The Decline of the Roman Empire

• The Roman Civilization flourished in Italy before the fall of Greek civilization, with Greek culture impacting it.
• Rome aimed to establish its rule on the Western Mediterranean and expand East after dominating the Italian Peninsula.
• The Roman state transitioned into an empire through imperialistic policies focused on expanding over the Mediterranean world.
• Rome served as a historical bridge between the Oriental and Occidental worlds.
• Romans were conservative but influenced by Greek culture, they synthesized Roman respect for tradition, order, military superiority with Greek urbanization and intellectual pursuits.

The Decline of Rome

• The end of Antiquity occurred with the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, marking the start of the Medieval Age.
• 3rd century A.D.: The decline of Rome began.
• There was no clear law of succession, this led to quarrels and civil strife from military generals seeking power.
• There was no understanding of reform, the Roman authorities only solution to fix the empire was to overthrow it.
• Roman government was not extended to a larger social strata, this led to hostility and disloyalty given subjects couldn't participate in the government.
• The Roman economy declined because it was based on cities that relied on agricultural activities, agriculture surplus was important.
• Slave labor couldn't reproduce enough to maintain numbers, this led to the collapse of the slave system because foreign conquests and therefor new slaves ended, and a manpower shortage and economic decline emerged in agricultural activities.
• Rome faced external threats through barbarian pressure, this reduced the male population on farms because citizens started being used in the army, causing labor shortages.
• Plague in the 2nd and 3rd centuries B.C. reduced the population, this caused shortages of laborers and soldiers, which led to demoralization.
• There was a noted lack of civic ideals, as well as a "lack of unifying spirit", due to the vastness of the Empire and its "regional differences", "lack of homogeneity", as well as a "lack of public education", and "social stratification.
• The Roman Empire started to decline but did not collapse.

How to Save the Empire?

• 3rd century A.D.: Soldier emperor Diocletian reorganized the Empire, he enacted fundamental reforms to reduce the army's deep-rooted dominance in state affairs by separating military from civilian administration.
• Diocletian divided the empire into two parts because its size made it weak from internal and external pressures, he granted the Western half to Maximianus (Maximianus recognized Diocletian as the senior ruler).
• Diocletian began to geographically orient the empire towards the East, ruling from Nicomedia (284-303 A.D.).
• Constantine abandoned shared power in favor of ruling a united empire, he established a new capital city (330 B.C.) in the east called Constantinople.
• There were several advantages and potential benefits in Constantinople through trade, defense, and communication, which led to it becoming the center of commerce and administration.
• Constantine made succession hereditary, introduced dynastic monarchy, and treated the Empire like his personal property.
• Constantine initiated the adoption of a new monotheistic religion, which was Christianity.

The Adoption of Christianity

• Christianity expanded during the chaos of the 3rd century within the Roman Empire, it became the dominant religion during the 4th century.
• By 380 A.D., Theodosius I declared Christianity as the empire's only religion, the adoption of Christianity by the Roman Empire was initiated by Constantine and completed by Theodosius.
• The adoption of Christianity was pursued due to the religious diversity (paganism, polytheism) within the empire, it hoped to unify the empire that was demoralized and religiously divided, and provide unity through Christianity.
• In 380 A.D., Theodosius the Great decreed that all subjects must convert to Christianity and abolished paganism.
• Christianity was announced as the only religion of the Empire, it was the political aspect for the adoption of Christianity.
• The adoption of Christianity was also intended to improve the masses lives as the Empire had become demoralized in the 4th century A.D. and was politically chaotoic and difficult economically in the 3rd century A.D..
• Unlike the Roman polytheism religion, Christianity focused on spirituality and the afterlife, promised salvation, and had social dimensions and an organizational structure which appealed to the average citizen.
• Monotheistic religions had appeared external and mechanical, Christianity was inward or spiritual and promising an afterlife.
• Because it was supported by the State, Christianity quickly became the dominant religion and polytheistic beliefs disappeared.

The Barbaric Threat

• The Barbaric tribes were threatening the Empire while Christianity was conquering it from within.
• By the end of the 5th century A.D., the Barbaric tribes demolished the Western Roman resistance, this led to them conquering all of the Roman West, which caused the Roman Empire in the West to collapse.
• The Barbarian tribes established kingdoms, a new form of government that replaced the rule of Julius Caesar and Augustus: The traditional date is 476 A.D, which marks the start of the Medieval Age.
• The Barbaric tribes succeeded because the Roman armies were depleted due to population decrease and the need for manpower in other occupations.
• The Romans were no longer zealous about defending themselves, leading the Barbaric tribes to victory, the Eastern Roman Empire survived while the Western one collapsed.
• The economy of the West was mainly agricultural, its agricultural produce served only to feed farm laborers and landlords, the Eastern was prosperous and richer because its economy had important metropolises such as Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, well developed trade, and industry.
• The Eastern Roman State had greater sources of wealth to tax, which was necessary for survival of the empire.
• The creation of separate tribal kingdoms in the West contributed to accelerate an urban decay.

The End of the Roman Empire

• Germanic tribes (Anglo-Saxons) crossed the English Channel and extended their rule on the Island of Britain, this occurred in the middle of the 5th century.
• The kingdom of the Franks was established in the northern part of Gaul (around Paris).
• The Visigoths were present in Spain.
• Vandals ruled Roman Northwest Africa.
• Ostrogoths occupied all of Italy.
• The Roman unity came to an end, which led to a decentralized world with new forces in separate areas.
• Due the the ending of the Roman Empire by the barbaric tribes, the civilization left three heirs into the history which consisted of Byzantine, Islamic, and Western Christian.
• There would no longer be a single empire ruling over all territories bordering on the Mediterranean, which meant a new period began in the 7th century.
• By 700 A.D., united Rome was replaced by three successor civilizations (Byzantine, Islamic, Western Christian) that stood as rivals on different Mediterranean shores.
• Each civilization had its own language and distinctive forms of life.
  • The Byzantine civilization descended from the eastern Roman Empire, it was Greek speaking with Roman governmental traditions and with intense pursuit of the Christian faith.
  • The Islamic civilization was Arabic-speaking and it was inspired in government and culture by the idealism of a dynamic new religion.
  • The Western Christian Civilization was slow in comparison to the others, but its economical advance was slow, and it faced organizational weaknesses in both government and religion, however it had some base of unity in Christianity and the Latin Language.