Chapter 5 Section 5

Chapter 5Section 5

Objectives:

• Explain the Economic and Military Problems• Evaluate the Reforms of Diocletian and

Constantine• Analyze the contribution of political instability

to the decline of the empire• Analyze the fall of the empire

The Decline

“A terrible rumor had arrived from the West. Rome is besieged… The city is taken which took the whole world”

-Jerome, Letters, J.Hillgarth, trans., 1986

Political Upheaval

• After the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180, a period of conflict and confusion followed.

• Following a series of civil wars, a military government under the Severan rulers restored order.

• After the Severan rulers there was a period of disorder that lasted for almost fifty years. (235-284)

• During this period, the ruler was whoever had enough military strength to seize control.

• During this time the empire was also troubled by a series of invasions.– In the east, the Sassanid Persians made inroads

into Roman territory.– Germanic tribes poured into the Balkans, Gaul,

and Spain.

Economic and Military Problems

• Noticeable decline in trade and small industry.– Labor shortage created by a plague affected both

military recruitment and the economy.– Farm production declined.

• Armies were needed, but financial strains made it difficult to pay and enlist soldiers.– By the mid-third century, that state had to rely on

hiring Germans to fight.

Diocletian

Constantine

The Reforms of Diocletian and Constantine

– At the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth centuries, the Roman empire gained a new lease on life through two emperors, Diocletian and Constantine.

• The empire was changed into a new state: The Late Roman empire.– included a new government structure, rigid

economic and social conditions, and a new state religion.

• Diocletian, who ruled from 284 to 305, believed the empire was too large for a single ruler.– Divided the empire into four units.

• Constantine, who ruled from 306 to 337, continued and expanded the policies of Diocletian.

• Both enlarged the Roman bureaucracy.• Hierarchy of officials at all levels of

government.• Army enlarged to 500,000 men with mobile

units at the frontier.– These reforms in military and social services

drained most of the public funds.– Population was not growing, so taxes could not be

increased.

• To fight inflation-a rapid increase in prices- Diocletian issued a price edict in 301 that set wages and price controls for the entire empire.– Edicts were also issued that forced people remain

in their designated jobs.• Free tenant farmers suffered greatly.

• Constantine began his reign in 306 and by 324 he was the sole ruler.

• His largest project was the construction of a new capital city in the east, on the site of the Greek city Byzantium on the shores of the Bosporus.– The city was renamed Constantinople, now

Istanbul, in modern day Turkey.

• Constantinople was developed for defensive reasons and was strategically located.

• He referred to it as “New Rome” and enriched the city with a forum, large palaces, and a vast amphitheater.– Constantinople would become the center of the

eastern empire and one of the greatest cities in the world.

The Fall

• In general, the economic and social policies of Diocletian and Constantine were based on control.– They were temporarily successful, but these policies would

ultimately hurt the empire.• The empire limped along for more than a century.• After Constantine, the empire was divided into Eastern

and Western parts.– Capital of East? West?

• Soon, one of these empires would fall.

Closure:

• What did you learn today?

Objectives:

• Analyze the fall of the empire

The Fall• The western empire soon came under increasing pressure

from invading Germanic tribes.– Major breakthrough occurred in the west in the second half of the

fourth century.• The Huns, who came from Asia, moves into eastern Europe

and put pressure of the Visigoths. • The Visigoths, in turn, moved south and west, crossed the

Danube River into Roman territories, and settled as Roman allies.– However, they soon revolted, and the Roman attempt to stop the

revolt at Adrianople in 378 led to a crushing defeat for the Romans.

• In 410, the Visigoths invaded Rome.• Another group, the Vandals, poured into

southern Spain and Africa, crossing from Africa into Italy and then Rome in 455.

• In 476 the western emperor Romulus Augustulus was deposed by the Germanic head of the army.– This is usually taken as the date of the fall of the

western Empire.• German kingdoms replaced the Western

empire, but the Eastern Roman Empire, or the Byzantine Empire continued to thrive.

• Many theories have been proposed to explain the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. They include the following:– Christianity’s emphasis on a spiritual kingdom

weakened Roman military values.– Traditional Roman values declined as non-Italians

gained prominence in the empire– Lead poisoning through leaden water pipes and

cups caused mental decline.

– Plague wiped out one-tenth of the population– Rome failed to advance technologically because of

slavery– Rome was unable to put together a workable

political system.

• There may be some truth in each of these theories, but all have been challenged.– No single explanation can sufficiently explain such

a complex event.

Classwork

• Worksheet 5-5

Conclusion:

• What did you learn today?

Homework:

• Assessment Questions Page 178 1,2,4,5,6• Study for Quiz!