1. Writing into the Day In what ways is the United States like the Roman Empire?

2. Causes for the Decline of the Roman Empire What the Book Says…In your own Words… A series of inexperienced and often Corrupt emperors Division of the Empire Conflict with Germanic Tribes Crushing Tax Burden Gap between the Rich and the Poor Decline of Patriotism and Loyalty Food Shortages

3. A series of inexperienced and often Corrupt emperors Because the Emperor was chosen from the rich class of families known as patricians, they we not always the best leaders. One Emperor, Caligula, thought he was actually a god!

4. Division of the Empire The Empire became too large to be managed by one leader. The Empire was split into 2 parts. This weakened both parts-they had half the resources, have the tax money, etc…

5. Conflict with Germanic Tribes Vandals, Goths, Visigoths, and other tribes from the area now called Germany wanted to invade These groups resented the wealth and power of the Roman Empire.

6. Crushing Tax Burden Because of the split of the empire, having to hire solders for the army, and huge building projects, the Empire taxed its people a huge amount toward the end.

7. Gap between the Rich and the Poor The Patrician and the Plebeian classes were growing further apart, as the rich got even richer,. And the poor even poorer. This made the poorer classes less patriotic towards Rome

8. Decline of Patriotism and Loyalty The Crushing taxes and poor leaders led to many having little love for their country. This led to a lack of interest in joining the military, and therefore foreign solders had to be hired, costing a lot of money

9. Food Shortages The size of the empire made it difficult to get food and other resources from one place to the next. Greater populations in the cities led to many hungery people there.