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184
Marcus Aurelius Dies
The last good Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius dies and leaves the throne to his selfish son Commodus. After Commodus was appointed as the emperor of Rome, he spent most of the treasury for his own pleasure and this lead to bankruptcy. -
Period: 184 to 476
The Decline of the Roman Empire.
This is the timespan in which the Roman Empire slowly declined in between 184 - 476 AD. -
192
Commodus is assassinated
Commodus's troops plotted to assassinate their leader. He was brutally murdered by his wrestling partner after the first attempt of his poisoning by his mistress didn't work. -
Period: 192 to 284
Barbarian Attacks / Roman Army Chaos
The Roman armies that were lead by different emperors were fighting each other which lead to lowered defence force around the boarders of Rome. This had left Rome open to Germanic tribes who attacked Rome and made unrest. -
284
General Diocletian is Appointed as Emperor
General Diocletian is appointed Emperor of Rome. Diocletian promised to calm unrest and help Rome back onto its feet by instituting many reforms to create political stability.- He increased the amount of soldiers defending Rome
- He split Rome into two halves and appointed himself to rule the East and General Maximian to rule the West.
- He set a cap on prices and setup a wage-freeze in order to stop inflation.
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305
Civil War Erupts in Rome
Civil war erupts in Rome. Citizens fight each other and launch Rome into an unstable state. -
305
General Diocletian Retires
Diocletian retires from acting emperor. -
312
Constantine
Constantine takes over the East as acting emperor. He attempts to reinforce laws and reforms that were made by Diocletian. He did this by making jobs hereditary (jobs passed from father to son) and allowed employers to stop their workers from leaving. -
330
Costantine moves eastern capital.
As the new emperor, Constantine moves Rome's eastern capital to a Greek city known as Byzantium. Shortly after the event of the move of the eastern capital, Constantine renames the city to "Constantinople" after himself. -
337
Death of Constantine / Theodosius
Constantine dies and once again, civil war erupts in the Roman empire. Shortly after he died, Theodosius took his place as acting emperor. On Theodosius's death he suggested that the Roman Empire be completely split in two rather then sectioned. Each region would act as their own empire and be governed by different bodies. -
370
Germanic tribes enter the empire.
Germanic tribes enter the empire and attack, ransack and burn many villages and cities. Most of these tribes attacked because they were in search of better climate, land and wealth. The Romans named these people "Barbarians" because their language seemed to sound like gibberish to the local citizens and military. -
378
Visigoths defeat prominent forces in Adrianople.
The Visigoths move into Adrianople, defeat prominent Roman forces and kill the emperor of the Eastern section of the Roman Empire. To keep peace, the emperor that followed gave ownership of some of the land in the Balkans over to the Visigoths. -
395
The Roman Empire divides.
The Roman Empire finally divides in two. The Eastern Empire became the Byzantine Empire while the Western Empire remained as the Roman Empire. -
455
The Vandals ransack Rome.
The Vandals ransack Rome, sending the empire into a steep decline. -
476
The end of the Roman Empire
The current Roman emperor, Augustulus is overthrown by a German soldier named Odoacer. Odoacer declared himself king and did not rename the empire. This is when the Roman Empire was overthrown and where everything ended.
