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9th grade · Social Studies · Unit 5 of 16

Rome's Fall & Byzantium

From Rome to Constantinople

What your child practices

Rome's lasting contributions, why the Western Empire fell, Constantine and Constantinople, Justinian and the Byzantine Empire, and the split between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 9.3d; 9.5a; 9.5b · why the Western Roman Empire fell and how the Byzantine Empire carried on in the east

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The Pax Romana was about 200 years of relative peace; around 117 CE the empire circled the Mediterranean.
  2. Diocletian divided the empire into eastern and western parts. The west fell in 476 CE.
  3. The east lasted as the Byzantine Empire (Justinian and Theodora) until the Ottomans took Constantinople in 1453.

Example: When did the Byzantine Empire end? The Ottoman Turks captured its capital, Constantinople. That happened in 1453. Answer: 1453

Rome's Fall & Byzantium in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 5 of 16 in 9th grade Social Studies, after Trade Networks and before Medieval Europe.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    The Western Roman Empire fell in…

    • 1453 CE
    • 476 CE
    • 1066 CE
    • 44 BCE

  2. Question 2

    Emperor Diocletian divided the empire into…

    • ten kingdoms
    • eastern and western parts
    • two continents
    • city-states

  3. Question 3

    The Hagia Sophia, a huge domed church, was built in…

    • Venice
    • Jerusalem
    • Constantinople
    • Rome

  4. Question 4

    Which was a reason the Western Roman Empire weakened?

    • too much peace
    • no army at all
    • civil wars, high taxes and invasions
    • it was too small

  5. Question 5

    The leader of the Roman Catholic Church is the…

    • patriarch of Constantinople
    • emperor
    • caliph
    • pope

  6. Question 6

    How did Rome's size make it hard to govern?

    • everyone spoke Chinese
    • it had too few people
    • news and armies took months to cross it
    • it had no borders

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