Transcript 200s – A Century of Crisis

Decline of the Roman Empire
 Rome’s Economy declines
 Trade disrupted by piracy, neglect of roads
and harbours, dangerous borders
 Inflation (minted coins with less silver
leading to a drop in value)
 Overworked soil led to increasingly
meagre harvests, farmers left their land
 Disease spread, population declined
Military Upheaval
 Germanic tribes - “barbarians”
overwhelmed Roman legions guarding the
northern frontiers
 Discipline and loyalty had collapsed within
the army
 Mercenaries (paid foreign soldiers) had
little loyalty to the Empire
Politics Decay
 Lost sense of patriotism
 Holding political office became less
desirable
 Armies proclaimed 50 generals to be
emperors of Rome over 50 years (235284CE)
 26 briefly won the approval of the Roman
Senate – 25 died violently
 Corruption in government weakened
efficiency
Diocletian
 284 CE – became emperor and restored





order to the empire
Governed as an absolute ruler
Doubled the size of the Roman armies
Set fixed prices for goods
Workers were forced to stay in their jobs
for life (attempt to bring stability to
agriculture and manufacturing)
Persecuted Christians
Division of the Empire
 Empire too large and too complex
 Divided into Greek-speaking East
(Greece, Anatolia, Syria & Egypt) and
Latin-speaking West (Italy, Gaul, Britannia
& Spain)
 Ruled by co-emperors and their assistant
(tetrarchy)
 Diocletian – Eastern Empire
 General Maximian – Western Empire
Division of the Empire – 294 CE
Constantine
 Civil war broke out
 312 CE –
Constantine gained
control of Western
Empire
 324 CE – Gained
control of Eastern
Empire
Constantinople
 Moved capital from Rome to Byzantium
 Located on the Bosporus Strait,
crossroads between East and West
 “City of Constantine”
 Present day Istanbul
 Surrounded on three sides by water – it
was easily defendable
Edict of Milan
 313 CE
 Declared that the Roman Empire would be
neutral with regard to religious worship
 Roman Empire officially removed all
obstacles to the practice of Christianity
and other religions
 Death of Constantine – 337 CE
 Peace and unity established by
Constantine did not last
 Emperor Valentinian (364-375 CE) divided
the Empire to East & West and appointed
his brother Valens as co-ruler (364-378
CE)
 By the 5th Century CE the two parts of the
Empire remain separate
 The west became increasingly rural as
barbarian invasions grew
 Cities shrank to tiny walled fortresses
ruled by military commanders and bishops
 Failure of the central authority to maintain
the roads and the danger from robber
bands hampered trade and
communication
 The west was made up of isolated units of
rural aristocrats and their dependent
labourers
 The only unifying institution was the
Christian church
 The pattern for the early Middle Ages in
the west was formed
 Massive barbarian invasions of the 5th
century ended effective imperial
government in the west
“The Fall of Rome”
 476 CE – The barbarian Odoacer (or
Odovacar) deposed the western emperor
Romulus Augustulus
 The eastern emperor Zeno recognized
Odoacer as his western viceroy
 By the end of the 5th Century barbarians
had overrun the western empire