Chapter 15 section 4

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Chapter 15 section 4

• Emperors
• And
• The Fall of the Empire

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Emperors of Rome

• An emperor is an absolute ruler of an empire.
• An empire is a group of states, regions, or
  countries, under 1 persons absolute rule
• Rome had several emperors. Some were good and
  some were terrible.
• Some emperors gained the throne through adoption
• Others may have been put there by the Praetorian
  Guard- the bodyguards that are to protect the
  emperor

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Augustus

• 27 B.C.- A.D. 14- Julius Caesars nephew and heir
• 1st emperor
• Pax Romana- reforms, created peace
• Reorganized the government
• Patron of the arts
• No son- step son becomes his heir

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Tiberius

• A.D. 14- A.D. 37
• 2nd emperor
• Continued Augustuss reforms
• Reformed taxes, cut luxury expenses to improve
  finances of the empire

5
Caligula

• A.D. 37-A.D. 41
• Adopted by Tiberius
• Repaired roads and built aqueducts
• Made his own horse the consul of Rome

6
Claudius

• A.D. 41-A.D. 54
• Extended Rome into England
• Extended citizenship to more people
• Married his own niece who had him murdered so her
  son could be emperor

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Nero- last of Julius Caesars line

• A.D. 54 to 68 A.D.
• Last emperor who was related to Julius Caesar
• Murdered lots of family members
• Persecuted the Christians
• Rebuilt Rome after the fire in A.D. 64
• He committed suicide

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Flavius Vespasians

• A.D. 69- A.D. 79
• He established a new line of emperors
• Started the construction of the Coliseum
• Destroyed Jerusalem during a revolt
• He was followed by his son Titus (A.D. 79-A.D.
  81)
• Mt. Vesuvius erupts in August of A.D. 79

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Domitian

• A.D. 81- A.D. 96
• Coliseum was completed under his reign

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Trajan

• A.D. 98- A.D. 117
• 1st non Italian to lead the empire
• Adopted by Nerva
• Aggressive foreign policy (Romanian, Armenia, and
  Mesopotamia)

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Hadrian

• A.D. 117- A.D. 138
• Built new towns
• Public works projects
• Reformed slavery system- illegal for a master to
  put his own slave to death
• Built a wall as northern boundary- est. manmade
  and /or natural boundaries in Empire

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Marcus Aurelius

• A.D. 161 A.D. 180
• One of the greatest emperors- the last of good
  emperors
• Very kind and very fair
• Military leader
• Loved philosophy and wrote a book
• Last emperor of the Pax Romana

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Commodos

• A.D. 180- A.D. 192
• Marcus Aurelius was his father
• He was very cruel and undid all the reforms his
  father did.
• His guards killed him.

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Diocletian

• A.D. 284- A.D. 305
• Rule by Divine right
• Economic reforms
• Divided empire (Eastern Roman Empire and Western
  Roman Empire) to make it easier to rule

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Constantine I

• A.D. 312- A.D. 337
• 1st Roman emperor to convert to Christianity
• Moved capital to Constantinople

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Fall of the Empire

• 4 main reasons the Empire fell
• Political
• Economic
• Social
• Foreign Invasions

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Conditions get worse

• Out of control spending
• Greedy emperors
• Inflation / High taxes
• Lack of consistent leadership and selection of
  emperors
• Fighting among Roman legions over support of
  Emperors
• No new territories coming in to empire with
  wealth
• Money not worth much- causing citizens to have to
  go back to a barter economy
• Growing crime rates and poverty

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Attempts to save the Empire

• Diocletian-
• Son of freedmen
• Fortify frontiers
• Reorganized government
• Set maximum prices for wages and goods
• All workers keep same jobs until they die
• Rule by Divine Right
• Divide Empire into 2 to make it easier to rule

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Attempts to save the Empire

• Constantine I-
• Workers had to follow their fathers trade
• Sons of farmers had to work their fathers land
• Sons of ex-soldiers had to serve in army
• Moved capital out of Rome and created a permanent
  split in the Empires

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Political

• Government not able to rule a vast empire- the
  government was set up to run a small city-state
  rather than an area as large as the Roman Empire
• Lacked a fixed succession to the throne
• The divided empire lacked effective leadership-
  the best leaders were in the Eastern Empire
• The Western Empire was in a state of decline and
  decay
• Selection over emperors- either civil wars,
  auction throne to highest bidder
• Establish Rule by Divine Right

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Economic

• Rome needed money- the government had heavy
  expenses
• Levied heavy taxes on the people
• Emperors tried to fix prices to control
  businesses
• Crime increases
• Roads and bridges in disrepair
• Trade and manufacturing disappear- towns lose
  population
• Agriculture suffers- much land used as
  latifundias
• Inflation- money value is worthless
• Went to a system of barter- trade items for items
  instead of using money

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Social

• Lack of loyal soldiers- no match for the well
  trained/ loyal German tribes
• Mixture of cultures, religions, national groups
• Loss of patriotism and loyalty to Rome herself
• Christianity-new religion that taught against
  worshipping the emperor
• Slave revolts
• Decline in health- epidemics break out

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Foreign Invasions

• Invaders able to break through the borders of
  Rome (The Huns, the Germanic Tribes)
• Invention of the stirrup
• Rome was captured in A.D, 410 by the Visigoths
• Germanic tribes claimed large portions of Western
  Empire
• Eastern half of empire was stronger and more
  prosperous and able to resist outsiders
• Barbarians able to defeat the Roman army
• The Roman Senate declared the people were on
  their own and they could no longer save them

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After the fall .

• The Western Empire will go through 1000 year
  period called the Middle Ages where classical
  things such as art, architecture, philosophy,
  science, math, literature, and politics will be
  forgotten until the Renaissance.
• The Church will play a big role in the political
  structure of many of the countries in Europe.
• Western Europe will experience the Dark Ages.

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• The Eastern half of the empire will thrive and go
  on to great things and keep the classical
  knowledge alive and safe.
• It will be known as the Byzantine Empire