1. The Legacy of the Roman Empire Big Ideas…

2. 1. At its height in 117 C.E., The Roman Empire spanned the whole of the Mediterranean world, from northern Africa to the Scottish border, from Spain to Syria. (see p. 7 and map on p. 9)

4. The Roman Empire began to decline for a variety of reasons a. Political instability—corrupt leaders who did not care about the people, only themselves b. Economic and Social problems—Citizens had to pay for Rome’s huge armies and these taxes hurt the economy. Many people did not have jobs, and the wealthy people owned slaves. Some leaders like Nero and Caligula wasted lots of money. A rise in crime made people unsafe.

5. The Roman Empire began to decline for a variety of reasons c. Rome became too big to defend. The leaders could not communicate with each other quickly, and Germanic tribes from the north began invading.

6. 3. In 330 C.E. the emperor Constantine moved his capital 850 miles away to Byzantium (Turkey). This split the empire in half, and Rome became the capital of the Western part of the empire.

7. 3. More Germanic tribes kept invading, and began looting the city of Rome. Finally in 476, the last emperor was driven from his throne. The western half began to dissolve into different tribes

8. 4. Roman art lived on, through its murals, mosaics and frescos. The domes, arches and vaults live on in our architecture, and the aqueducts and roads live on in our engineering.

10. 4. Many of our words today come from Latin, Rome’s official language. Our calendar comes from the Romans, and many of our laws are based on Roman law.

11. 5. Rome was one of the first empires to try democracy. They believed that people had natural rights (life, liberty, happiness) and that these rights should be protected by a government. Citizens were protected by these laws, and were supposed to show loyalty to their government in exchange