Barbarian Empires

The Western Roman Empire was the greatest empire of its time. However, all good things must come to an end, so slowly, but surely, it did. It was unable to withstand many of the consequences that came with major responsibilities and power. As a result, slavery, economic dilemmas, government downfalls, weak leaders, a change of religion, and an unsteady military led to the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

For centuries, Rome fought with neighboring empires and expanded their territory until they established the powerful empire which includes modern day Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. As the Roman empire grew, it faced problems with outside barbarians and inside problems with administration, military and social issues. Over time, new conquests became more and more unprofitable until the Roman empire reached a point of no progress, which led to d both exterior and interior pressures combined to pull the empire apart, culminating in 476 C.E. with the final collapse of the Western Roman Empire. The emperor, Constantine I, created a “new Rome” called Byzantium. The origins of the great civilization known as the Byzantine Empire finally picked up the broken pieces of the Roman empire in 330 A.D after the western half of the Roman Empire crumbled and fell in 476.

For a long period of time, Rome seemed like an unstoppable empire. It conquered the majority of the land surrounding it, including Greece, Turkey, Iraq, and many of its other neighboring countries. It seemed as though Rome would conquer the entire world, as it was the center of it, until it began to decline in 476 C.E. The very aspects that made it so successful were the ones that caused its collapse. Various political, religious, and economic reasons caused its downfall. The fact that the entire economy of Rome collapsed and money became worthless was a major reason for the empire’s collapse. In addition, the loss of a common religion and lack of efficient ruling in relation to its vast territory affected the empire. The Roman

Rome was the world’s greatest place for about 500 years. The fall of the Roman Empire led Rome to split into two parts. The eastern part of Rome thrived much longer than the western half. Historians believe that Rome had not fallen until about 476 A.D. because of how long Eastern Rome survived as a Byzantine Empire. Western Rome had fallen after the split and when it did, a number of reasons are in the hundreds. They had decided to split their government due to the fact that they had so much land to cover that they thought it was easier to split the empire in half. There were three main reasons as to why Rome had fallen. The division of the Roman Empire lead to a weak economy, military as well as political and social problems.

From the year 476AD, after the last Emperor Romulus Augustulus (as displayed in source 2) of the Western Roman Empire was overthrown by European barbarians, the Roman World was greatly affected, as it was now Medieval Rome. The reason of the collapse was due to civil wars breaking out among the greedy rich competing to become emperor. Many people were killed fighting against each other with various weapons, one of them being the bullets depicted in source 3. Eventually the population began to decline and the taxes increase. Various barbarian clans (as listed in source 4) were conquering many cities and the political, financial and social structure problems led to the complete collapse after a long complicated process as represented all together

The Roman Empire was at its acme in 117 CE. It stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Euphrates River in the Middle East, but like the stock market, it crashed or fell. The empire would grow too vast to be ruled by solely the central government of Rome, so in 285 CE Emperor Diocletian divided the empire into a Western and an Eastern Empire. Each empire would have its own leaders. When speaking of the Fall of Rome, many only account the Western Empire. Some historians believe that this split alone was what caused Rome to fall. However, others believe that there are multiple factors that caused the fall of the Roman Empire. In fact, most classicists, those who study ancient Greek and Latin,

The Roman Empire was a massive empire that eventually collapsed over time. In 455 C.E the Roman Empire was its last straw. Rome's transition from a republic to an empire made it increase dramatically. This, of course, led to many other problems that caused the Roman Empire to decline and fall. The Roman empire did not depend on one thing for its decline but three major events. The Roman empire fell because of the rise of Christianity, economic trouble, and weak military.

The beginning of the Middle Ages (500-1050) can be defined by the disintegration of the Roman Empire in the fifth century AD, the establishment of Germanic kingdoms, and the rise of Christianity. New European civilizations emerged (Byzantine, Islam, and Western Europe) that integrated Christian, Greco-Roman, and Germanic elements. In the east, Byzantine and Islam were culturally and economically superior to Latin Christendom, due to Germanic invasions. In the fifth century, German tribes began to found kingdoms on what was once land that belonged to Rome. Germanic leaders, although attracted to Roman rule and culture, were unable to maintain Greco-Roman culture. The Roman Empire had been organized around cities that were economic, cultural, and political centers. Germanic Tribes were unprepared culturally to save the dying civilization. Urban life declined, and shifted to a primarily rural focus. Eventually, Roman law began to fade and Greek language almost vanished completely. During this time of cultural decline, the church rose to power, which had retained and preserved most elements of Greco-Roman civilization. The church

