Final answer:
The barbarian invasions of Rome led to a halt in academic and intellectual activities due to the lack of funding and structured learning. The Church preserved some aspects of Roman civilization and literacy became a focus of religious education. However, there was a significant decline in secular scholarship, leading to the reliance on translations by scholars in Constantinople and the Arab kingdoms.
Step-by-step explanation:
Academic and intellectual activity came to a halt with the barbarian invasions of Rome primarily because the fall of Rome led to a decline in organized learning. This was a consequence of the lack of funding from Roman elites who previously supported a robust private school system. As a result, disciplines such as literature, philosophy, and engineering nearly vanished, with monasteries and the Eastern Empire being the main preservers of knowledge.
With the Western Empire's collapse, the Church became the central institution supporting scholarship and literacy, though the overall levels of education in Europe significantly declined. This period, later termed the "Dark Ages" by Renaissance thinkers, was marked by a decrease in secular learning due to the Church's focus on Biblical and religious instruction.
Over time, much of the ancient Greek learning was concentrated in Constantinople and other Greek cities, and translated by scholars in the Arab kingdoms during the Middle Ages. Latin, the language of Roman law, was less understood, and often referenced in simplified Greek translations. Despite this, the Church carried on parts of Roman civilization, learning, and culture well into the medieval period.