THE DECLINE AND FALL

OF THE

ROMAN
EMPIRE
 Essential Question:
What factors led to the collapse
of the Roman Empire and what effect did the
fall of Rome have on the Mediterranean
world?

Warm-Up Question:
In the cartoon on the next slide, identify as
many Roman achievements as possible
The Roman Republic & Empire: A Brief Overview

Rome began as a
city-state that was
heavily influenced
by Greek culture
The Roman Republic
By 509 BCE,
Rome was ruled by
elected Senators
who served in the
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic
During the Republic,
Rome expanded by
defeating Carthage in
the Punic Wars and
later under generals
like Julius Caesar
The Roman Republic
The Republic weakened
due to corruption, civil
wars, and the
assassination of Julius
Caesar in 44 B.C.E.
The Roman Empire
After Julius Caesar’s
death, Rome became
an empire ruled by
the Emperor
Augustus
The Roman Empire
Under Augustus,
Rome entered an era
of peace and
prosperity known as
the Pax Romana

Pax
Romana
The Roman Empire
After 207 years of
prosperity during
the Pax Romana,
the Empire began
to decline and was
conquered in 476 A.D.

Pax Era of
Romana decline
 The Decline of the Roman Empire
The decline and fall of the Roman Empire
happened gradually, in three stages

FIRST STAGE: internal problems with politics, the

economy, and the military began an era of decline
SECOND STAGE: there was a brief period of revival as
Emperors Diocletian and Constantine enacted
reforms; however, some of these reforms would help
bring about the Empire’s end
THIRD STAGE: repeated invasions by Germanic
“barbarian” tribes would lead to the conquest of
Rome, bringing the Roman Empire to an end
 Rome’s Internal Problems
POLITICAL and SOCIAL

The empire was too large for one emperor to control

 Rome’s Internal Problems
POLITICAL and SOCIAL

Emperors after
the Pax Romana
were weak
 Rome’s Internal Problems
POLITICAL and SOCIAL
Citizens experienced a loss of
confidence, patriotism, and loyalty to
the Roman government
 Rome’s Internal Problems
ECONOMIC
Outside groups
disrupted trade

Poor harvests led

to food shortages
Rome’s Internal Problems
ECONOMIC
Rome had a trade
imbalance (they
bought more than
they produced)
The government
raised taxes and
minted new coins
which led to inflation

The economic decline

left many Romans
very poor
 Rome’s Internal Problems
MILITARY

Germanic tribes from Northern Europe, outside of the

Roman Empire, were gaining strength
 Rome’s Internal Problems
MILITARY

The Roman military was

growing ineffective due to
poor leadership: generals
had their own interests
and were challenging the
authority of the emperors
Rome’s Internal Problems
MILITARY

To save money,
Romans found it
cheaper to hire
foreign soldiers
instead of
employing more
Romans; these
“mercenaries”
were not truly
loyal to Rome
 The Decline of the Roman Empire
The decline and fall of the Roman Empire
happened gradually, in three stages

FIRST STAGE: internal problems with politics, the

economy, and the military began an era of decline
SECOND STAGE: there was a brief period of revival as
Emperors Diocletian and Constantine enacted
reforms; however, some of these reforms would help
bring about the Empire’s end
THIRD STAGE: repeated invasions by Germanic
“barbarian” tribes would lead to the conquest of
Rome, bringing the Roman Empire to an end
 Attempts To Reform The Roman Empire
EMPEROR DIOCLETIAN
In 284 CE, Emperor Diocletian
came to power; he began a series
of reforms that temporarily
halted Rome’s decline

To fix the problems of the

military, he doubled the size of
the Roman Army

To help the economy and stop

inflation, he fixed the prices of
certain goods
Attempts To Reform The Roman Empire
EMPEROR DIOCLETIAN
In an attempt to do
something about the lack
of loyalty and patriotism of
many Roman citizens,
Diocletian presented
himself as a godlike leader

He wanted to boost the

prestige of the position of
emperor, so he claimed
descent from the gods and
had numerous ceremonies
to glorify himself
Attempts To Reform The Roman Empire
EMPEROR DIOCLETIAN

Diocletian’s most important reform was

dividing the Roman Empire into two parts:
the Eastern Empire and the Western Empire
Attempts To Reform The Roman Empire
EMPEROR DIOCLETIAN

Western

Eastern

Diocletian’s most important was reform was

dividing the Roman Empire into two parts: the
Eastern Empire and the Western Empire
Attempts To Reform The Roman Empire
EMPEROR DIOCLETIAN

Western

Eastern

The Roman Empire was divided by language: the

mostly Latin-speaking Western half and the
mostly Greek-speaking Eastern half
Attempts To Reform The Roman Empire
EMPEROR DIOCLETIAN

Western

Eastern

However, the Empire was also divided by wealth:

the East was far richer than the West because it
contained more major cities and trade centers
Attempts To Reform The Roman Empire
EMPEROR DIOCLETIAN

Diocletian’s reasons for the

division: he believed that the
Empire had grown too large
and too complex for one ruler

