05.05 Travel Journal Ancient Rome - The Fall of the West

Objectives for this lesson:

  • Identify key figures associated with ancient Rome
  • Explain the reasons for the gradual decline of the Western Roman Empire after the PaxRomana
  • Analyze how geography contributed to the culture and politics of ancient Rome

Why were Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius called the Five Great Emperors?

Specific questions to answer:

  1. What was the PaxRomana?
  2. Why was Nerva a great emperor?
  3. Why was Trajan a great emperor?
  4. Why was Hadrian a great emperor?
  5. Why was Antoninus Pius a great emperor?
  6. Why was Marcus Aurelius a great emperor and why did he want to kill the Christians?

What are some of the reasons historians believe caused the fall of the Western Roman Empire?

Specific questions to answer:

  1. Edward Gibbon was a famous English historian who wrote about the fall of the Empire. What reasons did he list as to why the empire fell?

Why did Emperor Diocletian take control of the eastern part of the Roman Empire?

Specific questions to answer:

  1. What was the new capital of the Eastern Roman empire called?
  2. Where was the Eastern Roman empire located?
  3. What was the advantage that the Eastern Empire had compared to the Western Emipre?

How did the Roman government get money?

Specific questions to answer:

  1. Based on paragraph #1 of page 4, what was the biggest financial burden for the empire of Rome?
  2. Based on paragraph #2 of page 4, the Eastern Roman empire was able to pay for its taxes, but why could the Western empire not pay for its taxes?

Why would Alaric sack the city of Rome after it paid him a ransom?

Specific questions to answer:

  1. Who were the barbarians?
  2. Who was Alaric?
  3. Who did the ransom of Rome affect it after payment to Alaric?

How was it possible for Odoacer to remove Romulus Augustulus as ruler?

Specific questions to consider:

  1. Where did the Vandals come from?
  2. Why was Romulus Augustulus not a competent ruler?
  3. Why did the Romans decided to higher barbarians to fight on their side?
  4. Why were mercenary soldiers bad for the Roman army? What was the potential problem here?
  5. Who was Odoacer?
  6. The Western Roman Empire fell first. How long did it take the Eastern Roman Empire to fall? What was the east called?