What caused the Roman Empire to decline, and eventually fall?

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What caused the Roman Empire to decline, and eventually fall?

Reason:

Reason:

Evidence:

Evidence:

Reason:

Evidence:

The years 235-284 are called the Imperial Crisis.

Emperors raised taxes to support their large armies.

This hurt the common people and the economy.

During the Imperial Crisis, Rome's foreign enemies became more dangerous.

Many Germans wanted to settle in the Roman empire

because living conditions were

better there.

In 410, the Goths sacked Rome.

Diocletian ruled the eastern part of the

empire, while Maximian ruled in

the west.

In 180 CE, the emperor Marcus Aurelius died. With his death, the Pax Romana ended.

After the Pax Romana ended, emperors cared less for the

opinions of the people and the senate, and focused on gaining power and support

from the military.

Merchants raised their prices due to

the debasing of currency. This caused inflation, or a general rise in the cost of goods.

The Romans called the people who lived across the empire's northern

borders Germans. They were made up

of many different groups.

In 285, Diocletian divided the empire into two halves and chose a co-emperor to help him manage

the empire.

Diocletian tried to make Rome more

stable. He reorganized the government, and sent troops to the

border.

Civil wars broke out more frequently.

Emperors tried to get more money by

debasing the currency.

Roman armies were tied up fighting civil wars, and stopped

protecting the borders.

Romans called the Germans

barbarians, a word used to describe people who did not

share GrecoRoman culture.

In 476, the Roman Empire in the west

ends.

In 324 Emperor Constantine built a new capital for the eastern half of the empire. It would be

called Constantinople after

his death.

Starting in the late 100s, military

commanders began to challenge

emperors for power.

Civil Wars created massive economic

problems. Wars were expensive!

Wars also hurt the economy by making

trade dangerous.

The Germans raided Roman territory, seeing it as a rich, easy target during the Imperial crisis.

In 312, Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity.

Diocletian persecuted Christians because

Romans believed that Christians angered

the gods, causing the problems in the empire.

During the Imperial Crisis, the empire was torn apart by civil wars and even split into pieces as military generals became emperors one after another.

Debasing currency = making currency

with smaller amounts of precious metals. (less gold and silver, more copper)

In 260, the Persian Sassanian empire

raided Roman lands, capturing and killing the Roman emperor

Valerian.

Germans ended up adopting GrecoRoman culture, including Christianity. Many

Germans joined the Roman army.

In 284, a military leader named

Diocletian became emperor. For the

first time in decades, a single emperor ruled the Roman empire.

In the 400s, the Huns (nomads from

central Asia) attacked Rome under their leader

Attila.

Goths and other German groups crossed into the empire after a victory over the

Romans.

In 379, Emperor Theodosius

became the last emperor to rule over both the

eastern and western halves of

the empire.

In 476, the German general Odoacer removed the Roman emperor in the west from power, and declared himself king of Italy.

After the fall of the western empire, the

eastern empire became known as

the Byzantine empire.

When the Huns invaded German land, the Germans fled into Roman

lands.

Rome failed to stop the foreign invasions.

Roman emperors lost power.

Trade and learning declined.

The Romans hired some German mercenaries

(soldiers who fight for pay rather than for their country) to

fight off other German invaders.

In 380, Emperor Theodosius made

Christianity the established religion

of the Roman empire.

The government of the western Roman empire collapsed.

By 376, the German Goths entered the empire, seeking

refuge from the Huns. The Romans attacked the Goths, but were defeated.

In 410, Roman troops were

overwhelmed by German invaders. They abandoned

Britain to these invaders.

In time, the city of Rome itself was attacked. In 410 by the Goths, and in 455 by the Vandals.

The Roman empire in the east survived, in a smaller form. Eastern emperors held on to power and their cities prospered for almost 1000 years after the

fall of the west.

Mercenaries were not always loyal and sometimes turned against the

empire.

German generals controlled the western Roman emperors from

behind the scenes, until the western Roman empire ended.

As cities came under attack, people moved from the cities to the country for safety.

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