Political Problems In Ancient Rome

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

The history of their architecture runs virtually in step with the history of their empire to an extent. As the Empire expanded so did the architecture, and as Romans became more magnificent their architecture followed. Roman architecture began as a form of worship. The first Roman architects were the ancient priests and dwellers who made areas of sacrifice and worship for their gods. At first, their homes were simple huts but as they grew smarter and more aware of their surroundings, making the building more complex than ever. So, like many arts, Roman architecture’s roots are embedded in the worshiping paid in religion. The Romans were, of course, not the first to practice many of their building philosophies. However, they built like no other society before them. Their methods showed and proved, efficiency and sophistication to construct a whole new look. With the rise of the Romans and the everlasting hail of Caesar after Caesar and Emperor after Emperor, Roman architecture expanded and influenced building over the world. Unlike the Empire, though, Roman design did not die at the hands of the Germanic’s, or rather at the hands of self-destruction; it continued to expand and play a part in every major style throughout history. Even through its empire’s own defeat, architecture has stood as an everlasting symbol of what Rome once was, and what the rest of the world is today. , Roman architecture cannot be looked at as a small period or cultural event, for it lives on today through the

Rome’s government became more authoritarian and oppressive towards the plebeians, which also affected Rome socially in negative ways. Additionally, Rome had frequent civil wars over the succession to the throne and the title of the emperor of Rome. In a 50-year period, 26 emperors gained control and only one died of natural causes. To make situations worse, the empire was divided into two parts, the East and West, by a man named Diocletian. During this time, Rome was under attack and the richer eastern Roman empire did little to help the West. Rome could have prevented this all if Rome wouldn’t have engaged in such political violence. Rome was doing extremely well with Julius Caesar in power during the Roman Republic, but the Senate murdered him because he wanted to become the dictator, without considering the fact that nothing would have changed. If Rome let Caesar lead, then Rome would’ve been in a better

Rome had to change emperors so many times that a stable, constant plan for the government was pretty much impossible. TCI, page 420 states, “When the emperor dies, rivals might fight each other to replace him. Real control fell into the hands of the armies, who could choose to help seize power-or-destroy them. Regularly, rivals grew impatient waiting for an emperor to die and resorted to murder.” Doc 3 also shows that between the dates 235 CE and 285 CE, 12 emperors were assassinated out of the 19 that served in those years. Doc 3 also shows that in between those time periods the longest time an emperor ruled was 7 years, and 6 of the 19 emperors only ruled for 1 year. The empire was constantly changing emperors which isn’t a way to make a healthy government, and on top of that not only were they switching emperors so often, the emperors were also being killed just so someone could take their place. If the emperors were being changed so often and each had different ideas for how they wanted to rule, there would be no order in the Roman

The citizens of Rome needed to pay heavy taxes in order to finance Rome’s armies. The taxes weakened the economy making trades suffer. Farmers couldn’t compete with rich families leading for them to go into the city, hoping for work. Infamous emperors would waste money and crime rates rose, making the streets unsafe.

Victory over Carthage gave the Romans dominance over the Mediterranean basin, enabling them to build an extensive trading network that that would spread their goods and influence. However Romes republican form of government, admirably suited to a small city state, could not satisfy the demands of a far-flung sea-born empire. Roman generals contented to the right to experience political power, and in 27 bce Octavian eliminated his opponents and became the “first citizen of the

Economical reasons that led to the fall of the Roman Empire such as higher taxes by the government. Rome was getting its wealth from other countries, but that came to an end. People started to abandon their businesses. The military couldn’t be supported financially.

Rome was constantly expected to maintain an army in order to defend its borders from barbarian attacks. This was an economically draining task that had an immense effect on the government. Not only did the troops have to be fed and bathed, but also trained and paid. The funds required by the legions left little to no money for the Empire. Tasks such as providing public housing and maintaining roads and aqueducts were no longer able to be completed. Left with no money, Rome could no longer function, leading to the downfall. Constant wars and overspending were putting Rome in an economical crisis. The Empire was struggling to gather sufficient troops to defend its boundaries against attacks and civil issues. Funds were constantly being channeled

Rome was changing. The people of Rome were changing. The citizens of Rome were getting tired of being ruled by others. They wanted to rule themselves. So after years of fighting

There were several reasons for the fall of rome but internal problems such as military deficiency, political turmoil, and a weakened economy were the predominant forces leading up to the fall. Civil wars were a common occurrence in western Europe and often challenged the imperial throne. “It is worth once again emphasizing that from 217 down to the collapse of Western Empire there were only a handful of periods as long as ten years when a civil war did not break out” (Goldsworthy). Emperors constantly faced threats for the throne and often abandoned war against foreign enemy to deal with a Roman rival or Usurper.

At this stage in the Roman Empire things were extremely dangerous and many power struggles within the royal family were arising. With the demise of the

Political problems were one of the contributing reasons for the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Over 30 emperors ruled in a small period of 100 years. Most were unfit, greedy, and cruel. They only inherited the throne because their father was a former emperor, and because there was no system to replace an emperor. When the higher class, the Patricians, did not like the emperor, they would pay the Praetorian Guard, the secret service of the Roman Empire, to assassinate the emperor. The Praetorian Guard would also assassinate the emperor to gain a higher position. Because of there being no better replacement system, Civil Wars broke out in Rome. Legions fought legions, citizens revolted against the Government that was falling apart, the poor living conditions, and the high taxes.

Over a long course of time the Romans had many different forms of government. From oligarchies to dictatorships Rome had experience with most forms of government. With all of these happening so far in the past many questions are asked today. One of the most talked and quested forms of Roman government is the Roman Republic. The Republic of Rome is normally thought to be a democracy. But an extremely common question still arise. This questions is whether the Roman Republic was truly democratic. In a simple answer the Roman Republic was a democratic government.

An additional cause for the fall of the Roman Empire was the constant change in emperors. The document says, “For the next forty-nine years , the Roman imperials throne was occupied by anyone military strength to seize it -- a total of twenty-two emperors.”(Doc 1, 3-5). In short this means that they would let anyone with military experience came to power. The effect of the decision is that the majority of the emperors either died in battle or was assassinated . The Empire didn’t have a stable leader which is why the Empire fell. They needed a leader that would stay in power for a long time to keep the Empire from breaking into chaos. This compares to the Han Dynasty because they also didn’t have stable emperors which caused the society

First one of Rome’s most major flaws was the weak political leadership. Weak political leadership was the main reason for the fall of Rome because in Doc. A compiled by various sources showed how many emperors there were from 235-285 CE. Which leads to weak political power because there were constantly new emperors every year or two. Most of them died by assassination. Another reason was the emperors spent all their money on parties and festivals. Also, they bribed their soldiers to stay loyal but when they didn't have enough money they had to