Beginning of the Middle Ages: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Vocabulary flashcards covering the causes of the crisis of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century and the characteristics of the barbarian peoples.

Crisis of the Third Century

The period beginning in the 3rd century marked by border insecurity, economic decline, falling tax revenues, and weakened imperial power in the Roman Empire.

Germanic Peoples

Groups whose attacks made the Roman frontiers insecure, cut off communication routes, and paralyzed commercial trade.

Shortage of Slaves (Roman Crisis)

An economic factor that caused a sharp decline in agricultural and mining production across the Roman Empire.

Legion Commanders (Late Empire)

Military leaders whose growing power during the imperial crisis turned them into the actual rulers of the Roman provinces as central imperial authority weakened.

Barbarian Peoples

Populations organized into tribes without kings who lived in villages and sustained themselves through livestock raising and primitive farming.

Tribal Chiefs

The political and military leaders who governed barbarian tribes instead of monarchs or kings.

Barbarian Migration Pattern

The practice of relocating whole communities to new areas whenever the agricultural land became depleted.

Barbarian Metalworking and Goldsmithing

Craft specializations in which barbarian artisans were particularly skilled at working metal and gold.

Barbarian Polytheism

A religious system featuring multiple deities associated with nature and a belief in a paradise reserved for warriors who died in battle.