Transcript Decline of the Roman Empire

Octavian Augustus Caesar
The First Emperor 27BCE-AD14
• Under Augustus, Rome moves
from a republic to empire
• In 27 BCE the Senate named
him Augustus Caesar
• Power no longer resided with
citizens, but a single ruler
• Rome enjoys 200 years of
peace and prosperity known as
Pax Romana
• Pax Romana
• Disaster and Power
Octavian Augustus
The First Emperor
• Augustus Caesar
– Created a lasting system of government
– Glorified Rome with beautiful public
buildings
– Set up a civil service to administer the
empire
• Senate becomes “rubber stamp.” De
facto power held by emperor
• Rise of Imperial cult
Pax Romana 27 BCE – AD180
The First Roman Dynasty
Julo-Claudian Emperors
The First Roman Dynasty
Julio-Claudian Emperors
• Julio-Claudian Emperors
rule for nearly a century
• Julius Caesar, nephew
Augustus, stepson Tiberius,
nephew and stepson
Caligula, uncle Claudius
Claudius and Empire, and
adopted son Nero (child of
Agrippina)
• The Roman Empire PBS
The Extent of the Roman Empire
Imperial Roman Road System
“May he be luckier than Augustus and
better than Trajan"
• Expansion reached its zenith under the
Emperor Trajan 98-117 (second of the socalled Five Good Emperors. At its peak,
the Empire controlled approximately
6,500,000 km² of land surface. Because of
its vast extent and long endurance, Roman
influence upon the language, religion,
architecture, philosophy, law, and
government of nations around the world
lasts to this day
Roman Emperors
• Principate 27 BC – 235 · Augustus · Tiberius · Caligula · Claudius ·
Nero · Galba · Otho · Vitellius · Vespasian · Titus · Domitian · Nerva ·
Trajan · Hadrian · Antoninus Pius · Marcus Aurelius with Lucius Verus ·
Commodus · Pertinax · Didius Julianus · Septimius Severus · Caracalla ·
Geta · Macrinus with Diadumenian · Elagabalus · Alexander Severus
• Crisis 235–284 · Maximinus Thrax · Gordian I and Gordian II ·
Pupienus and Balbinus · Gordian III · Philip the Arab · Decius with
Herennius Etruscus · Hostilian · Trebonianus Gallus with Volusianus ·
Aemilianus · Valerian · Gallienus · Claudius Gothicus · Quintillus ·
Aurelian · Tacitus · Florianus · Probus · Carus · Carinus · Numerian
• Dominate· 284–395 · Diocletian · Maximian · Constantius Chlorus ·
Galerius · Severus · Maxentius · Maximinus Daia · Licinius with Valerius
Valens and Martinianus · Constantine I · Constantine II · Constans I ·
Constantius II · Julian the Apostate · Jovian · Valentinian I · Valens ·
Gratian · Valentinian II · Theodosius I
Marcus Aurelius and the Decline of the
Roman Empire
• Pax Romana ends in A.D. 180 with death of emperor
Marcus Aurelius 161-180. Subsequent emperors are unable to
govern and defend the immense empire
• A Stoic philosopher, Aurelius' work Meditations written in
Greek while on campaign between 170 and 180, is still
revered as a literary monument to a government of service and
duty
• Succeeded by his son Commodus, a real trip…and the
beginning of the end of the Roman Empire
Decline of the Roman Empire
• Economic Turmoil
– Overworked soil, war-torn farmland leads to food
shortages
– Hostile tribes outside the empire disrupt trade
– Inflation weakens trade
• By third century A.D. (200s) Roman military in trouble.
Soldiers loyal to commanders, not Rome;
commanders fighting for throne
• Mercenaries hired to fight and defend empire
The Empire in Crisis
Diocletian Splits the Empire in Two
• In AD284 Emperor Diocletian restores order, divides empire
in two, eastern and western empire with two emperors, one in
Greek-speaking East, the other in Latin-speaking West
• Diocletian retires 304, rivals compete for power
Decline of the Roman Empire
• Constantine becomes emperor
of Western Empire in 312.
First Christian emperor
• Seizes Eastern Empire in 324
and moves Roman capital to
Byzantium. eventually
renamed Constantinople
• Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
They Might Be Giants
The End of the Roman Empire
• Theodosius was the last emperor of semi-unified Roman
Empire 395
• Mongol nomads from Asia, the Huns, invade northern borders
of empire. Germanic tribes flee Huns, enter Roman lands and
sack Rome AD410
• Attila the Hun unites the Huns in 444 and plunders 70 cities in
East. Attacks Rome in 452, famine and disease prevents
victory
• The last Roman emperor falls to Germans in 476; end of
Western Empire
• East thrives for another thousand years (Byzantine Empire)
Barbarian Invasions 4th-5th Century