The Fall of Rome

Pax Romana

peace which existed between nationalities within the Roman Empire

Marcus Aurelius died

180 AD

Pax Romana ended

When Marcus Aurelius died

Marcus Aurelius’s son

Commodus

Commodus

took over the Empire starting a string of bad emperors and the ultimate decline of the Roman Empire

After the death of Marcus Aurelius

the roman empire will stay together for nearly 300 years

Causes of Roman Fall

**Geographical Size, Economy, Military, Moral Decay, Political Problems, Invasion and move of the capital city**

**Geographical Size**

**Difficulty of defense and administration**

Economy

**The cost of defense, and devaluation of Roman currency. Slavery caused high unemployment**

**Military**

**Army membership started to include non-Romans , resulting in decline of discipline**

Non-Romans in the military

**mercenaries**

Moral Decay

 People’s loss of faith in Rome and the family

**Political Problems**

**Civil conflict and weak administration**

Constantine moved

the capital city from Rome to Byzantium

Renamed Byzantium to

Constantine

Roman Empire was split into

Western and Eastern Empire

Western Empire fell in

476 AD

The Western Empire fell but the Eastern Empire will

live on for another 1000 years