The consequences of the fall of the Western Roman Empire are summarized. The emergence of Islam - 7th century. Beginning of the fall of the Roman Empire
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Early Middle Ages
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Early Middle Ages- a period of European history that began after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Lasted about five centuries, from approximately 476 to 900. In the era early Middle Ages The Great Migration of Peoples took place, the Vikings appeared, the kingdoms of the Ostrogoths in Italy and the Visigoths in Aquitaine and the Iberian Peninsula arose, and the Frankish state was formed, which occupied most of Europe during its heyday. North Africa and Spain became part of the Arab Caliphate, there were many small states of the Angles, Saxons and Celts in the British Isles, states appeared in Scandinavia, as well as in central and Eastern Europe: Great Moravia and Kievan Rus.
Fall of Rome
Starting from the second century, the power of the Roman Empire began to decline - maritime trade and urban development gradually declined, and population growth decreased. In 150 the empire's population was approximately 65 million, but by 400 this figure had dropped to 50 million. This was probably due to climate change in Europe and a decrease in average annual temperatures, which led to crop losses. Since the 2nd century, a crisis began in the Roman Empire. After the successes of Marcus Ulpius Nerva Trajan, Publius Aelius Hadrian came to power in 117. Under him, the empire lost Mesopotamia. In the 3rd century, clashes with the Germans began. Rome loses Dacia, once hard won by Trajan. In 330, Emperor Constantine moved the capital to a city on the banks of the Bosphorus. It was founded in the 7th century BC. e. and was called Byzantium. In its place, Constantinople was founded (poetically the Greek city of Constantine or later simply the City, slav. Constantinople, Tsaregrad). This city was called New Rome (and was officially called that in documents until 1930). In 395, the last Roman emperor, Theodosius, divided the empire between his two sons, Arcadius and Honorius. The 11-year-old Honorius becomes the Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, centered in Rome, and the 18-year-old Arkady becomes the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine, from “Byzantium,” Byzantium, Rome, “Roman”), centered in Constantinople. The first Rome begins to lose its importance and after some time is sacked. Theodosius preferred to live in Milan, and from 402 the capital Western Empire, constantly subject to invasions by barbarians, is transferred to the small but well-fortified city of Ravenna. In 410, Rome was attacked by the Visigoths and was severely devastated. In 455, Rome was captured by the Vandals, another Germanic tribe, which by this time had founded an independent state in the Roman North Africa. They not only plundered the city, but also destroyed many monuments of architecture and art that they could not take from Italy to Africa, so their name became a household name. The final fall of the Western Empire was inspired by the Byzantine emperor Zeno. August 23 (September 4), 476 during the next internecine war the commander Odoacer captured Rome, and the 16-year-old last Roman emperor Romulus Augustus (or Augustulus - little Augustus) was overthrown. With the consent of Zeno, Odoacer recognized as Emperor of the West the predecessor of Romulus Augustulus, Emperor Julius, nicknamed Nepos (“nephew,” since the weak Nepos ruled the West as a protege of the Byzantine emperor, his relative; in our time, nepotism is called holding positions thanks to family ties, nepotism). However, in 480 Nepos was killed by his own bodyguards, and his crown was sent to Byzantium, after which Zeno decided not to appoint more Western emperors. Most scholars consider 476 to be the beginning of the Middle Ages. Others argue that the Middle Ages began in 313, when the Roman Empire banned the persecution of Christians and Christianity became the dominant religion.
Period of history IV-VII centuries. called the Great Migration. It is reliably known that at that time several dozen tribes changed their settlement territory, where they lived for a long period. Now they preferred to go explore new territories. In connection with this grandiose event, the map of Europe changed dramatically.
The fall of the Roman Empire occurred.The Western Roman Empire disappeared, but small kingdoms of the Germans appeared. Rome fell, and this means that the era of antiquity has ended. Started new story- history of the Middle Ages.
Prerequisites for the fall of the Roman Empire
In the 3rd century. Germanic tribes encroached on the borders of the Roman Empire. The Romans managed to hold back their attacks, but at the same time they spent a lot of energy. Some territories came under the control of the barbarians, but on the whole the empire continued to exist. The destruction began with the arrival of the Huns to European territory. For reasons of their own and unknown to us, they left Asia. Previously, they were located near the borders of Ancient China.
