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474 CHAPTER 10 • Roman Civilization

A.D. 284Diocletian triesto reform empire

A.D. 395Roman Empiredivided into easternand western parts

A.D. 476Rome’s last emperor overthrownConstantinople

RomeSPAIN

GAUL

BRITAIN

ITALY

GREECE

EGYPT

A.D. 250 A.D. 350 A.D. 450A.D. 250 A.D. 350 A.D. 450

of RomeThe Fall

Looking Back, Looking AheadIn Section 1, you learned about

Roman life and achievements whenthe empire was at its height. Overtime, however, the Roman Empirebegan to have problems, and itgradually grew weaker. Eventually,Rome fell to outside invaders.

Focusing on the • Poor leadership, a declining economy,

and attacks by Germanic tribes weak-ened the Roman Empire. (page 475)

• Rome finally fell when invadersswept through the empire during the A.D. 400s. (page 479)

• Rome passed on many achievementsin government, law, language, andthe arts. (page 482)

Locating PlacesConstantinople

(KAHN•STAN•tuhn•OH•puhl)

Meeting PeopleDiocletian (DY•uh•KLEE•shuhn)Constantine (KAHN•stuhn•TEEN)Theodosius

(THEE•uh•DOH•shuhs)Alaric (A• luh•rihk)Odoacer (OH•duh•WAY•suhr)

Content Vocabularyinflation (ihn•FLAY•shuhn)barter (BAHR•tuhr)reform (rih•FAWRM)

Academic Vocabularyauthority (uh•THAHR •uh•tee)expand (ihk•SPAND)

Reading StrategySequencing Information Create adiagram to show the events that ledup to the fall of the Roman Empire.

Fall of the Roman Empire

HistorySocial ScienceStandardsWH6.7 Studentsanalyze the geographic,political, economic,religious, and socialstructures during thedevelopment of Rome.

WH7.1 Studentsanalyze the causes andeffects of the vastexpansion and ultimatedisintegration of theRoman Empire.

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WH7.1.1 Study the early strengths and lasting contributions of Rome (e.g., significance of Roman citizenship; rights under Roman law; Roman art, architecture, engineering, and philosophy; preservation and transmission of Christianity) and its ultimate internalweaknesses (e.g., rise of autonomous military powers within the empire, undermining of citizenship by the growth of corruption and slavery, lack of education, and distribution of news).

CHAPTER 9 Roman Civilization 475

The Decline of RomePoor leadership, a declining economy,

and attacks by Germanic tribes weakened theRoman Empire.

Reading Connection What do you do when you face a

difficult problem? Do you try to solve it yourself? Do you ask

other people for help? Read to learn about the problems

the Roman Empire faced and how its leaders responded.

In A.D. 180 Marcus Aurelius died. His son, Commodus (KAH • muh • duhs), becameemperor. Commodus was cruel and wastedmoney. Instead of ruling Rome, Commodusspent much of his time fighting as a gladia-tor. In A.D. 192 the emperor’s bodyguardkilled him. Many decades of confusion andconflict followed.

After Commodus, emperors called theSeverans ruled Rome. Much of their timewas spent putting down revolts and pro-tecting Rome’s borders. The Severansstayed in power by paying the army well,but they ignored the growing problems ofcrime and poverty.

Political and Social Problems When thelast Severan ruler died in A.D. 235, Rome’sgovernment became very weak. For almost50 years, army leaders constantly foughteach other for the throne. During this time,Rome had 22 different emperors.

Poor leadership was not Rome’s only dif-ficulty. Fewer Romans honored the old idealsof duty, courage, and honesty. Many govern-ment officials took bribes. As problems

Weak Roman Government• Dishonest government officials provide poor leadership.

Eastern Roman Empire• Constantinople becomes the new capital.• The empire survives attacks and prospers.

Byzantine Empire• This empire is created from the Eastern Roman Empire and lasts nearly 1,000 years.

Western Roman Empire• Numerous attacks threaten the empire.• Territory is slowly lost to invaders.

Social Problems• Famine and disease spread throughout the empire.

Declining Economy• Income and wages fall.• Wealthy fail to pay taxes.

Reform Fails and Rome Divides in Two• Government fails to keep order.• Violence and tension increase.• Diocletian divides the empire.

Rome Falls• The city of Rome falls in A.D. 476.• The Western Roman Empire is divided into Germanic kingdoms by A.D. 550.

