Transcript Slide 1
Rome’s Decline It Matters Because… The Fall of Rome resulted from political uproar, economic crises, and distant wars Why Rome Collapsed Politics 1. Government grew weak; army grew powerful 2. Emperors often betrayed, murdered, overthrown 3. Government officials became corrupt, accepted bribes 4. Interest & support for education declined 5. Many citizens stopped paying taxes Economics 1. Roman soldiers & foreign invaders attacked farms & disrupted trade 2. Food prices soared due to shortages 3. Businesses failed, many lost jobs 4. Government produced more coins Invasions 1. Germanic tribes raided Western Empire 2. Germanic soldiers hired to protect the empire 3. New immigrants had no loyalty to the empire Diocletian’s Reign General who became emperor Introduced many reforms Built defensive forts along the frontier Divided Empire into four parts, called the Tetrarchy Set maximum prices to control inflation Ordered citizens to remain at work Made local officials responsible for taxes These reforms failed Diocletian’s Tetrarchy Constantine Succeeds Diocletian as emperor after 7 years of conflict Tried to stabilize labor and economy Moved capital from Rome to Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople Succeeded by Theodosius Theodosius Succeeded Constantine Realized Empire was too large to govern Split Empire into Western and Eastern halves Western capital in Rome Eastern capital in Constantinople Visigoths Settled within Rome’s borders seeking protection from the Huns Promised to be loyal to Rome Rebelled when Rome began to enslave their people Defeated Roman legions at Adrianople (ca. A.D. 378) Captured Rome ca. 410, led by Alaric Visigoth clothing, armor and weapons Vandals Attacked Spain and Northern Africa Sailed to and entered Rome, 455 Looted Rome and burned buildings English word “vandalism” comes from this group Bell Ringer Rome fell due to reasons of politics, economics, and invasion. What is one lesson we can learn from the mistakes of Rome? Answer in at least 5 sentences Consider: government leadership, importance of education, supply and demand, military factors, immigration issues. The End of Rome Germanic leaders eventually achieved high positions in the Empire In 476, Germanic general Odoacer built support and overthrew the last Roman Emperor Germanic rulers adopted many aspects of Roman culture across the former empire, including Christianity Byzantine Empire lasted nearly 1000 more years Legacy of Rome Roman roads and strength of the Roman Catholic Church led to spread of Christianity Many ideas about the law – equality, “innocent until proven guilty” – exist today in western world Representative government Latin alphabet still in use Latin roots in language Architecture and construction – domes and arches, concrete