Decline and Fall Chapter 5 Section 5

Problems & Upheavals

• A long period of unrest followed the death of the last good emperor, _________________, in A.D. 180.

• For a period, Rome was ruled by the Severans, whose motto was “pay the soldiers and ignore everyone else.”

• After their rule ended, between 235 and 284, Rome was ruled by ________________________________ ________________________________

• There were 22 emperors during these years; many died violently.

Septimus Severus

Political Decline

• begins with ____________________, son of Marcus Aurelius (Gladiator)

• AD 192 Commodus killed by own soldiers

• Roman armies busy fighting one another, _________________________ __________________________________

Problems & Upheavals

• Simultaneously, the Roman Empire suffered invasions by Persians and Germanic peoples.

• ______________________________________________almost caused the Roman economy to collapse in the third century.

• ________________________________declined, and there was a labor shortage due to plague.

• _________________________________declined on fields ravaged by invaders.

Economic Decline

• War disrupts travel, production and trade

• _______________

– More coins minted, reduced value

• Increased _________________

• __________________shortages

Problems & Upheavals

• Money was short, but Rome needed soldiers more than ever.

• By the mid-third century, the state was depending on hired Germanic soldiers.

• They had no loyalty to Rome, nor did they understand Roman traditions.

Reforms by Diocletian & Constantine

• At the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth centuries, the emperors Diocletian and Constantine revived Rome, founding a state called the ________________________________________

• It had a new governmental structure, a rigid economic and social system, and a new religion – ____________________________________.

Reforms by Diocletian & Constantine

• _________________________ ruled from 284 to 305.

• Believing the empire was too large to have only one ruler, he divided the empire into __________ sections, each with its own ruler, including himself.

• His military power, however, made him the ultimate authority.

• ______________________, who ruled from 306 to 337, extended many of Diocletian’s policies.

Division under Diocletian

Reform Diocletian 284 AD

• raised number of legions in Roman Army

• traveled throughout empire

• divided empire into two units

• ______________________ froze wages and set maximum prices for goods

Reforms by Diocletian & Constantine

• Both expanded the bureaucracy and enlarged the army to five hundred thousand troops.

• Expanding the civil service and the military drained the treasury.

• To fight inflation, Diocletian issued strict wage and price controls for the entire empire.

• ______________________ froze wages and set maximum prices for goods

• They did not work.

Reforms by Diocletian & Constantine

• Both emperors issued edicts forcing people to stay in their jobs, which made basic jobs like being a baker hereditary.

• Small, free farmers increasingly were in debt to large landowners.

Reforms by Diocletian & Constantine

• In 324 ________________ became the sole ruler of Rome

• His biggest project was constructing a new capital city in the east on the site of Byzantium on the shores of the Bosporus.

• Founded for defensive purposes, the city eventually was named ______________________ (present-day Istanbul). Constantine The Great

Constantine 312 AD

• tries to stabilize empire

• most jobs hereditary compulsory

• Edict of Milan (313) legalizes Christianity

• Council of Nicaea (325) assembly of bishops

Reforms by Diocletian & Constantine

• Calling it his “New Rome,” Constantine filled the city with a forum, palaces, an amphitheater, and other signs of Roman and civic glory.

• It became a center of the Eastern Roman Empire and one of the world’s greatest cities.

Reforms by Diocletian & Constantine

• The policies of Diocletian and Constantine were based on _____________________ ________________________.

• In the long run, therefore, they stifled the vitality Rome needed to revive.

The Fall

• The empire restored by Diocletian and Constantine continued for another hundred-plus years.

• It had two capitals, Rome in the __________ and Constantinople in the __________.

Theodosius 379 AD • empire officially _________

• Empire is divided upon his death East and West

The Fall

• In the second half of the fourth century, _________from Asia moved into eastern Europe and put pressure on the Germanic Visigoths.

• The _____________moved south, crossing the Danube into Roman territory.

• Initially Roman allies, the Visigoths revolted and defeated a Roman army in 378.

• More Germans crossed into Roman territory.

Huns • chief _________________

• Romans and Goths fight against Huns in Gaul

• plunder northern Italy

• Huns retreat to eastern Europe due to ______________and _____________

The Fall

• In 455, another group, called the ________, also sacked the city.

• Our modern word vandal comes from the name of this ruthless tribe.

• In 476, the western emperor, _______________________, was deposed by the Germanic head of the army, Flavius ______________.

• This event is usually taken as the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

• The Eastern Roman Empire, known as the Byzantine Empire, continued on.

The Fall

• _____________weakened Rome’s military virtues

• Roman values declined as non-Italians gained prominent positions

• ___________________from water pipes and vessels caused a mental decline

• _________________held Rome back from advancing technologically

• Rome’s ___________________proved unworkable.

Reasons for the Fall

• Didn't really, it faded away as it gradually lost control of territory

• Inability to counter the huge _________________invasions caused both by population pressures and pressure from the Huns in the east.

• Increasing ______________________from land-owning classes made imperial government unnecessary.

• _______________________________ and the chaos of third-century crisis destroyed the urban life that was at the center of traditional ancient culture.