THE RISE AND FALL OF

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Zakkery McCann
CMP101
2/25/2015

The Beginning

Rome began
as a town in
625 BC
Although
Romans
believe there
city began in
753 BC
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Rome's rise to power

By 260BC Rome
ruled over all of Italy
This was a small
empire by this point
Only by the end of
its first war against
Carthage did Rome
actually possess any
provinces (Sardinia,
Corsica and Sicily) 241 BC.
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The early Roman Empire

A map of the Roman Empire

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The Roman Government

Rome's most potent

weapon appeared to be
'enfranchisement'.
They brought upon Italy
in particular, but also
their other, later
territories the rights
and privileges of
Roman citizenship, or
at least good
government, security
and a reasonable
justice system.
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Government
In short, Rome was a state, not
a tyranny. In fact during most
of its expansion, Rome was in
fact a republic, not governed
by an emperor, but by the
Roman senate.
People preferred to be ruled
by Rome for the alternatives
were either wild barbarians to
the north or tyrannies to the
east and south.
Also some kings without heirs
left their kingdoms to the
Romans, seeing Rome as the
best governor of their people
after their own death.
Kingdoms like Cyrene and
Pergamum fell into the Roman
possession by such peaceful
means.

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Roman Innovations
Newspapers
Newspapers

Concert
Concert

Bound Books
Bound Books

The Julian Calendar

The Julian Calendar

Roads and Highways

Roads and Highways

Battlefield Surgery
Battlefield Surgery

The romans had their own press

Theup
romans
had their
own press
Kept
with current
events
Kept up with current events

The invented it 2,100 years ago

The used
invented
it 2,100 years
ago
They
it in everything
they
built
They used it in everything they built

Created bound books still used today

Created
still used today
Kept
betterbound
track books
of information
Kept better track of information

Created roads out of coble stone

Created
roads
out
of coble
stone
Made
some
of the
first
modern
roads
Made some of the first modern roads

The modern Gregorian calendar is

The modern
modeled
very Gregorian
closely on calendar
a Roman is
modeled very closely on a Roman
version
version

The Romans invented many surgical

Theand
Romans
invented
surgical
tools
pioneered
the many
cesarean
tools and pioneered the cesarean
section.
section.

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The Coliseum

Measuring some 620

by 513 feet (190 by
155 meters), the
Coliseum was the
largest amphitheater
in the Roman world.
The Coliseum held
many of Rome's
Gladiator Battles,
Horse races, and
sports.
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The Emperors
THE GOOD

Nerva

GOOD, helped empire reach record

heights, undertook a huge building
program, enlarged social welfare, ruled
from 98-117 AD

Caligula

GOOD, during reign, there was a large

amount of peace and prosperity, ruled
from 138-161 AD

BAD, vicious, murdered

many and persecuted
Christians, ruled from 54-68
AD

Domitian

Marcus Aurelias

BAD, mentally disturbed,

ruled from 37-41 AD

Nero

GOOD, Reorganized the Bureaucracy,

ruled from 117-138 AD

Antoninus Pius

GOOD, Began the custom of adopting

heir to the throne, 96-98 AD

Hadrian

Trajan

THE BAD

GOOD, brought empire to height of

economic prosperity, defeated invaders,
wrote philosophy, ruled from 161-180 AD
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BAD, ruled dictatorially,

feared treason and executed
many, ruled from 81-96 AD
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The Decline

Bad Rulers
Mass Migrations
Civil unrest
The execution of
some of the best
army leaders
Economic decline
Roman disunity,
endless infighting
Plagues
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The steady fall

Romans became
more civilized
leading to less
warriors to fight
against the
barbarians.
Factions keep
forming to take
control of Rome
amongst the
leaders.
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Economic crash

Rome was
spending money
and recourses at an
alarming rate.
The free food
rations for the poor
and buying of
exotic spices and
silk also took its
toll.

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Plagues

Plagues took there

toll on Rome due to
migration of other
peoples. This
brought new
pathogens witch
the Romans were
not prepared to
survive. This cased
more of Romans
citizens to leave
and find a new land
to call home.
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The last years of the

Empire

As a last reason I'd

also see the
disastrous decision
of emperor Valens
(who was emperor
of Constantinople)
to allow the
Visigoths to settle
in Moesia.

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The end of Rome

The Roman empire's borders to the north had been the river
Rhine and the river Danube. They are wide streams and
therefore hard to cross. This means, the border was easy to
defend. But when the Huns from the east attacked the
Visigoths on the other side of the Danube, emperor Valens
let them settle on the Roman side of the river. True, the
Visigoths then were friends of the Romans. But that soon
changed. It didn't take long and bad living conditions,
poverty and starvation led the Visigoths to revolt. In the
following war, the Romans no longer had a protective river
from behind which to defend themselves. The enemy was
settled within their own empire. - And it should be the
Visigoths who eventually sacked the city of Rome itself.
They say The Roman Empire ended with the last emperor,
Romulus Augustus, in AD 476.
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Sources

http://
www.roman-empire.net/diverse/faq.html
http://
www.history.com/news/history-lists/10-inn
ovations-that-built-ancient-rome
http://
www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/c
olosseum
http://quizlet.com/9883517/good-vs-bademperors-in-rome-flash-cards/
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