The Huns went to the West and in 375 they found themselves on the territory of one of the Germanic tribes - the Goths. The Goths then lived in the northern Black Sea region, they were excellent warriors, but the hordes of the Huns were soon able to defeat them. The Ostrogoths immediately submitted to the Huns, and the Visigoths had to flee to the borders of the Roman Empire. They chose to submit to Rome in order to avoid reprisals against them by the Huns.
The Goths settled on the land of the Roman Empire, but they gave little territory. And besides, she was extremely infertile. Accordingly, there was not enough food. There were few food supplies from the Romans. We can say that they openly mocked the Goths, and also interfered in their internal affairs. This led to an uprising. The Goths marched on Constantinople.
In 378, near Adrianople, they were met by the Roman army. There was no turning back for the Goths; they rushed into battle. A few hours later the glorious Roman army ceased to exist, the emperor was killed. This battle hit the Roman Empire very hard, and the army could not be restored.
In other battles, the empire was defended by an army of mercenaries. German mercenaries, for a reward, agreed to protect the Romans from other Germans. Ordinary citizens empires did not want to defend its territory, they were of the opinion that worse life after the conquest of their territory by the Germans there will be no more.
Beginning of the fall of the Roman Empire
The last army that approached the walls of Rome was the army of Hannibal. But even he did not dare to lay siege to this city. Rome was the capital greatest state. The territory of the empire was located around it. Therefore, the thought of capturing the city and breaking through the steel legions did not occur to any conqueror.
The current emperor of the Roman Empire, Honorius, is still a child - real power is in the hands of the military leader Stilicho. He was a vandal by birth. Many did not trust him and believed that he himself wanted to seize power. Honorius listened to the rumors and Stilicho was killed. The brilliant commander died. The Visigoths approached Rome, the inhabitants were on the verge of death and agreed to surrender. The leader Alaric demanded that all the gold, jewelry and slaves be brought to him.
The agreement took place, the Visigoths left. But after a couple of years, Alaric again approached the walls of Rome. The gates were opened, how this happened is not known for certain, but in 410 the Roman Empire fell. The city was sacked in three days. Many Romans managed to escape, the rest were sold into slavery. Alaric had no use for Rome, and he went to the northern territories.
The fall of the “Eternal City” had a terrifying effect on contemporaries. It even got to the point that many believed that the fall of Rome was the collapse of the whole world! Everyone was in despair over the destruction of a previously unshakable state. great empire fell, what will happen next???
All these feelings were well expressed in his works by Aurelius Augustine. The essay “On the City of God” tried to explain why this happened. Why did the Roman Empire fall? Aurelius expressed the opinion that this was payment for the cruelty that the empire had committed over many centuries.
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
The destruction of Rome left the empire in complete chaos. The Huns, who had previously ravaged many tribes, were approaching. The most famous Hun leader was Attila, in order to gain power he committed fratricide. In 451, Attila crossed the Rhine and met the army of the Roman commander Aetius. The Battle of the Catalaunian Fields took place and went down in history. It was a meeting of two huge armies, the Huns retreated. A year later, Attila invaded Italy and approached Rome. Pope Leo I gifted the leader and he went back. A year later, Attila died at his wedding.
Four years passed after the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields, Rome was again captured by barbarians - the Vandals. In 455, the Vandals sailed along the Tiber to Rome, the inhabitants of the city were not ready to defend it. Again the Pope negotiated and the Vandal leader Geiseric accepted Roman gifts and plundered Rome for only fourteen days. At the same time, all residents remained alive, and churches and temples were not burned.
Few noticed the complete disappearance of the Western Roman Empire. It became clear to everyone long ago that this would happen soon, so it did not cause much horror. In 475, the emperor in Rome was Romulus Augustus, nicknamed “Augustus”, since he did not play a big political role. In 476 there was coup d'etat. The barbarian Odoacer arranged for him, but he did not want to be emperor. The Senate was obliged to declare that the emperor of the Western Roman Empire was not needed. Let it be only in the eastern part, a diadem and a purple robe were sent there. This was the end of a great power. Only its eastern part remained, which later became known as Byzantium.
Fall of the Roman Empire video
The fall of the Western Roman Empire was a global event. Actually, the Roman Empire was the stronghold of civilization in Antiquity. In terms of territory, the empire included lands from the Iberian Peninsula and the Strait of Gibraltar in the West, to the eastern part of Asia Minor in the East. It was not in vain that we clarified the geography. After all, if you are skilled in history, you will immediately say that Byzantium (read Eastern Roman Empire) will fall only in 1453.
