Alabama Social Studies SS24.7.16

SS24.7.16 is a cluster heading. These are the individual standards under it.

• SS24.7.16a

  Explain Rome’s shift from Republic to Empire, including economic, political, and geographic causes.

• SS24.7.16b

  Describe the founding and development of Christianity, including the roles of Jesus of Nazareth and Paul of Tarsus, and how its spread was directly and indirect...

• SS24.7.16c

  Summarize the economic, political, and social factors that led to the split and eventual fall of the Western Roman Empire.

01

What Students Need to Do

Students place Caesar, Augustus, and the Five Good Emperors on a timeline. They explain how expansion, unequal wealth, and civil war weakened the republic. They trace Christianity from Jesus's teachings through Paul's travels, then explain Rome's split and the West's fall.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

Students link Caesar's civil war, Augustus's new rule, and later stability under the Five Good Emperors. They explain how Roman roads and later imperial support helped Christianity spread despite earlier persecution. They distinguish the split from the West's fall, citing taxes, leadership struggles, social divisions, and invasions.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may call Caesar the first emperor or place the Five Good Emperors before Augustus. They may think Paul founded Christianity rather than spread Jesus's teachings. Some treat the split and the fall as one event, or think the eastern empire fell with the West.

04

How to Assess It

Exit ticket: Put Caesar, Augustus, the Five Good Emperors, the split, and the Western Empire's fall in order. Name one cause of the republic's end, one way Roman rule affected Christianity's spread, and one cause of the West's fall.

1. 01

   Give pairs event cards and a blank timeline; have them place Caesar, Augustus, Paul, the Five Good Emperors, the split, and the West's fall.

2. 02

   Ask students to write two sentences explaining how Roman roads helped Paul while Rome's size made governing harder.

3. 03

   Play a cause-and-effect match: students pair conquest, unequal wealth, invasions, and succession fights with republic collapse or western decline, then defend their choices.

4. 04

   Put a Roman road map beside a modern highway map of Italy; students trace a route between Rome and Milan on each.

• SS24.8.1

  Analyze the economic, political, and social consequences of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.

• SS24.7.15a

  Trace the growth of the Roman Republic, using a variety of thematic and political maps.