TRA: Lesson - Rome: Christianity and Decline
Rome: Christianity and Decline
Christianity: A New Religion
It was during the Pax Romana that a new religion, Christianity, began as well. Christianity began in Judea, a part of the Roman Empire that had recently lost its sovereignty (the right for an area to rule itself). It started with a Jewish man named Jesus. According to the Gospels (the part of the Christian holy book of the Bible that describes the life of Jesus), Jesus did good works and performed miracles. He encouraged Jewish people to have a stronger, more loving relationship with the Jewish God and other people. His followers believed he was the Jewish Messiah. They believed he would free them from Roman domination. The Roman government refused to tolerate this threat to their political authority and had him crucified (sentenced to die by being nailed to a wooden cross). According to the Gospels, Jesus came back from the dead, lived with his followers, and then went to heaven around 30-40 CE. We will learn about the spread of Christianity in another lesson.
The Fall of Rome
Rome’s success depended on strong leadership, involved citizens, and constant expansion. After the Pax Romana, all three of these fell apart simultaneously. Rich patricians fought each other instead of governing. The emperors could not maintain their power – in one extreme period, there were 22 emperors in 50 years! Eventually, Rome split into two empires, a Western Empire centered in Rome and an Eastern Empire centered in modern-day Turkey (Constantinople).
A lack of strong leadership in Rome led groups like the Celts, Goths, and Vandals to push back against Roman expansion. These groups began to take territory back from the Roman Empire. Without new territory, the military was no longer an attractive job. In fact, military involvement was so low that Rome recruited the invading groups as mercenaries to fight their battles. Finally, a series of droughts and earthquakes led to famine and plague that weakened everyone. Officially, the last Western Roman emperor fell to German invaders in 476 CE. Roman architecture, technology, and religious beliefs are still influential today, and their language, Latin, is still taught to this day.
| Latin Root | Meaning | Examples in English |
|---|---|---|
| aqu | water | aqueduct, aquarium, aquifer |
| ject | cast, throw | interject, eject, trajectory |
| mal | evil, bad | malevolent, malnourished, malfunction |
| sub | below | subject, subway, submarine |
| uni | one | universe, unicycle, unicorn |
| volv/volut | turn | revolution, evolution, revolving |
The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire
Below is a graphic that shows how Rome grew from a city-state in the middle of the Italian peninsula to a broad Empire with territory on three continents.
Image Key:
- Red = Roman Republic 510 BCE-40 BCE
- Purple = Roman Empire 20 CE-360 CE
- Blue = Western Roman Empire 405 CE-480 CE
- Green = Eastern Roman Empire 405 CE-480 CE
Practice Activity
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