In this article we will analyze in the shortest possible way the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
Reasons for the fall of the Western Roman Empire
By the third century AD, the Roman Empire entered a protracted period political crisis. Each viceroy of the emperor in the provinces and colonies of the empire wanted to become an emperor himself, and, at times, became. And you and I know that economics follows politics. Actually, that’s why the economic crisis is coming.
Against the backdrop of such chaos and confusion, imperial leapfrog, barbarians come into play. The word “barbarians” itself comes from the Latin barbarus.This word appeared because the ancient Greeks and Romans did not understand the speech of foreigners, and it seemed that they were saying “Bar-Bar”, or “Bar-Bar”. Well, it’s like today the speech of the English is similar to the fact that they eat porridge, their own oatmeal, etc. :) The barbarians were represented by such handsome people as the Goths, Visigoths, Alemanni, Franks and other ancient Germanic tribes. By the end of the fourth century, the Germans began to be pushed aside by the Turkic peoples, the strongest of whom were the Huns.
The reasons for the fall of the Western Roman Empire also include the weakening of central power. And it weakened due to the large territory of the Empire, the different way of life in its lands, etc.
Course of events
Two emperors tried to stop the fall of the Roman Empire. The first such handsome man was Emperor Diocletian (274 - 305). Although he carried out great reforms, he planted two bombs in the empire itself. First bomb: he began to actively recruit barbarians into imperial military service. The consequence of this was the barbarization of the army.
The second bomb, so as not to “bother” with the barbarians, some of them became federates of the empire. It was as if they were pouring into her. Why were they bombs? Think for yourself and write your thoughts in the comments to this post 😉
The second significant emperor during the period of decline of the empire was Constantine the Great (306 - 337). He continued the policies of Diocletian. Including planting dynamite in both already planted bombs.
The bombs finally exploded in 410, when the Goths took The eternal City- ROME In 455, Rome was again sacked by Vandals.
In 476, the barbarian, Germanic commander of the Roman army, Odoacer, killed last emperor Romulus. By luck (or pattern?) the Roman Empire began with Romulus (and Remus) - Romulus and ended. Thus, 476 is the year of the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
Consequences of the fall of the Western Roman Empire
All social relationships barbarized. Until the end of the Middle Ages, ethical Roman norms gave way to barbaric ideas.
Was lost many cultural monuments.
The Roman Empire was the last barrier on the way of the barbarians. Subsequently, all Turkic peoples, right up to the 13th century, came to Europe undisturbed and enjoyed the benefits of Roman civilization, simultaneously killing and taking Europeans captive.
More or less free Roman secular thought gave way to Christian ideology.
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The Roman Empire was divided into two equal parts. Eastern Empire was destined to survive on the pages of history for another thousand years, while the Western Empire would not withstand the pressure of the barbarians in just a hundred years.
Formation of the Western Roman Empire
By the 4th century the Roman Empire had reached gigantic levels ancient world scale, could no longer function effectively in political and administrative terms. Despite the developed infrastructure, news from the border regions reached Rome with a huge delay.
In the 4th century, the Great Migration of Nations began. The northern borders of the empire were increasingly attacked by barbarians. Due to extended communications, a single empire could not quickly respond to an external threat, which also indicated the logic of dividing empires to simplify control over existing lands.
To effectively manage the empire, the emperors of Rome several times divided it into two or four parts, which had their own governor, who was responsible for many issues that were previously under the jurisdiction of the emperor.
But every time, as a result of the struggle for power, someone united the empire under his rule, until in 395 Theodosius I finally divided the Roman Empire, transferring the eastern part to his eldest son Arcadius, and giving the western part to his youngest.
Rice. 1. Map of the Western Roman Empire.
Prerequisites for the fall of the Western Roman Empire
Honorius accepted the empire as a child. The military leader Stilicho, who was a vandal in the service of Rome, became his regent.
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A big event for the empire was the transfer by Honorius of the capital of the new public education from Rome to Ravenna. This was done due to fears of barbarian attacks on the rich ancient capital.
At the beginning of the 5th century, the Western Empire's policy towards barbarians changed greatly.
In the territories of Gaul and other border areas, they began to settle in entire tribes, swearing an oath to the emperor to protect the borders of the state from external threats and barbarians like them.
Military service was no longer an honor among the empire's native population. Everyone had land plots and wealth, which means there was no point in making a fortune for themselves. Now the basis of the army was made up of barbarian mercenaries, who gradually filled the niches both in command and in political composition Romans
The military weakness of the empire and its accessibility to barbarians was shown by the sack of Rome by the Visigoths led by Alaric in 410. The robberies continued for 3 days.
