DBQ: After reviewing all the key factors that led to the fall of the

Western Roman Empire in 476 A.D., identify the three most

critical factors and argue how each insured the inevitable demise

of Rome as a world power in Europe.

Directions: The following question is based on the

accompanying documents (The documents have been

edited for the purpose of this exercise). This question is

designed to test your ability to work with and understand

historical documents.

Write a response that:

Has a relevant thesis and supports that thesis with evidence from the

documents.

Cites evidence from included source perspectives.

Analyzes the documents by grouping them in as many appropriate

ways as possible. Does not simply summarize the documents

individually.

Takes into account both the sources of the documents and the

author’s points of view.

• Bear in mind that you need to analyze and interpret the documents thoroughly and decide for yourself the

catalysts for the decline of the Roman Empire.

• Time to put on your examining glasses and look through the eyes of many in order to accurately create

your own vision.

• Avoid the trap of judging solely on present day values and virtues and develop an argument that is just,

takes into historical events and demonstrates your mastery of the content.

Questions to ponder in order to formulate your own argument

a. Why are there such differing theories about the fall of Rome? Explain

b. Which documents are positive and which are negative? Provide Evidence?

c. How can you decide where the truth lies? What do you need to do?

d. What does this teach us to do as students of history?

Focus Points:

HISTORICAL CONTEXT: In the third century A.D. Rome encountered many social, political and economic

issues that fractured the stability of the empire. In addition to facing internal (domestic) problems, the invasion of

Germanic tribes seemed to deliver a devastating blow to the Western Roman Empire. Historians have examined

both internal and external (foreign) conditions and or factors that weakened the empire and have presented a

variety of explanations for its fall.

Probably the best way to gain insight into such explanations and issues is to read excerpts from the writings of

historians and other documents based on the time period. Excerpts from primary sources are presented as well as

documents that come from secondary sources (written long after the events they describe). They provide historian

views of how changes in policies and practices influenced the direction of the Roman Empire. As you will see,

historians view past events with a strong bias. Is present day historian interpretations supported by evidence in the

primary source documents? Draw your own conclusion after completing your reading of all the sources provided

DOCUMENT A

I.

"WHO GROANS BENEATH THE PUNIC CURSE

AND STRANGLES IN THE STRINGS OF PURSE, BEFORE

SHE MENDS MUST SICKEN WORSE.

HER LIVING MOUTH SHALL BREED BLUE FLIES, AND

MAGGOTS CREEP ABOUT HER EYES.

NO MAN SHALL MARK THE DAY SHE DIES.

TEN YEARS, FIFTY DAYS AND THREE,

CLAU-CLAU-CLAU-SHALL GIVEN BE A

GIFT THAT ALL DESIRE BUT HE.

TO A FAWNING FELLOWSHIP

HE SHALL STAMMER, CLUCK AND TRIP, DRIBBLING

ALWAYS WITH HIS LIP.

BUT WHEN HE'S DUMB AND NO MORE HERE,

NINETEEN HUNDRED YEARS OR NEAR,

CLAU-CLAU-CLAUDIUS SHALL SPEAK CLEAR."

II. "A HUNDRED YEARS OF THE PUNIC CURSE

AND ROME WILL BE SLAVE TO A HAIRY MAN,

A HAIRY MAN THAT IS SCANT OF HAIR,

EVERY MAN'S WOMAN AND EACH WOMAN'S MAN.

THE STEED THAT HE RIDES SHALL HAVE TOES FOR HOOVES.

HE SHALL DIE AT THE HAND OF HIS SON, NO SON, AND

NOT ON THE FIELD OF WAR.

THE HAIRY ONE NEXT TO ENSLAVE THE STATE SHALL

BE SON, NO SON, OF HIS HAIRY LAST.

HE SHALL HAVE HAIR IN A GENEROUS MOP.

HE SHALL GIVE ROME MARBLE IN PLACE OF CLAY

AND FETTER HER FAST WITH UNSEEN CHAINS,

AND SHALL DIE AT THE HAND OF HIS WIFE, NO WIFE, TO

THE GAIN OF HIS SON, NO SON.

