The Decline of the Roman Empire

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The Decline of the Roman Empire
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How could this mighty empire come to an end?

• Was it the corruption of the government?
• Was it economic collapse?
• Was it the invasion of the Huns?
• All of the above.
• The decline happened slowly over centuries, from
  200 -476 A.D.

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Political Problems

• After 180 A.D., Pax Romana ended. Violence
  corruption took over as weak emperors bankrupted
  the government.
• 28 emperors ruled from 192 to 284 A.D. (only 92
  yrs). Most were killed off.
• During this political disorder, Roman legions
  fought each other instead of defending the
  empire.
• This warfare disrupted trade. Food shortages,
  high costs and unemployment began. (economic
  collapse)

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Economic

• Romans used to get money by conquering new
  lands. As the Roman empire stopped expanding, no
  new sources of gold and silver were coming in.
• Money was needed to maintain the huge empire.
• Army
• Buildings Roads
• To cope with the economic problems, the gov.
  minted new coins made of cheaper copper tin
  instead of silver gold, so the value decreased,
  causing inflation.
• What is inflation? It is an increase in prices
  caused by a decrease in value of a currency.

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Two good Emperors

• These emperors stalled the collapse of the empire
  for about 200 years until 476 A.D.
• Diocletian held off invading barbarian tribes
  created a co-emperor. He froze prices (penalty
  for breaking this law was death). He forced
  people to stay in their jobs forever.
• Constantine the first Christian emperor. He
  created an eastern capital named Constantinople
  (today Istanbul in Turkey) a good trading port.
  Forced sons to take the same job as their father.
  He allowed landowners to chain workers to keep
  them on the farm.
• In 395 A.D. the empire was officially split in
  two.

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Constantine had divided the empire in half, each
ruled by a co-emperor, with the eastern emperor
in Constantinople as the senior partner
The two halves would gradually drift apart and
become, by 395, basically independent political
entities
Fatal development for the West 65 of all revenue
came from the East but 66 of the entire army was
stationed in the West
Result was horrible and insoluble financial
crisis in the West Troops went unpaid, supplies
could not be purchased, bribes could not be paid
to barbarian chiefs, etc.
Division of the Empire into two independent
halves left the Western half very weak and
vulnerablejust as the Germans were renewing
their attacks on the frontier again
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THE GERMANS

• Migrated out of Scandinavia and northeastern
  Russia 500 BC
• Since the start of the Roman Empire, Romans and
  German barbarians influenced each other, mostly
  through trade.
• Germans began to enlist in the Roman army in the
  3rd century AD

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THE HUNS

• Huns forced huge German migration
• Nomadic people from Gobi Desert
• Expert horsemen
• Tried to invade China around 370 AD and were
  defeated
• Then turned westward and ultimately entered
  northern Europe
• Terrorized German tribes who lived there
• Germans migrated south to escape them

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• Around 400 AD, entire tribes (Ostrogoths,
  Visogoths, Huns, Vandals) began to move into the
  empire simultaneously.
• Capturing huge chunks of territory, settling
  there, and setting up kingdoms

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• In 451, the Visogoths Romans joined together to
  fight the Huns.
• Attila turned on Italy, plundering the cities and
  terrifying people.
• The plague took its toll on the Huns and they
  retreated. Attila died soon after.
• Italy, now devastated, was open to invading
  tribes.

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• In 476, a German soldier Odoacer seized Rome,
  killing the emperor. He named himself king of
  Itlay.
• People now refer to 476 as the fall of Rome.
  However, the fall of Rome was much more complex.
• This did not mean the end of Roman culture.
  Germanic rulers kept Roman laws, language and the
  Christian church.

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Many barbarian kingdoms would not last long but
they did mark the way for the future Europe, as a
unified unit, was finished foreverreplaced by a
multitude of small, competing entities
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