Rice. 2. Alaric.
These changes led to the fact that in 451 the strengthened tribe of the Huns, led by Attila, crossed the Rhine and invaded Roman lands. In the battle of the Catalaunian fields, two huge armies met. During the battle, the Huns had to retreat and victory remained with the Roman troops, but it was a feast during the plague. Already in 455, Rome was sacked for the second time in 50 years. Vandals along the Tiber reached the “eternal city”, which even the inhabitants did not defend.
Rice. 3. The sack of Rome by the Vandals.
In the 440s, Britain was forever lost to the Romans, conquered by the Angles, Saxons and Jutes.
The cause of the death of the Western Roman Empire was not only the barbarians. The Romans themselves lost interest in self-reproduction. Fewer and fewer native Romans were born, which led to the degeneration of the nation. It had long been clear to everyone that the collapse of the empire would be inevitable, so this did not cause horror and was perceived as quite normal.
In the second half of the 5th century, the throne became a plaything in the hands of Roman military leaders, who changed emperors at their whim. By 460 under control state power There was virtually only Italy left.
In 475, Romulus Augustus came to power in Rome, but he no longer played a special political role in the state.
476 is the date of the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The barbarian Odoacer, serving in the Roman army, killed Romulus, declaring himself king of a united Italy. He ordered the Senate to send the robe and diadem of Romulus to the eastern part of the empire, declaring that the West did not need an emperor.
This is how the Western Roman Empire ended its short existence.
Significance of the event
The fall of the Western Roman Empire is an event of global significance. After all, it was the Roman Empire that was the stronghold ancient civilization. Its vast expanses covered lands from the Strait of Gibraltar and the Iberian Peninsula in the western direction to the eastern regions of Asia Minor. After the division of the Roman Empire in 395 into two independent states, the eastern territories went to Byzantium (Eastern Roman Empire). Byzantium, after the fall of the western half of the state in 476, existed for another thousand years. Its end is considered to be 1453.
Reasons for the collapse of the Empire
By the 3rd century, the Roman Empire had entered a period of protracted political and economic crisis. Emperors lost importance in the eyes of provincial governors. Each of them tried to become an emperor himself. Some managed to achieve this using the support of their legions.
In addition to internal contradictions, constant raids on the northern borders of barbarian tribes played a big role.
Note 1
Barbarians are peoples who are foreigners to the Greeks and Romans. Derived from the ancient Greek barbaros - not Greek. The peoples spoke a language incomprehensible to the Greeks and Romans. They perceived their speech as muttering “var-var.” All tribes that invaded the territory of the Roman Empire and formed their own kingdoms there were called barbarians.
The most influential and assertive tribes were the Goths, Visigoths, Franks and Alemanni. By the beginning of the 5th century, Germanic tribes displaced the Turkic peoples. The most aggressive tribe was the Huns.
One more reason can be identified: the weakening of imperial power. This led to the emergence of separatist sentiments on the outskirts and the desire for sovereignty of individual parts of the state.
Main events
Attempts to stop the collapse that had begun are associated with the names of the emperors Diocletian and Constantine. They managed to slow down the collapse of the empire, but they could not completely stop its approach. Diocletian left behind two important problems:
- barbarization of the army;
- the infusion of barbarians into the empire.
Constantine the Great continued the work of his predecessor. His reforms continued the transformations that had begun and completed them. An explosion of hidden problems occurred in 410, when the Goths were able to capture the Eternal City. A little later (in 455) it was plundered again, this time by vandals. In 476, the German general Odoacer killed Romulus, the last legitimate emperor. The Western Roman Empire fell.
Note 2
Odoacer - years of life 433-493. He led a barbarian army in 470 and led it to Rome. In 476, having killed Emperor Romulus Augustus, he became king of Italy.
Consequences of the fall of the Western Roman Empire
The consequences of the destruction of a state that had existed for twelve centuries were contradictory. On the one hand, barbarization began social relations. A large number of the barbarians who poured into the territory of the empire were not accepted by the established Roman social norms, destroyed them and replaced them with their barbaric ideas of morality. Many cultural monuments of the Romans were destroyed, as they were of no value to the barbarian peoples. And finally, the Roman Empire was a barrier to the advance of barbarians across Europe. Her fall opened up free access Turkic peoples to the benefits of Roman civilization and made Europeans dependent on barbarian raids.
At the same time, Christian ideology begins to spread. Secular life was placed under the supervision of the church, and the Middle Ages began.