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Fall of the Western Roman Empire
Problems in the Empire
• The Empire was too big to control• Germanic warriors (barbarians) continued to attack
Roman territories• Captured Germanic people moved into the empire –
creating their own system of government – thus ignoring Roman laws
• Army vs. Farmers – Male citizens had to serve in the military leaving fewer people to farm = less food production
• Taxes were growing higher to help pay for the military• Wealth citizen were moving out of the city creating their
own estates
Division of the Empire
• Diocletian – Took power in the late 200’s. Decided that the empire was too big for one person to rule, so he divided it into the Eastern and Western Empires.
• Eastern:– Ruled by
Diocletian
• Western:– Ruled by
Appointed
Co-Emperor
Power Moves to the East
• Constantine – Reunited the two halves of the Roman Empire for a short time.
• Moved the capital to the east into what is now Turkey.
• He called the new capital Constantinople.
Ten Theories on Why the Roman Empire Fell
• Excessive Military Spending to Defend the Empire.
• Political Corruption
?
The Fall of Rome
• Interior Technology
• Inflation
The Fall of Rome
• Unemployment
• Urban Decay
The Fall of Rome
• Decline in Morals and values
• Rise in Christianity
The Fall of Rome
• Environmental and Public Health Problems
• Barbarian Invasions
The Sack of Rome
• Barbarians Invade Rome
• Huns (warriors from Central Asia) invaded from southeastern Europe
• Goths (Eastern tribes) who could not defeat the Huns and ran into Roman territory
• Vandals (Germanic tribe from Northern Europe) invaded Gaul (France), Spain, and North Africa
The Empire in Chaos
• The Huns pushed the
Goths into Roman territory; the Goths raised an army and
were paid by the Romans not to attack.
• However, when the Romans stopped the payments, the
Goths destroyed Rome in 410.
The End of the Western Empire
• During the 400’s, Roman Emperors were weak.
• Military leaders took power away from emperor
• Military leaders began fighting for power among themselves
• 476 – Barbarian general overthrew last Roman Emperor and Named himself King of Italy