Roman Empire Dbq

While the fall of the Roman Empire is well known, the exact causes of why it fell can be difficult to pinpoint. Many historians believe that Rome 's downfall was due to poor leadership, weakened economics, or perhaps a combination of the two along with other seemingly unrelated factors. However, there is a string of evidence suggesting that there were three main components that took place to bring about the fall of the Roman Empire. These determinant attributes did not happen all at once, and there was a domino effect with each one directly influencing the others. The fall of Rome occurred after a series of preventable events, including unacceptable emperors, the heavy reliance on slaves, and the increasingly uncontrollable borders of Rome.

They had been pushing since before World War I. The Indians were promised in the 1930’s that they would be granted independence but

The Huns were formidable opponents for Rome. The Huns invaded Rome’s regions. This is proven in document 8 where it states” and the Roman world was overwhelmed by a deluge of Barbarians.’’ This piece of evidence demonstrates that Rome was invaded. Before the invaders, the Roman empire was already starting to fall apart drastically and the Huns gave the nudge the empire needed to completely fall apart. In addition, another place where we see how invaders caused the fall of Rome is when The Huns started invading from the east. The Huns invading the east caused the Germanic and Goth tribes to push into Rome. This is apparent in document 5 where it shows a map of The germanic invasion between AD 378-439. This proves that Rome was under attack by not only the Huns but other enemies as well. in summary, invasions contributed to Rome’s

At minimum there were two emperors per year ruling over Rome (Doc A). With there being more than one emperor per year it caused a big problem considering that they may have different views on the same problem. There wasn’t really much Rome could do to stop these assassinations anyways, so they couldn’t do much to control their government. This problem Rome couldn’t stop meant they were left vulnerable and the Barbarians took advantage. Once they were conquered, former Romans declared that they preferred their new lifestyle with the Huns with a consistent rule unlike old Rome (Doc

Legalism made people want to follow all rules to avoid harsh punishments. People also wanted to because they didn’t want to bring dishonor to their family. This led to a stable society because everyone followed laws and stayed in order.

The Romans lost all control and leadership in their army. “They could not organize to protect themselves; they could not serve in the army.” (Doc1) Also, they could not support and keep up with the maintenance of the army, so they had to rely on the citizens more. “The military crisis was the result of proud, old aristocracy’s shortage of children...army composed entirely of Germans.” To simplify: there were less and less children born and raised to go into the Roman army. This led to recruiting foreigners into their army- mostly Germans. According to the map in Document 6, the Western Roman Empire was struck by many, scattered invasions. The military could not unite to protect the empire, leading to the

    One of the many reasons that caused the fall of the Roman Empire was the Barbarian Invasions. All of the devastating Barbarian Invasions of the Roman Empire caused it to fall prior to 476. Though the attacks weren’t unified, they dealt heavy damage on all areas of the Roman Empire. The attacks came from all over, some of them took place on islands, others were fought by mainland. Looking at the attacks, the Barbarian Invasions were very successful in taking over the Roman Empires controlled areas(Doc.6). These Barbarian Invasions were just some of many reasons why the Roman Empire fell.

When these invasions took place Rome didn't defend themselves properly and thats how these germanic warriors took over the outskirts of Rome. If they hadn't been so prideful and didnt forget about their

From invaders to weak rulers Rome as seen it all, but could they have prevented it? Rome used to have a strong army, and could fight off any invaders, but as time went on everyone in the city became weak. The rulers, army, and citizens all weakened. With basically no ruler and no one to protect Rome, the city had become soft. Some may say that foreign invasion was what caused Rome's decline, but the primary reasons for Rome's decline were their weak military and their political corruption. They made huge mistakes with the military, mistakes such as they got rid of armor and pared drills. Not only did they stop fighting practice, but the emperors didn't care about laws being broken. The ruler and the military were equally weak.

The Romans were becoming lazy and loosing their work ethic. They were also becoming replaced by the Huns. “ But when, because of negligence and laziness, parade ground drills were abandoned, the customary army began to seem heavy since the soldiers rarely ever wore it.” (Document B) Due to the low effort and laziness of the soldiers, training for battle became limited, and armour was abandoned. This training was essential in order for soldiers to feel adequately prepared during battle. Without proper training, Romans were not successful in battle. In addition, the Romans were not well equipped and protected, because of the exhaustion caused by wearing the heavy armour. The people of Rome were also being invaded and replaced by a group of people called the Huns. “ Although they have the shape … of human beings, they are so wild in their way of life that they have no need of fire or pleasant tasting foods, but eat the roots of uncultivated plants and the half-raw flesh of all sorts of animals” (Document D) The Romans were very sophisticated, unlike the Huns. The Huns were considered animals by many, due to their lack of social skills. As the Romans were being replaced by the Huns, social class and order began to decline. Without the declining social order, the downfall of Rome wouldn’t have come on as

This shows that the Roman military were not very strong or motivated when it came to protecting their people They just gave up and put their life on the line while doing it. Strength and motivation are very important when it comes to having a good army and since Rome’s army did not have any of these qualities, towards the end of the Roman Empire’s life, their army was not any help at all. This is relevant because if the army is lazy and very easy to beat then Rome would be vulnerable and invaders could attack and conquer them at any time. If invaders attacked them then Rome would immediately have to surrender, throwing away all their hard work. Even though the military’s problems were a massive part in Rome’s decline, Rome still had many more difficult situations to deal

First up, the foreign invasions that capsized Rome. According to document D, it states what the weak and lazy roman army was up against. Extremely vicious warriors who slaughtered their enemies on horseback, with almost no weaknesses, who pillaged the roman empire until it was nothing but ruins.That was just one group of invaders. According to document C, there were 3 others that were also extremely difficult to fight. And even worse for Rome’s sake, they came from every direction! This is why Rome had no chance.

The Roman empire lasted from 700 BCE until 476 Ce, and incredible 1,176 years. But how did Rome fall? Some say political squabbling. Others argue invasions. However, the downfall of Rome was due to military problems, and natural disasters. Earthquakes brought buildings to the ground, while illnesses killed thousands of innocent people. Also, the military was losing it’s edge. They decided to become lazy, beginning to think too much of themselves.

Notwithstanding, one of the main reasons Rome fell was the laziness the Roman military fell accustomed to. Roman historian Vegetius, in talking of the military; writes, “Because of negligence and laziness, parade ground drills were abandoned, the customary armor began to seem heavy…” and “[The soldiers] asked the emperor to set aside the breastplates… and the helmets” (Document B). The emperor agreed, consequently sending the soldiers to fight without protection for their chests and heads. This lack of protection allowed for the Roman soldiers to be conquered much easier and faster than they would have if they were wearing the proper armor. The main job of soldiers was to protect their empire and the fact that the soldiers were having trouble doing that was one of the things that left the Roman empire in

The biggest reason for the demise of the Roman Empire was due to the military. First, challenges arose from neighboring nations such as the Persians or other Germanic Tribes and it was difficult to constantly fight and defend themselves. The constant fighting, forced the Romans to hire mercenaries for a cheaper cost than the standard soldiers.