Transcript Did Rome Really Fall?

Did Rome Really Fall?
Or did it just change into
something different?
284 A.D.
• Rome nothing like it used to be – it is weak
and dying
• Citizenship being given away
• Decline in trade and small industry
• Plague
• Barbarian invasions
• Germans fighting for Rome
Enter…
• Diocletian (284-305 A.D.)
• Turns empire into something
new and saves it
• Here’s what he did
Diocletian’s Changes
• 1) Creates a tetrarchy (divides
Empire into 4 parts)
– 2 Augusti rule most important
parts
– 2 Caesars rule lesser parts
– Each of 4 sections divided into 3
areas (Prefectures), then
subdivided into Dioceses, then
subdivided into Provinces
Number 2
• 2) Develops Mobile Field Army
–
–
–
–
Stays with Emperor
Every troop on horseback
Armed with lance, chain mail, and shield
Foundation for Middle Ages
Number 3
• 3) Makes it law that sons must follow
father’s occupation (beginning of
serfdom/feudalism)
Constantine (306-337 A.D.)
• Expands on Diocletian’s
reforms
• More famous for Christianity
than anything else
• Edict of Milan 313 A.D.
• Switch to Eastern Empire
(capital city at Byzantium =
Constantinople)
Long and Short of it
• 476 A.D. Rome (the city) defeated by Germans
but…
• The Roman Empire had already relocated
• Result?
• 2 Empires – Western Empire (centered in Rome
and led by Germans)
• Eastern (Byzantine) Empire (centered in
Constantinople and led by Romans/Greeks)
• The Rome of Caesar and Augustus no
more…sniff, sniff