THE HAIRY THIRD TO ENSLAVE THE STATE SHALL

BE SON, NO SON, OF HIS HAIRY LAST.

HE SHALL BE MUD WELL MIXED WITH BLOOD, A

HAIRY MAN THAT IS SCANT OF HAIR.

HE SHALL GIVE ROME VICTORIES AND DEFEAT

AND DIE TO THE GAIN OF HIS SON, NO SON- A

PILLOW SHALL BE HIS SWORD.

THE HAIRY FOURTH TO ENSLAVE THE STATE SHALL

BE SON, NO SON, OF HIS HAIRY LAST.

A HAIRY MAN THAT IS SCANT OF HAIR,

HE SHALL GIVE ROME POISONS AND BLASPHEMIES

AND DIE FROM A KICK OF HIS AGED HORSE THAT

CARRIED HIM AS A CHILD.

THE HAIRY FIFTH TO ENSLAVE THE STATE,

TO ENSLAVE THE STATE, THOUGH AGAINST HIS WILL, SHALL

BE THAT IDIOT WHOM ALL DESPISED.

HE SHALL HAVE HAIR IN A GENEROUS MOP.

HE SHALL GIVE ROME WATER AND WINTER BREAD

AND DIE AT THE HAND OF HIS WIFE, NO WIFE, TO

THE GAIN OF HIS SON, NO SON.

THE HAIRY SIXTH TO ENSLAVE THE STATE SHALL

BE SON, NO SON, OF THIS HAIRY LAST.

HE SHALL GIVE ROME FIDDLERS AND FEAR AND FIRE.

HIS HAND SHALL BE RED WITH A PARENT'S BLOOD.

NO HAIRY SEVENTH TO HIM SUCCEEDS

AND BLOOD SHALL GUSH FROM HIS TOMB."

Livia Drusilla (wife of Caesar Augustus)

Prophecy of Sibyl (23-29 A.D.)

1. Decipher the message. What is the prophecy alluding to? If the prophecy come to fruition

how will it influence the Roman Empire?

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DOCUMENT B

Rome is still looked on as the queen of the earth, and the name of the Roman people is respected. But the

magnificence of Rome is defaced by the thoughtless conduct of a few, who fall away into error and vice. Some

men think they can become immortal by having statues made of them – as if they could be rewarded after death

by being cast as bronze figures that have no sense of feeling rather than by striving to perform upright and

honorable actions. And they are even eager to have their statues plated with gold. Others place greater

importance on having a couch higher than usual, or splendid clothing. They toil and sweat under a vast burden

of cloaks which are fastened to their necks by many clasps. The whirlpool of banquets and other luxuries I

shall pass over lest I go too far. Many people drive their horses recklessly over the flint paved city streets. They

drag behind them huge numbers of slaves, like bands of robbers. As for the lower and poorer classes, some

spend the whole night in the wine shops. Some lie concealed in the shady arcades of the theatres. They play at

dice so eagerly as to quarrel over them. Such pursuits as these prevent anything worth meaning from being

done in Rome

Ammianus Marcellinus

(4th century Roman Historian)

2. Why does Ammianus criticize his countrymen?

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DOCUMENT C

Vegtius (Roman historian)

Excerpt from Concerning Military Matters (450 A.D.)

3. How did the change in breastplates and helmets contribute to the decline of the Roman

Empire?

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DOCUMENT D

Ammianus Marcellinus

Excerpts An Asian Tribe called the Huns (380 A.D.)

4. What makes the Huns a formidable force for the Roman Empire?

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DOCUMENT E

Priscus (Roman ambassador to the Huns)

A conversation with a former Roman citizen whose land had been conquered by the Huns (449 A.D.)

5. Some Romans embraced occupation by the fierce nomadic tribe called the Huns. How

does this document explain causes of Rome’s fall?

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DOCUMENT F

Roman Emperors 235-285 A.D.

