Unit 22: Fall of the Roman Empire?
Contents and layout ©1999 Joseph J. Hughes, Ph.D.
Revised 09 November 2000
Byzantine Empire Stilicho
patrocinium Visigoths
curiales Vandals
Valentinian Huns
Theodosius Romulus Augustulus
I. Did the Roman Empire Fall?
A. outward appearances
1. 337 AD
a. Empire intact
b. traditional borders relatively secure
c. Roman government in complete control
2. 476 AD
a. Empire divided in two
b. traditional borders
1). West divided into smaller units
2). East intact
c. sway of Roman government
1). West ruled by Germanic kings
2). East ruled by a Roman emperor
d. increased power of Catholic church
B. two theories
1. the empire falls
a. Roman political and military power sundered
1). army collapses
2). Empire in pieces
b. fabric of the commonwealth destroyed
1). Germanic barbarians are in control
2). church assumes too much power
3). masses degraded to servitude
2. the empire merely changes
a. Roman political and military power adapted
1). army reorganized
2). Empire reallocated into logical units
a). East: Byzantine Empire
b). West: precursor of nation-states
b. a reorientation of the commonwealth
1). orderly government usually prevails
2). Church is a force for stability
3). feudalism does not represent much of a change
II. Changes in the Roman Empire
A. failure of the army
1. source of native Roman soldiers cut off
a. rich purchased exemptions
1). for themselves
2). for their dependents
b. service much more risky than it was
2. army largely made up of Germans
a. no particular loyalty to Empire
b. morale depended upon pay
3. army spectacularly unsuccessful
a. melts away in front of Germanic invasions
b. commanders motivated by strange priorities
c. occasional collusion
B. social structure
1. lower class
a. burdens of government fall heavily
1). burden of taxation fell upon them
2). liable to service in armies
3). population is decreasing
b. legal inequities
1). -humiliores- subject to a number of punishments
a). execution
b). penal servitude
c). torture
2). legal status equal to that of slaves
a). slavery dies out
b). peasants slip into the status of serfs
3). -patrocinium- system
a). like patron-client relationship
b). client is protected against government
c. depopulation in the country
1). depredations of war
2). less incentive to reproduce
a). life is nasty and short
b). why beget more miserable people
d. woes of the urban poor
1). depredations of war
2). handouts become farther and fewer between
2. problems of middle class
a. once the strong backbone of urban culture
1). provided strong government
2). provided public works
3). competed eagerly for prestige
b. -decuriones- become -curiales-
1). become glorified imperial agents
2). expected to make up the diff from their pockets
3). start to back out of duties
a). slip down to the lower class
b). aspire to upper class
c. slightly better off in Eastern half of empire
1). more urban
2). more wealthy
3. problems of upper class
a. senatorial class still flourishing
1). includes senates of both capitals
a). Rome
b). Constantinople
2). also senators resident in Imperial cities
a). large landowners
b). powerful civil service
b. subject to special duties and exemptions
1). immune from normal taxes
2). paid "senatorial" taxes
a). modern corporate taxes a good analogy
b). eagerly sought
c. tended to work against the government
1). preferred to enjoy their wealth
2). did not contribute to society
4. attempts to address these problems
a. Valentinian I appoints "Defenders of the People"
1). worked on principle of tribunes
2). not long-lived
b. Theodosian Code: knee-jerk reaction
c. renewed appeal to patriotism
1). coins
2). cult of personality
5. social biases
a. Greek vs. Roman always resentful
1). had been smoothed over in time of "Good Emperors"
a). idea of "commonwealth" transcended race
b). "Romans" came to include all subjects
2). now comes to the fore in a new form
a). religious (schismatic) reasons
b). result of geographic divisions
b. Roman vs. German fatal
1). untrue to Roman spirit of tolerance
a). Romans were accustomed to learn from others
b). Rome had succeeded in assimilating subjects
2). would not accept them fully
a). used them in army
b). rejected overtures from German kings
C. economic conditions
1. government was a tremendous burden
a. expensive to maintain an army
b. expensive to maintain a bureaucracy
2. wealthy landholders become further entrenched
