series of ambushes in northern Germania, Europe in which Germanic tribes led by Arminius destroyed three entire Roman legions (about 15,000 soldiers)

renamed from after emperor Constantine I, the formerly Greek city of Byzantium which later became the capital of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire

Roman emperor who adopted the religion of Christianity and moved his capital east from Rome to Byzantium

monotheistic religion that worships in mosques, regards Mohammed as the messenger and prophet of Allah (believed to be the one true god), and has the Quran as its sacred text

official proclamation in 313 A.D. by Emperor Constantine I that made Christianity legal within the empire

fierce nomadic tribes from Asia who invaded Europe and pushed fleeing Germanic peoples into Roman territory

term used by historians to describe a period of invasions, civil wars, plagues, inflation, and economic trouble which brought the Roman Empire to the brink of collapse

Monotheistic religion that began spreading during the decline of the Roman Empire, regards Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah and Savior of mankind, and worships in churches

Germanic tribal warlord who conquered and sacked the city of Rome in 476 A.D. and deposed the last Western Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, finally ending the Western Roman Empire of antiquity