Transcript Section 5: Decline & Fall

Section 5: Decline & Fall
Targets
• Explain why the Roman Empire
gained a new lease on life
under Diocletian and
Constantine.
• Analyze how ferocious warriors
from Asia and Germany finally
brought an end to the Roman
Empire.
I. The Decline
• 180 A.D. a period of conflict &
confusion
Political Upheavals
• From 235 to 284, 22 emperors
occupied the Roman throne
• 20 of these emperors met
violent death
• Series of invasions
Economic & Military Problems
• Invasions, civil wars & plague
caused an economic collapse of
the Roman Empire
• Decline in trade & small
industry
• labor shortage
Economic & Military Problems
• Plague (epidemic disease)
affected both military &
economy
• Farm production declined
• Financial strains made it
difficult to pay soldiers
II. The Reforms of Diocletian &
Constantine
• End of 3rd century & beginning
of 4th two emperors helped the
Empire
• New governmental structure,
rigid economic & social system
& new state religion, Christianity
The Reforms of Diocletian &
Constantine
• Diocletian divided the empire
into four units
• Both rulers strengthened &
enlarged the administrative
bureaucracies
The Reforms of Diocletian &
Constantine
• Political & military reforms
greatly enlarged the army & civil
service
• inflation - a rapid increase in
prices
The Reforms of Diocletian &
Constantine
• Constantine constructed a new
capital city in the east, the
Greek city of Byzantium
• renamed it Constantinople
• Called it his “New Rome”
• built large palaces & forum
The Reforms of Diocletian &
Constantine
• Temporally successful, such
policies in the long run stifled
the very vitality the Late Empire
needed to revive its sagging
fortunes
III. The Fall
• Capital of the Western Roman
Empire remained Rome
• Constantinople remained the
capital of the Eastern Roman
Empire
• Pressure from invading
Germanic tribes
Maps and
Charts 4
The Fall
• The Germanic Visigoths, crossed
the Danube River
• 378 Visigoths defeated the
Romans
• in 410, the Visigoths sacked
Rome
• Vandals poured into Spain
Maps and
Charts 4
The Fall
• 455 the Vandals, sacked Rome
• 476 the western emperor was
disposed
• The Eastern Empire or Byzantine
Empire continued to thrive
IV. Why did Rome Fall
• Christianity’s spiritual kingdom
weakened Roman military
virtues
• Traditional Roman values
declined, as non-Italians gained
prominence
Why did Rome Fall
• Lead poisoning in leaden water
pipes caused mental decline
• Plague wiped out 1/10 of the
population
• Failed to advance technology
because of slavery
Why did Rome Fall
• Unable to put together a
workable political system
Analyzing Maps and Charts
Augustus
Marcus Aurelius
almost a hundred
years
the Western Empire
the Eastern
Empire
Illyricum
Byzantium