Two Emperors
Diocletian
Diocletian was an emperor who ruled during 284 - 303
It's cool to persecute Christians
Rome needs a big army (400,000 Strong)
Rome needs a big government (20,000 officials)
Constantine
Rules from 306 - 337
It's cool to BE a Christian
Conversion to Christianity via a cross in the sky
313 - His Edict of Milan proclaims freedom of worship
Built a new capital in the East
Built a new capital in the East
Byzantium, soon to be known as Constantinople
The Struggle of the Peasants
Life in the Fourth Century
Country dwellers are getting bankrupted by endless tax collection
New farming system: peasants work for elite landlords on large farms
Peasants can avoid paying taxes, but they are getting hit just as hard by the landlords
Paying off debts and being "allowed" to live on the land, in exchange for endless back-breaking work
Landowners hold local power as counts and bishops, wielding more real power than the faraway empire
Foreshadowing feudalism
The Western Empire Crumbles
Romes Power Decreasing
Rome's power is decreasing, while nomadic barbarians gain power
Western empire is too poor, begins to be neglected
Huns migrate from China to eastern Europe
Visigoths take over Spain, and actually capture and loot Rome itself in 410
Vandals control Carthage and the Western Mediterranean
End of an Era
From the beginnings...
500 B.C. - The monarchy is abolished
450 B.C. - The Twelve Tables are established
...through the glory days...
44 B.C. - End of the line for Julius Caesar
27 B.C. - 180 A.D. - The Roman Peace (Pax Romana)
to the bitter end...
constant fifth century invasions by barbarians tribes left the western Roman Empire shattered and crumbling
the last emperor was a teenage boy installed in 475 by his father
barbarians deposed Romulus Augustalus without bothering to kill him
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