Our glorious empire has fallen due to a series of events that have presently occurred so far through the third century A.D. Firstly, Emperor Marcus Aurelius (who ruled from A.D. 161-180) marked the end of our amazing two centuries of prosperity and peace, which we called the Pax Romana. But now rulers in our century have had no idea how to deal with a gigantic empire and it’s evolving problems. As a result, our empire that was once successful began to fail. Emperor Diocletian positively reformed our empire by doubling the size of our army and controlling inflation by setting fixed prices on goods. More importantly, he divided the empire into the Greek-speaking East (which included Greece, Anatolia, Egypt and Syria) and the Latin-speaking West …show more content…
Our political office was seen as a burden not a reward. We have military interference in politics, which can possibly start a civil war. Our empire has been divided, and the government moved our capital to Byzantium. Next, we had a decline in interest in public affairs, and this leads to low confidence in the empire. My fellow people have shown unacceptable disloyalty, corruption and a lack of patriotism. There is also a widening gap between the rich and poor, which increasingly impoverished our Western Empire. Our population is decreasing due to disease and food shortage. Also, we have had poor farming harvests, and a disruption of trade. We no longer have war plunder, and our gold and silver are draining. Our economy is suffering due to inflation, because of the drastic drop in the value of money that lead to a ride in prices. Lastly, we have had frightening threats from Northern European tribes, and low funds for our army’s defense. We have a decline of patriotism and loyalty among our soldiers, so we are now recruiting mercenaries, which are foreign soldiers who fight for money. But, the immediate cause was the invasion by the Germanic tribes and the Huns, leading Roman power in the Western half of the Empire to
As you have read, many things attributed to the rise of the Empire. Many things also attributed to its fall as well. These included poor leadership, economic trouble, as well
The great Roman Empire expanded across all of Europe and into the Middle East. Its military was one of the finest. With major trading in Africa and Britain, the economy flourished with brining many citizens a healthy income. With amazing advancements in culture and technology, Roman society was at its finest. During the Pax Romana, the Romans had 200 years of peace and good ruling by level headed dictators and emperors. Despite Rome’s greatness in all of these areas, Rome would eventually fall. Surprisingly all of these qualities that led up to a flourishing empire were the same ones that led to its demise. As Germanic tribes invaded, the military weakened and the government became unstable.
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
The Roman Empire was or could be one of the greatest empires to have ever existed to this day. Just like many empires the Roman Empire fell to betrayal, religion, and war. Lasting from 27BC to 1453 the Roman Empire to me is the most interesting empire to talk about. When you take any history class that explores times outside the US, you hear about the Roman Empire being involved some way or somehow. The Roman Empire history can go on for days. I will pack most of the history into a small 5 page essay and if you don’t know anything about the Roman Empire, You will have a better understanding and will more than likely see why I believe the Roman Empire was one of the greatest of all time.
The era dominated by Roman empire is one the most well-known and influential periods of history, home to famous names from Julius Caesar to Jesus Christ. At its height, Rome’s territory stretched from the Atlantic coastline to the Middle East, reigning over 60 million people, one-fifth of the population of the ancient world. However, the Roman empire’s treatment of their conquered people’s and their own citizens ultimately led to the permanent downfall of Rome.
Throughout all this turmoil it is a wonder how the fall did not come any earlier. The turmoil caused the empire to weaken becoming more susceptible to attacks from bordering countries. And that’s exactly what happened. Some
Fall of Rome Essay Rome’s fall from power would have been difficult to imagine for the Romans who lived at the strongest stage of the Roman civilization, and the thought for many in the United States that the United States of America (USA) could ever fall must also be very hard to imagine. There are, however, many similarities between the problems the Roman Empire faced as it fell and where the USA is currently. Unless the USA can address some or most of these issues better than the Romans, the United States is at risk of falling from power like Rome did over 1560 years ago. Americans have the power to make sure the United States (U.S.) will not fall.
