World History / Unit 2: Classical Greece and Rome
2.7 The Fall of the Western Roman Empire
Notes
After 180 CE, Rome faced a long crisis. The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE, while the eastern half survived.
- Political problems: weak or short-lived emperors, civil wars and corruption.
- Economic problems: high taxes, inflation, and disrupted trade.
- Military problems: a huge border to defend and reliance on hired foreign soldiers.
- Diocletian split the empire into eastern and western parts for easier rule (285 CE). Constantine built a new capital, Constantinople (330 CE).
- Germanic peoples, pushed by the Huns, moved into the empire. The Visigoths sacked Rome in 410 CE. In 476 CE, Odoacer removed the last western emperor, Romulus Augustulus.
- The eastern half continued as the Byzantine Empire until 1453.
Practice
Which was an ECONOMIC cause of the decline of the Western Roman Empire?
Rising prices and taxes weakened the economy.
Why did Germanic groups move into Roman lands in the late 300s CE?
Pressure from the Huns pushed groups like the Goths across Rome's frontier.
What happened to the eastern half of the Roman Empire after 476 CE?
The Byzantine Empire lasted until the Ottomans took Constantinople in 1453.
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