1 / 9

Fall of Rome

Fall of Rome. Four major reasons. Political issues Social problems Economic trouble Military issues. Political issues. Since the end of Pax Romana , Rome had years of civil war – why? No authority for emperor Unqualified emperors

Download Presentation

Fall of Rome

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Fall of Rome

  2. Four major reasons • Political issues • Social problems • Economic trouble • Military issues

  3. Political issues • Since the end of PaxRomana, Rome had years of civil war – why? • No authority for emperor • Unqualified emperors • Empire will get divided into Eastern Roman Empire, Western Roman Empire • Capital moved to Byzantium Why would dividing empire be such a big problem?

  4. Economic trouble • Rome farm-based, but poor harvests • Land had been overworked • Trade not great – trade routes disrupted by foreign armies • High taxes – government desperate for money to pay armies • Inflation – value of money drops • What does this mean? • How could these help lead to the fall of Rome?

  5. Social problems • Nobody proud to be Roman anymore • Years of lousy rulers, not a whole lot of good things led to people not caring about Rome like they used to • Huge gap between rich and poor • Top 1% of population had 50% of the money • Less people living in Rome – disease, famine • Christianity – people more devoted to religion than to Rome • Money to church, not to Empire • How could this lead to fall of Rome?

  6. Military issues • Not enough soldiers • Rome had to use mercenaries – foreign soldiers paid to fight for Rome • What’s the problem with this? • Tribes north of Rome began invading • Enemies made technological advances • Iron stirrup – allowed people to ride horseback while wearing armor • How could this lead to the fall of Rome?

  7. Battle of Adrianople – 378 CE Germanic Cavalry Germanic Cavalry Germanic Tribes and Families Roman Army Roman Army

  8. Why is the fall of Rome a big deal? • Controlled most of Europe for centuries • People of Europe don’t have anyone to defend them, build their roads, provide laws • Rome a united empire, not city-states – why does this matter? • Eastern Roman Empire will stay, Western Rome falls in 476 CE • Eastern Roman Empire  Byzantine Empire

More Related