The Roman Empire
Today’s Goal:
• Explain the reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire and its legacies.
Crises in Rome – the End of the Pax Romana
• Disruption of trade– Invaders, pirates threatened travel
• Lacked gold/silver– Rome no longer expanding
• Meager harvests– Overworked soil, destroyed farmland
• Decline of military– Mercenaries– Christianity did not encourage war
• Loss of patriotism– Lack of Roman unity, poor conditions
Effects of Crises
• Coined more $ to fight economic downturn– Caused inflation instead (loss in value
of $ along with higher prices)
• Food shortages led to decline in population (less soldiers)
• Diseases spread• Gov’t raised taxes
Emperor Diocletian• How to fix army?
– Doubled size of Roman army
• How to fix inflation?– Set fixed prices for goods
• How to give more prestige to Emperor?– Claimed to descend from the gods,
ceremonies for himself
• How to control the size and complexity of the empire?– Divided empire into east (Greek-speaking)
and west (Latin-Speaking)
Constantine• Disorder after death of Diocletian• Constantine (same guy who converted to
Christianity & made it approved in the Edict of Milan) unified Empire again– Moved capital from Rome to Byzantium in east– Location was key for trade &
defense– City changed name to
Constantinople• Imperial buildings similar to
Rome• Massive walls
After Constantine• Empire divided into east and west again• Invasions by Barbarians
– Germanic peoples were pushed into Roman lands
– Huns (Attila the Hun) • Powerful chieftain, attacked and plundered Roman
cities• Could have conquered Rome, but failed due to
famine & disease
• Last emperor = Romulus Augustulus– Ousted by German forces
• Eastern empire becomes Byzantine Empire• Western empire crumbles & divides
Legacies of Rome• Greco-Roman Culture
– Classical– Mixture of Greek, Hellenistic, & Roman – Used Greek language, architecture, philosophy– Adapted, combined, and created new styles
from Greek & Hellenistic
• Used Roman art & literature to convey Roman values of strength, permanence, solidarity (gravitas!)
Legacies of Rome
• Roman art for practical purposes– Public education!– Sculpture– Bas-relief
(images project from flat background)
– Mosaics (pictures made from tiles)
Legacies of Rome• Latin was key for later culture
– Official language of Roman Catholic Church
– Adopted by different peoples, became French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian (Romance languages)
– More than ½ of English words have Latin basis Eureka!
Accio: Latin "I summon."
Legacies of Rome
• LAWS!!!– Equal treatment – Innocent until proven guilty
• Accuser has burden of proving guilt
– Punished only for actions, not thoughts
– No unfair, unreasonable laws
Legacies of Rome
• Technologies/advancements– Aqueducts (clean water to
cities)– Baths– Coliseum (use of arches)– Dome (i.e. Pantheon)