Unit: Fall of the Roman Empire
Lesson Title:
Fall of the Western Roman Empire Part 1
(See text pages 30-31)
In Class Reading Activity
Read “Problems Threaten the Empire”
on pages 30-31.
Create a chart of the problems that threatened the
Western Roman Empire after it reached its peak in the
early A.D. 100s. In your notebook, organize the chart
in 2 columns. Label one Internal Problems and the
other External Problems.
Internal Problems
External Problems
Problems that Threatened the
Western Roman Empire
Which problem do you believe was the
most threatening to the Western Roman
Empire? Why?
Problems that Threatened the
Western Roman Empire
Why would being too big be a problem for
the Empire?
Problems that Threatened the
Western Roman Empire
How would increasing taxes to pay for more
defense (expanding the military) threaten the
Empire?
(Definition) Tax: a charge (money demanded)
placed on citizens or organizations by the
government to help pay for its operations and
services.
Could this be a problem in our own country today?
What is this political cartoon saying?
What does this political cartoon suggest?
What does this political cartoon say?
This cartoon applies to a similar problem of the
Western Roman Empire that helped it collapse.
We will talk more about this problem later.
Right Side Notebook Activity
Draw your own political cartoon
to illustrate one of the problems that
threatened the Western Roman Empire that
you listed on your chart.
Helpful tip: Political cartoons try
to make a point by exaggerating
or representing a real fact in a
silly way.
Here is an example: