Fall Of Rome DBQ

The seemingly unstoppable Roman empire was certain to fall in a matter of time. Even though Rome was majorly affected by external attacks, I feel like the fall was because of the internal decline. The economy and social issues were the key factors that led to the descent of the large empire. A vast amount of their problems came from within the city. Every decision that Rome made had an extensive effect on the city itself and the rest of the world. Many foolish decisions made by terrible emperors weakened the city and eventually cause the many aspects of Roman life to crumble.

A second reason Rome fell was because of the natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis. For example, according to The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman empire, “. . . the Roman world was shaken by a violent and destructive earthquake . . .” (Doc. F)This illustrates that the earthquake that hit Rome destroyed just about all of their culture. This also illustrates that many people died and were injured. This is important because Rome was already falling, so the earthquake hitting made it even easier for the Roman empire to fall. This is also important because many Romans lost their houses so they had to move to find somewhere new to live and support their families, which made their population smaller. With the cities’ populations smaller it made less

Due to the mass amounts of civil war taken place on Roman land, farming and agriculture greatly suffered. Land was over worked and overused causing the land to become infertile. Soon food shortages and diseases caused the population to decrease. From the cumulations of lost money to war and farming the economy weakened and inflation became high. The gap between the rich and poor gradually increased and the economy weakened. Between civil wars, high taxation, and food shortages, citizens lost a sense patriotism that once flourished throughout society.

Some external factors that lead to the fall of Rome are plagues and decline in trade. Evidence of these two factors can be found in document 1. Evidence in document 1 can be found when it says, “There was a noticeable decline in trade and small industry and the labor shortage caused by the plague affected both the military recruiting and the economy. Armies were needed more than ever but financial struggles made it difficult to pay and enlist more soldiers.”.And this evidence shows that the plague and lack of trade, gave less money to Rome, which made them pay their soldier less, and gave less of a reason to join the military. Which then gave their armies less power, and made it easier to let attackers take land, kill Roman armies, and make Rome have less power, leading to the fall of Rome. Although the other external factor that lead to the fall of Rome was attackers, (raiders, Huns, etc). Evidence of this is in document 5. In document 5 it shows that “The visigoths raided Greece, killed Emperor Valens and took over south of Danube.” Also there were vandals who invaded Italy, conquered North Africa, and destroyed other parts of Rome. Which lead to the fall of Rome because there was chaos that allowed leaders to make bad decisions (such as exempting upper class from laws and diverting the army to churches). And allowed the leaders to be assassinated in midst of the chaos. And that made Rome’s land shrink and lose power without ; Emperor Valens and other Emperors being assassinated, raids in Balkan and Greece, the Visigoths taking and invading Italy, and raiding/ransacking Rome. And they [Visigoths] were able to take over and conquered North Africa and Carthage. And without those pieces of land and having to battle with the attackers attackers Rome lost power and

Another reason Rome fell is because of the destructive and violent disasters that happened. In (Doc F), in the year 366 AE there was a violent earthquake that left the shores of the Mediterranean Sea dry. This showed that the lack of water could mean less fishing and the lack of water could have created problems for people. Then there was a flood that wiped fifty thousand people away in the city of Alexandria alone. Next there was a plague that swept through Rome and sent their population from 1 million to 250,000 thousand people. (Doc F). This

Disasters and diseases are one reason of Rome’s fall. According to Document F, it states that “the Roman world was shaken by a violent and destructive earthquake … but the tide soon returned with the weight of an immense [flood] which was severely felt on the coasts of Sicily, … Greece, and of Egypt.” This shows that the earthquake had destroyed the Valens’ empire, which would be very costly to repair all the damage the disaster had done. The flood had also caused a tremendous amount of damage which would contribute to the cost of the earthquake. “Fifty thousand persons had lost their lives in the flood [in the city of Alexandria alone],” which meant that their population would decrease. Diseases also proved the decline of Rome. Different types of plagues “swept over the empire … which brought diseases [from] southern Asia to new areas like the Mediterranean.” (pg 35, Doc. F) These diseases were very

Did you know that the Roman empire was one of the strongest and one of the most powerful empire? Well as we all know the Roman empire fell for these reasons. The first reason is because the population decreased. The next reason is because the Roman empire had a economic crisis. The final reason is because the Roman empire had tons of invaders invading Rome at the same time so Rome couldn’t fight all those empires!.

Additionally, to invading and migrating to Rome in the process, they gave no mercy what so ever and over swarmed them. Their military hit rock bottom hard and bad when it came to protecting their beloved city and everything with it. The cause of Rome devitalizing was because their people had lost a lot of faith in their own military and

This caused the empire to get many attacks from the barbarians. This is an important point because this shows that this was a reason for the Fall of Rome. According to Document C, social problems plagued the empire, including a decline in morals and values. Due to the rising unemployment, crimes, and violence made the streets of larger cities of Rome very unsafe.

Like waves, Rome once was tall and strong, but eventually, every wave comes crashing down. Starting around 750 BCE was a strong and powerful empire- Rome. After fighting to get territory and succeeding, Rome took over places such as the Mediterranean sea and colonies in North Africa, the middle east, Egypt, and the asia minor. Caesar became a powerful emperor and led Rome to a time of peace (Pax Romana). Rome rose, but like most, eventually fell due to laziness, then causing invasion.

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

One essential impact on the downfall of Rome was geographic influence, such as natural disasters, and foreign

The Decline That Leads Into the Fall of Rome The Roman Empire was a beautiful, magnificent, and powerful empire. That is, until the 5th century when things went downhill. Around 700 B.C.E., Rome was founded on the banks of the Tiber River. Initially, Rome was led by a king but the government soon shifted to a republic where citizens elected officials and had a right to vote.

Ancient Rome was an empire so dominant, wealthy and economically- stable which came to a dramatic fall in the period of 250AD- 500AD. Ancient Rome faced unexplained unfortunate events which crumbled the Great Empire from the affluent empire to a impoverished society. For centuries historians have timelessly theorised and analysed many debates and research in relation to the Fall of the Roman Empire. What really caused the predominate Roman Empire to fall? Did Rome fall naturally? Was disease, such as malaria a major contributor to the Fall of the Empire, Was man -made infrastructure a problem during Ancient Roman times? Was the fall a natural event? Was the climate changing causing natural disasters? Maybe, perhaps, all the theories interweaved with each other at the same time causing a catastrophic downfall, defeating the Ancient Roman Empire. Edward Gibbon (Gibbon, 1909, pp 173-174.) quoted,

After 50 thousand deaths, it was clear, Rome was seen, as a declining empire and a sinking world. I think the fall of the Roman Empire was due to Military weakness, weak leadership, and disasters and diseases.