Post on 16-Dec-2015
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire?
Introduction
• Oliver Stone: “You have to understand what it was like to be a Roman empire and to find some barbarian tribe riding into Rome in 476 A.D. It’s quite a shock.”
Introduction
• Oliver Stone: “You have to understand what it was like to be a Roman empire and to find some barbarian tribe riding into Rome in 476 A.D. It’s quite a shock.”
• 3 questions to complicate things– When did the Roman Empire Fall?– Why did the Roman Empire Fall?– Did the Roman Empire Fall?
When Did It Fall?
• What dates did you find?
When Did It Fall?
• What dates did you find?• Canonical Date: 476• Why did we do this exercise?
Why Did It Fall? An Overview
• A Big Question• What Theories Did You Find?
Why Did It Fall? An Overview
• A Big Question• What Theories Did You Find?– External Threat and Internal Weakness– Rise of Christianity– Barbarians– Economic Factors– Overexpansion– Inevitable Decline– Lead Poisoning– Immorality and Moral Degeneracy
Why Did It Fall? Internal Disintegration
• Forces of Internal Decay– End of Expansion– Ineffective/Contested Leadership– Economic Stagnation– Military Problems
Why Did It Fall? Internal Disintegration
• Forces of Internal Decay– End of Expansion– Ineffective/Contested Leadership– Economic Stagnation– Military Problems
• Gibbon’s Traditional Theory: Christianity
Why Did It Fall? Internal Disintegration
• Forces of Internal Decay– End of Expansion– Ineffective/Contested Leadership– Economic Stagnation– Military Problems
• Gibbon’s Traditional Theory: Christianity• Why the West?– Less Defensible– More Barbarized Army– Less Wealth
Why Did It Fall? Internal Disintegration
• Forces of Internal Decay• Gibbon’s Traditional Theory: Christianity• Why the West?• Depopulation– Evidence– Origins– Effects
Why Did It Fall? Barbarian Pressure
• Who were the Barbarian Invaders?– Traditional Definition– These Barbarians– Myths about Barbarians• Myth: Enemies of Civilization• Myth: Suddenly Arrive• Myth: Hordes• Join ‘em don’t beat ‘em
Why Did It Fall? Barbarian Pressure
• Who were the Barbarian Invaders?• Barbarizing the Roman Army
Why Did It Fall? Barbarian Pressure
• Who were the Barbarian Invaders?• Barbarizing the Roman Army• Visigoths
Adrianople in 378
Vandals
Anglo-Saxons
Franks
Huns
Alemanni
Burgundians
Marcomanni
Lombards
Because of mistreatment by Roman officials, the Visigoths rebel and destroy an entire Roman army at Adrianople in 378.
378
VisigothsHadrianopleX
Anglo-Saxons
Franks
Visigoths
Marcomanni
In 410, the Visigoths sack Rome. At the same time, a general in Britain named Constantine declares himself emperor. The legions of Britain go with him, never to return. Declining revenues from the turmoil cause more legions to disband.
Vandals
Alemanni
BurgundiansLombards
409-410
Huns
Anglo-Saxons
Franks
Visigoths
Alemanni
Burgundians
Vandals
417
Marcomanni
Lombards
Huns
The Roman government makes a deal with the Visigoths, letting them settle in Gaul if they will destroy the Vandals. The Visigoths defeat the Vandals and drive them to the southern tip of Spain. Declining revenues from the turmoil cause more legions to disband.
Why Did It Fall? Barbarian Pressure
• Who were the Barbarian Invaders?• Barbarizing the Roman Army• Visigoths• Attila the Hun
Anglo-Saxons
Franks
Visigoths
Alemanni
Burgundians
Vandals
417
Marcomanni
Lombards
Huns
Why Did It Fall? Barbarian Pressure
• Who were the Barbarian Invaders?• Barbarizing the Roman Army• Visigoths• Attila the Hun• Vandals
Anglo-Saxons
Franks
Marcomanni
Huns
Alemanni
BurgundiansLombards
455-476
Visigoths
Ostrogoths
The Vandals in North Africa build a navy & raid across the Mediterranean, even sacking Rome in 455. By now Imperial defenses are virtually non-existent in the West as various tribes move in to claim territories for themselves. Meanwhile, emperors are rapidly set up & toppled as the empire comes crashing down. In 476, a Germanic general, Odovacer, replaces the last Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustulus & sets up his own kingdom of Italy.
Vandals
Why Did It Fall? Barbarian Pressure
• Who were the Barbarian Invaders?• Barbarizing the Roman Army• Visigoths• Attila the Hun• Vandals• Odoacer
480 C.E.
By 480, the only remnant of Roman power in the West is that of the Gallo-Roman ruler, Syagrius. In 486, he will fall to the rising power of the Franks, thus removing the alst shred of Roman authority in the West.
500 C.E.
By 500 the Franks have eliminated the last vestige of Roman power in the West.
Why Did It Fall? Barbarian Pressure
• Aftermath– Barbarian Kingdoms
Why Did It Fall? Barbarian Pressure
• Aftermath– Barbarian Kingdoms– Transformation– Begs the question…
Did the Roman Empire Fall?
Did it Fall?
• Framework of Late Antiquity– Dominant Paradigm: Decline and Fall– New School: Upheaval and Transformation
Did it Fall?
• Framework of Late Antiquity (200-600)– Dominant Paradigm: Decline and Fall– New School: Upheaval and Transformation
• Vehicles for Continuity– Eastern Roman Empire!– Christian Church– Barbarians Themselves
Did it Fall?
• Framework of Late Antiquity (200-600)– Dominant Paradigm: Decline and Fall– New School: Upheaval and Transformation
• Vehicles for Continuity• Still, some kind of break– Catastrophists– Examples of Rupture– Prime Example: Fate of Rome
Population of Rome
• Vandals cut off Grain Supply• 5 BC: 800,000-1,000,000
Population of Rome
• Vandals cut off Grain Supply• 5 BC: 800,000-1,000,000• 310s: 600,000
Population of Rome
• Vandals cut off Grain Supply• 5 BC: 800,000-1,000,000• 310s: 600,000• 419: 300,000-500,000
Population of Rome
• Vandals cut off Grain Supply• 5 BC: 800,000-1,000,000• 310s: 600,000• 419: 300,000-500,000• 590: 150,000 Max
Population of Rome
• Vandals cut off Grain Supply• 5 BC: 800,000-1,000,000• 310s: 600,000• 419: 300,000-500,000• 590: 150,000 Max• 800: 30,000 Max
Did it Fall?
• Framework of Late Antiquity (200-600)– Dominant Paradigm: Decline and Fall– New School: Upheaval and Transformation
• Vehicles for Continuity• Still, some kind of break• Value of Continuists• Split of Greco-Roman World