1. THE DECLINE OF ROME
Social Studies for 9th EGB
Teacher: Mauricio Torres
2. Introduction
• As you have read, foreign tribes had settled
along the Roman Empire’s northern borders
in the 200s.
• A century later, these bands began raiding
deep into the heart of the empire.
4. Early Invasions
• The source of these raids
were a group of people
called the Huns, fierce
warriors from Central Asia.
– They first invaded southeast
Europe, pushing another
group, the Goths (Visigoths
and Ostrogoths). Unable to
defeat the Huns, they fled
into Roman territory.
5. Clashing with Goths
• Roman leaders feared that the Goths would destroy
Rome’s land and property. They fought hard to keep them
out.
– Eastern armies were successful and pushed them towards the
west.
– As a result, the western armies were defeated by the Goths. In
this way, many Goths moved into the Roman Empire.
6. Desperate Fighting
• The Romans fought
desperately to keep the
Goths away from Rome.
Even as far as paying them
not to attack.
– In 408 Rome stopped making
payments, and later in 410 an
army of Visigoths invaded
Rome!
7. The End of the World
• This invasion devastated the Romans, because
their city had not been invaded in 800 years!
– The now Christian Romans thought it was the end of
the world.
9. More Barbarians
• The Gothic victory inspired more foreign
warriors to invade the western half of the
empire.
– The Vandals, Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Franks all
launched attacks.
– Meanwhile, the Huns, with Attila as a
leader, raided territory in the east.
12. Power Vacuum
• Rome needed strong leaders to survive these attacks, and
by now emperors were weak! Therefore, military leaders
took power away from emperors.
– Conflict with one of these foreign generals gave way to a
situation in which one of them (Odoacer) overthrew the
emperor and declared himself King of Italy.
– This event is considered as the end of the Western Empire.
14. Main Factors
1
• The Empire’s vast size
2
• Political crisis and
corruption
3
• Wealthy citizens with
independent armies
15. The Empire’s vast size
• Communication among various parts of the
empire was difficult, specially during conflict.
• It just became to big to govern.
16. Political crisis and corruption
• By the 400s, corruption (a decay of people’s
values) had become widespread in Roman
government.
– Corrupt officials used threats and bribery to achieve
their goals, often ignoring the needs of Roman
citizens.
– As a result, government was no longer efficient.
17. Wealthy citizens with independent
armies
• Wealthy Romans fled from the
city to their country states and
created their own private
armies for protection.
– Some of these men, used their
armies to overthrow emperors
and take power for themselves.
• For those who stayed in the
city, life became more difficult:
– Rome’s population
decreased, schools closed, taxes
soared, making many Romans
poor.
18. Fun Fact
• Among the many threats
posed to the Romans, one
of the most serious came
from a group called the
Vandals. A Germanic tribe,
they attacked Spain, Gaul,
north Africa before they
sacked Rome itself.
• Today’s use of the word
vandal comes from the
damage and destruction
Vandal raids caused in the
Roman Empire.
19. Ask Yourself
• Recall
How did Romans deal with Goth invaders?
• Sequence
What sequence of events led to the sack of Rome in 410?
• Identify
What factors weakened the Roman government?
• Cause and Effect
What were the effects of wealthy citizen’s leaving Rome?
• Elaborate
Which factor do you think played a major role in the downfall of
Rome?
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