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.
If the United States had six different presidents every year, our nation would be unstable. According to Document A, in 30 years Rome had 22 different emperors; only two died of natural deaths. The Roman Empire had frequent change in leadership. An example is, from 238-244 BC there were five different emperors in a year, Gordian 1 & 2, Balbinus and Pupienus, and Gordian 3 (Document A). To barbarians, or people outside of Rome, this sent a message of weakness; which meant they were losing power. The desiration to become a ruler ceased, as there were many assassinations. It was dangerous to be an emperor at this time because there was minimal protection from the military and army.
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Rome was at the peak of their time. They had powerful armies and constantly won wars, so Romans became lazy and neglected their daily drills and armor such as helmets and breastplates because they thought it was unnecessary (Document B). According to Document B it states, “...the customary armor began to seem heavy since the soldiers rarely wore it.” Overconfident, the soldiers were unprotected during times of war leaving Rome with little defense. Also, people such as clergymen, senators, bureaucrats, cooks, chefs, and slaves were exempted from joining the army, leaving a small group of people to defend their empire from foreign invaders (Document
The Roman Empire fell of multiple reasons. Some say it was because leaders were corrupted or it was economic issues. The reasons that will be talked about further on are, surrounding cities invaded Rome, Christianity spread, and their borders became to hard to control.
The seemingly unstoppable Roman empire was certain to fall in a matter of time. Even though Rome was majorly affected by external attacks, I feel like the fall was because of the internal decline. The economy and social issues were the key factors that led to the descent of the large empire. A vast amount of their problems came from within the city. Every decision that Rome made had an extensive effect on the city itself and the rest of the world. Many foolish decisions made by terrible emperors weakened the city and eventually cause the many aspects of Roman life to crumble.
In Document B it is said that in the Roman Empire’s past footsoldiers wore breast plates and helmets for protection. The soldiers began to become lazier and thought that the armor was too heavy for them. Rome fought the Goths without any armor and soldiers were often killed by archers. Rome needed as much protection as possible and with the number of soldiers decreasing drastically such protection was not possible. To have a lasting an empire, the military needs to have soldiers who accustom to harsh labor and who are industrious, Rome did not have this, which led to its decline. Also, an empire needs to have regular conscriptions, which people
They had been pushing since before World War I. The Indians were promised in the 1930’s that they would be granted independence but
Many events played large roles in the middle ages. The fall of the Western Roman Empire occurred when the invading army named the Visigoths invaded Rome. For three days, they destroyed everything in their paths. Western Rome did not have effective royal progression. They set up officers as rulers, who were immediately removed by adversary petitioners. The reasons why Western Rome fell includes multiple invasions by Barbarian tribes, economic hardship, being too reliant on slave labor, government corruption and political instability, and lastly Christianity became popular and the traditional values of Rome were lost. Another important event was whenever Charlemagne became an emperor in Western Rome. In his quest of becoming an emperor, he became King of the
Rome, the ever growing metropolis, one of the most strongest military forces we know today, a haven for riches and trade, and one of the most successful empires to history today. Rome was a growing empire, with its professional army quickly conquering several kingdoms left, right, up, and down, from the two Punic wars with Carthage, a war with Gaul, the conquering of Egypt, and Iberia, but, these expanding territories had its advantages and disadvantages. Rome had to quickly invent something able to move its soldiers to all of its territories that would give them enough time to get around to manage conquered people. The seas connecting Rome’s empire also played a role into how it’s geographical location would play into their success and prosperity.
“America is the new Roman Empire,” Eddie Izzard. Around the mid-700s BC, a group of people called the Latins moved to the hills near the Tiber River. There they formed what would eventually become the center of Roman civilization. This civilization would grow to become one of the most influential in history. The Roman Empire has had an influential impact on the United States in ways of culture, government, and architecture. The Roman Empire fell but their ways will not be lost in history.
