White Plains Public Schools / Overview



The Fall of Rome World History/Napp

“During the third century A.D., several factors prompted the weakening of Rome’s economy. Hostile tribes outside the boundaries of the empire and pirates on the Mediterranean Sea disrupted trade. Having reached their limit of expansion, the Romans lacked new sources of gold and silver. Desperate for revenue, the government raised taxes. It also started minting coins that contained less and less silver. It hoped to create more money with the same amount of precious metal. However, the economy soon suffered from inflation, a drastic drop in the value of money coupled with a rise in prices.

Agriculture faced equally serious problems. Harvests in Italy and Western Europe became increasingly meager because overworked soil had lost its fertility. What’s more, years of war had destroyed much farmland. Eventually, serious food shortages and disease spread, and the population declined.

By the third century A.D., the Roman military was also in disarray. Over time, Roman soldiers in general had become less disciplined and loyal. They gave their allegiance not to Rome but to their commanders, who fought among themselves for the throne. To defend against the increasing threats to the empire, the government began to recruit mercenaries, foreign soldiers who fought for money. While mercenaries would accept lower pay than Romans, they felt little sense of loyalty to the empire. Remarkably, Rome survived intact for another 200 years. This was due largely to reform-minded emperors and the empire’s division into two parts.” ~ World History

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1- What problems faced the Roman Empire?

2- Define the following terms: Barbarians, Inflation, and Mercenaries.

3- Why did the empire survive for many years even with these problems?

|Diocletian |Constantine |Invasions |

|- In A.D. 284, Diocletian, a strong-willed army|- Constantine gained control of the western |- Germanic peoples had |

|leader, became the new emperor |part |gathered on the northern borders of the empire |

| |of the empire in A.D. 312 |and coexisted in relative peace with Rome |

|- He restored order to the empire and increased| | |

|its strength |- In 324 Constantine secured control of the |- Around A.D. 370, all that changed when a |

| |East, thus restoring the concept of a single |fierce group of Mongol nomads from |

|- Diocletian believed that the empire had grown|ruler |Central Asia, the Huns, moved into the region |

|too large and too complex for one ruler | |and began destroying all in their path |

| |- In A.D. 330, Constantine | |

|- In perhaps his most significant reform, he |moved the capital from Rome to the Greek city |- In an effort to flee from the Huns, the |

|divided the empire into the Greek-speaking East|of Byzantium, in what is now Turkey |various Germanic people pushed into |

|and the Latin-speaking West | |Roman lands |

| |- With Byzantium as its capital, the center of | |

| |power in the empire shifted from |- Romans called all invaders “barbarians,” a |

| |Rome to the east |term that referred to non-Romans |

| | | |

| |- The city eventually took a new name – |- The Western Empire was unable to field an |

| |Constantinople or the city of Constantine |army to stop them |

| | | |

Identify and explain the following terms:

Diocletian

Constantine

Constantinople

Germanic Peoples

Huns

Barbarians

Questions:

- How did Diocletian succeed in preserving the empire?

- Why did so many Germanic tribes begin invading the Roman Empire?

- How do you think the splitting of the empire into two parts helped it survive for another 200 years?

|1. Large numbers of Germanic peoples crossed into the lands of the |3. The fall of the Roman empire |

|Roman empire in the late 300s to escape |A) Marked the end of Roman civilization. |

|A) religious persecution |B) Ended the persecution of the Jews. |

|B) black death |C) Was a long, gradual process. |

|C) invading Huns |D) Was a sudden, unexpected event. |

|D) mass starvation | |

| |4. The Western Roman Empire fell for all of the following reasons |

|2. Which of the following was one of Diocletian’s reforms? |EXCEPT |

|A) Divided the empire in two |A) Invaders |

|B) Provided free food |B) Inflation |

|C) Issued the first written law code |C) Ineffective Emperors |

|D) Issued the Edict of Milan |D) The location of Constantinople |

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- What areas of the empire were not threatened by invasion?

|An immediate result of the fall of the Roman Empire was |Both the Ancient Romans and the Ancient Chinese viewed foreigners as |

|a renewed interest in education and the arts |barbarians. This is an example of |

|a period of disorder and weak central government |cultural diffusion |

|an increase in trade and manufacturing |materialism |

|the growth of cities and dominance by the middle class |imperialism |

| |ethnocentrism |

| | |

| | |

|A major contribution of the Roman Republic to Western European culture| |

|was the | |

|concept of government by laws | |

|belief that political power should be controlled by the military | |

|establishment of agricultural communes |The Code of Hammurabi and the Twelve Tables of Rome are examples of |

|rejection of the concept of slavery |Written laws 3. Economic sanctions |

| |Religious rules 4. Early constitutions |

|The political system of the Ancient Roman Empire was characterized by | |

|a strong central government |The term empire is best defined as |

|rule by a coalition of emperors and religious leaders |a political unit that has a common religious faith |

|universal suffrage in national elections |a government ruled by the consent of the people |

|a strict adherence to constitutional principles |an extensive territory under the rule of a single authority |

| |a country that requires conquered peoples to assimilate |

|An immediate result of the fall of the Roman Empire was | |

|a renewed interest in education and the arts |Which ancient civilization is associated with the Twelve Tables, an |

|a period of disorder and weak central government |extensive road system, and the poets Horace and Virgil? |

|an increase in trade and manufacturing |Babylonian 3. Greek |

|the growth of cities and dominance by the middle class |Phoenician 4. Roman |

| | |

|Which geographic feature was central in helping the Romans unify their|A major reason for the decline of the Roman Empire was |

|empire? |a series of military defeats in Africa |

|Alps |political corruption and the instability of the government |

|Tiber River |the abolition of slavery throughout the Empire |

|Mediterranean Sea |continued acceptance of traditional religions |

|Great Rift Valley | |

| |How did the geography of the Italian peninsula influence the |

|At the height of its power, which ancient civilization controlled the |development of the Roman Empire? |

|entire coastal region surrounding the Mediterranean Sea? |The unnavigable rivers in the peninsula protected the Romans from |

|Phoenician |their neighbors. |

|Persian |The harsh climate prevented agricultural production. |

|Roman |The lengthy, rugged seacoast encouraged frequent invasions of the |

|Carthaginian |Italian peninsula. |

| |The location of the peninsula contributed to Roman control of the |

| |Mediterranean region. |

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