“Jus belli, ut qui vicissent, iis quos vicissent, quemadmodum vellent, imperarant.” -Julius Caesar. Once translated into English, this quote makes a significantly more sense. “It is the right of war for conquerors to treat those whom they have conquered according to their pleasure.” This is a big part of how Rome became the absolute monster of an empire it was. They had the weapons and equipment. Rome had the geography, the transport, communication, knowledge, and most importantly, the people, all working in their favor. This paper will take a look at how Rome became the most powerful empire of all time, and what caused its downfall. Rome’s most famous asset was of course its military. They had the best tactics, and the best weaponry for that matter, of its time. As far as any successful strategies used against them, the legions could dissect it, smash it, improve and adopt it into their own military. Take for instance the Greek phalanx. The Romans saw the flaws and perfected it. Rome’s legions typically utilized a full on assault, and their arsenal consisted of weapons such as the gladius, a short Hispanic sword used for stabbing in conjunction with the scutum. The scutum was an oblong shield shaped like a half circle. It was used to deflect …show more content…
Well there is a multitude of reasons. Rome became too large and overextended itself. This caused it to be spread too thin and made it more difficult to defend. Governing was corrupt and made it even harder to ensure a safe Rome. Not only that, but the Romans fell back too much on slave labor. Once they quit conquering, they could not acquire new slaves. This coupled with a poor economy made the empire suffer dearly. Finally, there was a split between the east and west empires, and the legions became weak with a lack of new soldiers to fight. Finally, Rome was overrun with barbarians, and the 1000 years of order and stability, was
The Roman Empire was once one of the most powerful empires in the world, but still to this day we ask, how did the empire end? Romans built their territory to be the best. They expanded their land across regions, had all the power, a large population, and technological innovations; so how could such a ‘great’ empire end? Rome was once at it’s peak but was destined to fall due to political instability, overconfidence, negligence, and barbarian attacks.
The powerful and well known Roman army was another key factor in maintaining the empire. The Roman army was large, well equipped, well trained, disciplined and skilled military force that was stationed throughout the empire to prevent uprisings and crush rebellion. Military training was a very important and arduous affair in the Roman Empire. It was essential for each soldier to achieve a high level of skill in fighting and using their weapons. They also had to march 30 kilometers 3 times a month wearing 20kg armor, do drills twice a day, learn to build camps, swim, mount and ride a horse and fight mock battles. The Roman army was quite ruthless when it came to crushing rebellion. They did not hesitate to hurt or even slaughter the people who went against the Roman rule.
Some examples of these would include The Battering Ram, The Turris, and The Ballista. The Roman army was also very willing to incorporate the war tactics and the weapons of their defeated enemies if they were deemed beneficial. (Alchin) These improvements provided the Roman army advantages in battle. The Roman generals that were picked to lead the army were highly skilled in the art of war. They were masters of attack and counterattacks, the use of mounted and unmounted calvary as well as archery. As a result of the Roman army's successful tactics, Rome therefore was able to achieve massive amounts of territory and assemble a substantial empire. (Cavazzi)
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
One internal factor that contributed to the fall of Rome is the their once legendary army started to become lazy. Romans no longer practiced the same methods the ones before them did. They wanted to wear less armor. According to document 6,Vegetius states’’But negligence and sloth having by degrees introduced a total relaxation of discipline,the soldiers began to think their army too heavy, as they seldom put on it.’’ This quote proves that the Roman soldiers became sluggish. They stopped wearing their proper armor, which resulted in their defeat in battles. They were unprotected against arrows and attack. in addition, another internal problem Rome faced was that
Rome, a grand empire, was known for its bloodshed and wealth, had a powerful period of conquering and culture. But why can an empire so huge and grand, fall to the ashes? Rome was a small settlement around 750 BC, then developed as the wealthy people grew weaker in Greece. Rome gradually expanded, as they conquered lands and made their small settlement into an empire. Even if a grand empire like Rome thrived on, they overcame problems that would lead to their fall. Through the use of primary and secondary source documents, this paper will explore the causes of the Roman Empire's ultimate downfall due to a combination of military problems, unstable government, and natural disasters and disease.
Rome was the largest and most powerful empire of its time. Its reign from 27 CE to 200 CE was by far the greatest civilization at that point. However, at some point every empire falls. The primary reason for this was the people of Rome. Due to the citizen’s unhappiness, Rome slowly crumbled starting with its leaders, then its army, and finally its economy.
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.
Rome: the world’s superpower of the time of Christ, until they became so powerful, they gave up. Their laziness, corruption, and weakness lead to their demise. This great empire started as a republic, then a kingdom, and then the blazing empire that conquered the world. Many things led to their demise, but I have gotten the most important factors for the downfall of the Empire of Rome.
While Rome was so powerful, their military definitely was not. Once again, Rome became lazy because of all their power. According to Document B, the customary armour began to seem heavy since the soldiers had barely ever worn it. The asked to set aside the breastplates and then soon after, they decided to drop the helmets. The soldiers were fighting without any protect over their chest and heads. The Romans were often beaten and still, no one tried to replace the armor. The Romans may have lasted longer if they would have done the right thing and tried to protect
Rome was one of the strongest and the greatest Empire, but why did it fall? Rome was found about the time of 700 BCE, and started to expand over its border as Greeks were weakening. In 44 BCE, Julius Caesar became the emperor as he gained political power and shifted to an empire where it is ruled by an emperor and the military that led to dictatorship. By 27 BCE, Pax Romana began. During 200 CE, it was the peak when the Roman terrorists became more common.
One of the biggest empires of all time fell to a small group fleeing from the East. Was this fate, was it destiny, or was it just a bunch of mistakes made by Rome? Rome, which eventually became one of the world’s greatest empires was started around 750 BC. At first it was a peaceful republic, but that eventually changed. Caesar started turning Rome into a powerhouse, taking everything and everyone down. Not all good things last for long though. Others may say that natural disasters were the main reason of Rome’s fall, but really it was due to military mistakes and political instability. The military messed up alot. They were getting lazy and were not motivated. Since they did not want to fight, they lost many battles. Rome’s fall was also due
In the later half of the fourth century the Western Roman Empire fell after nearly a five hundred years of dominance and is still widely considered the world’s greatest superpower (Andrews). Many people attribute the crumbling of the empire to multiple different reasons, like corrupt and insane leaders to overspending and inflation. As J.B Bury said once “the fall of the roman empire was a series of contingent events. In this paper we are going to cover the three main reasons. Political and Economical problems plus problems with the military(Wood).
Rome was the pinnacle of civilization for nearly 1400 years. To hold any power a civilization must have military strength, the legions of Rome were just that. Military weapons and tactics were borrowed or learned from their conquests, this blending of materials and skills lealeard to more capable and well-equipped soldiers. An effective team or army is that of loyalty to one another and your country, like the Spartan warriors the Roman legions' loyalty, was only
Many components have made the Roman Empire successful, one major component that made the Roman Empire successful is the geographical location of Rome itself. Rome is located on the Italian peninsula, it is located on seven hills surrounded by a mountain range and lies at the mouth of the Tiber River. The seven hills and the Alps mountain range, have provided excellent protection and military advantages. The Alps acted as a roadblock to prevent incoming outside threats to Rome and it gave the Romans an advantage as they could spot upcoming enemies as the enemies have to slowly find their way up and the Romans could plan a counter-attack or defend themselves beforehand. The Alps and the seven