The Congressional Hearing Project
The fall of Rome
The information
Section I: The Rise of Christianity (2 people)
You will make the argument that the rise of Christianity is what led to the fall of the
Roman Empire. You will refer to the map on page 361 in the Journey Across Time book.
The map shows how Christianity expanded over the years. Then read the below article
on Christianity and Rome
During the first century CE, a new religion took hold in Rome. It was called Christianity.
The followers of Christianity were called Christians. Christians believed in one god. They
refused to worship the Roman gods. In ancient Rome, that was against the law.
Christians were hunted as criminals.
In spite of persecution, Christians grew in numbers rapidly. Christians actively looked
for converts. They told others about the benefits of being Christian. Christians came from
every walk of life in ancient Rome, but Christianity had great appeal to Rome's poor.
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Life After Death: Christianity promised life after death in heaven. In the Roman
religion, only gods went to heaven. Emperors were considered gods. Everyone
else went to the underworld.
Equality: Christianity promised equal opportunity. You had to be born into the
nobility. You could join Christianity and be equally a Christian.
After nearly 300 years of persecution, in 313 CE, Emperor Constantine ruled that
Christianity was legal and that Christians would no longer be persecuted for their
beliefs.
This does not mean that Rome finally had religious freedom. It meant only that it now
legal to worship Roman gods or to be Christian. Every other religion was still illegal.
The lack of religious freedom in ancient Rome contributed to the fall of the Roman
Empire.
Article from http://rome.mrdonn.org/christianity.html 1 Section II: Forgiven affairs The Huns (1 person) The Huns probably came from western China. They gradually took over most of Asia and
Eastern Europe during the middle Ages. The Huns seem to have lived in northern China
from 200-1 BC. Then they seem to have decided to leave China and look for a better
place to live. They divided into two groups, a small group and a big group. The small
group went south, towards India. But the main group went northwest.
The Huns kept on the move in an attempt to find enough grass for their cows to eat. By
350 AD the Huns had arrived at the edges of Europe. Various Germanic groups, like the
Visigoths and the Ostrogoths who lived in the northern part of Europe, were in turn
pushed by the Huns and tried to get into the Roman Empire where they might find safety.
By 378 AD, for example, the Visigoths were desperate enough to fight and win the battle
of Adrianople, which moved them into the Roman Empire. The Visigoths captured the
city of Rome in 410 A.D.
The Huns ran unopposed throughout Northern Europe. The tribes, Goths, Barbarians and
Germans ran away from them. All this caused great pressure on Rome. The Roman
army was struggling to maintain order, Leadership was slow to deal with the problem and
the people were unhappy.
By the early 400s AD, the Huns had learned something about Roman ways, and had a
very strong king named Attila. Sometimes the Romans hired the Huns to fight for them,
as part of the Roman army. In the 420s and 430s, the Huns helped the Romans to fight
the Visigoths. Some Roman men grew up with the Huns as part of exchanges so the two
groups could get to know each other better. A Roman princess, Honoria, asked Attila to
invade the Roman Empire about 450 AD to help her get power. But when Attila did
invade, his old friend Aetius changed sides and got the Visigoths to fight the Huns in a
big battle in 451 AD, keeping Aetius in power and Honoria out of power.
Soon afterwards Attila died, and his three sons split his empire between them. The Huns
never again became a strong force, and gradually mixed into the Germans.
Article from http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/centralasia/art/
2 The Goths, Vandels, Ostrogoths, Vistogoths and Germans (2 People)
Use the Human Heritage book page 270-272.
Things to think about when reading and preparing your openings statement.
§ What happened
§ How could the events described in the Human heritage book cause the end of the
Roman Empire
The role of Odoacer (1 person)
Journey Across Time – page 324
Human Heritage book – page 272
Things to think about. How did this individual impact the fall of Rome? What did he
do?
The role of Alaric (1 person)
Journey Across Time p. 323
Human Heritage p. 271
Things to think about. Who was this person? What did he do?
Section III: The spreading of the empire (1person)
Read the rise of the Byzantines, Journey Across time book from page 328-329
Think about how they events described on these pages lead to the fall of the Roman
Empire.
Section IV: Financial Problems (1 Person)
Read – Journey Across Time – page 319- 320, Distrust of Money p. 320
Things to Think About. How did problems impact Rome’s ability to grow and remain
strong?
Section V: Leadership Problems (1 person)
Journey Across Time – page 318-319, p.320
Things to think about. How did a series of bad leaders and bad decisions impact Rome’s
fate?
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