Transcript Fall of the Roman Empire - Mr. Griggs Social StudiesChatham High

The Fall of the Roman Empire
Marcus Aurelius (Political)
 Last Emperor of the Pax
Romana Dies without
naming an heir
 Senate approved Civil War
breaks out from 234-284
 AD 26 Emperors rule
during this time
 Extremely bloody and
violent time
Economy Weakens (Economic)
 Economy Weakened
 Ran out of gold and silver
 Started making coins with less silver
and gold which led to Inflation (drop in
value of money)
 Agriculture suffered due to loss of
fertile soil
 War destroyed farmland
 Disruption of trade – bandits and
pirates
 High taxes for everyone
 Decline in population due to disease
and food shortage
Military Turmoil (Military)
 Soldiers became loyal
to generals instead of
Rome
 Generals fought
amongst themselves
for the throne
 Mercenaries – hired
foreign soldiers who
fought for Rome
 Mercenaries turned on
Rome
Empire Split in Half (Political)
 Diocletian split the Empire into West
and East halves
 Took the East for himself because of its
greater wealth
 Appointed Co-Emperor to West
 Diocletian retired in 305 because and
became a vegetable farmer.
Societal Decline (Social)
 Decline in Patriotism
 Rise in Christianity
 Constantine: Moved the
capital of the empire to
Constantinople (modern day
Istanbul)
Fall of the Western Empire (Political)
 Following
Constantine’s
death, the
empire was
divided again.
 The east
survived but the
west fell
Germanic Tribes & The Huns (Military)
 Germanic tribes on
northern border of
empire coexisted for the
most part with Rome
 The Huns – Mongolian
nomadic tribe from
central Asia Destroyed
everything in their path
 Germanic tribes moved
into Roman lands to get
away from the Huns
Rome Attacked
(Military)
 Romans didn’t have an
army that could stop
the Germanic tribes
 410 – The Visigoths
attacked Rome Battle
of Adrianople –
Visigoths beat Romans
Attila the Hun (Military)
 444, Huns united under Attila the
Hun
 Attila advanced to Rome but failed
again due to bouts of disease and
famine
 453 – Attila died but the Germanic
tribes continued to attack the
Roman Empire
Fall of Rome
 Romulus Augustulus – 14
year old emperor of Rome
was ousted by German
forces in 476
 476 – Fall of the Western
Roman Empire
 Eastern half survives as
the Byzantine Empire till
1453 – fell to the Ottoman
Turks