1. The Decline and Fall of Rome
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2. 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

3. 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

4. Two Empires

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. The Gothic Wars
The Goths invaded Italy in a series of wars known as the Gothic Wars ( 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

10. 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

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

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

13. 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

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

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

16. 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