Transcript Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome
Fall of the Roman Empire
Key Terms
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Inflation
Mercenaries
Diocletian
Constantinople
Attila
Decline of Rome
• Decline begins in A.D.
180 with death of
emperor, Marcus
Aurelius
• Future leaders don’t
know how to handle
problems of large
empire
• End of Pax Romana
Weakened Economy
• Hostile tribes and
• Led to inflation, a
pirates disrupt trade
drastic drop in value of
when while prices rise
• Limited opportunities of
expansion meant no
new sources of gold and
silver
• Needing money,
government raised
taxes and made more
coins with less silver
Weakened Economy
• Agriculture suffered
• Overworked soil lost its
fertility
• Years of war destroyed
much farmland
• Led to serious food
shortages and spread of
disease
• Population declined
Decline of Military
• Soldier less disciplined
and loyal
• To defend against
increasing threats of
empire, gov’t recruited
mercenaries, paid
foreign soldiers
• Accepted lower pay, but
little loyalty to Rome
Political Turmoil
• Lack of patriotism in
government
• Rich didn’t care what
the government did
• Lost money to sponsor
events and festivals
• Too expensive to serve
in government
• Military took over
government making it
unstable
Diocletian
• Empire remained intact
for another 200 years
• Diocletian took control as
emperor in A.D. 284
• Restored order and
strength to empire
- Doubled size of army
- set fixed prices on
goods to control inflation
Diocletian
(con’t)
- forced farmers to stay
on their land for life
- forced workers to stay
in jobs for life
- divided Roman
Empire into Eastern half
and Western half
Roman Empire Divided
WEST
East
• Greek Speaking
• Greece, Anatolia, Syria, Egypt
• Ruler: Diocletian
• Greatest cities and trade centers
of Roman Empire
• Latin Speaking
• Italy, Gaul, Britain, Spain
• Ruler: Maxamian
• Region was poor
Civil War
Constantine gains control of
West
Constantine
• Continued social and
economic policies in the
west
• Gains control of the east
• Moves capital city to the
Greek city of Byzantium in
Anatolia
• Protected by massive
walls, and buildings
modeled after Rome
• Renamed Constantinople
Empire Divides, Again
• Empire divided into east
and west after death of
Constantine
• East would prosper for
another 1000 years as the
Byzantine Empire
• West attacked by
Germanic tribes and Huns
• Attila the Hun led these
attacks
• West was no longer
controlled by Romans, but
culture remained
Reflection
• What do you believe was the most important
cause for the decline of Rome?