1. 6th Grade UBD - Unit 7 - A Weakening Empire

2.  Decline- After the year 180, political, geographic, and cultural factors made the Roman Empire weaker. Finally, it fell into decline.  Diocletian and Constantine- Diocletian returned order and organization to the empire. Constantine totally changed the way the empire was run.  Fall- Germanic tribes attacked Rome several times, and the empire broke apart.

3.  How do you think people in the United States would react if Washington, DC, were sacked and looted? ( 5 minutes)

4.  Work with a neighbor and compare your answer with theirs. What things are the same and what things are different? (3 minutes)

5.  For nearly a century, Rome had no orderly transfer of power. Emperors gained power by using force, bribery, and murder.  Leaders gave no thought to the good of the state. Instead, they looked for power only to make themselves rich.  High taxes to pay for the army and for bribes to enemy leaders drove Romans into poverty. They also made trade difficult.

6. Video- The Beginning of the End

7.  The decline and fall of the Roman Empire stands as one of history’s greatest lessons for future civilizations.

8.  Seemingly invincible for a thousand years, the mighty Roman Empire was, in reality, self-destructive and weak for a long period of time before its collapse under the weight of the greed, corruption, and conflict that characterized the final phase of the empire.

9.  Few people at the time could have foreseen that Rome’s internal problems would lead to its demise.

10.  In the aftermath of the collapse, the absence of Roman political, economic, and cultural power left such a vacuum in the social order that it took some parts of the remaining empire several centuries before new and stable institutions could become established.  This period of time in Europe came to be known as the “Dark Ages.”

11.  The Roman Empire had always depended on military conquest to fuel expansion, which in turn fueled the trade and the tax system that made Rome rich and powerful.

12.  But the leaders of these powerful armies began to use their position to seize power.  Disaffected soldiers, far from home and not always receiving their pay, marched on Rome to unseat the emperor and put their own generals in his place.

13. Video- Conquest Barbarians and Legions

14.  Approximately 30 emperors would rule over a span of just 40 years, from 235 to 284.  Many of these emperors were corrupt, using bribery to stave off barbarian attacks.

15.  Adding to the empire’s growing economic woes by enforcing unfair taxation on the Roman people and contributing to the devaluation of the empire’s currency.

16.  As a result, the vital trade industry that had made Rome great nearly came to a halt, and many Romans fell into poverty.

17.  Diocletian returned order to the empire and reorganized the government.  Diocletian gave up his throne, and his new government fell.  Constantine won the struggle for power that followed Diocletian’s rule. He named himself emperor.  Constantine saw that the city of Rome was no longer important to the life of the empire.  Constantine moved the capital of the empire from Rome to a different city. He renamed the city after himself.

18.  Emperor Diocletian, who ruled from 284 to 305, to restore order and power within the empire by dividing its administration into two factions: the Eastern and Western Empires.

19.  After Diocletian voluntarily gave up his throne, one of his generals rose to power. This new emperor, whose name was Constantine.

20. Key Term Diocletian- Known for having reorganized the empire after a period of disarray.

21. Key Term Throne- The special chair for a king, queen, or other powerful person.

22. Video- Constantinople

23.  Constantine was the first Roman emperor to proclaim himself a Christian and to legalize Christianity.  By the end of the fourth century, the practice of Christianity was the only legal form of public worship.  The old polytheistic traditions of Rome had been replaced mostly with Christian monotheism.

24. Key Term Constantine- The first Roman emperor to proclaim himself a Christian and to legalize Christianity.

25. Key Term Constantinople- Constantinople is the former name of Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey. Constantinople was once the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires.

26.  Constantine, neglected the poorer western half of his realm to strengthen the eastern half, abandoning the city of Rome itself for a new capital at Constantinople, which literally means “Constantine City.”

27.  The Western Empire grew even weaker under the rule of Constantine and his successors.  They imposed harsh rules and regulations on the Roman people, stripping them of their independence.

28.  While the people never lost their right to citizenship, they were essentially slaves to the state.  This led many Romans to abandon concern for their traditional virtues, culture, and religion.

29.  After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Europe was broken into separate kingdoms. Germanic tribes ruled most of them.  Roman cultural traditions were lost as western Europe sank into its “Dark Ages.”  The Eastern Roman Empire lived on as the Byzantine Empire until 1453.

30.  The final stages of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.  In 410, Germanic “barbaric” tribes overran the city of Rome, proceeding to claim other Roman territories in the years that followed.

31.  While the city of Rome survived and some aspects of Roman culture prevailed for a period of time, the Western Roman Empire ceased to exist toward the end of the 400s.

32.  The decline and ultimate collapse of a significant portion of the Roman Empire led to an extended period of decentralized rule in Europe during the Middle Ages.

33.  The Middle Ages was dominated by power struggles between the small kingdoms that had once been under Roman rule or kept at bay by the Romans.

34. Video- The Birth of Medieval Europe

35.  The Eastern Roman Empire survived well into the 1400s (though historians often refer to this civilization as the Byzantine Empire rather than the Roman Empire).  Still, the people of the Byzantine Empire thought of themselves as Romans, and the emperors claimed the title of Emperor of Rome.

36.  Gradually, Roman culture began to disappear in the eastern part of the empire, too, and a new one centered on Christianity took its place.

37. Key Term Christianity- The world’s largest and most widely dispersed religion. More than 2 billion people are followers. It is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

38. Key Term Convert- To persuade or induce to adopt a particular religion, faith, or belief.

39. Video- Rome Becomes a Passing Memory

40. Reading Handout- Constantine Converts

41.  What has been the “muddiest” point so far in this lesson? That is, what topic remains the least clear to you? (4 minutes)

42.  Work with a neighbor and compare your muddiest point with theirs. Compare what things are the same and what things are different? (3 minutes)