Transcript THE FALL OF ROME

THE FALL OF ROME
Ten causes for the Fall of Rome
► 1.
Barbarian Invasions
► 2. Decline in Morals and Values
► 3. Environmental / Public health
► 4. Excess military spending
► 5. Inferior Technology
► 6. Inflation
► 7. Political Corruption
► 8. Rise in Christianity
► 9. Unemployment
► 10. Urban Decay
1. Barbarian Invasions
► By
the 4th Century AD many Germanic tribes
were invading the Roman Empire crossing
the Rhine and Danube Rivers.
► In AD 378 the Visigoths (a Germanic group)
defeated the Romans at the Battle of
Adrianople.
► By AD 476, the last Roman emperor was
overthrown in Rome as a Gothic leader,
Odoacer, captured Rome.
2. Decline on Morals and Values
► The
flooding to the cities of migrants and
unemployed led to rising crime rates.
► Many wealthy Romans stopped paying taxes
and became corrupt.
► Increase in blood sports led to high crime
and violence in the streets.
3. Public Health
► Lead
poisoning from lead pipes
► Alcoholism was a growing problem
► Contagious diseases spread through cities
► Rise in homeless attributed to a declining
economy.
4. Excess Military Spending
► The
Romans had to spend a large portion of
their tax revenues on defending the empire.
► Foreign soldiers were hired and were
expensive and were not reliable.
► Constant barbarian attacks was a constant
strain on the Roman treasury
5. Inferior Technology
► Romans
relied on slave labor and did not
create new forms of labor technology.
► The Romans were no longer able to conquer
other civilizations and adapt their
technology.
► Roman soldiers were fighting barbarians
with increasingly better weapons, armor,
and tactics.
Why didn’t Roman
Technology continue
To improve over time?
6. Inflation
► Romans
started putting less gold into their
coins
► Gold was used for luxury items and not
coins and people stopped valuing coins.
► People started to barter and this caused
trouble in the empire.
Less gold in the coins decreased
The value and increased inflation.
7. Political Corruption
► No
laws how to select an emperor led to civil
wars and political assassinations
► During a 100 year period, Rome had 37
different emperors and 25 were
assassinated.
► Wealthy leaders were able to pay for political
office
► The Praetorian Guard (Rome’s guard) were
bribed to support certain leaders over others
8. Rise in Christianity
► Many
historians feel that as the Romans
became more Christian they became less
warlike and were unable to defend the
empire.
► As Christians many Romans turned to Jesus
and not the emperor as the leader.
9. Unemployment
► Small
farmers lost land to large farms
owned by wealthy Romans. These large
farms were called latifundias.
► Small farmers had to pay for workers larger
farming plantations used slaves and had
less costs.
► Many farmers became unemployed and fled
to the cities (making the cities overcrowded)
10. Urban Decay
► Most
Romans were not wealthy and lived in
small crowded apartment houses called an
insulae.
► The living conditions were dirty and this
causes sickness
► Some public buildings became expensive to
maintain and started to fall apart
► Places became abandoned as the poor
couldn’t afford to live there anymore.
Detroit c. 2014