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Empire Essay: The Fall Of The Roman Empire

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The Fall of the Roman Empire Stretching over 2.2 million miles squared, and with a population of almost 120 million people, (UNRV History) the Roman Empire was one of the largest civilizations in recorded history. In the last century of the Empire, it started to fall apart from the inside, though the problems had began in the early days of the civilization. Due to many factors, the once great empire was defeated by Germanic tribes. Now, Rome is only a city inside of Europe, no longer the vast Country that it previously was. The fall of Rome occurred over a very long time due to poor leadership, population decrease, and military. Rome's government had begun to rapidly deteriorate. Rome had originally created a system where all powers were equal in the government. In roughly 400 B.C.E. however, the Emperors began to grab as much power as they …show more content…

After the Emperor Septimius Severus transformed the government from civil control to martial control, large problems began to arise. Generals gained immense amounts of power under this new form of government. After the last rightful successor to the role of Emperor was killed, civil unrest rapidly spread. With the Emperor gone, the military began to take over. There was no clear law about succession, and so the powerful Roman generals and their fractions fought to be the new ruler of Rome. During this period, dozens of generals claimed to be Emperor. The generals gathered supporters and had them fight with the other generals supporters. Everyone who had grabbed power before could now claim to be the rightful ruler, and at one point Rome was being ruled by over 20 different Emperors. This period is often referred to as the “Crisis of the Third Century.” After 50 years of the Generals fighting, assassinating each other, and pushing through civil wars, Emperor Diocletian assumed the throne. The adjustments that he made to the country had long lasting negative

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