The Decline of RomeThe Decline of Rome

Many issues, including a weak government, lackof food, and fewer jobs, led to Rome’s decline.1. According to the flow chart, what occurs

after reform fails? 2. Cause and Effect What were the final effects

of the Roman Empire being split in two?

475CORBIS

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increased, talented people often refused toserve in government. Many wealthy citizenseven stopped paying taxes. Fewer peopleattended schools, and a large number of theempire’s people were now enslaved. WealthyRomans supported slavery because it was acheap way to get work done.

Economic and Military Problems Duringthe A.D. 200s, Rome’s economy began to fallapart. As government weakened, law and

order broke down. Roads and bridges weredestroyed, and trade routes became unsafe.Information could not be sent quicklyacross the empire, and Rome’s army couldno longer organize quickly enough to driveout invaders. Roman soldiers and invadersseized crops and destroyed fields. Farmersgrew less food, and hunger began tospread.

As the economy worsened, peoplebought fewer goods. Artisans producedless, and shopkeepers lost money. Manybusinesses closed, and the number of work-ers dropped sharply. Many workers had toleave jobs and serve in the military.

Rome also began to suffer from inflation(ihn • FLAY • shuhn), or rapidly increasingprices. Inflation happens when money losesits value. How did this happen? The weakeconomy meant fewer taxes were paid.With less money coming in, the Romangovernment could not afford to defend itsterritories and had to find a way to pay itssoldiers and officials. One way for the gov-ernment to get the money it needed was toput less gold in its coins.

By putting less gold in each coin, thegovernment could make extra coins andpay for more things. People soon learnedthat the coins did not have as much gold inthem, and the coins began losing value.Prices went up, and many people stoppedusing money altogether. They began tobarter (BAHR • tuhr), or exchange goodswithout using currency.

Meanwhile, invaders swept into theempire. In the west, Germanic tribes raidedRoman farms and towns. In the east, armiesfrom Persia pushed into the empire’s terri-tory. As fighting increased, the governmentcould no longer enlist and pay Romans assoldiers. It began using Germanic warriorsin the army. However, these Germanicsoldiers were not loyal to Rome.

Distrust of Money

As the Roman Empiredeclined, people stoppedtrusting the value ofmoney.“Whereas [because] thepublic officials have assem-bled and have accused thebankers of the exchangebanks of having closedthem because of theirunwillingness to accept the divine coin of theemperors, it has becomenecessary to issue an order to all owners of thebanks to open them and to accept and exchange allcoin except the absolutelyspurious [false] and coun-terfeit—and not alone to them but to those whoengage in business transactions of any kind.”

—“Distrust of Imperial Coinage,”Oxyrhynchus Papyrus, no. 1411, Vol. 2,

A.S. Hunt, trans.

What do you think was happening to theeconomy of the empire as people stoppedusing the official money?

Roman coins

476 CHAPTER 10: Roman Civilization

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What Were Diocletian’s Reforms? In A.D. 284 a general named Diocletian(DY • uh • KLEE • shuhn) became emperor. Tostop the empire’s decline, he introducedreforms (rih •FAWRMZ), or political changesto make things better. Believing the empireto be too large to rule by himself, Diocletianchanged its framework by dividing it intofour parts. He named officials to rule theseareas but kept authority over all.

Diocletian also worked to boost theeconomy. To slow inflation, he issued rulesthat set the prices of goods and the wages tobe paid to workers. To make sure moregoods were produced, he ordered workersto occupy the same jobs until they died.Diocletian’s reforms failed. The peopleignored the new rules, and Diocletian didnot have enough power to enforce them.

Who Was Constantine? In A.D. 305Diocletian retired from office. After aninterval of conflict, another general namedConstantine (KAHN • stuhn • TEEN) becameemperor in A.D. 312. To aid the economy,Constantine issued several orders andpassed important legislation. The sons ofworkers had to follow their fathers’trades, the sons of farmers had to work theland their fathers worked, and the sons ofsoldiers had to serve in the army.

Constantine’s changes did not halt theempire’s decline in the west. As a result,Constantine moved the capital from a dyingRome to a new city in the east. He chose thesite of the Greek city of Byzantium (buh•ZAN• tee • uhm). There he built a forum, anamphitheater called the Hippodrome, andmany palaces. The city became known asConstantinople (KAHN • STAN • tuhn • OH • puhl).Today, Constantinople is called Istanbul.