a. large landholdings become autonomous
1). economically self-sufficient
a). can provide their own food
b). also become centers of trade, industry
2). politically
a). can defend their own territory
b). tend to govern themselves
b. central government loses authority
1). leads to feudalism in West
2). not so prevalent in more urbanized East
3. breakdown of central government created chaos
III. Division of the Empire
A. Valentinian and Valens (364)
1. neither ruled at Rome
a. Valentinian: Milan
b. Valens: Constantinople
2. Valentinian (364-375)
a. drives Germans out of Black Forest (367)
b. turns back Germans on Danube (375)
c. succeeded by his son Gratian
3. Valens tromped by Visigoths at Adrianople 376
B. Theodosius (376-395)
1. strict orthodox Christian
a. declared the Nicene faith the "catholic" (true) faith
1). persecuted heretics
2). selected bishops personally
b. banned pagan worship 391
1). closed all temples
2). persecuted pagans
2. treatment of "German problem"
a. allows Visigoths to enter empire as -foederati-
b. first -nation- to receive federate status
3. reunites Empire for the last time (394)
a. passes to sons on death
1). Arcadius: East
2). Honorius: West
b. causes the final division of the empire
C. the Empire divided
1. neither son of Theodosius a capable ruler
a. regent in West: Stilicho
b. regent in East: Rufinus
2. Stilicho makes plans for war against Eastern Empire
a. first sign of war between halves of the Empire
b. forgets about the Visigoths
IV. The Frontiers Broken
A. the Visigoths
1. reasons for hostility to Roman Empire
a. pushed out of their lands by the Huns
b. cruelly abused as -foederati-
c. converted to Arian Christianity
2. leader: Alaric (ca. 395-410)
a. invades Italy 401-403
1). forces Honorius to move to Ravenna
2). receives quasi-royal prestige from Stilicho
b. retained as counterweight to power of the East
B. invasion on the Rhine 406
1. mixed band of German tribes
a. Vandals
b. Suebi
c. Alans
2. Rhine frontier broken for good
a. all Gaul captured
b. Britain falls to Saxon immigrants
3. Stilicho put to death by Honorius
a. failed to defend Rhine frontier
b. accused of conspiring with Alaric
c. slaughter of Germans ensued
1). Roman anger against Germans
2). remainder go over to Visigoths
4. Alaric sacks Rome and then dies (410)
C. invasions of the Vandals
1. leader: Gaiseric
2. moved from Gaul into Spain and Africa
a. nominally -foederati-
b. created their own kingdom
3. Rome powerless to intervene
4. Rome sacked and plundered for 2d time in century (455)
D. invasion of the Huns
1. leader: Attila (434-453)
2. remains on friendly terms with Western Empire
a. emperor: Valentinian III (425-455)
b. regent: Aetius
3. turns on Western Empire
a. invades Gaul 451
b. invades Italy 452
4. Hunnish empire collapses with Attila's death
E. Romulus Augustulus and the "fall of the Empire"
1. son of Attila's former secretary Orestes
2. deposed by his general Odoacer in 476
a. Odoacer transfers the imperial insignia to the East
b. rules Italy not in name, but in fact, as a king
V. Christianity and the "fall" of the Empire
A. rise of Christianity
1. survives persecutions of 3d century
a. important factor in life of the poor
b. closely-knit but small communities
2. established as state religion by Constantine
a. dynamic social movement
b. tool to control public, add to social stability
B. Christianity as state religion
1. schisms and disharmony
a. attempts to provide a unified creed
b. attempts to set up a unified hierarchy
1). patriarchs in big Eastern cities
a). Constantinople: first in East
b). more the clerical arm of Eastern Empire
2). bishop of Rome in the West
a). Petrine primacy
b). develops into Papacy
2. Christian church as social arm of state
a. provided for poor and ill
1). government had long since stopped caring
2). this became its recognized function
b. could also exercise power in secular affairs
1). sometimes more influential than government
2). Popes became powerful
3. Christian church as agent of decay
a. attracted able men
1). aided growth of Church
2). might otherwise have served State
b. was given huge amounts of money
1). aided Church and its programs
2). might otherwise have bailed out State
c. drew men's minds from the temporal to the spiritual
1). brought comfort to members of the Church
2). aided spirit of defeatism in West
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