Ouch....the Decline - Caesar's Site

Nil actum reputa si quid superest agendum.
Nothing has been done if anything is undone. - Lucan (Bissette, 2009, para. 26)

The Downfall of Rome

A church mosaic, left is Constantinople

Pre-Knowledge: Marcus Aurelius was considered the last great emperor in around 180 AD. After that, education got worse, the government became more corrupt, and the military had a harder time of fending off invaders.
Political

"Not interest in government è Army takes control of government and kills emperors it doesn’t like è CIVIL WAR è The empire is divided into the east and west è Capitol is moved to Constantinople" (Beck, R et al, 2003, p. 160)

Social

"No interest in government or any public affairs è People are not confident with the Roman Empireè No loyalty to the empire è Gap between the rich and poor" (Beck, R et al, 2003, p. 160)

Economic

"Not enough food è Pirates and barbarians disrupt trade è No more wars, so no more plunder è rich overuse precious metals è inflation è high taxes" (Beck, R et al, 2003, p. 160)

Military

"Germanic tribes attack the empire è not enough soldiers to properly protect the empire è recruit non-loyal mercenaries è the soldiers are loyal to commanders, not Rome è Overall lack of loyalty in the military è no heart!" (Beck, R et al, 2003, p. 160)

Attacks

"Huns threaten the empire è Germanic tribes invade areas of the Roman empire è Alaric attacks Rome" (Beck, R et al, 2003, p. 160)

An outline from a chart I made on word. Goes more in depth on certain aspects of the fall of the Roman Empire.
Economy

•          The capitol Rome had been an economic wonder, but when the capitol moved to Constantinople, the trade and economic prosperity moved too:( Plus, pirates and foreigners were messing with trade, stealing!

•          The wealthy loved precious metals (GOLD!) and used it up! Since the empire was not expanding, it could not ore more metals. Therefore, they minted coins out of silver...which is worth less than gold. This caused prices to rise and inflation.

•          There was a shortage of food! Many battles had worn down the farmland, not to mention the overuse of it! With the food shortages came famine, diseases, and thus, a population decline.

•          Military

•          Germanic tribes and Persia threatened the Roman empire.

•          The soldiers loved their commanders--they were the ones who rewarded soldiers. The soldiers didn't care about Rome herself, and they didn't have the heart to protect their empire; they wanted reward!

•          With a decrease in population, Rome had to hire mercenaries (soldiers from another non-Roman area that fought for remuneration). As a result, they were not loyal or passionate; it's hard to protect something you don't care about. Plus, if these people got ticked off, they may take it out on Rome....

•          Political

•          Roman citizens didn't care about their empire.

•          The government got out of control; people were basically doing as they pleased. The army would even choose emperors and then kill them!

•          NO STABILITY!

The Two that Tried

Emperor Diocletian (284) tried to help Rome. He doubled to size of the army for better protection of Rome. He set prices for certain items to try to decrease inflation, and he made men continue to farm to stop the famine. Unfortunately, those reforms didn’t help Rome much. He also divided Rome. The east half was generally Greek speaking, and the west half generally spoke Latin.

With the death of Diocletian came the ruling of Constantine. The empire was in to midst of a civil war, but Constantine prevailed. He made to move to Constantinople…greatly affecting Rome—for the worst. His leadership was like the last straw. Once he died, Rome basically died with him.

Videos about Constantinople/Byzantine Empire after the West fell:
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrBogdanovic#p/u/110/wFoLI82mHPI
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrBogdanovic#p/u/109/gHlvsgV7Sj4
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrBogdanovic#p/u/108/-G0RTEqx4Gs
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrBogdanovic#p/u/107/itqYELn17TY
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrBogdanovic#p/u/106/VA9mPiJddbY
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrBogdanovic#p/u/105/IFIzXiOlYfA

The Barbarians

Barbarians were people who were not Roman. They did not have the same culture as Romans, i.e. Latin/Greek speaking. Barbarian has come to be a “bad/mean” word, but it did not initially serve that purpose!

376-476—The Huns (Attila, their leader) forced people in Germanic areas (barbarians) out of their lands. Well, they needed somewhere to live, and Rome, at the time, appeared a fairly easy target. Sooo, they attacked the Roman Empire’s lands. These people were the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Anglos, Saxons, Burgundians, Alemanni, and Vandals.

Videos about Atilla and the Huns:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHdIDN1Cr4o--The introduction is nice--after that, it's confusing!
A group of videos; watch in order
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrBogdanovic#p/u/458/Gh6ye2pXryY
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrBogdanovic#p/u/457/O7Op9IiSA1E
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrBogdanovic#p/u/456/v-HH-c1HC3Y
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrBogdanovic#p/u/455/wu5IELz8Vwg
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrBogdanovic#p/u/454/odVDCeD_-jc
A group of videos about the Goths: (TONS of information, not always about Rome, tells more about Goth attacks on Roman Empire)
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrBogdanovic#p/u/468/6R99xcMtmqo
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrBogdanovic#p/u/467/RiBzwpBZ0bE
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrBogdanovic#p/u/466/tHajhcBJqIQ
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrBogdanovic#p/u/465/uXSsa44l1QI
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrBogdanovic#p/u/464/XmbSGhYFRNo --Tells about Alaric!

The Immediate Causes for the Downfall

Alaric. He was a mercenary for the Romans. He did not get promoted and became quite angry. He had rancor for Rome…and did something about it!

408AD—He and a group of Visigoths crossed the Alps. They were making their way to Rome…watch out! The Visigoths were from North-Eastern Europe.

August 10, 410AD—He plundered Rome for 3 days….Let’s just say, people knew the empire was no longer. I mean, think back to the Punic Wars—they didn’t even let Rome get harmed then, and it was never harmed in the history of the Empire…well, harmed by outside invaders.

WAIT! How did Alaric get into Rome?? ~He put a siege on Rome. He didn’t let food in for a l o n g time. People were starved. They were to the point of cannibalism. One day they decided enough was enough, we don’t need pride, we need food! So, they let Alaric in. Much to his dismay, he found no food…duh?! He moved on to better fields. Visigoths need food too!!!!

He returns to our story in 452. He decided to continue his successes and attack other cities in the East. Seventy to be exact. He moved to the West, too, but Pope Leo, what a great man, made a deal with Alaric and Alaric left the Roman Empire alone. Even though he was gone, he had set the standard for other barbarians. Now EVERYONE knew Rome was open for barbaric attacks. Barbaric attacks aided in the downfall of the Roman Empire!!!!!

The empire hit a dead end from the inside, too. In 476 a FOURTEEN year old, Romulus Augustus, became emperor. So much for the name, he did not last long. A German general quickly booted him off the throne, and from then on, the Western half of the Roman emperor was done; no more emperors.

By the way, the East flourished. It was called the Byzantine Empire, and it continued on prosperously for 1000 years. It used Greco/Roman culture.

More Links:

http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/romefallarticles/a/fallofrome.htm

http://www.rome.info/history/empire/fall/

King Alaric

Modern day Constantinople--Now Istanbul

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