Explain How did Diocletiantry to reverse the decline of Rome?

Slavery in the Roman Empire Publicand private slavery were common inRoman society. Public slaves wereowned by the state. They took care ofimportant buildings and servedgovernment officials. Educated publicslaves were used to help organize thegovernments of conquered areas.

Private slaves were owned byindividuals. They were often forced towork long hours and could be sold atany time. Wealthy Romans hadhundreds or even thousands ofenslaved people. Most enslavedpeople worked on farms.

Most enslaved people were men.This was probably because their workrequired great strength. Someenslaved men also became gladiators.Enslaved women made clothing andcooked for their owner’s family.

Connecting to the Past1. What was the main difference between

public and private enslavement?

2. Which jobs were probably considered themost desirable by enslaved people?

Roman slavesat work

The Newark Museum/Art Resource, NY

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Then and Now

478

CONSTANTINE THE GREATc. A.D. 280–337

First Christian Roman EmperorConstantine was the first Roman Emperor to become a

Christian, although he was not baptized until near his death inA.D. 337. He first came to believe in Christianity many yearsearlier, when he was a military leader. Constantine believed hehad seen a flaming cross in the sky inscribed with these words:“By this sign thou shall conquer.” The next day his army wasvictorious in an important battle. He believed that the crosswas a call to the Christian God.

During his reign, Constantine granted new opportunities toChristians and helped advance the power of the early CatholicChurch. At the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325, he encourageddiscussion about the acceptance of the Trinity (Father, Son,and Holy Spirit). He also boosted the political positions andpower of bishops within the Roman government.

Even though Constantine had many political and religioussuccesses, his life was filled with controversy and tragedy.Constantine married a woman named Fausta. His eldest sonfrom a previous marriage was named Crispus. Fausta accusedCrispus of crimes and claimed that he was planning to seize the throne.

Constantine was so shocked that hehad his son killed. Constantine laterdiscovered that Fausta had lied becauseshe wanted her own son to be in line forthe throne. He then had Fausta killed.

Modern-day Constantinople

Constantine believed freedom of religion wasimportant for the success of his empire andmade sure that Christians could no longer bepersecuted. What part of the U.S. Constitutionprotects freedom of religion?

Constantine

WH6.7.7 Describe the circumstances that ledto the spread of Christianity in Europe andother Roman territories.

(t)Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey/E.T. Archives, London/SuperStock, (b)C. Boisvieux/Photo Researchers

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WH7.1.1 Study the early strengths and lasting contributions of Rome (e.g., significance of Roman citizenship; rights under Roman law; Roman art, architecture, engineering, and philosophy; preservation and transmission of Christianity) and its ultimate internalweaknesses (e.g., rise of autonomous military powers within the empire, undermining of citizenship by the growth of corruption and slavery, lack of education, and distribution of news). WH7.1.2 Discuss the geographic borders of the empire at its height and the factors that threatened its territorial cohesion.

CHAPTER 10 • Roman Civilization 479

Rome FallsRome finally fell when invaders swept

through the empire during the A.D. 400s.

Reading Connection How would you feel if a favorite

place—a shop, park, or recreation center—was closed

after being open for many years? Read to learn how the

Romans had to face an even greater loss when their city

and empire fell.

Both Diocletian and Constantine failedto save the Roman Empire. WhenConstantine died in A.D. 337, fighting brokeout again. A new emperor calledTheodosius (THEE • uh • DOH • shuhs) finallygained control and ended the fighting.

Ruling the empire proved to be difficult.Theodosius decided to divide the empireafter his death. In A.D. 395, the Roman Empiresplit into two separate empires. One was theWestern Roman Empire, with its capital atRome. The other was the Eastern RomanEmpire, with its capital at Constantinople.

Rome Is Invaded As Rome declined, it wasno longer able to hold back the Germanictribes on its borders. Many differentGermanic groups existed—Ostrogoths,Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Angles, andSaxons. They came from the forests andmarshes of northern Europe.

These Germanic groups were in searchof warmer climates and better grazing landfor their cattle. They also were drawn byRome’s wealth and culture. In addition,many were fleeing the Huns, fierce warriorsfrom Mongolia in Asia.

In the late A.D. 300s, the Huns enteredEastern Europe and defeated the Ostrogoths(AHS•truh•GAHTHS). The Visigoths, fearing fortheir own welfare, asked the Eastern Romanemperor for protection. He let them settle

just inside the empire’s border. In return theypromised to be loyal to Rome.

