1. Roman Empire

2. Pax Romana = Roman Peace
31 BCE – 180 CE
200-year span between Augustus and Marcus Aurelius
Augustus: 31 BCE - 14 CE
ended civil war and created a stable government
Marcus Aurelius:
Plato’s ideal of the philosopher-king

3. Period of Political Turmoil: 180-284
Diocletian:
divided empire into eastern and western parts - ruled in the east
instituted economic reforms
fixed prices for goods and services
farmers working on latifundias had to remain on the land
sons were required to follow their father’s occupations
Constantine:
granted freedom of religion - legalizing Christianity

4. Roman Society patriarchal family
women gained greater public freedom: business, theater, baths

5. Achievements access to education: all classes and both sexes
engineering: roads, bridges, aqueducts, harbors, and baths
literature: Virgil’s Aeneid - epic poem glorifying Rome’s heroic past, Ovid’s The Metamorphoses - tales of Greek/Roman gods
law: principles later incorporated into U.S Bill of Rights

6. Bread & Circus to feed and entertain the masses
chariot races, gladiator fights, mock naval battles, and public executions

7. Problematic Neighbors
Germanic tribes: Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Vandals
semi-nomadic invaders originally from Scandinavia
Huns
fierce nomads and superb riders and warriors from Central Asia
drove more Germanic tribes into the Roman Empire

8. Causes of Decline Political
division of empire = less capable leaders in the west
oppression and corruption = less popular support
no official system of succession = internal power struggles and civil wars between rival generals

9. Causes of Decline Military poorly trained armies
mercenaries (foreign soldiers who fight for pay) had no loyalty
series of Germanic invasions

10. Causes of Decline Economic
increase in taxes to support army and bureaucracy
reliance on slave labor - created unemployment
indenture of farmers to wealthy landowners
no more loot from newly conquered territories

11. Causes of Decline Social decline in population from war and disease
decline in patriotism, discipline and devotion to duty
devotion of upper classes to luxury and self-interest
Germanic rulers became as acceptable as Roman rulers

12. Fall of Rome ~ 476 CE
Odoacer, a minor German chief, captured Rome, forced the emperor to give up the throne, and proclaimed himself King of Italy.