The Roman Empire was, overall, an immensely successful and innovative empire; this success derived from the implementation of the Christianity religion, spreading of Romanization so that Roman subjects were united and had Roman rights, and the economical and technological advancements that flourished under the period of Pax Romana. While these benefited the Roman Empire greatly and made Rome a prosperous civilization, Rome gradually weakened and, conclusively, fell. The eventual and definite decline of Rome was caused by excessive territorial expansion, economic issues, and foreign invasions. To begin with, Rome deteriorated due to becoming too large, which was caused by an exaggerated expansion of territories. Because the Roman Empire conquered …show more content…
The military in Rome emasculated and became too crippled to defend Rome and oppose foreign invaders, like the Huns, due to the incapability of enforcing conscription and the soldiers’ negligence to wear proper military armor. The excerpts found on Document B proclaim that the Roman infantry refused to wear protective head and chest armor during battles, thus resulting in losses of cities, battles, and soldiers. Document B also states that drafting of soldiers was not properly integrated into Rome, which lead to a shortage of infantrymen in the Roman army. Both of these issues caused the Roman military to falter because not enough men were in the military to defend Rome’s frontiers and the men that were in the military were defeated since armor was not in use. Correspondingly, because the military was weak and defenseless, powerful foreign invaders invaded Rome and defeated Rome’s military. The Huns were one of these powerful invaders that took over Rome. As presented in Document D, the Huns were savage and motivated through the aspiration to conquer other’s territory. Since the Roman military was weak, they could not withstand the force of the
In 27 BCE, Octavian appointed himself as the first Roman Emperor. After being a republic for approximately 700 years, Rome was now an empire. The Roman Empire grew to be one of the greatest empires in history, conquering the majority of Europe, the Asia Minor, and much of North Africa. Rome went through a time of peace called Pax Roma. During Pax Roma many contributions were made such as arts and architecture. The Roman Empire declined because of its weakened military. The military began to weaken due to laziness, the land was easy to invade, and there we many different leaders throughout the empire.
There were frequent civil wars over the succession to the throne. This meant battles in the streets of Rome every few years which discouraged people to stay in Rome. Rival armies battled to have a commander chosen as emperor. Also, Rome had dealt with internal problems before but it had never dealt with so many problems at once. This is exactly what happened during the fall of Rome and the emperor and government didn't have the time or means to fix these issues.
Rome fell because of laziness and negligence of the military. Inside document B, this happened because the military fought without armor and helmets so they got wounded easily by the Goths archers. The soldiers ran from fights rather than actually fighting. The army abandoned their own parade drills. Doc B). People were avoiding the drafts so the military became weak. No one tried to restore the armor so people would keep getting wounded. Eventually the weak military led to the fall of Rome.
It was not one problem that brought the great and powerful Rome to its downfall. it was a collection of internal and external problems that surfaced simultaneously. Rome was once an united empire that flourished. They were masters at conquering places and they thrived in trade. Rome’s once notorius army started to slack off. Rome also faced a series of invasions.
The Roman Empire was a very successful civilization that had many accomplishments that are a part of the modern world. Textbooks and primary sources were studied to be able to come to these conclusions. The Roman Empire lasted 500 years throughout the BC and AD times without having too many major problems. The Romans were able to last so long because of the military strength and the amount of land that the Empire had. The Romans were located in Rome, Italy and ended up expanding to take over most of the Mediterranean world. However, all good things must come to an end. Starting in the 200s, other civilizations started to slowly take over Rome. Eventually, the Empire collapsed. The causes of the collapse of Rome were that the land area was too large to sustain, there were many political problems in Rome, and there were too many invasions happening for Rome to handle.
What were the primary reasons for the “fall” of Rome? Rome was once a great empire, powerful and strong. Feared by everybody, but it didn’t last forever. Slowly, Rome started to fall. Rome’s decline could’ve been caused by a number of things, invaders, natural disasters, disease.
