The Fall of the Roman Empire

Ohio Academic Content Statement #3: Germanic invasions helped to break up the Roman Empire and set the stage for

the development of feudal and manorial systems. Later invasions helped establish Mongol dominance in central Asia

and led to the destruction of the Byzantine Empire by the Turks.

The Roman Empire at its Height Because of the well-built

Roman Roads, the success of the Legionnaires, and the leadership of Rome's more able Emperors and Generals, the Roman Empire grew to enormous proportions.

It was huge! It covered most of Europe, most of North Africa, and some of Asia.

The Decline Begins

The choice for who would be the next emperor was typically up for debate between the Old Emperor, the Senate, the Praetorian Guard (the emperor's private army), and the Army

Gradually, the Praetorian Guard gained complete authority to choose the new emperor

Social Problems

Taxes were too great, many rich people stopped paying

Education: People stopped attending school

Slaves: Large number of people enslaved

Plague (disease) spread throughout Rome, killing 1 in 10

Famine: There was not enough food to feed people

Economic Problems

Farming: Farmers lost land, unable to grow and sell crops, out of work (and famine)

Recession: People bought fewer goods, shops closed

Inflation: Rapidly rising prices. Money lost value because fewer taxes paid.

Coins Lost Value: Less gold put in, people found out (caused inflation)

Bartering Grew: sell goods without using money

No Taxes=No Money

Military Problems

Mercenaries: Soldiers who were hired to fight.

No money to pay military = weak military

Invaders: Constant threat of invaders on empire’s borders

Weak military=unable to stop border invasions

Emperor Diocletian

284 A.D., Diocletian became Emperor

Reforms: Political changes Set Price Limits: He

created a law that stated if you charged more than the price limit, you could be killed. The punishment for breaking any of his laws was quite severe.

Dividing the Empire

Diocletian felt that the only way to save the empire was to divide it in half

Created two empires: Western and Eastern

Western Empire: Europe/ North Africa and city of Rome

Eastern Empire: Turkey/ Asia and city of Byzantium

Two emperors: emperor in charge of East and West

Emperor Constantine

Diocletian retired and Constantine took his place as emperor

One Empire: United the empire again under one ruler

First Christian Emperor

Reforms: Sons had to follow fathers’ trade

Constantinople

Rome continued to decline

Constantine moved the capital from Rome to city of Byzantium

City name changed to Constantinople (today is Istanbul)

Theodosius

Constantine died in 337 CE, replaced by Theodosius

Empire Splits: Theodosius could not rule the empire, divided in two again

Western Roman Empire with capital in Rome

Eastern Rome Empire with capital in Constantinople

Rome Invaded

Western Empire unable to hold off German tribes on its borders

Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Saxons

German tribes wanted warmer area, Roman riches, and to flee the Huns

Visigoths

Rome agreed to allow the Visigoths to live inside of Roman boundaries

Romans treated Visigoths badly

Visigoths rebelled and defeated the Romans

Visigoth leader, Alaric, captured Rome in 410 CE

Vandals

Vandals followed Visigoths and spent 12 days stripping Rome of valuables (vandalism)

Many more German invaders followed

Finally, a German general named Odoacer defeated the Western Emperor Romulus Augustulus (14 years old)

The Fall

Rome was defeated in 476 A.D.

For this reason, this date is given as the fall of the Western Roman Empire

The Western Empire was divided into many kingdoms that adopted many of the customs of Rome

Eastern Roman Empire

Although the Western Empire fell in 476 A.D., the Eastern Roman Empire continued to prosper for 1,000 more years

Became known as the Byzantine Empire

Fall of Rome Songhttp://www.history.com/videos/the-fall-of-rome#the-fall-of-rome

The Byzantine Empire

Ohio Academic Content Statement #3: Germanic invasions helped to break up the Roman Empire and set the stage for

the development of feudal and manorial systems. Later invasions helped establish Mongol dominance in central Asia

and led to the destruction of the Byzantine Empire by the Turks.

Review: Constantine

Constantine begins rule in 306 A.D.

Constantine becomes Christian and stops persecution of Christians in Empire

Constantine decided to build a new capital city

Constantine chose Byzantium (Eastern Roman Empire)

In 330 A.D. Byzantium renamed Constantinople (City of Constantine)

Constantinople

By early 500’s, Constantinople had large markets, forums, paved roads, a cathedral, a palace, public baths and a hippodrome (or circus)

Although the name of their city had changed the people who lived there were still called Byzantines.

