the fall of ancient rome notes template answers

8/15/2019 The Fall of Ancient Rome Notes Template Answers

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THEFALL

OFROME


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A populartheory for

the fall of

the RomanEmpire istherepeatedinvasions

of Romanterritory inEurope byGermanicBarbariantribes. Forexample,

the RomanEmpire wasattackedby tribessuch as the


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Goths andtheandals.

Rome hadtan!ledwith these Germanic tribes forcenturies, but by "## A$!roups like the Goths had moved beyondthe Empire%sborders. &he Goths wanted to move south

into parts ofEurope that experienced a better climatethat would assisttheir farmin! practices. &his brou!ht theGoths into conflictwith the Romans.


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&he Romans experienced an attack fromGermanic tribes in the early ' th century.(n )*# the city of Rome wassuccessfully invaded and defeated bythe Goth +in!, Alaric. Alaric reali ed thatthe Roman Army was so thinly spread,that the city of Rome would berelatively easy to invade. Alaricmoved cautiously south and in A$ )*#

he captured the city of Rome. Romanheld territory in -pain, France, orth Africa and En!land would all eventuallyfall to the various tribes that attackedthem.

Finally, in )/0 A$, Germanicleader 1doacer sta!ed arevolt a!ainst the RomanEmpire and caused the endof the rule of Roman EmperorRomulus Au!ust ulus. -inceno Roman Emperor ever


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ruled a!ain from within (taly,many historians consider )/0

A$ to be the date in which

the western portion of theRoman Empire collapsed.


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&his theory for collapse says that theRoman Empire experienced yearsof economic crisis that weakened it. &heempire had beeninvolved in constant wars andoverspendin! hadsi!nificantly lessened its reserves andfinancial stability. (nresponse to the overspendin!, the empire

imposed hi!hertaxation on its citi ens to try to raise moremoney for the!overnment. &his taxation systemand inflation hadwidened the !ap between rich andpoor, which caused a

divide in Roman society. Anothereconomicproblemto hit


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Rome

was the

lack of

newworkersandterritories.

Rome%seconomy

dependedon slavesto work inits fieldsand aslaborers.2any of these slaves came fromcon3uered territories that Rome captured asit expanded its empire. (ts military mi!ht hadtraditionally provided a fresh supply ofcon3uered peoples to put to work.

4owever, Roman expansion be!an toslow in the later years of the history ofthe empire. 5hen expansion slowed in thesecond century, Rome%s supply of


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slaves and other war treasures be!an todry up.


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A final economic concern for theRoman Empire was caused by theinvadin! 6barbarian7 tribes. &heinvadin! tribes caused the empire tobecome separated in parts and severelylimited the ability of the Roman Empire tocarry out trade. For example, in the fifthcentury, the andals claimed orth

Africa and be!an disruptin! the

empire%s trade. 5ith its economyfalterin! the Empire be!an to lose itscontrol over its territory in Europe.


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(Above) Vandal warriors caused an economic crisisin the Roman Empire with their ability to disruptRoman trade routes and networks.


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At its hei!ht, the Roman Empire was oneof the lar!est empires in human history. (tstretched from 5estern Europe and the

Atlantic 1cean to territory in the2iddle East and south to areas of orthern Africa. &he vastness of the

empire made it difficult for the rulers inRome to effectively control all areas of the empire. Even with their excellent

road systems, the Romans were unableto communicate effectively. &herefore,Rome stru!!led to spread out its troopsand resources to defend itsborders from the invasions of rival6barbaric7 tribes.


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&he spread of 8hristianity also playeda role in the fall of the RomanEmpire. 8hristianity monotheistic,which means is involved a belief inone God. &his was different fromthe traditional Roman reli!ion, whichwas polytheistic, meanin! a belief inmany !ods. For much of Rome%shistory, 8hristianity was opposedand 8hristians were even

persecuted because their beliefswere different from traditionalRoman reli!ion.

4owever, (n "*"B8, the roleof8hristianity in

Rome wouldtake adramaticchan!e, andthe reli!ionwould spread


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throu!hout theempire.Roman emperor 8onstantineended allpersecution anddeclared that8hristianityshould betolerated. &hiswould be taken

further whendecadeslater 8hristianitybecame theofficialreli!ion of theRoman Empire.

By approvin! 8hristianity, theRoman Empire caused thedownfall of its own reli!ious traditionsand be!an a dramaticchan!e throu!hout its empire. For example, within theRoman Empire the emperor wasconsidered to be a !od, however,

the 8hristian belief in one !od 9who was not the emperor 9weakened the authority andcredibility of the emperor and led tothe downfall of the overall empire.


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(n the ""# A$, RomanEmperor 8onstantinedivided the empire intotwo halves. &he westernhalf was based out ofRome while the easternhalf was based out of8onstantinople : a citythat 8onstantine named after himself.

&he division made the empire easier to!overn in the short term, especiallyconsiderin! the crisis that Rome facedat the time, such as; economicinstability and barbarian invasions.4owever, over time the two halves of theempire drifted apart.

&he two halves of the empire did notwork to!ether tocombat outside threats, and the twooften ar!ued over


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resources and how best to run the overallRoman Empire. Astime passed, the Greek:speakin!

Eastern Empire !rew inwealth and prospered while the


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INVASIONS

ECONOMICS

OVER EXPANSION

CHRISTIANITY

DIVIDED EMPIRE

THE FALL OF ROME

NOTES TEMPLATE

- Repeated invasions by Barbarians (for better farming practices)- The Roman army was spread thin (due to vast territory) so it was easily for

Barbarians to invade

- Overspending due to how expensive it was to be in constant war withothers

- Poorer people were forced to pay higher taxes to the Roman mpire whichcaused a divide in society

- !ac" of new slave wor"ers for the mpire- #nvading Barbarians caused separation between territories therefore trade

- The vast territory of the Roman mpire made it di$cult to control- Rome could not spread out troops and resources to defend its boarders

against Barbarian invasions

- %hristianity spread throughout the Roman mpire with the belief in one &odwhich went against the Roman traditions of the belief in many gods

- ' Roman mperor is considered a god therefore his authority is wea"ened if he practiced %hristianity as the religion has a belief in one &od

- %hristianity believes in peace therefore believers within the mpire did notwant to ght others

- hen the Roman mpire was divided in two in **+ ', by %onstantine theytwo halves began drifting apart and they did not wor" together to shareresources or combat invasions

- By ./0 ', estern Rome was in economic crisis and collapsed after a &oth

invasion while the est thrived and continued on for years


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IN YOUR OPINION, WHICH IS THE STRONGEST REASON ROMEFELL?

the fall of ancient rome notes template answers

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