Accessible Pleasures

Two writing prompts:

Some people believe that if a groundhog sees his shadow when he comes out of his hole on Ground Hog day, there will be six more weeks of winter. Write a creative story to explain how this belief came about.

Your family is going to start a business selling prerecorded messages for answering machines. Write a promotional piece that encourages people to purchase your product.

When Constantine defeated his brother-in-law in battle, he became emperor of the Western Roman Empire. At that time, Christians were persecuted in Rome, but Constantine thanked "the God of the Christians" for his victory. Constantine granted religious freedom to Christians and made it possible for Christianity to become widespread in the Roman Empire. Constantine's influence was so great that ten other Roman Emporers were named after him.

Why do civilizations rise and fall? The fall of Rome resulted from the political uproar, distant wars, and economic crises.

What problems led to Rome's decline?

Marcus Aurelius was the last of five emperors who reigned during the Pax Romana, a time of peace and progress. Nearly a century of confusion and violence followed.

During this time, Rome's government grew weak, while the army became very powerful. To stay in office, an emperor had to pay increasingly higher wages to the soldiers who supported him. When these payments could not be made, soldiers would turn against the emperor. Then civil wars broke out, as legion fought legion to put a new emperor on the throne. In a span of about 50 years, ending in AD 284, Rome had 22 different emperors. Most were murdered by the army or by their bodyguards.

The Roman society also suffered during this period. Many Romans no longer honored the traditional values of duty, courage, and honesty. Dishonest government officials took bribes, and few talented citizens wanted to hold government office. Interest and support for education declined, and may wealthy Romans simply stopped paying taxes. Enslaved laborers now made up a large part of the empire's population.

Rome's weakened government led to a weakened economy during the AD 200s. Roman soldiers and foreign invaders attacked farms and disrupted trade. These attacks led to food shortages, and food prices soared. People had less money to spend, so they bought fewer goods. The price of wheat from Egypt rose from seven or eight drachmae per unit to 120,000. Merchants saw their profits decline, forcing many out of business. Many workers lost their jobs.

To stop this economic decline, the government produced more coins. The government, however, did not have a large supply of gold and silver. As a result, the new coins had less of these precious metals in them, which reduced their value. In order to get the same profit for their goods, farmers and merchants continued to raise their prices. These actions led to inflation or a steep rise in prices with a matching decline in the value of money. As the value of Roman coins decreased, people began to barter, or to exchange goods instead of money.

While Rome continued to struggle, Germanic tribes raided the western empire, and Persian armies invaded the east. People living in cities built protective walls around them. With less money to use, the government started to hire Germanic soldiers. Germanic soldiers, however, had no loyalty to the empire.

A general named Diocletian became emperor in AD 284. He introduced reforms, or political changes to make things better. To defend the empire against invasions, Diocletian built forts along its frontiers. To rule the large empire more efficiently, he divided it into four parts, each with its own ruler. he held ultimate authority over all of them.

Diocletian also tried to strengthen the economy. He set maximum prices for wages and goods in order to prevent prices from rising further. To improve productivity, he ordered workers to remain at the same jobs until they died. Diocletian also made local officials personally responsible for the taxes their communities had to pay. Despite these efforts, Diocletian's reforms did not succeed. People ignored his rules, and Diocletian was not a strong enough emperor to enforce them.

When Diocletian left office in AD 305, conflict again broke out in the empire. Fighting continued until another general named Constantine became emperor in AD 312. To improve the economy, Constantine issued several orders to reinforce the rules of Diocletian. Constantine also wanted a stable workforce and military. For example, the sons of workers had to follow their fathers' trades. The sons of farmers had to work their fathers' lands. The sons of soldiers served in the army.

In spite of Constantine's reforms, the empire continued to decline. In AD 330, Constantine moved the capital from a failing Rome to a new city in the east--the Greek city of Byzantium in present-day Turkey. This city became known as Constantinople. After Constantine died a few years later, Theodosius took power in Constantinople.

After taking power, Theodosius found the empire difficult to govern. The empire covered a vast area and faced threats from both inside and outside its borders. Theodosius found the empire difficult to govern. The empire covered a vast area and faced threats from both inside and outside its borders. Theodosius realized the empire had become too large to control from one seat of government. Theodosius decided that--when he died--the eastern and western parts should become separate empires. This division took place in AD 395. One empire was the Western Roman Empire, with its capital remaining at Rome. The other was the Eastern Roman Empire, with its capital city of Constantinople.

During the late AD 300s and 400s, many Germanic tribes migrated from northern Europe and fought to expand their hold over Roman territory. Some were looking for better land for raising livestock and farming. Many, however, were fleeing the Huns, a fierce group of warriors from Mongolia in Asia.

In the late AD 300s, the Huns entered Eastern Europe. Fearing a Hun attack, one Germanic tribe, the Visigoths, asked the Roman government for protection. The Romans let them settle just inside the empire's border. Here they were under the protection of the Roman army. In return, the Visigoths promised to be loyal to the empire. They promised not to attack the empire from teh inside.