Chart compiled from various sources

6. What message might these frequent and violent changes in leadership might have sent

to the people of the Roman Empire?

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DOCUMENT G

7. According to the map, do the dates suggest an invasion of people or a migration of

people? Explain.

Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Strahan and Cadell, 1776-1778.

8. What natural disaster struck the Roman Empire in 366 A.D.?

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DOCUMENT H

9. Based on this map, what was the cause of the fall of the Roman Empire? Was this a

unified attack?

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DOCUMENT I

The expenses of running the Empire continued to increase. As taxes failed to produce the needed

revenue, the government resorted to devaluation of the currency, . . Prices shot up as they did in

twentieth-century inflations in Europe. A pall [cloud] settled over the population. People felt they

were being swept downward by forces beyond their power to control. In the face of overwhelming

evils they were helpless. . .(Emperor)Diocletian, with army backing, became dictator, reorganized

the administration, and stabilized the currency . . . Unfortunately, like some modern rulers facing a

similar problem, he overvalued his new monetary unit. Prices promptly responded with another

violent rise. Diocletian recognized the suffering that resulted, but naturally did not understand the

cause. The trouble, he thought, lay in greedy profiteering. In 301 C.E. he issued his famous edict

setting maximum prices and wages... But this early attempt at price-fixing failed. It is recorded

that business men closed their shops, that many articles of commerce disappeared, and that food

riots resulted...The heart was taken out of enterprising men... Private enterprise was crushed and

the state was forced to take over many kinds of business to keep the [state] machine running.

People were schooled to expect something for nothing. The old Roman virtues of self-reliance and

initiative were lost in that part of the population on relief [welfare] … The central government

undertook such far-reaching responsibility in affairs that the fiber of the citizens weakened...The

most disastrous policy . . . was extravagant spending by the government. Part of the money went

into. . . the maintenance of the army and of the vast bureaucracy required by a centralized

government . . . the expense led to strangling taxation.

Henry J. Haskell Excerpt from The New Deal in Old Rome (1939)

10. According to Haskell, what problems resulted from Diocletian’s reform?

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DOCUMENT J

Henry J. Haskell Excerpt from The New Deal

in Old Rome (1947)

11 (a) Why did the Roman government have such large expenses?

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(b) What was the effect of high taxation on the people?

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(c) What effect did the establishment of the governmental welfare system have on the

people?

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DOCUMENT K

First the economic factor …While the empire was expanding, its prosperity was fed by plundered wealth and

by new markets in the semi barbaric provinces. When the empire ceased to expand, however, economic

progress soon ceased…. The abundance of slaves led to growth of the latifundia, the great estates that …

came to dominate agriculture and ruin the free coloni (farmers) who drifted to the cities, to add to the

unemployment there. The abundance of slaves kept wages low.

Herbert J. Mueller

Excerpt from Uses of the Past (1957)

12. What economic issues does Mueller identify as causes for decline? Explain.

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DOCUMENT L

Every reader of a volume devoted to the Roman Empire will expect the author to express his opinion on what is

generally, since Gibbon, called the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. . . In the sphere of politics we witness

a gradual barbarization of the Empire from within, especially in the West. The foreign, German, elements play

the leading part both in the government and in the army, and settling in masses, displace the Roman population .

. . the ruling classes were replaced... by Germans. The cities ... gradually decayed, and the majority of them practically disappeared from the face of the earth. Only

small islands of civilized life are left . . . but . . . are gradually swallowed up by the advancing tide of barbarism.

Another aspect . . . is the development of a new mentality among the masses of the population. It was the mentality

of the lower classes, based exclusively on religion (Christianity) and not only indifferent but hostile to the

intellectual achievements of the higher classes.

Michael Rostovtzeff

Excerpt from The Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire (1957)

13. What were the basic problems facing the Western Roman Empire according to these

authors?