To begin with, one of the main problems of the Roman Empire was their economic problems and corruption. For example, in an excerpt of a historical text written by Priscus, which was a Roman ambassador to the Huns in 449 C.E, he reported a conversation he had with a former citizen whose land had been conquered by the Huns. In their conversation the former Roman citizen stated, “ The conditions of [Roman] subjects in time of peace [is worse than war]...taxes are very severe, and unprincipled men inflict injuries on others… A [wealthy lawbreaker] … is not punished for his injustice, while a poor man … undergoes the legal penalty… The climax of misery is to have to pay in order to obtain justice…” This supports that one main problem that ended the Roman empire was economic problems and corruption because it shows that if rich people in Rome committed a crime they would only have to bribe their way out of trouble while on the other hand poor people will have to face their consequences which is unfair so when they got invaded by the Huns they decided that it was best if they conquered than to join the military to help their empire. In addition another economic problem is that the the Roman Emperors had to pay their own soldiers to stay loyal which lead to emperors having to mint more coins which is further supported by BrainPop which states, “Roman emperors often bribed their soldiers with money to make sure they remained loyal. And when emperors didn’t have enough to pay their troops, they would mint cheaper coins. This caused the value of Roman money to plummet.” This also supports that one important cause that caused the Roman Empire to decline was the corruption and economic problems because in order for a empire or a civilization to function efficiently, they need to respect all people
In the 5th century C.E, the Roman Empire, a shell of what it once was, was sacked due to multiple problems inside and outside its huge borders. Weak leadership, military problems, & foreign invasions were the 3 primary reasons for the “fall” of Rome. Due to these unresolved issues, the Romans lost the power & authority that once made them so powerful and revered across the world and fell to enemies that they once could have easily defeated. To begin with, a constant change of weak leadership lead to an unstable empire. In Document A, emperors were constantly changing, often in violent ways such as assassination & suicide.
Imagine you are in the Roman empire and about every year your emperor dies from either an assassination or suicide. Your military and government are starting to grow a plentiful amount of problems which are progressively getting worse leading to Rome's fall.The primary reasons for the fall of Rome were political assassinations, military problems, and foreign invasions.
Although the fall of Rome remains obscure, what many historians fail to realize is that the decline of the Roman Empire was the epitome of cause and effect relationships. Properly analyzing the fall of Rome leads historians to realize that a chain of circumstances, beginning with the political corruption of the Western empire, was a catalyst for superfluous military spending and economic failure, all which contributed to the fall of Rome. Because the Praetorian Guard would select the highest bidder and put him into office, the emperors would not represent the people as a whole and did not instill the beliefs that the people held. In Document 1, Roman Emperors, 235-285, a chart shows the inconsistency of the Roman emperors and the violence
Many anthropologists and historians have speculated about the different causes and effects of the fall of the Roman Empire. Some have even stated that Rome did not fall but instead, was merely transformed. However, there were many causes that did end this prodigious empire. Many seemingly small decisions made by powerful emperors over the course of just over a century lead to its destruction. In this paper it will be established that the Roman emperors, in an effort to save their political power, made adjustments to warfare/treaty practices and made political changes which over time lead to the inevitable collapse of the realm, this caused a drastic regression in the living standards of the Roman citizens, implying that the Empire did indeed collapse and not transform.
As Rome was facing attacks from the outside there was an even deeper problem happening from within and it was their economy. Rome’s constant war and overspending in building its empire was becoming costly. As their treasury depleted they decided to impose hard taxation to account for the new expense they were generating. Which actually caused many people who were apart of the upper class to move to the countryside to avoid the oppressive taxes(Andrews) . Another economic problem is that inflation began to occur. Marcus Aurelius increased the copper content of the silver coins and then after that there was even more severe inflation on it way(Starr 144-145). A third problem with the economy, also politically, was that there was an ever growing expansion of bureaucracy. The expansion of their government caused more and more officials to have to be paid. Not to mentions cities already were having a hard
This allowed for personal and careful judicial and administrative work. This also promoted imperial stability. But, dividing the Empire had put a “severe strain on the economy,” ("Diocletian." Encyclopedia of World Biography, Gale).
Extraordinary leadership came from Diocletian who ruled from 284-305. He implemented a series of reforms such as his `Edict on Prices'. He created what was known as a tetrarchy. This divided the empire, which eventually led to the collapse of the