The decline & Fall of rome and The rise of the byzantine empire

1. The decline & Fall of romeandThe rise of the byzantine empire Make a tree map with two major branches

2. The three primary causes for the decline of the Roman Empire Add these three substages to your tree map • Poor leadership • A declining economy • Attacks by Germanic tribes

3. Poor Leadership • After Marcus Aurelius, his son Commodus became emperor. • Commodus was cruel and wasted money. His body guard eventually killed him. • The emperors that followed stayed in power by paying the army well but ignoring growing economic problems. • Public officials were dishonest and many of the wealthy stopped paying taxes.

4. Declining Economy • As the government weakened, the economy worsened and INFLATION – rapidly increasing prices and decreasing money value, made it difficult to buy things. • Increased use of slaves by the government and by wealthy Romans, meant fewer jobs for citizens • People lost faith in government money and began to revert to bartering

5. Attacks by Germanic Tribes • The Empire is so large, it is divided into two empires to make it easier to defend – The Eastern Empire and The Western Empire. • The Eastern Empire is ruled by CONSTANTINE and Constantinople becomes the new capital of the Roman empire. • The Western Empire is increasing attacked by Germanic tribes, slowly losing more and more territory to these invaders.

6. Visigoths & Vandals • Visigoths rebelled against the Romans and defeated Roman legions at the Battle of Adrianople. • This defeat showed the Roman were not invincible. • The Visigoths under Alaric captured Rome itself. It was the first time in 800 years that Rome had been conquered. • The Vandals overran Spain and northern Africa. • They sailed to Italy and entered Rome where they spent 12 days stripping buildings of everything valuable and burning them. • Vandalism – means the willful destruction of property

7. Rome Falls • Several Germanic leaders held high posts in Rome’s government. • Oroacer took control, overthrowing the last Western emperor, 14 year old, Romulus Augustulus. • After Romulus Augustulus, no emperor ever ruled from Rome. • Historians use this event to mark the end of the Western Roman Empire.

8. The Rise of Byzantine Empire • The Eastern Roman Empire grew rich and powerful as the Western Roman Empire fell. • Constantinople became the “New Rome”. • The Byzantines developed a rich culture based on Roman, Greek and Christian ideas. • Byzantine travelers smuggled silkworms out of China to support the silk weaving industry. • Created hundreds of beautiful churches and palaces. • Women became well educated and involved in politics • Byzantine writers copied and passed on the writings of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

9. Emperor Justinian • The reforms and policies of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora helped make the Byzantine Empire strong. • Under Justinian the Byzantine military conquered most of Italy, and northern Africa and defeated the Persians • Developed simplified codes of law called Justinian Code which has had a influence on the laws of almost every country in Europe. • His wife, Theodora, was an extremely smart and powerful woman, who helped him rule.