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DOCUMENT M

The basic trouble was that very few inhabitants of the empire believed that the old civilization was worth

saving

… the overwhelming majority of the population had been systematically excluded from political

responsibilities. They could not organize to protect themselves; they could not serve in the army . . . Their

economic plight was hopeless. Most of them were serfs bound to the soil, and the small urban groups saw their

cities slipping into uninterrupted decline.

Excerpt is from a textbook, The Course of Civilization by Strayer, Gatzke & Harbison (1961)

14. What were the basic problems facing the Western Roman Empire according to these

authors?

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DOCUMENT N

Rome, like all great empires, was not overthrown by external enemies but undermined by internal decay. . . .

The military crisis was the result of …proud old aristocracy’s…shortage of children. (Consequently) foreigners

poured into the… Roman army [was] composed entirely of Germans

Indro Montanelli Excerpt from Romans

without Laurels (1962)

15. What does this author identify as the cause of problems in the military?

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DOCUMENT O

“The problem has been dealt with from every conceivable angle, for there is no greater historic puzzle than that

of the disappearance of the ancient civilization --a disappearance so complete that not a spark from its embers

shone through the barbaric darkness of several hundred years. Historians have analyzed the causes according to

the prejudices of their own varieties of erudition [learning]. . [But most of them have] failed to include any

consideration of the calamitous epidemics(diseases) which - sweeping the Roman world again and again during

its most turbulent political periods - must have exerted a material, if not a decisive influence upon the final

outcome. .We believe that a simple survey of the frequency, extent, and violence of the pestilences to which

Roman Europe and Asia were subjected, from the year one to the final barbarian triumph, will convince the

unprejudiced that these calamities must be interpolated in any appraisal other causes that wore down the power

of the greatest state the world has known. A concentration of large populations in cities, free communication

with all other parts of the world . . ., constant and extensive military activity involving the mobilization of

armies in camps, and the movement of large forces back and forth from all corners of the world these alone are

conditions which inevitably determine the outbreak of epidemic disease. And against such outbreaks there was

absolutely no defense available at the time. Pestilences encountered no obstacles.”

Hans Zinsser

Excerpt from Rats, Lice and History (1935)

16. Why did this historian disagree with some of the preceding interpretations about why the

Roman Empire declined and eventually collapsed?

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DOCUMENT P

Michael Grant

Fall of the Roman Empire, Crown Publishing (1982)

17. In what ways could the failure to enforce conscription weaken Rome?

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DOCUMENT Q

Excerpt is from a textbook World Civilizations: Global Experience, Pearson Education, 2000

18. Identify two ways the plague that arrived in Rome from Asia contributed to the Fall of

Rome.

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Core-Scoring Guide for World History Document-Based Question

Basic Core Competence Points 1. Has acceptable thesis. 1

_____ 2. Addresses all of the documents and demonstrates understanding of all or all but one. 1

_____ 3. Supports thesis with appropriate evidence from all or all but one document 2

_____ (Supports thesis with appropriate evidence from all but two documents) (1) 4. Analyzes point of view in at least two documents. 1

_____ 5. Analyzes documents by grouping them in two or three ways, depending on the question

1 _____ 6. Identifies and explains the need for one type of appropriate additional document or source.

1 _____

Expanded Core Excellence Expands beyond basic core of 1-7 points. A student must earn 7 points 0-2

_____ in the basic core before earning points in the expanded core area. Examples:

• Has a clear, analytical, and comprehensive thesis. • Shows careful and insightful analysis of the documents. • Uses documents persuasively as evidence. • Analyzes point of view In most or all documents. • Analyzes the documents in additional ways – groupings, comparisons, syntheses. • Brings in relevant outside information. • Explains why additional types of document(s) or sources are needed.

TOTAL _____

TOTAL POINTS

BASIC CORE

TOTAL POINTS

EXPANDED CORE

TOTAL POINTS

EARNED

FINAL GRADE

RUBRIC PERCENT POINTS

9 100 50

8 95 48

7 90 45

6 85 43

5 80 40

4 75 38

3 70 35

2 65 33

1 60 30

0 0 0