CHAPTER 11 – ROME AND CHRISTIANITY THE END OF THE EMPIRE

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS What were the reasons for the gradual decline of the Western Roman Empire? What are the lasting legacies of Rome?

I. PROBLEMS IN THE EMPIRE A.In the early AD 100s, the Roman Empire stretched from ­­­­­Britain south to Egypt, and from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Syrian Desert. B.By the end of the 200s, emperors had given up some of the land the Roman army had conquered because they feared the empire had become too large to defend or govern efficiently.

II. EXTERNAL THREATS A.Tribes of fierce Germanic warriors attacked Rome’s northern borders. B.At the same time, Persian armies invaded in the East. C.The Romans defended themselves from these invasions for 200 years, but with great costs.

III. INTERNAL THREATS A.The raids against Rome made people near the border nervous and in time, these people abandoned their land. B.To grow enough food, the Romans invited Germanic farmers to grow crops on Romans lands. C.These farmers often came from the same tribes that threatened Rome’s borders. D.German communities eventually moved into to the empire and their people ignored Roman emperors.

III. INTERNAL THREATS E.Also, disease swept through the empire killing many people. F.The government was forced to increase taxes to pay for the defense of the empire. G.The Romans needed a strong emperor and found one in Diocletian.

IV. THE DIVISION OF THE EMPIRE A.Diocletian became emperor in the 200s. B.Convinced that the empire was too big for one person to rule, Diocletian ruled the eastern half and named a co-emperor to rule the west. C.Not long after Diocletian left power, the emperor Constantine reunited the empire for a short time. D.Constantine moved the capital to the east into modern-day Turkey. He built a grand new capital city called Constantinople. E.Although the empire was still called the Roman Empire, Rome was no longer the real center of power. Power had moved to the east.

V. EARLY INVASIONS A.In the 300s, bands of fighters from Rome’s northern border began raiding the empire. B.These people were called the Huns, fierce warriors from central Asia. C.They began their invasions in southeastern Europe. The Huns forced a group of people called the Goths (made up of Visigoths and Ostrogoths) into the Roman Empire. D.Rome’s leaders feared that the Goths would destroy Roman land and property and fought to keep the Goths out of Roman territory.

V. EARLY INVASIONS E.The eastern armies were mostly successful and forced the Goths to move farther west. F.The western armies, however, were defeated by the Goths and many Goths moved into the Roman Empire. G.The Romans paid the Goths not to attack Rome, but stopped making payments in 408. H.In 410, the Visigoths destroyed Rome.

VI. THE FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE A. The Gothic victory inspired other groups of foreign warriors to invade the Roman Empire. B. The Vandals, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Franks all launched attacks. C.The Huns, led by Attila, raided Roman territory in the east.

VI. THE FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE D.Roman emperors at the time were weak. This allowed military leaders to take power. E.In 476, a foreign general overthrew the last Roman emperor and named himself king of Italy. F.This marked the end of the Western Roman Empire.

VIII. FACTORS IN ROME’S FALL A.There were several causes in Rome’s decline. One was the vast size of the empire. Communication was difficult, especially in times of conflict. B.A second reason was the political crises. By the 400s, the decay of people’s values had become widespread in Roman government (corruption). Corrupt officials used threats and bribery to achieve their goals, often ignoring the needs of Roman citizens.

VIII. FACTORS IN ROME’S FALL C.Many wealthy citizens fled to their country estates and created their own armies for protection. D.For those that stayed in the cities, life was difficult. Rome’s population decreased, schools closed, and taxes and prices soared, leaving many citizens poor.

IX. A NEW EASTERN EMPIRE A.Despite the fall of Rome, the eastern empire continued to grow in wealth and power.

X. JUSTINIAN A.Justinian, who ruled from 527 to 565, wanted to reunite the old Roman Empire. His armies conquered Italy and many lands around the Mediterranean. B.He organized all the laws into a new legal system called Justinian’s Code. By simplifying Roman law, this code helped guarantee fair treatment for all. C.In 532, his enemies tried to make him leave Constantinople. His wife, Theodora, convinced him to stay and fight. Taking her advice, Justinian crushed the riots and ruled effectively for the rest of his reign.

X. JUSTINIAN D.After Justinian’s death, invaders took over all the land he had gained. E.In 1453, the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople, bringing an end to the Eastern Roman Empire.

XI. BYZANTINE SOCIETY A.The Eastern Empire and the Western Empire were very different. Non-Roman influences took over in the east. People spoke Greek, rather than Latin. B.The Eastern Roman Empire later became known as the Byzantine Empire, after Byzantium, the Greek town Constantinople had replaced.

XI. BYZANTINE SOCIETY C.As time passed, people in the eastern and western empires began to practice Christianity differently. These differences led to a split within the Christian Church, with people in the east forming the Orthodox Church. D.As a result, eastern and western Europe were divided by religion.