Transcript Writing into the Day

Writing into the Day
In what ways is the
United States like the
Roman Empire?
Causes for the Decline of the
Roman Empire
What the Book Says…
A series of inexperienced and
often Corrupt emperors
Division of the Empire
Conflict with Germanic Tribes
Crushing Tax Burden
Gap between the Rich and the
Poor
Decline of Patriotism and Loyalty
Food Shortages
In your own Words…
A series of inexperienced and often Corrupt
emperors
• Because the Emperor
was chosen from the
rich class of families
known as patricians,
they we not always
the best leaders.
• One Emperor,
Caligula, thought he
was actually a god!
Division of the Empire
• The Empire became
too large to be
managed by one
leader.
• The Empire was split
into 2 parts.
• This weakened both
parts-they had half
the resources, have
the tax money, etc…
Conflict with Germanic Tribes
• Vandals, Goths,
Visigoths, and other
tribes from the area
now called Germany
wanted to invade
• These groups
resented the wealth
and power of the
Roman Empire.
Crushing Tax Burden
• Because of the split of
the empire, having to
hire solders for the
army, and huge
building projects, the
Empire taxed its
people a huge
amount toward the
end.
Gap between the Rich and the Poor
• The Patrician and the
Plebeian classes
were growing further
apart, as the rich got
even richer,. And the
poor even poorer.
• This made the poorer
classes less patriotic
towards Rome
Decline of Patriotism and Loyalty
• The Crushing taxes
and poor leaders led
to many having little
love for their country.
• This led to a lack of
interest in joining the
military, and therefore
foreign solders had to
be hired, costing a lot
of money
Food Shortages
• The size of the
empire made it
difficult to get
food and other
resources from
one place to the
next. Greater
populations in the
cities led to many
hungery people
there.