Lesson One: The Fall of Rome



The Fall of Rome:

An Exercise in Research, Historical Analysis, and Current Events

Your challenge is to gather detailed information on the variety of causes for the fall of the Roman Empire. You will have one week of structured class time to work with a group of four to complete this assignment which is due at the start of class on September 15th

Part I. Research

Step One: I will give you a quick overview of the reasons for Rome’s fall. While doing this, you will want to copy down the outline of topics and main ideas for the fall of Rome.

Step Two: Read pages 169-174 in Late Roman Civilization. Record any details that help explain the main ideas in your Fall of Rome outline

Step Three: Read the handout, “8 Reasons for the Fall of Rome.” Add any new details to your Fall of Rome outline.

Now you should have a complete and detailed outline of information as to what contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire.

Step Four: Research current events to compare to the main ideas for the fall of Rome.

Historical Analysis and Connection: You will put together a side by side comparison of how Rome fell to what is going on in our society. The finished product will be in a word document (like the example below).

o Pick a topic from your Fall of Rome Outline. Make sure that each person in your group is picking a topic from one of the different reasons why Rome fell. In other words, someone needs to pick from social reasons, someone from government reasons, someone from military reasons, and someone from economic reasons.

o Your thesis question is

Based on what happened to Rome, is the United States falling or not?

o You have to show a reason that Rome fell, and then argue whether or not the same thing is happening to us. Your whole group must argue that the US is currently falling or not.

Example:

Political:

|Immigration brought down the Roman Empire, but it is not bringing down the US |

|[pic] |[pic] |

|One reason for the fall of Rome was due to the migration of |Today, the United States has an issue with illegal immigration. |

|German people into the Empire. Tribes like the Visigoths wanted |It is estimated that almost 12 million people, mostly from Mexico|

|to enter the Empire to escape from violence in their own homeland|and other parts of Latin and Central America are immigrating into|

|and for opportunities in the empire like land and serving in the |the United States. Most of these immigrants are coming to the |

|army. However, when the Roman officials starved the Visigoths |United States for job opportunities. |

|the Visigoths turned their swords on the Romans and sacked the | |

|city of Rome, killing thousands of Romans. | |

|Both Rome and the US have issues with immigration, but they do not create the same problem. Immigrants like the Goths turned |

|violent and attacked the Romans because the Romans were corrupt. Immigrants in the US are not currently armed and violent. If we |

|find a way to deal with them humanely, there is no reason that they would attack the United States like the Goths did the Romans. |

Rubric

| |Excellent |Good |Needs Improvement |Poor |

|Thesis Statement |Clearly and concisely |Clearly states the |States the purpose in a |Incomplete and or |

|(4 points) |states |purpose in a single |single sentence. |unfocused |

| |the purpose in a single |sentence. | | |

| |sentence, which is | | | |

| |engaging, | | | |

| |and thought provoking. | | | |

|Visual Representation |Includes two images that|Includes two images |Includes one image and |No images are included |

|(4 points) |are easily identified as |representing the main |the connection is not | |

| |representing the main |idea, but the connection |easily identified | |

| |idea |between the images and | | |

| | |content is not easily | | |

| | |identified | | |

|Content: |Covers topic in-depth |Includes essential |Includes essential |Content is minimal, OR |

|Historical Analysis & |with details and |knowledge about the |information about the |there are many |

|Current Event |examples. Subject |topic. Subject |topic, but there may be |factual errors. |

|(20 points) |knowledge is excellent |knowledge appears good |some factual errors | |

|Conclusion |Restates the thesis and |Restates the thesis but |Restates the thesis |Does not address the |

|(4 points) |compares the content |lacks a clear comparison | |thesis |

| | |between the content | | |

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This Rubric applies to each topic. You are responsible for the topic you complete within the group.

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