1. The Decay of the Roman Empire -Key Concepts-

2. I. The Tetrarchy (284-337 AD) Diocletian (284-305 AD) --Military Crisis --Economic Crisis Ruled like an Oriental despot Reorganization of Imperial Administration --Empire divided in half --augusti --caesari --dioceses

3. I. The Tetrarchy (cont) Imperial inflation Attempted economic reforms Constantine (306-337 AD) --Shifted capital from Rome to Constantinople

4. II. Reasons for the Decay of the Empire Re-assertion of local loyalties Decline in the quality of the Roman army Invasion of the Germanic Tribes across the Rhine- Danube frontier --motivation for invasions --Fear of the Huns --The invasion of the Visigoths

5. II. Reasons for the Decay of the Empire (cont) “Federates” Alaric’s sack of Rome (410) Domination of the Franks --Clovis Vandal invasion Invasion of the Angles and Saxons Non-Roman monarch rules in the West (476)

6. II. Reasons for the Decay of the Empire Economic Crisis Decay of urban life and culture Spiritual Crisis Population Decline Growing significance of the landed estates Political Crisis

7. Remember... Roman Empire continues in the East until 15 th century AD Rome did not “fall”, it simply “changed” --Edward Gibbon

8. Remember... Roman culture and political forms continued to exercise tremendous influence: --Roman law --Roman buildings and roads --Prevalence of the Latin language --Dominance of the Christian Church