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Roman Empire Dbq Essay

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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. …show more content…

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

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