One of the many noteworthy reasons Rome came to its demise was the unstable nature of their military. The Romans were rarely using their armor to shield themselves and it was getting tiresome to wear the armor. The emperor then did not require the use of body armor anymore, “Therefore, they first asked the emperor to set aside the breastplates… and then the helmets.” (page 15). Because of the decision to cast away the breastplates and helmets, it made it effortless to wound and kill the Romans with skilled archers, such as the Huns (Doc D). Another pivotal fault was the draft, “The exempted categories were...numerous” (Doc B). Draft exemptions meant that not enough men were fighting and too many were lazing around. Even bakers and cooks were not required to serve under martial law(Doc B). Because of these mistakes, the Roman military became weak. Not having enough members on their command,
With no strength, the armor they wore seemed heavy, as the Roman Historian Vegetius states from an excerpt in Document B. The military men started to ask to remove the breastplate,and later removed their helmets. With no armor protecting them in battle, the numbers grew short,as countless soldiers fell from numerous wounds. Rome tried to fix the problem by conscription, but failed to enforce it as numerous categories were excluded from the draft. With no soldiers to defend Rome, the invaders viewed this as an opportunity to attack, which was the third problem that played in Rome’s
The Roman Empire: one of the world’s greatest ever civilizations, was in existence from 700 BC to 476 AD. Although the empire was not ever an extremely weak world power, it’s “highest” point in time was from about 50 BC to 200 AD. During this time period, it was at its all-time high. The empire spanned across what is today 3 continents (Asia Minor, Europe, Northern Africa), was home to 50 million people, and had a its capital city, Rome, had a population of 1 million people. But what can make such a huge world superpower collapse? The “Fall of Rome” can be accredited to a weakened central government troubled by political assassinations, disease, and foreign invasion, during the empire’s last century of sheer existence.
For about 200 years, the Roman Empire was thriving in a time called the Pax Romana. It was a time with emperors that brought peace, order, unity and prosperity throughout all of its conquered land. However, like with any great empire, problems arise and lead to its downfall. Many different factors contributed to its fall, both from in the empire and outside it. However, most of the downfall of the Roman Empire was caused from within, through its political corruption, economic problems and a lack of their previous social values, the Roman Empire fell into a decline which lead to their end.
All the Romans began to become very lazy including the army. A Roman historian Vegetius states in document B, that the army first complained that the breastplates were too heavy to wear. They asked the emperor and they set aside the breastplates. They got rid of the helmets soon after. The soldiers went to fight with no armor.
The Roman Empire was formerly the largest and greatest empire in the world. Nevertheless, “all good things good must come to an end.” The powerhouse empire came to an end in 476 C.E., and numerous accusations have been given for the collapse of this once great empire. Many would argue that the external pressure from invading barbarians was what prompted the fall of the Roman Empire. The fact is however that internal factors including social, economic and political problems were the reason for the demise of the Roman Empire. Existing internal problems in Rome including rapid expansion, a decaying city both physically and morally, failing economy, poor leadership, and the incompetent defense was what provoked the empire to collapse.
In 400 A.D the Romans were a thriving empire. This classical civilization had a population of over 70 million people that worked as merchants, farmers, and even police officers. Rome’s population at its period accounted for over 21% of the world. This empire developed an advanced language, military, and currency. The Romans also had strong beliefs in literacy, politics and religion. For over 1000 years Rome was one of the world’s strongest and most substantial empires but as the empire conquered many countries along the mediterranean sea it simply became too large to contain or protect. The Roman Empire fell in view of the facts that there were struggles, military difficulties, and germanic invasions.
The true people of the now Roman occupied provinces of Palestine are now but almost destroyed of their independence, their loyalties now lie with the jurisdiction of the Roman Empire’s overview of Palestine. The Hebrew descendants of Abraham himself are in pandemonium of where their beliefs in God lie now as the Roman’s slowly but constantly squeeze the religions of the hebrews. Many of the hebrews are too afraid to confront the Romans once again in a revolution, as the present revolutions only resulted into the turmoil of the extended control in Palestine. The Roman Empire are as well fearful of another revolution as the previous one almost resulted to a full civil war, an event that could have crippled their security of other conquered lands. It is because of this a stalemate of the occupants and conquerors has occurred, the Romans maintaining order, control and allowance to those of Palestine of their traditions and beliefs, yet the hebrews must comply with their overseers to maintain the peaceful order they possess at this moment, despite the many restrictions made to them. The downfall of the righteous Maccabees and their Hasmonean dynasty over Judea in 63 BCE by Pompey himself, has only since created the loss to Judea once again. The now Roman province of Judea and state of Palestine are again experiencing the same jurisdiction that they have always survived from in the dreadful past. Empire to kingdom, Palestine has been subject to territorial conflicts, from the