1. #
The Fall of the Western
Roman Empire
Textbook pages 172-177

2. Problems in the Empire…
 Inflation = a rise in prices caused by a
decrease in the value of money.
 Farmers went to the city to look for work.
 Some people went back to bartering.
 Attacks on the borders by Germanic
Tribes. Empire too large and resources
stretched to thin.

3. The Empire Splits…
 Diocletian – Roman Emperor.
 He split the empire into two. Each had an
emperor. Diocletian was the East.
 Very strict government. Controlled all peoples’
lives. For a period the Barbarians were being
successfully driven out of the Empire.
 305AD Diocletian retires.
 Constantine took over in 306AD. But the other
Emperor didn’t recognize him. Civil War broke
out. Constantine won and became the Emperor.
 Constantine creates the new capital
Constantinople. (Old name = Byzantium)

4.  The Western Empire grows weaker…the
Eastern Empire becomes the center of power
and wealth.
 Goths, Vandals, and the Huns (led by the fierce
Attila) launched attacks on the Roman Empire.
 Germanic tribes were still a threat.
They began to invade heavily in
the late 300s+AD.
 When the tribes came into the Empire they
each set up separate kingdoms.
 Learning declined, and libraries were burned.
 Farms and crops were destroyed by war.

5. Causes of the Decline in the West
Military Economic Social Political
Germanic High Taxes Growing Division
of
Invasions
High inflation division empire W/E
Highcost of
Growing
Defense Loss of war between
loot power of
Germanic
rich and
Troops in army Decline of Eastern
Loss
poor Empire
of manufacturing
soldiers loyalty Loss of Corruption
and agriculture
to Rome
Farmers values and and unstable
Military
move to city patriotism leadership
indifference in
gov’t Oppressive
public service

6. Roman Legacy and Contributions
 Architecture: Pantheon, Coliseum, Forum
 Technology: Roads, Aqueducts, arches
 Science: Ptolemy
 Medicine: public health
 Language: Latin  Romance Languages
 Literature: Virgil’s Aeneid (Justifies Expansion)
 Religion: Mythology and Christianity
 Law: The principle of “innocent until proven
guilty” (from the Twelve Tables)
 Roman letters and numbers
 Julius Caesar’s calendar

7. Mt. Vesuvius Colisseum

8. Pantheon
FORUM

9. Trevi Fountain
Trajan’s Column
St. Peter’s Cathedral
Vatican