Article
Other

Edward Goldsmith: The Fall of the Roman Empire

For Students 9th - 10th
This excerpt from chapter 1 of author Edward Goldsmith's book The Great U-Turn points out the reasons for the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire. He reasons that the invasion of various people groups, foreign influences, the...
eBook
Internet History Sourcebooks Project

Fordham University: Medieval Sourcebook: Fall of the Roman Empire in the West

For Students 9th - 10th
From Edward Gibbon's "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," this is a comprehensive discussion of the reasons for the collapse of the western Roman Empire.
Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Greco Roman

For Students 9th - 10th
Instead of rule by a single person, Athens and Rome developed governments with widespread participation by male elites, which lasted about 170 years in Athens and about 480 years in Rome. This article discusses the rise of the Greek and...
Article
Other

Siteseen Ltd: Causes for the Fall of the Roman Empire

For Students 9th - 10th
This article addresses the many reasons why the world's greatest superpower of the 4th century, the Roman Empire, crumbled and fell. Many reasons are discussed in detail, including the spread of Christianity, the invasion of various...
Unit Plan
Other

Collapse and Germanization of the Roman Empire: Upheaval in the West

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes many factors leading up to the deposition of Romulus Augustulus by Odovacar, marking the traditional fall of the Roman Empire.
Article
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Fall of the Roman Empire

For Students 9th - 10th
In this article, you will see the reasons and developments that led to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. An official state religion, the splitting of the empire into two parts, and the invasion of various people groups are...
Website
Friesian School

Fresian School: Decadence of Roman History

For Students 9th - 10th
This site, which is provided for by the Fresian School, gives a discussion of the Roman Empire, the decadence of the emperors and citizens, the coming of Christianity, the pagan hordes, and "scrupulous observance of the privileges of...
Primary
Other

Passages From Gibbon's "Decline and Fall"

For Students 9th - 10th
Here are hundreds of excerpts from Gibbon's famous history of Rome, chosen "because of the literary wit and beauty that they contain."
Handout
Forum Romanum

Outlines of Roman History: Fall of the Western Empire

For Students 9th - 10th
This last entry in William Morey's 1901 textbook tells about the final demise of the Roman Empire in the West, the fall of the Roman Empire.
Online Course
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Open Course Ware: The Making of a Roman Emperor

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Explore this impressive list of readings and possible writing/discussion ideas regarding the Early Emperors focused mainly on Augustus and Nero.
Website
University of Calgary

University of Calgary: Germanic Invasions of Europe

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides a description of the relationship between Germania and the Roman Empire from the days of the Early Republic, and how these relationships changed as Germanic tribes began to exert pressure and eventually invaded the...
Handout
Forum Romanum

Outlines of Roman History: Extinction of the Western Empire: Great Invasions

For Students 9th - 10th
In this article from the 1901 textbook by William Morey, you read about the split of Rome into East and West. and the invasions of swarms of barbarians.
Handout
Loyola University Chicago

De Imperatoribus Romanis: Roman Emperors: Romulus Augustulus

For Students 9th - 10th
Two views on the biography of Romulus Augustulus, his life, reign, and deposition.
Handout
Other

Chicago Coin Club: Eight Hundred Years of Roman Coinage

For Students 9th - 10th
Nearly halfway through this page under the subtitle, "Disintegration of the Monetary System" is a discussion of the monetary collapse and the efforts of subsequent emperors to restore the coinage.
Handout
Loyola University Chicago

De Imperatoribus Romanis: Stemmata of the House of Severi

For Students 9th - 10th
A family tree of the Severan rulers of the Roman Empire. No other information is given.
Handout
Loyola University Chicago

De Imperatoribus Romanis: Constantine I

For Students 9th - 10th
An essay on the life of Constantine, his relationship with Christianity, the founding of Constantinople, his death, and more.
Graphic
University of Oregon

Mapping History: European History

For Students 9th - 10th
Interactive and animated maps and timelines of historical events and time periods in European history from Greek and Phoenician colonization up to the 20th century.
Primary
Internet History Sourcebooks Project

Fordham University: Ancient History Sourcebook: Ammianus Marcellinus (C.330 395 Ce)

For Students 9th - 10th
Fordham University provides translation of a commentary by the Greek historian Ammianus Marcellinus that criticizes everything about the 4th century Roman life, from overeating to bad driving.
Primary
Internet History Sourcebooks Project

Fordham University: Medieval Sourcebook: Laws of Constantine

For Students 9th - 10th
This site, which is provided for by the Medieval Sourcebook of Fordham University, gives the text of five of the laws passed by Constantine regarding Catholics and the Christian Church.
Unit Plan
Stanford University

Stanford History Education Group: The Dark Ages

For Teachers 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] Primary and secondary source documents, timeline, PowerPoint, and lesson plan reinforcing life during the Dark Ages in Europe. Over several days students will come to understand all aspects of this...
Website
Other

Si Spain: Auge Y Caida Del Imperio Espanol

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides the chronology of the rise and fall of the Spanish Empire.
Handout
Then Again

Then Again: Web Chron: The Beginnings of German Christianity 500 1000.

For Students 9th - 10th
While conventionally the period after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West is thought of as an age of darkness, in fact it was the formative period of a new culture. Christian missionaries brought a form of Christianity to the...
Graphic
Curated OER

Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Maps Etc: Italy, Ad 525

For Students 9th - 10th
A map of Italy at the time of Ostrogoth rule under Theodoric the Great (AD 454-526) after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. This map shows the extent of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths, Kingdom of the Vandals (Corsica and Sardinia),...
Graphic
Curated OER

Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Clip Art Etc: Edward Gibbon

For Students 9th - 10th
Edward Gibbon (April 27, 1737 - January 16, 1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788.