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Fall Of Rome

Decent Essays

Rome was one of the greatest empires to ever exist. It was the envy of the world. At its peak, it stretched from Western Europe to North Africa, throughout the Mediterranean area into Western Asia. They had many great inventions that were innovated and are still used today. But the factors that caused the fall of this great empire were pretty few and could have been avoided. The first factor that lead to their demise was the decline in population. It reached a stunning low of 6000 around the 500’s C.E. The suspected reason was that people’s rich and luxurious lifestyles and their “concomitant disinterest in producing and raising children”, along with plagues and military commitment and warfare. Another cause was that due to the vast expansion …show more content…

From 235 CE to 285 CE, there were 19 emperors, of which 63%, or 12, were assassinated. The longest reigning emperor was Valerian,who ruled for 7 year and then was killed in battle. This shows that the common folk was not pleased with the ruling elite, their policies and governance. Speaking of policies, Septimus Severus seized the throne in 193 CE. He and his line devalued the currency in order to increase military and double legionnaires pay, which was in gold. Within a century, the coin had no value at all. By the late third century, the economy was based on barter. When the dynasty ended in 235 CE, a succession struggle was triggered and made trading nearly impossible. This was the lowest point in Roman economic history. To try and control this, various types of governments were formed and failed. Most of these governments raised taxes so high that poor farmers were not able to pay them when officials confiscated crops from them. The poor eventually paid the taxes for the rich. Another internal conflict thought by some to also be a reason for the downfall of Rome is the rise of Christianity. It displaced the the polytheistic Roman religion, which viewed the emperor as having a divine and lofty status, and took attention from glory of state to glory of a single deity. During this transition, Popes and other religious leader started playing an increasingly important role in political affairs, further

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