The Fall of Rome and the Roman Legacy
Questioning the paradigm of “Decline and Fall” (cf. E. Gibbons, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1788 ( ! ) )
→Transformation and Legacy of the Roman Empire
1) The 3rd Century Crisis
· Problem of succession: no more dynasty→usurpers and lack of legitimacy
· Feebleness of the Senate
· Fiscal crisis: devaluation
2) Diocletian’s reforms (284-305)
· The Tetrarchy: 2 Augusts and 2 Caesars to rule the Empire
· Image of the Emperor: sacralization
· Administrative reform: rise of the bureaucracy
· Military reform: expansion of the army, mobile troops, alliance with barbarian groups
· Economic reforms: Price edict (301)
BUT these reforms failed…
3) East and West in the 4th c.: the division
At the beginning of the 4th century Constantine managed to establish his authority on the whole Empire and chose Byzantion as a capital. The Empire became Christian.
In the West, official date of fall: 476 (Germanic general, Odoacer, deposed the Roman Emperor).
→Western Europe divided into Germanic kingdoms (Visigoths, Vandals, Franks, Ostrogoths)
4) The Roman legacy
· Political system
· Law
· The Latin language
· Culture
· Architecture
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