Transcript The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman
Empire
Chapter 6, Section 4
A Century in Crisis
End of Marcus Aurelius’
reign as emperor (A.D.
161-180) brought about
end of Pax Romana.
Ruler’s after Marcus
Aurelius had no idea
how to deal with the
giant empire and its
problems.
Economic Problem
1. Hostile tribes and
pirates disrupt trade.
●Less willing to trade
●People lose faith in
government ability to
protect
●economic recession
Rome’s Economy Weakens
2. Lack of incoming $ or species- Empire at limit of expansion
and lacks new sources of gold and silver
● empire raised taxes as a result
● empire minted coins with less silver
inflation resulted
Rome’s Economy Weakens
3. Agriculture faced
serious problems
●
●
Harvests were
increasingly meager
because soil lost
fertility.
Years of war destroyed
farmland.
Serious food shortages,
disease, and population
decline resulted.
Political Problems
4. Roman military in
disarray
● less disciplined
soldiers, foreign
mercenaries;
loyalty to
commanders
● less respect for
military (seen as
oppressive)ge
citizens; loss of
patriotism
Emperors Attempt Reform
Diocletian “Reforms” the EmpireBecomes emperor in 284
1. Severely limits personal freedoms.
2. Doubles size of Roman army.
3. Controls inflation by price fixing.
4. Divides the empire
● Greek speaking East (takes for
himself)
● Latin-speaking West (appoints a coruler)
Retired in A.D. 305, but civil war broke
out.
●Four rivals competed for control,
including the commander Constantine
Emperors Attempt Reform
Constantine Moves the Capital
● A.D. 312 Constantine gains
control of the western part
of the empire.
● A.D. 324 he secures the
eastern empire and the
system of a single ruler.
● A.D. 330 Constantine moves
the capital from Rome to
Byzantium on the Bosphorus
Strait between Europe and
Asia.
● The center of power shifts
from Rome to the east.
The Western Empire Crumbles
Germanic Invasions
●A.D. 370 the Huns move into Europe causing the Germanic
peoples to flee into Roman territory.
●A.D. 410 Germans invaded and overrun Rome itself and plunder
it for three days.
The Western Empire Crumbles
Attila the Hun
●In 444 the Huns unite
under Attila and
terrorize both halves of
the empire.
●In 452 the Huns
advance against Rome,
but fail in conquering
the city due to famine
and disease.
●Attila dies in 453.
●http://www.history.com/
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The Western Empire Crumbles
An Empire No More
●14-year-old emperor Romulus Augustulus ousted by
German by German forces in 426.
●Roman power in the western half of the empire ceases to
exist.
●The eastern half of the empire comes to be called the
Byzantine Empire, and flourishes for 1,000 years.

The Byzantine emperors saw themselves as
heirs to the power of Augustus Caesar.