Fall of the Western Roman Empire

1. Fall of the Western Roman Empire

2. The Roman Empire: Problems • The Empire grew too large to control • Barbarians from the north (Germanic tribes) continued to attack the vast empire • The male citizens were needed in the army to defend the empire. This meant that less people were farming, causing a food shortage. • Taxes grew higher to help pay for military defense. • Wealthy citizens began moving out of the city, creating their own estates. Paraphrased from History Alive: The Medieval World & Beyond textbook

3. The Empire Divides! • Diocletian feared the empire had grown too big to control –He divided it into the Eastern and Western Empires. • Eastern: • Ruled by Diocletian • Western: • Ruled by Appointed Co-Emperor

5. Power Moves to the East • The emperor Constantine –Made a capital in the east in what is now Turkey. • Located on the Bosphorus strait it was a fantastic middle ground for trading between Asia and Europe. • He named the new capitalConstantinople after himself. Paraphrased from History Alive: The Medieval World & Beyond textbook

7. Ten Theories for the Fall of Roman Empire • Excessive Military Spending to Defend the Empire. • Political Corruption Interesting fact: Over a hundred year span Rome had 37 emperors. 25 were assassinated. Many were assassinated at the hands of other aspiring leaders.

8. The Fall of Rome • Inferior Technology Fact: While the Romans were great architects many of their ideas came from conquering lands. When the conquering stopped, so did new technology. • Inflation- • Interesting fact: Inflation got so bad that eventually salaries had to be paid in food and clothing, and taxes were collected in fruits and vegetables!

9. The Fall of Rome • Unemployment Interesting Fact: Most farmers bought slaves which put paid workers out of jobs. At one point the emperor was importing grain to feed over 100,000 unemployed people in Rome alone. • Urban Decay Interesting Fact: Most people lived in apartments. The poorest lived at the top. People that could not pay rent were forced to live on crime infested streets.

10. The Fall of Rome • Decline in Morals and values Interesting Fact: Gladiator fights were enjoyed by all classes even the emperor. Slaves could win his/her freedom if survived….At the end of each battle fresh sand was placed on the coliseum floor to cover the blood. • Rise in Christianity Fact: While eventually most of Europe will become Christian at first small factions were breaking off, creating a lack of unity within the empire.

11. The Fall of Rome • Environmental and Public Health Problems Interesting Fact: While the aqueducts were very efficient even genius way to carry water to homes, in the end the water would be funneled through lead pipes which made people sick from lead poisoning.

12. Rome is Attacked! • Barbarians Invade the Roman Empire • Huns (warriors from Central Asia) invaded from southeastern Europe • Goths (Eastern tribes) who could not defeat the Huns and ran into Roman territory • Vandals (Germanic tribe from Northern Europe) invaded Gaul (France), Spain, and North Africa

14. The Empire in Chaos! • Originally the Romans paid the Goths not to attack. • When the Romans stopped the payments, the Goths destroyed Rome in 410.

15. The End of the Western Empire • During the 400’s, Roman Emperors were weak and they feared the empire grew to big. In fact, they even gave away land so they could better protect their empire. • In 476 the empire collapsed at the hands of the GOTHS leaving no central leadership. • Europe will fall into a period of chaos. People will need to find a system of protection….enter…the FEUDAL ERA!