Transcript Diocletian Attempts Reform and Divides an Empire

Diocletian Attempts Reform and
Divides an Empire
Background
Military Leader
Limits Freedom in the Empire
Tries to Restore order to the throne by
claiming descent from Roman gods.
Diocletian Splits the Empire
Roman Empire was too large and complex for one ruler.
• Splits empire into two parts
Greek speaking East comprised of Greece, Antolia,
Syria, and Egypt
Latin Speaking West comprised of Italy, Gaul, Britain,
and Spain
• Diocletian takes the far more wealthier East for himself
and appoints a co-ruler for the West.
• In A.D. 305 Diocletian retires.
Civil War Breaks out
Creating a weaker Military and a vulnerable western
front to German invasions.
Constantine Takes Control
• After Diocletian retires Constantine takes control of the
west in A.D. 312 and eventually the east in A.D. 324
• Ends persecution of Christians and grants them free
religious worship and gives them reparations
• Christians were also given the right to serve in office,
civil and military.
• Christians were emancipated from slavery.
• Constantine weakens the empire by moving the capital
from Rome to the Greek city of Byzantium.
Constantine Continued
• Constantine changes the name Byzantium
to Constantinople which meant the city of
Constantine.
• After Constantine’s death the empire
would remain divided and the east would
survive and the west would fall.
Western Empire Falls
Causes
• Internal issues that included political,
social, economic, and military
• Separation of the Western Empire from
the Wealthier Eastern portion
• Outside invasions
Germanic Invasions and Attack of
the Huns
• Germanic Tribes to the north coexisted with empire in
peace with Rome until A.D. 370.
• Mongol nomads from central Asia, The Huns, attacked
all in their path including the Germanic tribes to the North
forcing these tribes to move into the Roman Empire.
• Germanic Tribes pushed into the Roman empire all the
way through Gaul, Spain, and North Africa. Romans
referred to these Germanic tribes as barbarians.
• Western empire did not have an army large enough to
defend against these invasions and in 410 Germans
overran Rome itself and plundered it for three days.
Attila the Hun
• The Huns attack both sides of the Roman
empire with 100,000 soldiers under the power of
a powerful chieftain named Attila.
• Attacked and plundered 70 cities in the East,
failed to capture Constantinople.
• The Huns never captured Rome under Attila
because of their own fight with famine and
disease.
• After Attila died in 453 The Huns were no longer
a threat but Germanic invasions continued.
The West Falls
• In 476 the last Roman Emperor is forced out by
German invaders. A 14 year-old boy named
Romulus Augustulus is the last Roman Emperor
to the west. The collapse of the West signals
the end of the Empire. Even though the Roman
empire falls their ideas, customs, and institutions
live on today.
• The eastern half of the empire changes their
name to the Byzantine Empire and survives and
flourishes another 1,000 years.