5/12/2014

AD 180: Rome has problems

• Economic -  trade became risky, taxes were too high, food supply was dropping.
• Military - frontiers were hard to patrol, Roman Generals fought for control, soldiers' loyalty declined and mercenaries appeared. 
• Diocletian divided the empire into two.
• Greek speaking East (had more resources)
• Latin speaking West (Rome, tradition)
• Diocletian
• Rules from 284-303
• Son of a freed slave.
• wanted to have a big army (400,000) and big government (20,000 government officials).  
• Was proclaimed emperor by his troops.
• Was the one who systematically reorganized the Augustan settlement to build a new government structure.
• last emperor to be named by his troops.
• Did not like Christians. persecuted them
• AD 324 - Constantine becomes emperor over both halves of the empire.
• Constantine
• Rules from 306-337
• Doesn't persecute Christians.
• Converts to Christianity, saw a cross in the sky that says "conquer by this!"  
• moves the capital from Rome to Byzantium (renamed Constantinople), where Asia met Europe (now turkey).
• After his death, the empire was divided again.
• Barbarian invaders (Huns, Saxons, Franks, Visigoths, etc.) overrun the empires frontiers.
• issued the Edict of Milan
• ended persecution and proclaiming complete freedom of worship thought the empire. 
• issued in 313
• Roman Empire disappears. 
• Since Rome is now gone, Barbarians took over. 
• The last emperor was a teenage boy, named Romulus Augustulus, installed by his father in 475.