensive slaves eliminated the motive for higher productivity and efficiency—why work yourself to death? No longer conquering other civilizations and adapting their technology
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Public Health Roman cities were centers of disease
Unsanitary conditions Policy of feeding and entertaining the poor and unemployed Lead pipes into the homes of the wealthy
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Decay of Leadership and Values
Traditional Roman values of the early Republic were lost Land owning military service to the Republic Republic before self and family Horatio at the Bridge and Cinncinatus Lack of leadership models by the emperor and the wealthy Outstanding emperors became the exception Extended periods of time when all emperors were not worthy of the public’s trust
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Decay of Leadership and Values
Christianity Values and goals of Christianity often conflicted with those of the Empire
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