1 Fall of the Roman Empire Fall of the Roman Empire • The fall of the Roman Empire has been romanticized in history for the last 1500 years • In our imagination it was a single event: – The barbarians sacked Rome – Civilization collapsed bringing an end to the Classical Era – The Dark Ages began and would last for 1000 years • In reality, Rome began a steady decline dating back to the end of the 2 nd century CE • The decline increased rapidly by the 5 th century but only in the western half of the Empire • When the “barbarians” finally defeated the (Western) Roman Empire it was simply the final blow to a structure rotten to its core • The fall of the Roman Empire can be attributed to a number of factors including: 1. The Split of the Empire into West and East 2. Government corruption and political instability 3. Economic problems and overreliance on slavery 4. Overexpansion and military expenditures 5. Weakening of the Roman Legions 6. Christianity and the loss of traditional values 7. The migration and invasion of “barbarian” peoples Splitting the Empire • 293 CE – Emperor Diocletian split the Empire into East and West • After a series of civil wars in the 3 rd century in which Diocletian emerged victorious, he believed this divide was necessary to maintain order • This divided created a huge disadvantage for the West as the wealth of the Roman Empire lay in the east • Trade with other wealthy civilizations such as Persia, India, and China would flow into the Eastern Roman Empire but not the West • Though Emperors would later attempt and sometimes succeed in ruling both halves (i.e. Constantine the Great) the Empire would effectively remain divided Government Corruption and Political Instability • Romans never created an effective system for choosing a new emperor • Political favors would be given out by the new emperor to those who had given him the title • Civil wars were endemic in the 3 rd and 4 th centuries between competing emperors further weakening the Empire • The Praetorian Guard (Emperor’s personal body guard) would play a major role in selecting the emperors
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FalloftheRomanEmpireFalloftheRomanEmpire
• ThefalloftheRomanEmpirehasbeenromanticizedinhistoryforthelast1500years• Inourimaginationitwasasingleevent:
– ThebarbarianssackedRome– CivilizationcollapsedbringinganendtotheClassicalEra– TheDarkAgesbeganandwouldlastfor1000years
• Inreality,Romebeganasteadydeclinedatingbacktotheendofthe2ndcenturyCE• Thedeclineincreasedrapidlybythe5thcenturybutonlyinthewesternhalfoftheEmpire• Whenthe“barbarians”finallydefeatedthe(Western)RomanEmpireitwassimplythefinalblow
toastructurerottentoitscore• ThefalloftheRomanEmpirecanbeattributedtoanumberoffactorsincluding:
1. TheSplitoftheEmpireintoWestandEast2. Governmentcorruptionandpoliticalinstability3. Economicproblemsandoverrelianceonslavery4. Overexpansionandmilitaryexpenditures5. WeakeningoftheRomanLegions6. Christianityandthelossoftraditionalvalues7. Themigrationandinvasionof“barbarian”peoples
SplittingtheEmpire
• 293CE–EmperorDiocletiansplittheEmpireintoEastandWest• Afteraseriesofcivilwarsinthe3rdcenturyinwhichDiocletianemergedvictorious,hebelieved
thisdividewasnecessarytomaintainorder• ThisdividedcreatedahugedisadvantagefortheWestasthewealthoftheRomanEmpirelayin
theeast• TradewithotherwealthycivilizationssuchasPersia,India,andChinawouldflowintotheEastern
RomanEmpirebutnottheWest• ThoughEmperorswouldlaterattemptandsometimessucceedinrulingbothhalves(i.e.
