Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire
Diocletian
The Huns
Constantine
The Decline
Problems and Upheavals
 Political upheavals, the plague, and the division of
the empire led to its decline
 After Marcus Aurelius died in 180 A.D. Rome had a
period of conflict, confusion, and civil war
 For 50 years, the Roman throne was occupied by
whoever had military strength to seize it

22 emperors, most died violently
 Invasions
 East: Sassanid Persian
 Germanic tribes
Problems and Upheavals
 Invasions, civil wars, and plague almost caused an
economic collapse in the third century
 Plague: An epidemic disease

Caused a labor shortage, which led to a decline in trade
 Farm production declined
 Because crops were ravaged by invaders
 By the mid-third century, Rome had to hire Germans
to fight

The didn’t understand Roman traditions and had little loyality
to the empire or emperors
Reforms by Diocletian and Constantine
 Two emperors that helped restore the Roman empire
 This new Roman empire included:
 A new governmental structure
 A rigid economic and social system
 New state religion: Christianity
 Diocletian divided the empire into four units, each
with its own ruler under his rule
 Constantine expanded the policies of Diocletian
 Biggest project was the building of Constantinople,
present day Istanbul, Turkey

This “new” Rome became the center of the Eastern Empire
Reforms by Diocletian and Constantine
 The lack of population made it difficult to raise and
pay for an army through taxes
 Inflation: A rapid increase in taxes
 Diocletian issued a price edict in 301 that set wages
and prices of goods

Idea failed
 The emperors also forced people to stay in their
vocations, or style of jobs
The Fall and Germanic Tribes
 The migration of Germanic tribes helped bring an
end to the Roman Empire
 The restored empire of Diocletian and Constantine
lasted for more than 100 years
 Divided into two parts


Eastern Roman Empire: Capital was Constantinople
Western Roman Empire: Capital was Rome
 The Huns, from Asia, entered the empire to the east
and put pressure on the Germanic Visigoths

Visigoths were Roman allies then revolted against Rome
Germanic Tribes
 More Germans now crossed into the Roman empire
 In 410, the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410
 The Vandals poured into southern Spain and Africa
 In 455, the sacked Rome
 The words vandal and vandalize come from this tribe
 The western empire (Rome) fell in 476 when its
emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by the
Germanic head of the Army
 The eastern empire continued to thrive in
Constantinople
Theories on the decline of the Roman Empire
 Christianity’s emphasis on a spiritual kingdom





weakened Roman military values
Traditional Roman values declined as non-Italians
gained prominence in the empire
Lead poisoning through leaden water pipes and cups
caused a mental decline in the population
Plague wiped out one-tenth of the population
Rome failed to advance technologically due to
slavery
Rome could not create a workable political system