He took the Eastern half for

himself and appointed a co-
emperor to run the West;
however, Diocletian had overall
control of the Empire
Attempts To Reform The Roman Empire
EMPEROR CONSTANTINE
After Diocletian’s death, there
was a power struggle among
several men who wanted to
rule the Empire
Emerging victorious and
becoming the new emperor of
the West was Constantine
Constantine continued many
of Diocletian’s reforms, but he
reversed the biggest reform:
he reclaimed the East and the
Roman Empire once again had
a single ruler
Attempts To Reform The Roman Empire
EMPEROR CONSTANTINE
Constantine made other changes:
wanting to unify Rome and
recognizing that Christianity was on
the rise and could not be destroyed,
he ended persecutions of Christians
and made it a legal religion
Constantine later converted to
Christianity himself
The emperor after him would go on
to make Christianity the official
religion of Rome; this would have
unexpected consequences
 Attempts To Reform The Roman Empire
EMPEROR CONSTANTINE
In 330 CE,
Constantine made a
change that would
have far-reaching
consequences for
the world: he
moved the capital
of the Roman
Empire and his seat
of power from
Rome to a Greek
city called
Byzantium
Given its location on the Bosporus Strait, the city was
also in a more easily defensible position from
Northern invaders than Rome was

Byzantium, the new capital

Byzantium was perfectly

Rome, the old capital located to be the center of
trade between East and West
When it was constructed, Byzantium had a strong Greek
and Christian influence; the new capital was soon
protected by massive walls and later was the home to
many great new structures built in the Roman style

Byzantium eventually took on a new name:

Constantinople (or “City of Constantine”)
 After Diocletian and Constantine died,
the Eastern half of the Empire continued
to grow wealthier and more powerful
The Western half, on the other hand,
once again began to decline
 The Decline of the Roman Empire
Reasons why the Western side of the Roman Empire
once again slid into decline: political corruption,
weakening economy, and terrible plagues

Also, Roman citizens were less concerned

with the fate of the Roman Empire and more
preoccupied with thoughts of the afterlife
(because of the dominance of Christianity)
The Decline of the Roman Empire

All of these issues made the Western Roman

Empire weak and vulnerable (open to attack)
 The Decline of the Roman Empire
The decline and fall of the Roman Empire
happened gradually, in three stages

FIRST STAGE: internal problems with politics, the

economy, and the military began an era of decline
SECOND STAGE: there was a brief period of revival as
Emperors Diocletian and Constantine enacted
reforms; however, some of these reforms would help
bring about the Empire’s end
THIRD STAGE: repeated invasions by Germanic
“barbarian” tribes would lead to the conquest of
Rome, bringing the Roman Empire to an end
 The Fall of the Roman Empire

By 370 CE, “barbarian” tribes from Asia and Northern

Europe were attacking both halves of the Empire
 The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Eastern half was well-protected, organized,

strong, and prosperous; it fought off the invaders
The Western half was vulnerable, disorganized, and
weak; it could not defend itself from the invaders
The Fall of the Roman Empire

A marauding
barbarian tribe from
Central Asia called
the Huns began the
invasions

The Huns swept into

Northern Europe,
conquering all in
their path
 The Fall of the Roman Empire

When the Huns invaded

Northern Europe, they
were so fierce that they
even made the Germanic
tribes want to avoid them
 The Fall of the Roman Empire

To avoid the Huns, the Germanic tribes moved south into

the Western Roman Empire’s territory
 The Fall of the Roman Empire

These Germanic
groups (such as the
Vandals, Goths,
Visigoths, Franks,
and Ostrogoths) did
not move into
Roman territory
peacefully
They repeatedly
attacked the
Western Romans
 The Fall of the Roman Empire
When a vicious new leader
named Attila united the Hun
tribes, the Huns also
attacked both sides of the
Roman Empire
The Eastern side, centered
around Constantinople,
successfully fought off the
attacking Huns
The Western side, attacked
at several places by the Huns
and Germanic tribes,
crumbled and was
conquered ATTILA THE HUN
 The Fall of the Roman Empire

The city of Rome itself was captured and looted by

the Visigoths in 410 CE
The Fall of the Roman Empire

The German
warrior Odoacer
removed the last
Roman emperor
from power
 The Fall of the Roman Empire
The weak Western Roman
Army could do little to stop
the invasions; by 476 CE,
Germanic barbarians took
over the city of Rome and
conquered the West
 The once-united Western Roman Empire broke up
into numerous smaller kingdoms and territories, each
ruled over by different Germanic groups
 The fall of the Western Roman Empire and the
emergence of numerous small kingdoms led Europe
to the Middle Ages
 The fall of the Western Roman Empire and the
emergence of numerous small kingdoms led Europe
to the Middle Ages
 The Eastern Roman Empire, now known as the
Byzantine Empire, not only remained together but
survived for nearly a thousand more years
 The Importance of the Byzantine Empire
The combination of Greek, Roman, and Hellenistic
(the blend of Greek and Asian cultures) achievements
are known as Greco-Roman culture
The Byzantine Empire kept alive the cultural
achievements of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome at
the same time as Han China and Gupta India were
creating their own great civilizations
If the Byzantine Empire also fell, it is possible that the
great innovations and achievements of these great
civilizations could have been lost forever
Greco-Roman achievements are the
foundation of Western civilization, the
culture Americans live in today