ConstantinetheGreat)theEmpirewouldeffectivelyremaindividedGovernmentCorruptionandPoliticalInstability
• Romansnevercreatedaneffectivesystemforchoosinganewemperor• Politicalfavorswouldbegivenoutbythenewemperortothosewhohadgivenhimthetitle• Civilwarswereendemicinthe3rdand4thcenturiesbetweencompetingemperorsfurther
weakeningtheEmpire• ThePraetorianGuard(Emperor’spersonalbodyguard)wouldplayamajorroleinselectingthe
emperors
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• 193CE–thePraetorianguardstrangledtheemperorandinstalledanewone• OverthenextcenturyRomehad37emperors–25ofwhomwereassassinated• ThePraetorianGuardevensoldthethronetothehighestbidderonoccasion
EconomicProblems
Inflation• OnceRomestoppedconqueringnewlands,theflowofgoldintotheRomaneconomydecreased• Goldwasbeingspentforandusedinluxurygoods–lessgoldtouseincoins• Theamountofgoldpercoindecreased–thecoinsbecamelessvaluableUnemployment• Forcenturies,thewealthyusedslavesonlargefarmingestatescalledlatifundia• RegularRomanfarmerscouldnotcompetewithpricesandlostorsoldtheirfarms• TheyfloodedRomeandpoverty,alongwithcrime,skyrocketedSlavery• Rome’seconomywasbasedonslavelabortotillthefields,buildtheinfrastructure,andmine
resourcessuchasiron,silver,andgold• WhentheEmpirestoppedexpandingtherewasnolongerafreshinfluxofconqueredpeoplesto
enslaveOverexpansionandMilitaryExpenditure
• RomeexpandedrapidlyinthefirstandsecondcenturiesCE–stretchingfromtheAtlanticOceantothePersianGulf
• Incrediblydifficulttoadministeranddefend• Romestruggledtomaintainenoughtroopsandresourcestoquelllocalrebellionsanddefend
againstoutsideattacks• The4thand5thcenturiessawnewpeoplesfromoutsidetheEmpireinvadingandmigratinginto
theRomanworld• Militaryspendingincreasedleavinglittleforpublicworkssuchasroad,bridge,andaqueduct
repairWeakeningoftheRomanArmy
• RomeoweditspowertoitsmilitaryandtheRomanlegionnairewhowastheheartandsoulofthatmilitarymachine
• TheRomansoldierwasacitizenwhohadastakeindefendingandexpandingtheEmpire• AstheEmpirebecameincreasinglycorruptwiththerichgettingrichertherewerenotenough
regularRomancitizenstofillthearmy• ForeignmercenarieswereneededtohelpdefendtheEmpire–unprofessional,unreliable,and
veryexpensive• Bythe5thcenturytheRomanarmywasashadowofitsformergloryandincapableofdefending
againsttheinvadingandmigrating“barbarians”Christianity
• 313CE–theEdictofMilanlegalizedChristianity• 380CE–Christianitybecamethestatereligion• ChristianitydisplacedthepolytheisticRomanreligionwhichviewedtheemperorashavingdivine
status• Shiftedfocusawayfromthegloryofthestateandontoasoledeity
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• Bishopsandotherchurchleaderstookanincreasedroleinpoliticalaffairs,furthercomplicatinggovernance
• ChristianityasacontributingfactortothefallofRomeremainscontroversial• SomehistoriansseethenewreligionasfundamentallychangingtheculturalfabricofRome
– War,strength,conquest(Mars) replacedwith
– Love,forgiveness,charity(Christ)• OthersargueChristianity'sinfluencepalesincomparisontootherfactorssuchasmilitary,
economic,andadministrative“Barbarian”Invasions
• Barbarian–atermusedtodescribeanyoneoranygroupthatwasnotGreco-Roman• Beginninginthe4thcenturyandincreasinginthe5thcentury,manyGermanicgroupsbegan
migratingintoRomanterritories• Thereareanumberofpossibilitiesforthismigrationincludingclimatechange,population
increases,andmigrations/invasionsofothergroupsfurthereastsuchastheHuns• TheRomanmilitarywasincapableofstoppingthismovementofpeople• Attimes,Romewouldhiresomeofthesegroupstodefendagainstothergroups• RomecouldhavestrengtheneditselfbyincorporatingthesepeoplesintotheEmpire• Instead,Romanxenophobiaandcrueltykeptthesenewpeoplesoppressedforcingthemtofight• ThreebarbariangeneralswouldplaymajorrolesinthefalloftheWesternRomanEmpire
• AlarictheGoth• AttilatheHun• OdoacerI
TheGoths
• TheGothswereaGermanictribewhoseoriginsareunclear– SomeaccountshavethemmigratingfromScandinavia,othersfromnorthoftheBlackSea
• ItisbelievedtheywerethefirstGermanictribetoconverttoChristianity• TheRomanhistorianPlinytheElderwroteofthemin75CE• TheywerelaterdefinedbytheRomansasVisigoths(WesternGoths)andOstrogoths(Eastern
Goths)• 378CE-TheBattleofAdrianople–TheRomansweredefeatedandEmperorValenswaskilledby
theVisigoths–theRomanArmywouldneverrecoverAlaricI