While Constantine was trying to create resistance against outside attack by partitioning his armed force and assets among the east and west, this activity in the long run brought about the division of Rome. The opposition between the two capital's religious pioneers turned into a source of dispute between the two urban communities, adding to the detachment of east and western Rome. In the year 395 the east and west side of Rome had become two autonomous states. The division of the Late Roman Empire, rather than reinforcing a now smaller country, created shortcomings that surrounding countries could abuse and manipulate. Eventually, Rome had lost most of the control of its borders and Gothic tribes crossed over and settled in the Empire. These new people relocated to Rome in part for security from the Huns who were a threat from the East, but they arrived in numbers so large that they were not able to be properly assimilated and integrated into Roman culture. The Gothics never did adapt into Roman culture and eventually revolted adding the fall of Rome. Furthermore during the 5th century, the Western Empire fell victim to

Anytime Rome had a problem with another country, the legions would engage in war with them and usually win. Rome’s strong fighting force enabled them to control almost anything they wanted. However, it was not as easy with the Vandals. The Vandals were a Germanic tribe led by a man named Gunderic. This tribe, which was highly dangerous, consisted of mainly farmers, craftsmen, and jewelry makers. The Vandals launched their fleet out to the Mediterranean Sea, eventually gaining control of many territories that used to belong to Rome, such as North Africa. Gunderic had his hostile tribe raid coastlines and destroy every ship that crossed its path. The Vandals stole gold, precious jewels, and more from countries around the world, including ones in the Roman Empire. The Romans could no longer handle having the Vandals in their territories, so they engaged in war with them. Surprisingly, the Vandals beat what was once the number one fighting force in the entire world. In return for winning the war, the Romans gave the Vandals permission to do whatever they wanted wherever they pleased. This disrupted the trade between Rome and other countries, for the Vandals had war ships around many important ports and docks. In addition, the Vandals were constantly raiding and stealing precious items, which made trading with Rome very risky

-----The fall of the Roman Empire marked the end of one of the greatest and longest-lived empires in the ancient world. The official date of the fall of the Roman Empire is often considered to be the date of when the barbarian general Odoacer overthrew the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Romulus Augustulus, in 476 CE (Nardo-2004 97). The demise of this Empire was a result of multiple internal and external causes. The first plague that contributed to this decline and fall was the Antonine plague, which started around 160 during Marcus Aurelius’s reign (Sabbatani). The Antonine plague was followed by the Plague of Cyprian, which lasted twice as long as its predecessor, decimated the population, killing between twenty to thirty

The Roman Empire’s ended in 476 C.E. and the downfall occurred due to a series of events, people and decisions starting with excessive military spending, dependence on slave labour, and emperor Diocletian.

Rome enjoyed a generous period of prosperity and control. It is estimated that around 284 BCE the Roman Empire went through a severely destructive period known as The Imperial Crisis. During this grave period, military authorities waged civil war on one another as each of them sought to control the empire. In order to stabilize the empire, it was deemed necessary to divide its rule into a tetrarchy, meaning a rule of four. This division drove a rift between each of the four regions, which caused them to become sequestered from each other. The Western Roman Empire dissolved shortly after in 476 CE, while the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine

The fall of the Roman Empire in the west can be seen as one of the most significant events in historical narrative. This event traditionally marks the transition between the end of Classical Antiquity and the beginning of the European civilization beginning with the Middle Ages. This specific topic is often investigated and debated, and the question of “why” has certainly kept historians and audiences alike captivated throughout the centuries. There never seems to be a lack of scholarship on this historical event, while scholars constantly enquire the real reason, or reasons, for the fall of one of the greatest civilizations humanity has ever known. Historians have blamed the fall on many different reasons, from military failures, economic instability, population deficit, to even things like the climate and natural disasters. Many still dispute the logistics of the “collapse” in 476 A.D. because of its other half in Constantinople continuing for another millennium. Selective theories have been thrown around and considered the most popular explanations regarding the collapse and disintegration of the Empire, but the most compelling is the idea that the population of the Roman Empire began to suffer a general decline, which in turn created a shortage of manpower giving the “rehabilitated Late Empire” a deficiency in human resources from the start. By “rehabilitated Late Empire”, meaning

Since its collapse, historians have attempted to explain the struggle for power and control over both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire that followed. To explain the complexities of the Roman Republic, the Empire, and their political complexities can be a daunting task. For nearly ten centuries Rome would rule most of the known world before the fall of the Western Empire (Byzantine) in 476 C.E. Before that fall occurred, a fundamental change would take place that would transform the original Republic into the Roman Empire. Many factors would be directly and indirectly responsible for this transition. These would