The Fall of Rome

Political and Social Problems

Rome’s leadership grew weak, and the government grew corrupt.With a weak government, the economy worsened.

A plague a disease that spreads and killed many people.

Inflation, or rapidly increasing prices, occurred because money became less valuable.

Invaders began pushing into the empire’s territory, and the Roman government could not pay Roman soldiers.

Emperor Diocletian tried to establish reforms that would improve the political situation.

He thought that the empire was too large and wanted to divided it into four parts. He named officials to rule these areas but kept authority over all.

After Diocletian retired in A.D. 305, Constantine took over, and tried to stop the empire’s decline.

He moved the capital city to Byzantium, and the city later became known as Constantinople.

Today Constantinople is known as Istanbul.

Rome Falls

Both Diocletian and Constantine failed to save the Roman empire.

Theodosius became emperor after Constantine’s death.

Ruling the empire proved to be difficult and so he decided to split the empire into two separate empires: the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire.

The capital of the Western Roman Empire was Rome and the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire was Constantinople.

Rome is Invaded

As Rome declined, it was no longer able to hold back the Germanic tribes on its borders.

There were many different groups: the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Anglos, and Saxons.

In the late A.D. 300’s, the Huns entered Eastern Europe and defeated the Ostrogoths.

The Visigoths feared the Huns and asked Rome for protection.

-In exchange, Rome required the Visigoths to be loyal to them.

-Before long trouble broke out between the Visigoths and the Romans. The empire forced the Visigoths to buy food at very high prices. They also kidnapped and enslaved many Visigoths.

-The Visigoths rebelled against the Romans and beat the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople.

-More Germanic groups invaded Roman territory.

The Visigoth leader Alaric and his soldiers captured the city of Rome and burned it.

This was the first time that Rome had been conquered in 800 years.

There was another Germanic group known as the Vandals who overran Spain and northern Africa. They enslaved some Roman landowners and drove others away.

Then they entered Rome and destroyed buildings.

They spent 12 days stripping buildings of everything valuable and burning them. From these came the English word vandalism, which means “the willful destruction of property.”

Rome Falls

By the mid A.D. 400s, several Germanic leaders held high posts in Rome’s government and army.

In A.D. 476 a Germanic general named Odoacer took control, overthrowing the western emperor, a 14 year old boy name Romulus Augustulus.

After Romulus, no emperor ever again ruled from Rome.

Historians use this event to mark the end of the Western Roman Empire.

Odoacer ruled Rome for 15 years, then he was killed by a group of Visigoths, when they seized the city.

They set up their own kingdom under their leader Theodoric.

The Western Roman Empire had faded away by A. D. 550, while the Eastern Roman Empire prospered.

It became known as the Byzantine Empire.

The Legacy of Rome

The law and government of the United States today is influenced by the laws and government of the ancient Romans.

The alphabet of the Latin language is used through the Western world today.

Many European languages stemmed from Latin.

Many English words come from Latin.

Western architecture uses styles of the Romans, such as domes and arches.

Christianity began in the Roman Empire.