The Decay of the Roman Empire

1. The Decay of the Roman Empire -Key Concepts-

2. I. The Tetrarchy (284-337 AD) • Diocletian (284-305 AD) --Military Crisis --Economic Crisis • Ruled like an Oriental despot • Reorganization of Imperial Administration --Empire divided in half --augusti --caesari --dioceses

3. I. The Tetrarchy (cont) • Imperial inflation • Attempted economic reforms • Constantine (306-337 AD) --Shifted capital from Rome to Constantinople

4. II. Reasons for the Decay of the Empire • Re-assertion of local loyalties • Decline in the quality of the Roman army • Invasion of the Germanic Tribes across the Rhine-Danube frontier --motivation for invasions --Fear of the Huns --The invasion of the Visigoths

5. II. Reasons for the Decay of the Empire (cont) • “Federates” • Alaric’s sack of Rome (410) • Domination of the Franks --Clovis • Vandal invasion • Invasion of the Angles and Saxons • Non-Roman monarch rules in the West (476)

6. II. Reasons for the Decay of the Empire • Economic Crisis • Decay of urban life and culture • Spiritual Crisis • Population Decline • Growing significance of the landed estates • Political Crisis

7. Remember . . . • Roman Empire continues in the East until 15th century AD • Rome did not “fall”, it simply “changed” --Edward Gibbon

8. Remember . . . • Roman culture and political forms continued to exercise tremendous influence: --Roman law --Roman buildings and roads --Prevalence of the Latin language --Dominance of the Christian Church