• AlaricwasageneralandthenkingoftheVisigothsfrom395-410CE• TheGothshadmovedintoRomanlandsfromtheeast,pushedbyothertribes• TheyhadfoughtforandagainsttheRomansastheytriedtofindanewhomewithinthebordersof
theEmpire• ManyGothswouldfightassoldiersintheRomanArmyandsomewouldsettleinRomantowns
andcities• ThemajorityoftheGothsremainedwithAlaricinmakeshiftvillagesandcampsconstantlyonthe
movebutfeelingsafeamongsttheirownpeople• Growinghatredandracismtowards“barbarians’amongstRomancitizensledtotwoeventsthat
wouldprovoketheGothsintoaction:• ThearrestandexecutionoftheRomanGeneralStilichowhohadpromisedlandtoAlaricin
exchangeforhelpingdefendtheEmpire
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• ThemassacreoftensofthousandsofwivesandchildrenoftheGothsservingintheRomanmilitarybytheRomanpopulation
• 30,000GothicsoldiersdefectedfromtheRomanmilitaryandjoinedAlaric• AlaricwouldlaysiegetoRome
• DidnotintendtotakeitbutinsteadwantedtoforcetheRomanstokeeptheirpromise• RomewasnolongerthecapitaloftheWesternRomanEmpireasitwasovercrowdedanddirty–
thenewcapitalwasRavenna• ThecitywasstillanimportantsymboltotheRomanpeople• TheRomansdelayedandmademorepromisesonlytobreakthem• August24,410CE–AlaricenteredRomeandtheGothswouldsackthecityoverthreedays• Romewouldneverrecoverfromthepsychologicaldamage
TheGoths
Itshouldhavebeendifferent• TheGothscouldhavehelpedsaveRome• AlarichadnotwantedtofightRome,hehadwantedhispeopletosettleinandbecomepartofthe
Empire• Racismtowards“barbarians”ledtohorriblesufferingfortheGoths• AlaricforcedRometoitskneesbecausehehadnootheroption• HistoricalaccountssaythatAlaricmadesuretheGothstreatedtheinhabitantsofRomehumanely
astheyplunderedRome’streasuresTheHuns
• TheHunswereanomadictribewhoseoriginsandevenappearanceremainamystery• Theywereexperthorsemen,seemingtobeonewiththeirsteeds,rarelyseendismounted• Theyarethoughttoberesponsiblefor“TheGreatMigration”asvariousgroupsmovedwestinto
Romanterritorytoescapetheirbrutality:IncludedGoths,Alans,VandalsAttilatheHun
• RuledtheHunsfrom434untilhisdeathin453CE• BeforeAttila’stimetheHunshadmovedwestfromcentralAsiaandenteredRomanterritory• TheRomansandtheGermanictribeswerecompletelyunpreparedfortheHunstyleofwarfare–
themountedarcher• TheEmpirewasforcedtopayhundredsofpoundsofgoldayeartotheHunstostopthemfrom
destroyingRomantownsandvillages• 451CE-AcombinedRomanandVisigotharmywouldbarelydefeatAttilaatOrleansinmodern-
dayFrance• 452CE-AttilamarchedonRome,devastatingmanyItaliantownsontheway• AccordingtolegendPopeLeowentouttoconfrontAttilaandconvincedtheHuntoturnbackwith
thefearofgod• Inreality,ItalywassufferingthroughafamineandtherewaslittlefoodtosupplytheHunnicarmy• Attiladiedathisweddingcelebrationthefollowingyear
Odoacer
• Germanicgeneralwholivedfrom433-493CE• OdoacerandhisarmywasthehiredmilitarymightbehindthelasttwoWesternRomanemperors
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• 476CE–Deposedthelastemperor,RomulusAugustulus(stillaboy)andmadehimselfkingoftheItalianPeninsula
• RomanpowerintheWestwasofficiallyoverand476isthetraditionaldategivenforthefalloftheWesternRomanEmpire
TheDarkAges
• TheWesternEmpirewouldnowberuledandfoughtoverbyGermanicwarlords• Roadsandbridgeswereleftindisrepair,fieldsleftuntilled• Citiescouldnotbemaintainedwithoutproducefromfarms,tradeandbusinessceased• Peopleleftthecitiesandreturnedtoanagrarianlifestyleinthecountry• TheDarkAgesinWesternEuropehadbegun
TheByzantiumEmpire
• TheEasternRomanEmpirewouldremainforanotherthousandyears• ThisEasternEmpirewasnotaworldthatJuliusorAugustusCaesarwouldhaverecognized• ItwasaChristianEmpirealmostfromitsbeginningwhenConstantineImovedtheRomancapital
toConstantinople• HeavyculturalinfluencesfromtheMiddleEastalongwithGreekbecomingthemainlanguage
wouldmaketheByzantiumEmpireaveryun-RomanworldJustinianTheGreat
• EasternRomanEmperor–527-564CE• SomehistoriansconsiderhimthelasttrueRomanemperor• LastemperorwhospokeLatinasafirstlanguage• AttemptedtoresurrecttheimperialpoweroftheRomanEmpire• WouldreconquerandbrieflyholdpartsoftheoldWesternEmpireincludingRomeandItaly• 541-542CE–thePlagueofJustinianwouldcrippletheByzantiumEmpire,devastatethearmy,
andcutshortJustinian’sreconquestoftheWest• AllofthegainsintheWestwouldbelostafterthedeathofJustinian• JustinianTheGreatwouldbemostfamousforhislawcode–theCodeofJustinian–whichwould
laytheframeworkforlawsthatwouldinfluencetheworldforcenturies
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