World History
3.06
The Rise and Fall
of Rome
The Assignment
•
Assignment 03.06: Please answer the
following question in complete
sentences using the information you
learned on the previous pages.
• The causes for the fall of Rome can be
divided into four categories: political,
military, economic and social. Using
the information you have read,
identify one cause in each category
and explain how it contributed to the
decline of the Roman Empire.
The Rubric
• How will this assignment be
graded?
• Up to 10 points for each cause
and explanation. (40 points)
• Up to 10 points for copying the
question into your answer,
writing in complete sentences,
spelling, and grammar.
The Link
Washington State University's
Rome - Click Contents and
read the sections about
Augustus, Imperial Rome,
Calamitious Century, and
The Late Empire.
Click on the hyperlink, then
Contents
The Link
The Short Answers:
•
The opinions that Historians have about what
political (government) or military events may
have started or contributed to the demise of
Rome include the following:
•
The wealthy class becoming uninterested in
politics and the army
•
The problem of managing the enormous size of
the Roman Empire
•
Poor leadership by emperors, who often met
untimely deaths
•
The success of barbarian invasions allowed by a
weakened Roman army
Government & Military/
Calamitous Century
• An example - However,
Septimius had set a precedent
by seizing and retaining power
using the provincial army under
his control. After the death of
Alexander in 235, Rome saw a
half century of "barracks
emperors" who were all
generals and seized power in
the same way Septimius
Severus had done.
Government & Military
/Calamitous Century
• An Example:
• Commodus assumed the imperiate.
Marcus Aurelius had been appointed
by the Senate and proved to be a
thoughtful and highly efficient
administrator. His son, however, was
slightly imbalanced. Fancying himself
to be a reincarnation of Hercules,
Commodus was both brutal and
incompetent. He openly defied the
Senate and revelled in all sorts of
perversities. He was so violent and
vicious, that the palace guards
murdered him in 192.
The Military/Crisis of the Rebublic
•
Marius, however, was an innovator and a
maverick. He changed the fundamental
make-up of his army by enlisting mainly
volunteers. These volunteers were drawn
from the poorest (and hence most
disaffected and angry) classes, still bitter
over the killings of the Gracchi. Marius
held out the promise of the spoils of war
and land-parcels as payment for their
service (this on top of the guarantee of
food and shelter for the length of their
service). Something new had occurred.
Poverty now pushed vast numbers of the
poor into the military; these soldiers,
however, owed their loyalty and
gratitutde not to the state, but to their
general who served as a kind of patron.
This personal loyalty gave Marius, and
future generals, access to civilian power
that they had never had before.
The Government/Imperial Rome
• This was a frightening discovery
in the administration of the
government; now that it was
apparent that military force
alone produced and
legitimated the emperor's rule,
there was nothing to stop
ambitious generals from using
their armies to advance their
political careers dramatically.
Government/Imperial Rome
• Rome acquired more of
northern Africa, most of
Great Britain, parts of
Germany, eastern Europe
around the Black Sea, as
well as Mesopotami and
the northern part of the
Arabian peninsula.
Now What?
Politics/Government/Military
What were the key factors?
Quality of Leadership
Emperors/Generals
Quality of the Army
Job seekers
Succession-who will the next leader be
No Clear Method
Size of the empire
Too big to manage
Put your responses in your own words
Helpful tips for 3.06
Economic
And
Social
What is economic?
•
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•
•
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Money
Trade
Products/production
Jobs/occupations
Taxes
Government spending
What is Social?
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Class systems
Behavior
Health
Entertainment
Disease
Crime
Loyalty
Read the info and write one statement
for each describing the cause and
explaining how it happened.
Places to go for information.
• FLVS intro page to 3.06
• Robert Hooker’s Rome (link
off of FLVS site) The last
two parts in the table of
contents.
“The Calamitious Century.
180-284 AD”
“The Late Empire”
• One of my personal
favorites for the
condensed version.
For Example…….
Economic: Inflation
occurred because the
Roman empire had
stopped growing. Roman
were not producing items
to sell abroad but instead
were sending the gold out
of the country for luxury
items. The less gold there
was to use in coins meant
the value of the coins was
less. Merchants began