Rome Video- The Fall
1. Describe the antics of Commodus and his assassination.
-done on previous worksheet
2. What was the aftermath of his assassination?
-civil war
-chaos
-no leadership or emergence of powerful military leader
3. Describe the antics of the emperor Elagabalus.
-transvestite, married a charioteer
-walked backwards through city with a black stone
-wanted to be castrated
-killed while on toilet by palace guard nad thrown in to the Tiber river
4. a)What was the sybiline oracle?
-series of apocalyptic prophecies that had haunted the empire for centureis
b) What were its apocalyptic prophesies?
-Rome will suffer….pay for sins
-women shall be enslaved and made into whores because of men who are greedy and sinful
5. What was the role of the average Roman Emperor?
-bureaucrat who balances the demands of major political forces: military, senate, people etc.
6. Make a list of some of the problems or trends in 3rd century Rome.
-too few men in power
-wealthy forgot democratic values and were ignoring the commoners
-small farmers were pushed out by large landowners and flooded into the poor
-gap between rich and poor
-obsession with games and races…obsessed
-170 days devoted to games per year
-educated Romans were turning back on “old Rome” and heading off to Eastern world
-resentment in the provinces
-excessive slavery
-exploitation of the provinces
-extreme poverty
-barbarians on the frontiers
-rebellions in the provinces
7. Describe the Millennium Games of 248 CE.
-to celebrate 1000 year old birthday of Rome
-death toll was huge even by Roman standards
-1000 gladiators killed
-huge numbers of exotic animals
8. How did nature “conspire” against Rome?
-climatic changes in the east were forcing the Huns (lived on mountain plateaus in China) west pushing others into Roman territory
9. Which groups began invading Rome?
-Goths, Vandals, eventually Huns
10. Describe what happened to the emperor Valerian.
-captured by Persians
-used as a stepping stool by the king
-after he died in captivity he was skinned and his hide hung in a temple
11. Describe the social and economic aftermath of his defeat.
-panic
-furious recruitment drive (half a million)
- to pay for the army: taxes rose, inflation
-currency was devalued
-bureaucracy swelled
-spies everywhere
-moving towards totalitarianism
12. Describe the actions of the emperor Diocletian.
-split empire in two: 2 emperors, 2 armies
-froze prices
-banned Christianity
-successful in the short term as peace and order returned
-only emperor ever to retire quietly and lived to be an old man
13. Describe the career and actions of Constantine.
14. How did the collapse of Rome further strengthen the Christian Church?
-October 26, 312 CE two rivals battled for control
-Constantine commanded one
-saw a cross in the sky—by this sign you will win
-paints crosses on the shields
-converted to Christianity and made it the State Religion
-saw how the religion would unify the people
-discipline, obedience of Christian
-was he really a Christian or did he convert for political expediency or in search of forgiveness for killing his son and wife
-he ruled from the Eastern Roman empire…from Byzantium. Remained the city Constantinople.
-shift away from Italy…centred in the East.
-ruled like an oriental sultan…absolute power
15. Who was the last emperor of Rome?
-Romulus
16. List the various components of the legacy of Rome.
-engineering
-Catholic Church is based on the political structure of the Republic
-conquest—creation of “large empires”
-law/order
-elections/voting/government structure
-Latin