The Decline and Fall of Rome 10/4

Previously, on “The Roman Empire” Emperor Caracalla gave Roman citizenship to all free men within the entire Roman Empire Both Jews and Christians were persecuted (Jews exiled in The Diaspora) but Christianity spread like crazy The Empire was around 5 million square kilometers

The Imperial Crisis The Imperial Crisis was: A series of constant civil wars (yet again) Economic instability The Roman Empire “broke” into 3 separate regions Emperor Diocletian reunited it, but then he divided the empire in half to make administration of such large territory/so many people easier He created the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire Emperor Diocletian

Two Empires

Emperor Constantine and Christianity After the Empires broke in two, Diocletian named General Constantine and General Maxentius to be the heads of the two separate empires After Diocletian died, Constantine and Maxentius went to war Constantine won He became emperor of both empires Constantine believed Jesus Christ helped him win the war

Emperor Constantine and Christianity Edict of Milan = 313 AD, permanently established religious tolerance for Christians throughout the Roman Empire Council of Nicea = 325 AD, Christian bishops came together (supervised by Constantine) to debate the dogma of Christianity (the rules, the history, etc.) and create Christian laws They brought manuscripts (documents) together to make the first Bible Council of Nicea

Emperor Constantine and Constantinople Emperor Constantine established a capital city in the former city of Byzantium (modern day Istanbul) for the Eastern Roman Empire He named it Constantinople He became known as Constantine the Great because of: his religious/cultural/political reforms his military strength large building projects

Emperor Theodosius Emperor Theodosius outlawed pagan worship (no Roman gods/other gods allowed) throughout the whole empire He turned Roman temples into Christian churches He closed Plato’s Academy in Greece

The Gothic Wars The Goths invaded Italy in a series of wars known as the Gothic Wars (376-382 AD) The Goths were a strong Germanic tribe The Visigoths were the Western Goths The Ostrogoths were the Eastern Goths The Goths sacked Rome in 410 AD Their success contributed greatly to the fall of the Roman Empire

Reasons Why Rome Fell Rome fell for many reasons: 1) Empire was too large Government couldn’t collect taxes efficiently 2) Invading Goths Roman military wasn’t strong enough 3) Corrupt government leaders Tons of civil wars Leaders grabbing power to try to be the next emperor

Fall of the Roman Empire The Gothic king Odoacer deposed the Western Roman Emperor Romulus Augustus in 476 AD

Immediate Results Famine Wars Plagues Weak central government “Barbarians” everywhere Population declined

Legacy of the Roman Empire The Roman Empire profoundly changed the world for several reasons: 1) Advanced road and building technology 2) Indoor plumbing 3) Aqueducts = artificial channel for conveying water 4) Julian calendars (close to what we use today!) 5) Names of months of the year/planets in our solar system 6) Apartment complexes 7) Public toilets 8) Newspapers 9) Magnifying glasses 10) New warfare techniques

True or False Both the Western Roman Empire (capital: Rome) and the Eastern Roman Empire (capital: Constantinople) fell at the same time False!

Eastern Roman Empire The Eastern Roman Empire became known as the Byzantine Empire It lasted from its creation in 285 AD until 1453 AD

Video Notes We are going to watch a video about the Fall of the Roman Empire Please follow along with your notes Fall of Rome