Transcript Mrs. Liverotti World History Eustis High School

Mrs. Liverotti
World History
Eustis High School
The Romans are no longer a
world superpower so what
the heck happened?
1. Military Problems
2. Economic Problems
3. Political Problems
4. Social Problems
1. Military Problems
The Visigoths and
other Germanic
people invaded
 Roman army
lacked discipline &
training
 Romans were
forced to hire
foreign soldiers—
many were not
really loyal to
Rome.

2. Economic Problems
Heavy taxes to
support the
government.
 Farmers left their
land
 Middle class
disappears
 Romans use too
much slave labor

3. Political Problems




Government
become too strict
People stop
supporting the
govt.
Corrupt politicians
Divided empire
becomes weak.
4. Social Problems
Population declines due to disease & war.
 People become selfish and lazy

Band-aids: attempts to fix the
problems
Diocletian




Came to power in
284 A.D.
Divided the empire
into an East & West
Controlled prices
Made farmers stay
and farm their land
Constantine
Became emperor in
436 A.D.
 Became a Christian
and allowed
Christianity in the
empire.
 Built a new capital,
Constantinople (now
called Istanbul,
Turkey) to replace
Rome.

Doom 476 A.D.


Rome ultimately fell in
A.D. 476! Its decline
was a process that had
been going on for
centuries.
Roman strengths
eventually became
Roman
weaknesses. Sounds
like a good essay topic!

Roman customs, ideas,
& languages were
replaced by German.
Whadaaa ya Mean Only Half?

Remember is that the Roman Empire was
large, and when we speak of the fall of
Rome, we are talking about the western
half of the Empire! The eastern half
survived as the Byzantine Empire until
1453. Thanks Constantine!!
Constantinople=Istanbul
• Istanbul Today is a
predominately Muslim
city though once the
center of the
Orthodox Christian
Church.
Things you should have down
economic, military, political, & social
problems in Rome
 Diocletian
 Constantine
 Byzantine Empire
 476 A.D.=Fall of Rome
 Constantinople