Eastern Roman Empire

Emperors who followed Constantine continued to rule the Eastern half from Constantinople

The Eastern half was far stronger than the Western half

The Byzantine Army was the strongest in the world

Byzantines also had a strong trade network.

The Fall of the Western Empire As Rome was falling to

invaders, strong fortifications and an excellent army protected Constantinople.

With the Western Empire now gone the Eastern Empire became known as the Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire

The early Byzantine Empire had many excellent rulers who were wise as well as popular.

They encouraged education and made reforms to laws and government. This also helped

strengthen the Empire.

The Age of Justinian

One of the greatest Byzantine Emperors was Justinian

Justinian was a energetic ruler who rarely gave up on a task until it was completed

He had been born into a poor family and was known to listen to all his subjects (rich and poor)

Emperor Justinian

One of Justinian’s most lasting contributions was a system of laws

When Justinian became emperor, the empire was using a disorganized system of old Roman laws.

Justinian appointed a team to collect and summarize centuries of Roman laws.

Justinian’s Code

Justinian’s Code became a organized collection and explanation of Roman laws for use by the Byzantine Empire

Eventually this code became the basis for the legal systems of most modern European countries

Reuniting the Roman Empire Justinian also

wanted to reunite the entire “Roman Empire”

He re-conquered all of Italy and began to make his way into Northern and Western Europe

A lack of Money and Disease stopped Justinian's conquests

Empress Theodora

Theodora, wife to Justinian, came from humble beginnings.

Her father was a barkeeper in Constantinople's Hippodrome

Theodora's marriage to Justinian gave her great power.

Many of Justinian's decisions were made with her advice

Theodora worked to improve women's rights and helped change divorce laws to protect women.

Hagia Sophia

Commissioned by Emperor Justinian

It took 10,000 workers five years to build the Hagia Sophia cathedral.

Hagia Sophia means Holy Wisdom.

Byzantine Culture

In addition to preserving the principals of Roman law, Byzantine scholars also kept and copied the works of the ancient Greeks.

At its peak, Byzantine civilization blended Greek, Roman, and Christian influences.

Later Byzantine culture will heavily influence the Italian Renaissance.

The Empires Later Years

After the death of Justinian the Byzantine Empire began to decline

Later emperors had to fight wars against many neighboring enemies Persians and Turks to the East, Arabs

to the South and Germanic peoples to the North and West.

The Byzantine Empire was shrinking in both size and power

A Religious Dispute

Although most Byzantines were Christians, they did not practice Christianity the same way as people from Western Europe

The Byzantines rejected the authority of the Pope (leader of the church in Rome)

They Byzantine Emperor had to approve church officials in Constantinople

Greek was the language of the Byzantine Church, while Latin was the language of the Roman church

Use of Icons

At this time many Christians prayed to saints or holy people, represented by Icons

In the 700’s a Byzantine Emperor outlawed the use of Icons, saying they violated Gods commandments

The Pope disagreed, and banished the emperor from the Church.

The Great Schism

Byzantines felt the Pope did not have the authority to banish the emperor

This led to a schism, or split, in the Christian church in 1054

Now there were two distinct forms of Christianity: the Roman Catholic Church in the west and the Eastern (Greek) Orthodox in the east.

A Second Golden Age

Lasted from about 900 until the mid-1000’s Trade increased and merchants came from

all over This caused the population, economy and

government to grow. The long reign of Emperor Basil II (976-1025)

was the most exceptional rule since Justinian. The Empire regained some of its land it had

lost and there was a burst of creativity in the arts.

The Fall of Constantinople During the 1000’s Muslim peoples to the East

were gaining power By 1100’s, Turks had taken the inland areas of

Asia Minor Byzantines were also threatened by the

Europeans In 1171, disagreements over trade led to war

and Constantinople was attacked by Christian Crusaders

Western Christians ruled the city for 50 years. In 1261, the Byzantines regained their capital,

but little was left of their empire.

The Fall of the Byzantine Empire In 1453, a force of about

70,000 Turks surrounded Constantinople.

They came by both sea and land and brought cannons to attack the city’s walls

The defending force, which numbered 7,000 held out for two months.

Then the Byzantine capital finally fell.

Constantinople Today

Like Constantine before them, the new rulers would rebuild the city and make it an imperial capital.

Renamed Istanbul, the city became a great center of Muslim culture and the capital of the Ottoman Empire.