Doc B states that after the year 400 CE, the army stopped conducting ground drills and, out of pure laziness, refused to wear breastplates and helmets. Without proper armor and training, the army was very vulnerable to foreign invaders. Between the years 370 CE and 451 CE Rome was invaded by various peoples from the east. For around 80 years Rome experienced invasion from the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals, and, most notably, the Huns (doc C). Ammianus Marcellinus describes the Huns as “unthinking animals” and “ungovernable” (doc D).
One reason Rome fell was the economic problems and corruption. First of all, since the military was so weak, the leaders kept dying. Mostly of assassination. For example, in the chart in document A, 13 emperors were assassinated. Also a lot of the time the leaders would have bribed the military to stay loyal. The leaders, the people chose, had enemies. The enemies would assassinate them, and take their place. The leaders also made horrible decisions. The empire got weaker and weaker every leader. Everything kept changing. Since most of the leaders didn’t agree with what the other leader previously made legal. The laws were all over the place.
Rome was one of the biggest and strongest empire of medieval times, but fell due to weak leaders and invasions. The Roman Empire was a strong and powerful empire that conquered many lands. The empire started in 753 BCE and later grew into a huge civilization by gaining more and more territory. It later fell from invasions and bad leadership.
The Romans were becoming lazy and loosing their work ethic. They were also becoming replaced by the Huns. “ But when, because of negligence and laziness, parade ground drills were abandoned, the customary army began to seem heavy since the soldiers rarely ever wore it.” (Document B) Due to the low effort and laziness of the soldiers, training for battle became limited, and armour was abandoned. This training was essential in order for soldiers to feel adequately prepared during battle. Without proper training, Romans were not successful in battle. In addition, the Romans were not well equipped and protected, because of the exhaustion caused by wearing the heavy armour. The people of Rome were also being invaded and replaced by a group of people called the Huns. “ Although they have the shape … of human beings, they are so wild in their way of life that they have no need of fire or pleasant tasting foods, but eat the roots of uncultivated plants and the half-raw flesh of all sorts of animals” (Document D) The Romans were very sophisticated, unlike the Huns. The Huns were considered animals by many, due to their lack of social skills. As the Romans were being replaced by the Huns, social class and order began to decline. Without the declining social order, the downfall of Rome wouldn’t have come on as
Then, in 27 B.C.E, Rome became an empire, but emperor idea only lasted for 50 years. After that, the Roman Empire turned into a dictatorship and then to a sluggish place with no motivation. In the end, the Roman Empire was conquered easily because of the lack of energy and spirit and also because of their major problems with natural disasters. Military problems and natural
Rome eventually got very lazy, and so did its army. According to document B, it states that the foot soldiers wore breastplates and helmets, but eventually asked to train without the breastplates, and then the helmets. So eventually, they went head first into battle with no protection! This proved that the roman army stood no chance against Germanic tribes/other kingdoms. And you know who’s fault that is, the Emperors themselves! Speaking of which…
The Roman Empire was a vast territory that expanded to three different continents.They were a place of honor, tradition, and respect. Rome has had several different periods, some of peace, and some of violence or unrest, but those were solved quickly and effectively. However, such a magnificent empire could not hold up under the strains that were slowly causing it to collapse. Rome began to face many problems that together allowed the fall of the Roman Empire. The three main problems that caused Rome to fall were invasions by barbarians, an unstable government, and pure laziness and negligence.
The issue of conflict in the roman empire was very prominent and it ultimately was one of its factors for its downfall. “The Nystrom Atlas Of World History, Herff Jones Education Division” (Document 2) exhibits multiple tribes like the Visigoths, Vandals, Alans, Sueves, Anglo-Saxons, and the Huns who all invade the western Roman Empire. These invasions of Rome cause not only conflict with the tribes but also caused
To begin with, one reason why the Roman Empire fell was due to their military weakness. They got weak by when they abandoned parade ground drills. They also got weak and lazy when they thought that their armor started getting heavy, therefore they did not want to wear it. According to Vegetius, the roman historian, they did not wear their armor so they were exposed to wounds, in which they wanted to run and not fight/battle, for the roman empire. Once the military