Before long, trouble broke out betweenthe Visigoths and Romans. The empireforced the Visigoths to buy food at veryhigh prices. The Romans also kidnappedand enslaved many Visigoths.

Finally, the Visigoths rebelled againstthe Romans. In A.D. 378 they defeatedRoman legions at the Battle of Adrianople(AY • dree • uh • NOH • puhl). After that defeat,Rome was forced to surrender land to theVisigoths inside Roman territory.

Rome Is Attacked

In this excerpt fromone of his letters, theChristian leaderJerome describesattacks on theRoman provinces.“Who would believethat Rome, victor overall the world, would fall,that she would be toher people both thewomb and the tomb. . . .Where we cannot help we mourn and mingle with theirs our tears. . . . There is not anhour, not even a moment, when we are not occupied with crowds of refugees, when the peace of the monastery is not invaded by a horde of guests so that we shall either have toshut the gates or neglect the Scriptures for which the gates were opened.”

—Jerome, “News of the Attacks”

Does Jerome think the gates of themonastery should be shut? Explain.

Saint Jerome

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480 CHAPTER 10 • Roman Civilization

The Germanic tribes now knew thatRome was not capable of defending itself.More and more Germanic warriorscrossed the borders in search of land. Inthe winter of A.D. 406, the Rhine River inWestern Europe froze. Germanic groupscrossed the frozen river and entered Gaul,which is today France. The Romans weretoo weak to force them back across theborder.

In A.D. 410 the Visigoth leader Alaric(A • luh • rihk) and his soldiers capturedRome. They burned records and looted the

treasury. Rome’s capture shocked theempire’s people. It was the first time Romehad been conquered in 800 years.

Another Germanic group known as theVandals overran Spain and northern Africa.They enslaved some Roman landownersand drove others away. Then the Vandalssailed to Italy. In A.D. 455 they enteredRome. They spent 12 days stripping build-ings of everything valuable and burningthem. From these attacks came the Englishword vandalism, which means “the willfuldestruction of property.”

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ATLANTICOCEAN

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Mediterranean Sea

Danube R.

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ASIAMINOR

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Germanic Invasions of Rome c. A.D. 200–500

1. Movement Who attacked bothBritain and northern Gaul?

2. Place Why do you think theEastern Roman Empireexperienced very few invasions?

Find NGS online map resources @www.nationalgeographic.com/maps

Western Roman EmpireEastern Roman EmpireBattle

Angles/SaxonsFranksHuns

KEYOstrogothsVandalsVisigoths

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CHAPTER 10 • Roman Civilization 481

Rome Falls By the mid-A.D. 400s, severalGermanic leaders held high posts in Rome’sgovernment and army. In A.D. 476 aGermanic general named Odoacer (OH•duh•WAY • suhr) took control, overthrowing the western emperor, a 14-year-old boynamed Romulus Augustulus (RAHM • yuh •luhs aw • GUHS • chah • luhs). After RomulusAugustulus, no emperor ever again ruledfrom Rome. Historians often use this event tomark the end of the Western Roman Empire.

Odoacer controlled Rome for almost 15years. Then a group of Visigoths seized thecity and killed Odoacer. They set up a king-dom in Italy under their leader, Theodoric(thee •AH •duh • rihk). Elsewhere in Europe,other Germanic kingdoms arose. For exam-ple, in the Roman province of Gaul, a

Germanic people called the Franks tookpower in A.D. 486. About 10 years later,Clovis, the Frankish king, converted toChristianity and became a Catholic. Beforelong, nearly all of the Franks became Catholic,helping to spread Christianity in Europe.

By A.D. 550, the Western Roman Empirehad faded away. Many Roman beliefs andpractices remained in use, however. Forexample, Europe’s new Germanic rulersadopted the Latin language, Roman laws,and Christianity. Despite the WesternRoman Empire’s fall to Germanic invaders,the Eastern Roman Empire prospered. Itbecame known as the Byzantine Empireand lasted nearly 1,000 more years.

Identify Which event usu-ally marks the fall of the Western Roman Empire?

An image showing the Visigoths invading Rome. Whatleader did the Visigoths overthrow to take control of Rome?

Mary Evans Picture Library

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WH6.7.8 Discuss the legacies of Roman art and architecture, technology and science, literature, language, and law.

