Name:



Name: _______________________ Date: ___________

Fall of the Western Roman Empire – DBQ

In the third century A.D. Rome encountered many problems. In addition to facing internal (inside) problems, the invasion by Germanic tribes seemed to deliver a devastating blow to the Western Roman Empire. Historians have examined both internal and external (outside) conditions/factors that weakened the empire and have presented a variety of explanations for its fall.

Directions for reading and interpreting the documents:

The following question is based on the included documents. As you read and analyze the documents, be sure to take into account the source and the author’s point of view. Be sure to:

• Read the excerpts carefully

• Underline any unfamiliar words

• Discuss the unfamiliar words with your group and be sure you have an understanding of what the words mean

• Make comments in the margins (code the reading)

• Answer the questions that follow the excerpts.

• Based on your own knowledge and what you discover in the documents, create an outline that directly answers the question.

• Use the outline to write an introduction with a thesis statement.

| |

|Question ~ What caused the fall of the Western Roman Empire? |

Document 1

|The basic trouble was that very few inhabitants of the empire believed that the old civilization was worth saving… the overwhelming majority of the population had |

|been systematically excluded from political responsibilities. They could not organize to protect themselves; they could not serve in the army… Their economic |

|plight was hopeless. Most of them were serfs bound to the soil, and the small urban groups saw their cities slipping into uninterrupted decline. |

This excerpt is from a textbook, The Course of Civilization by Strayer, Gatzke, Harbison (Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc., 1961).

What were the basic problems facing the Western Roman Empire according to these authors?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Document 2

|The decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness [large size] … The introduction … of Christianity, had some influence on the |

|decline and fall of the Roman empire. The clergy successfully preached the doctrine of patience; the active virtues of society were discouraged; and the last |

|remains of military spirit were buried in the cloister; a large portion of public and private wealth was consecrated to the …demands of charity and devotion… |

This excerpt is from The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon.

According to this excerpt from Gibbon, what were two causes for the fall of Rome? Explain both.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Document 3

|First the economic factor… While the empire was expanding, its prosperity was fed by plundered wealth and by new markets in the semi-barbaric provinces. When the |

|empire ceased to expand, however, economic progress soon ceased… |

| |

|The abundance of slaves led to the growth of the latifundia, the great estates that…came to dominate agriculture and ruin the free coloni [farmers] who drifted to |

|the cities, to add to the unemployment there. The abundance of slaves likewise kept wages low. |

This excerpt is from the Uses of the Past by Herbert J. Muller

What economic issues does Muller identify as causes for decline? Explain.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How was slavery a cause for the decline of the Roman Empire?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Document 4

|…Part of the money went into…the maintenance of the army and of the vast bureaucracy required by a centralized government…the expense led to the strangling |

|taxation … The heart was taken out of enterprising men … tenants fled from their farms and businessmen and workmen from their occupations. Private enterprise was |

|crushed and the state was forced to take over many kinds of business to keep the machine running. People learned to expect something for nothing. The old Roman |

|virtues of self-reliance and initiative were lost in that part of the population on relief [welfare] … The central government undertook such a far-reaching |

|responsibility in affairs that the fiber of the citizens weakened. |

This excerpt is from The New Deal in Old Rome by Henry Haskell, and blames the decline on the heavy taxation required to support government expenses.

Why did the Roman government have such large expenses?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What was the effect of high taxation on the people?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What effect did the establishment of a governmental welfare system have on the people?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Document 5

|Rome, like all great empires, was not overthrown by external enemies but undermined by internal decay … The military crisis was the result of … proud old |

|aristocracy’s … shortage of children. [Consequently] foreigners poured into this …void [lack of soldiers]. The Roman army [was] composed entirely of Germans. |

This excerpt is from Romans Without Laurels by Indro Montanelli and blames the fall on “internal decay” specifically that of the military.

What does this author identify as the cause of the problems in the military?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Document 6

[pic]

According to the map, what was the cause of the fall of the Roman Empire? Was this a unified attack?

|Document #7 | |

|Every reader of a volume devoted to the Roman Empire will expect the author to express his opinion on what is generally, since Gibbon, | |

|called the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. . . In the sphere of politics we witness a gradual barbarization of the Empire from | |

|within, especially in the West. The foreign, German, elements play the leading part both in the government and in the army, and settling in| |

|masses, displace the Roman population . . . the ruling classes were replaced.. by Germans. | |

|The cities ... gradually decayed, and the majority of them practically disappeared from the face of the earth. Only small islands of | |

|civilized life are left, . . . but . . . are gradually swallowed up by the advancing tide of barbarism. Another aspect . . . is the | |

|development of a new mentality among the masses of the population. It was the mentality of the lower classes, based exclusively on religion| |

|(Christianity) and not only indifferent but hostile to the intellectual achievements of the higher classes. | |

|SECONDARY SOURCE: Michael Rostovtzeff, The Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire. Of the Clarendon Press, Oxford.1957, 1, 532-34,| |

|541. | |

How does Rostovtzeff explain the fall of the Western Roman Empire as a process of decay?

|Document #8 |

|The expenses of running the Empire continued to increase. As taxes failed to produce the needed revenue, the government resorted to devaluation of|

|the currency, . . Prices shot up as they did in twentieth-century inflations in Europe. A pall settled over the population. People felt they were |

|being swept downward by forces beyond their power to control. In the face of overwhelming evils they were helpless. . .(Emperor)Diocletian, with |

|army backing, became dictator, reorganized the administration, and stabilized the currency . . . Unfortunately, like some modern rulers facing a |

|similar problem, he overvalued his new monetary unit. Prices promptly responded with another violent rise. Diocletian recognized the suffering |

|that resulted, but naturally did not understand the cause. The trouble, he thought, lay in greedy profiteering. In 301 A.D. he issued his famous |

|edict setting maximum prices and wages... But this early attempt at price-fixing failed. It is recorded that business men closed their shops, that|

|many articles of commerce disappeared, and that food riots resulted...The heart was taken out of enterprising men.. Private enterprise was crushed|

|and the state was forced to take over many kinds of business to keep the [state] machine running. People were schooled to expect some thing for |

|nothing. This failure of the of Roman virtues of self-reliance and initiative was conspicuously shown in that pall of the population that was on |

|relief The central government undertook such far-reaching responsibility in affairs that the fiber of the citizens weakened...The most disastrous |

|policy . . . was extravagant spending by the government. Part of the money went into. . . the maintenance of the army and of the vast bureaucracy |

|required by a centralized government . . . the expense led to strangling taxation. |

|SECONDARY SOURCE: Henry J. Haskell, The New Deal in Old Rome. New York. Knopf, 1947, 214-231. |

How does Haskell explain the shortcomings of Diocletian’s reforms?

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download