Alabama Social Studies SS24.7.16c
The Standard
- SS24.7.16
- Trace the development of the Roman Empire, including the actions of Julius Caesar and the reigns of Augustus Caesar and the Five Good Emperors.
Summarize the economic, political, and social factors that led to the split and eventual fall of the Western Roman Empire.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain why Roman leaders divided a large empire and why the western half later fell. They connect heavy taxes, struggles over leadership, and divisions between rich and poor to the West's growing weakness.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can name an economic, political, and social problem and explain how two of them made each other worse. They know the western emperor was removed in 476, but the eastern empire continued.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may blame the fall only on invading groups and miss problems inside the empire. They may also think both halves fell when the western emperor was removed.
How to Assess It
- On an exit ticket, ask: Why did Roman leaders divide the empire? Name one economic, one political, and one social problem that weakened the West.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a Mediterranean map and six cause cards; have them mark the two halves and sort the cards by economic, political, or social cause.
Ask students to write: Why did dividing the empire not solve its problems with taxes and leadership?
Run a timeline relay: teams put the division in 395, the sack of Rome in 410, and the western emperor's removal in 476 in order.
Overlay a Roman Empire map on a current map; locate Milan and Istanbul, then compare how far leaders were from provinces at the edges.
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Related Standards
- SS24.8.1
Analyze the economic, political, and social consequences of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.
- SS24.7.15e
Describe the internal and external factors that led to the eventual collapse of the Roman Republic.
- SS24.7.15
Outline the key geographic, political, economic, and cultural elements of the Roman Republic.
- SS24.7.16a
Explain Rome’s shift from Republic to Empire, including economic, political, and geographic causes.
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