The Legacy of the Roman Empire - krusworldhistory.weebly.com · Important Legacies • Alphabet....
Transcript of The Legacy of the Roman Empire - krusworldhistory.weebly.com · Important Legacies • Alphabet....
THE FALL & LEGACY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
AN INCREASED EMPHASIS ON THE EASTERN HALF OF THE EMPIRE
• Emperor Diocletian• Divided empire
• Got too big
• Ended up not working- instead created a mental division between East and West
• East began growing stronger
MAP ANALYSIS 1
• Emperor Constantine• Moved the capitol to
Constantinople in the east
• Power shift: west → east
• Christianity• Legalized the Christian church
and ended persecution – Edict of Milan
• Made official religion by Emperor Theodosius
AN INCREASED EMPHASIS ON THE EASTERN HALF OF THE EMPIRE…AND CHRISTIANITY!
MAP ANALYSIS
The old capital was centrally located for
better control
The new capital, while going through fewer problems than
Rome and generally more advanced as a city, was much
further from the center, and things were harder to control in the
empire.
THIS CREATES PROBLEMS…
POLITICAL CAUSES OF ROME’S FALL
• Political office seen as burden
• Bad emperors
• Civil war/rebellion
• Division of Empire
• Moved capital to Constantinople
SOCIAL CAUSES OF THE FALL OF ROME
• Decline in interest in public affairs
• Low confidence in gov’t• Disloyalty• Corruption• Gap between rich and poor
ECONOMIC CAUSES OF THE FALL OF ROME
• Poor harvests/famine
• Disruption of trade
• Lack of war plunder
• Inflation
• High taxes
• Gap between rich and poor
MILITARY CAUSES OF THE FALL OF ROME
• Threat from northern tribes
• Recruiting non-Roman citizens leads to lack of patriotism and loyalty amongst troops
IMMEDIATE CAUSES OF THE FALL OF ROME
• Invasion by Germans and Huns
Important Legacies
• Alphabet and Language• Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian (Romance languages)
• Roman Numerals
• Calendar• Developed by Julius Caesar-JULY!
• Republicanism-the idea of the people playing an active role in the government (similar to Greece; still influences America!)
• Aqueducts• Carried water into the cities
from long distances
• Used the arch
Other Legacies: Engineering and Architecture
• Architecture-columns-dome-concrete