roman empire 2 Flashcards
Why did rome start to decline?
it was too big, making it hard to govern and defend
what miliary reasons led to the decline?
fighting the parthian empire, germanic tribes, and civil wars drained food, money, soldiers
what political reasons led to the decline?
it’s difficult to govern a huge empire
frequently changing emperors
power gained by local rulers
why did emperors frequently change?
they were blamed for not protecting the empire
how did the local rulers gaining power lead to the decline?
it weakened imperial authority
what economic reasons led to the decline?
interrupted trade, heavily taxed people, lower value of currency
how did interrupted trade lead to the decline?
led to food shortages
what were the people heavily taxed for?
expensive wars
what effect did the lower value of cuurency have?
it heavily affected the poor
what social reasons led to the decline?
unrest from the gap between rich and poor
more criminal organizations
civic responsibility no longer important
why did civic responsibilty become unimportant?
official leaders would get beaten up
what did the new emperor diocletian do?
split the empire in two
who took the western side of the empire?
maximian
how did they rule the empire?
Diocletian and maximian, each with their appointed juniors
what is a tetrarchy?
rule by 4 emperors
how did the tetrarchy go at first?
it went well
what did the new empire do?
reorganised the army
reformed government administration
divided provinces into more manageable units
what did the empire do to promote unity?
enforced emperor worship and latin everywhere
How did they encourage economic recovery?
by reforming tax laws, controlling inflation, and stabilizing the economy
who was constantine’s father?
the wester emperor
why did constantine spark a civil war?
he was refued emperor despite his father being an emperor
after winning, what did constantine become?
emperor of east and west
what did constantine do the empire after becoming emperor?
moved the capital to the eastern side
why did constantine move the capital?
the eastern side was wealthier
