The End of the Empire

1
The End of the Empire
2
Romes Greatness

• At Rome's height in the early 100s it included
  all the land around the Mediterranean Sea
  including Britain.

3
To Large for its Own Good

• The empire did not stay that large for long.
• By the end of the 200s emperors had given up
  land because they feared the empire had become
  too large to defend or govern effectively.
• These emperors were RIGHT!!

4
External Threats to Rome

• Germanic warriors attacked Romes Northern
  boarders.
• Very fierce warriors
• The Romans were able to defend for 200 years but
  at great cost

5
Internal Threats to Rome

• Because of the fighting in the North many Romans
  abandoned their land near the boarders.
• Rome allowed these tribes to farm on their land.
• Over time, whole Germanic communities had moved
  into the empire and choose their own leaders and
  ignoring the emperor.

6
Internal Threats to Rome

• Disease swept through the empire, killing many
  people.
• The government was forced to raise taxes for
  defense
• But many of the Romans couldnt pay.
• The Romans looked for a strong leader, they found
  Diocletian.

7
Diocletian

• Diocletian took power in the late 200s.
• He believed the empire was too big for one person
  to rule.
• He divided the empire into 2 parts. An East and a
  West.
• He ruled the Eastern half and picked a co-ruler
  for the Western half.

8
Constantine

• Shortly after Diocletian left power Constantine
  reunited the empire.
• He moved the capital East to modern day Turkey
  and called it Constantinople.
• He also ended the ban on religion allowing
  Christianity to flourish.
• Even though the empire was called the Roman
  empire. Rome was no longer the center of power.

9
The Decline of Rome
10
The Huns

• The foreign tribes that had settled in the North
  began raiding deep into the heart of the empire.
• Fierce warriors from Central Asia called the Huns
  began invading southeastern Europe.
• Some of the Huns victims were the Goths.
• Unable to defeat the Huns the Goths flee into
  Roman territory.

11
The Goths

• The emperors were scared the Goths would destroy
  land and property.
• The Eastern empire is successful at repelling the
  Goths, pushing them further West.
• But the Western empire is unsuccessful and fails.
• Large numbers of Goths move into the empire.

12
Fighting the Goths

• The Romans fought desperately to keep the Goths
  from Rome.
• They even paid them not to attack.
• But when they stopped making payments, the Goths
  marched into Rome and destroyed the city in 410
  A.D.

13
The Fall of the Western Empire

• The Gothic victory inspired other tribes to
  invade the Western Empire.
• The Vandals, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Franks
  all launched attacks.

14
The Fall of the Western Empire

• At the same time the Huns, under a fearsome
  leader named Attila, raided territory in the
  East.
• Rome needed strong leader, but the emperors were
  weak.
• Generals tired to rule Rome and fought amongst
  themselves.
• This made Rome even weaker. In 476 A.D. a foreign
  general overthrew the last emperor in Rome and
  named himself king.
• This event is considered the end of the Western
  Roman Empire.

15
Size Political Reasons

• The size of the empire was too big to govern
  effectively.
• Making communication difficult especially during
  war.
• Corruption in the government.
• Officials used threats or bribes to get what they
  wanted.
• Often ignored the needs of citizens.
• As a result, Romes government was no longer
  effective.

16
Weakening Army

• The Empire needed a strong army to protect its
  borders.
• Rome hired MERCENARIES, paid soldiers, from other
  provinces to protect Rome. These soldiers did not
  care about Rome.
• Powerful generals kept fighting among themselves
  about who should be the next emperor.
• This fighting caused Rome to have at least 23
  emperors in 73 years. All but one were
  assassinated.

17
Internal Struggles

• The rich left the city and created their own
  armies for protection.
• Some tried to take power and overthrow the
  emperors.