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Roman Earthquake Dbq Essay

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The Roman Empire lasted approximately 1500 years, and was the most powerful, and one of the world's greatest empires. But in 476 BC it was able to be overthrown by the Germanic tribe, because of a combination of disasters and political and military weakness.

Disease and natural disasters contributed greatly to the fall of Rome. For example, In an article written by Roman historian Edward Gibbon, It states “Fifty thousand people lost their lives in the flood”. This shows the destruction the earthquake did to the Roman empire, It not only caused extensive damage to structures people need to survive, but killed many people. Repairing damage, and caring for the injured is no easy job. This would distract the leaders from other matters, such as …show more content…

In an article by a Roman historian Vegetius, it states “Because of negligence and laziness, parade ground drills were abandoned, the customary armor began to seem heavy since the soldiers rarely ever wore it”. This contributed to the fall of Rome because the laziness would make it hard to fight against invaders. This would also mean that the soldiers would be getting injured more often. Rome would be more susceptible for attacks by invaders, such as the Huns in this case. In the article, it also states “Hosts of senators, bureaucrats, and clergymen were entitled to avoid the draft; and among other groups who escaped were cooks, bakers, and slaves”. With a population of only about 250,000, and people of most occupations exempt from the draft, this would make it very hard to put people in the military, so Rome could have a strong, reliable army. Lastly, In an article about the background of Rome’s fall, It states, “When a country is make, when energy and hope are high, leaders and their people are more willing to work hard and sacrifice. When the goal appears to have been reached, it is easy to get lazy”. This tells how the Roman soldiers may have been thinking when in battle. The Roman military was lazy at this point, this was a huge contribution to the fall of Rome. They didn’t have an adequate defense system, this must have put a tremendous amount of stress on the

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