WH7.1.1 Study the early strengths and lasting contributions of Rome (e.g., significance of Roman citizenship; rights under Roman law; Roman art, architecture, engineering, and philosophy; preservation and transmission of Christianity) and its ultimate internalweaknesses (e.g., rise of autonomous military powers within the empire, undermining of citizenship by the growth of corruption andslavery, lack of education, and distribution of news).

482 CHAPTER 10 • Roman Civilization

The Legacy of RomeRome passed on many achievements in

government, law, language, and the arts.

Reading Connection Did you know that the words

doctor, animal, circus, and family come from Latin, the

Roman language? Read to discover other things we

have borrowed from the Romans.

A legacy is something that someoneleaves to future generations of people. TheRomans left a large legacy. Our world

would be very different if the Romans hadnever existed. Many words in the Englishlanguage and many of our ideas about gov-ernment come from the Romans. The sameis true for our code of laws and our knowl-edge about building. Roman rule alsoallowed the Christian religion to spread.

Roman Ideas and Government TodayRoman ideas about law, as first written in theTwelve Tables, are with us today. We, like theRomans, believe that all people are equalunder the law. We expect our judges to

Columns, domes, andarches still appear in many modernbuildings. Banks, homes, and

government buildings often use aRoman style. What Roman architectural

styles do you see in your neighborhood?

Roman and Modern Architecture

Early Romans borrowed architectural ideasfrom the Greeks, but they also developed their ownstyle. Roman designs often included vaults, columns,domes, and arches. New architectural ideasmeant that buildings could be constructed innew ways. Because of concrete and a newdesign, Roman theaters did not have to bebuilt on natural slopes to have tieredseating.

The Pantheon in Rome

The Rotunda at theUniversity of Virginia

(l)Sean Sexton Collection/CORBIS, (r)Donald Dietz/Stock Boston/PictureQuest

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CHAPTER 10 • Roman Civilization 483

Reading SummaryReview the • A series of weak emperors, inva-

sions by outsiders, disease, and anumber of other factors led to agreatly weakened Roman Empire.

• Numerous invasions by Germanicpeoples led to the fall of Rome inA.D. 476.

• Roman ideas about governmentand Roman architecture are justsome of the legacies of ancientRome.

1. What social problems helpedcause the empire’s decline?

2. Why did the Roman govern-ment use Germanic warriors inits army?

Critical Thinking3. Summarizing Information

Draw a diagram like the onebelow. Fill in details aboutRome’s legacy.

4. Cause and Effect Whatcaused Rome’s economy toweaken? How did inflationaffect Rome?

5. Describe Who were theVisigoths, and why are theyimportant?

6. What is the influ-ence of Rome’s language andarchitecture today?

7. Persuasive Writing Write anessay explaining what youthink is the main reason for thedecline and fall of the RomanEmpire, and what might havebeen done to prevent it.

CA 6WS1.1; 6WA2.5

CA 6RC2.3

CA HI2.

CA HI6.

CA 6RC2.4

decide cases fairly, and we consider a personinnocent until proven guilty.

Roman ideas about government and cit-izenship are also important in many coun-tries today. For example, like the earlyRomans, Americans believe that a republicmade up of equal citizens is the best form ofgovernment. We also believe that a republicworks best if citizens do their duty, partici-pate in government, and work to maketheir society better.

Roman Influence on Culture Today we usethe Latin alphabet, expanded from 22 to 26letters. Latin shaped the languages of Italy,France, Spain, Portugal, and Romania. ManyEnglish words also come from Latin.Scientists, doctors, and lawyers still use Latinphrases. Every known species of plant andanimal has a Latin name. Today, we also still

read the works of Romans such as Virgil,Horace, Livy, Cicero, Suetonius, and Tacitus.

Ancient Rome also left a lasting markon architecture. We still use concrete forconstruction, and Roman architecturalstyles are still seen in public buildingstoday. When you visit Washington, D.C.,or the capital city of most states, you willsee capitols with domes and archesinspired by Roman architecture.

Christianity As you probably know,Christianity is one of the major religions inthe world today. Christianity began in theRoman Empire. When Rome’s governmentadopted Christianity in the A.D. 300s, ithelped the new religion to grow and spread.

Compare Which aspects ofRome are reflected in present-day cultures?

Roman Legacies

What Did You Learn?

Study Central Need help with the fall of Rome? Visit ca.hss.glencoe.com and click onStudy Central.

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