Roman Empire Dbq Essay

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.

The great Roman Empire expanded across all of Europe and into the Middle East. Its military was one of the finest. With major trading in Africa and Britain, the economy flourished with brining many citizens a healthy income. With amazing advancements in culture and technology, Roman society was at its finest. During the Pax Romana, the Romans had 200 years of peace and good ruling by level headed dictators and emperors. Despite Rome’s greatness in all of these areas, Rome would eventually fall. Surprisingly all of these qualities that led up to a flourishing empire were the same ones that led to its demise. As Germanic tribes invaded, the military weakened and the government became unstable.

The Roman Empire was one of the greatest empires around it’s time period. They ruled their region with an overpowering military force. They also had compelling agriculture and religion. Much of their music, clothes, and other agriculture continued on throughout other empires. They shaped the world with their beliefs and ideas and without this empire the world would be very different. There were strong Roman emperors and also horrible emperors who ruined the empire. Caesar and Constantine were among the most popular emperors of Rome. Constantine ruled later in the Empires lifetime while Caesar earlier. The death of Caesar had a huge impact on this empire. Constantine gave the Roman Empire the main religion of Christianity. This questioned the original beliefs of the Romans. They totally changed their culture. Towards the fall of the Roman Empire, the empire was split into two parts. This weakened their strong military force and led to an invasion. Evidently this caused Rome’s fall. The Roman Empires fall was due to the death of Caesar, mass poverty among Rome’s citizens, rise of Christianity, split of empires, and the invasions of the barbarians.

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.

There were many social factors that contributed to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The fall of the Western Roman Empire was impacted by several social factors. For example, “the introduction of Christianity had some influence on the decline and fall of the Roman empire” (doc. 2). The things that this religion valued, were quite the opposite of what Romans used to hold as their virtues.

1. Although trade and travel were very important for Rome, trading and traveling had weakened after the fall of the Roman Empire. Traveling and especially trade were used to communicate with other countries and create a better economy. When the Roman Empire fell, so t =did the trading because of the lack of government and protection.

The rise and expansion of the Roman Empire led to its fall because of lack of sufficient defense against invasion, economic problems, and absence of sufficient governing. The rise and expansion of Rome led to weakened defense from invasions from outsiders, which caused the empire to fall. As the Roman empire expanded, the borders grew too large to be properly defended, leading to attacks from outsiders. When Rome grew and expanded after the punic wars took place, the boarders were greatly widened (Document 1), making the Empire of Rome an easy target for outside invaders such as the Burgundians, the Ostrogoths, and Huns, as well as several others (Document 5). One of the most significant groups of invaders, the Huns, were savage fighters who would “pillage the camp of their enemy almost before he has become aware of their

The Roman Empire thrived for many generations until the influence of both people of Rome and those outside Rome. Rome had been an advanced society with stable government, large cities, beautiful architecture, and advanced technology. Unfortunately it did not last forever and the fall affected Western Europe who was greatly influenced by Rome. Western Europe went from a high functioning society to a land of may manors. The causes of Rome's fall varied from invasions, overgrowth, and poor leaders.

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.

Although many historians and professors attribute the fall of the Roman Empire to excess and corruption, the role of shifting spheres of power, trade created a situation that made the fall of such a large cumbersome empire inevitable, the military played a role for not obeying protocol as well and an excess of things were happening in the government that also led to the fall of the Roman Empire. Each mistake made by the Romans contributed to their fall of their empire since after time of accumulation of their mistakes, it becomes a tremendous problem. Though the Roman Empire still did have their climax in history before everything came crashing down.

Disasters and diseases are one reason of Rome’s fall. According to Document F, it states that “the Roman world was shaken by a violent and destructive earthquake … but the tide soon returned with the weight of an immense [flood] which was severely felt on the coasts of Sicily, … Greece, and of Egypt.” This shows that the earthquake had destroyed the Valens’ empire, which would be very costly to repair all the damage the disaster had done. The flood had also caused a tremendous amount of damage which would contribute to the cost of the earthquake. “Fifty thousand persons had lost their lives in the flood [in the city of Alexandria alone],” which meant that their population would decrease. Diseases also proved the decline of Rome. Different types of plagues “swept over the empire … which brought diseases [from] southern Asia to new areas like the Mediterranean.” (pg 35, Doc. F) These diseases were very

The Western Roman Empire fell due to the loss of ambition, economic issues, and a despairing military. The Western Roman Empire was powerful empire with astounding achievements. Their overpower and greatness brought complication as time went on. The change of government leaders and religion had a big impact on the fall of the Western Roman Empire. As the issues began to rise the powerful empire began to fall.

Rome's military now has no armor. They were getting lazy, making them the underdogs. Without protection, they are easy to beat making it simple for outsiders/ invaders to come in. Without the military, Rome will have no way of protecting itself.

Conquering three continents, Rome lacked the proper amount of soldiers required to protect the empire. This was due to its “immoderate greatness (Doc 2).” According to Document 2, the size of Rome played a great and inevitable role in the decline of Rome. Regarding the military, a large portion of the soldiers not only lacked discipline and training, but were not actually Romans. As seen in Document 5, “the Roman army was composed entirely of Germans.”

    Though Rome was a great empire that conquered countless territories, it was not immune to the numerous attacks from barbarians such as the Huns, the Visigoths, the Vandals, and others. The barbarians would raid and sack the capital and other cities in ancient Rome, leaving them without money or tradable items. The Vandals did so much damage to the cities that their name is associated with the crime of extensive damage to property. The Huns were another destructive group of barbarians that were led by Attila. They raided Rome in 451 AD, leaving an immense trail of destruction. Other barbarians attacked Rome at different times, each leaving Rome weaker and helpless. Each attack destroyed their economy and left them desperate for a solution. The Ostrogoths finally caused the Western Empire to fall when Odoacer chased Romulus Augustus, the last of the Roman emperors, off the