Diocletian Attempts Reform and Divides an Empire

1
Diocletian Attempts Reform and Divides an Empire

• Background
• Military Leader
• Limits Freedom in the Empire
• Tries to Restore order to the throne by claiming
  descent from Roman gods.

2
Diocletian Splits the Empire

• Roman Empire was too large and complex for one
  ruler.
• Splits empire into two parts
• Greek speaking East comprised of Greece,
  Antolia, Syria, and Egypt
• Latin Speaking West comprised of Italy, Gaul,
  Britain, and Spain
• Diocletian takes the far more wealthier East for
  himself and appoints a co-ruler for the West.
• In A.D. 305 Diocletian retires.
• Civil War Breaks out
• Creating a weaker Military and a vulnerable
  western front to German invasions.

3
Constantine Takes Control

• After Diocletian retires Constantine takes
  control of the west in A.D. 312 and eventually
  the east in A.D. 324
• Ends persecution of Christians and grants them
  free religious worship and gives them reparations
• Christians were also given the right to serve in
  office, civil and military.
• Christians were emancipated from slavery.
• Constantine weakens the empire by moving the
  capital from Rome to the Greek city of Byzantium.

4
Constantine Continued

• Constantine changes the name Byzantium to
  Constantinople
• After Constantines death the empire would remain
  divided and the east would survive and the west
  would fall.

5
Western Empire Falls

• Causes
• Internal issues that included political, social,
  economic, and military
• Separation of the Western Empire from the
  Wealthier Eastern portion
• Outside invasions

6
Germanic Invasions and Attack of the Huns

• Germanic Tribes to the north coexisted with
  empire in peace with Rome until A.D. 370.
• Mongol nomads from central Asia
• The Huns, attacked Germanic tribes to the North
  forcing these tribes to move into the Roman
  Empire.
• Germanic Tribes pushed into the Roman empire all
  the way through Gaul, Spain, and North Africa.
• Romans referred to these Germanic tribes as
  barbarians.
• Western empire did not have an army large enough
  to defend themselves
• In 410 Germans overran Rome itself and plundered
  it for three days.

7
Attila the Hun

• The Huns attack both sides of the Roman empire
  with 100,000 soldiers under the power of a
  powerful chieftain named Attila.
• Attacked and plundered 70 cities in the East,
  failed to capture Constantinople.
• The Huns never captured Rome under Attila because
  of their own fight with famine and disease.
• After Attila died in 453 The Huns were no longer
  a threat but Germanic invasions continued.

8
The West Falls

• In 476 the last Roman Emperor is forced out by
  German invaders.
• A 14 year-old boy named Romulus Augustulus is the
  last Roman Emperor to the west.
• The collapse of the West signals the end of the
  Empire.
• Even though the Roman empire falls their ideas,
  customs, and institutions live on today.
• The eastern half of the empire changes their name
  to the Byzantine Empire and survives and
  flourishes another 1,000 years.