The Fall Of The Roman Empire

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.

The Roman Empire was one of the largest empires the world has ever seen. The power and size they managed to obtain has been a constant subject of interest for historians and all those who are interested in history. Julius Caesar’s ascension to power marked the time from where the Romans steadily expanded their territory and by the time the Roman Republic dissolved and the Roman Empire emerged, the Empire had become so big that the Romans had then to face the problem of maintaining their empire. The Roman Empire maintained its power by

Rome kept conquering land and eventually gained control over the Mediterranean Sea and established colonies in Egypt, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia Minor. The Roman empire also had an east side and west side that was barely connected (Document C). Since the Roman Empire covered a vast portion of land, it must have been really hard to communicate with both sides and be able to defend all the borders of the large empire. Also, since the empire was very large, chances are that they ended up creating a larger army meaning that there would have been a higher need for food, water, clothing, weapons, etc. Thus, overexpansion led to several other issues which, overall, resulted in the weakening of the Roman

The Roman Empire may have been massive and strong, but that didn’t always work out for them. With an empire stretching to it’s very limits there wasn’t a chance of doubt on whether it’s borders were hard to defend from raids and attacks. According to the DBQ, “Rome’s fall was an inevitable effect of it’s grand size…borders became difficult to secure…” (Doc 2). The Roman Empire was an incredible feat of the ancient world but it wasn’t also the easiest thing to defend.

“Borders became difficult to secure and the amount of gold needed to maintain the roads and perform routine maintenance was never enough. It had grown so large it could not take care or protect itself to the level that it was needed.”(Doc 2). The Roman empire was huge and the military couldn’t patrol every corner so that made it easier for attacking cities to get to the larger cities.

The fall of the Roman Empire is one of the most important and world-shaping events in history, but it provides more than just an interesting study of the past, it also holds many important lessons for Americans and the western world today.

The law of gravity explains that what goes up, must come down. As humans living on Earth we comply to this law that at times can be dissimilar from objects such as the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in year 476 AD. Rome was a massive, heavily populated, and rich empire that controlled Mediterranean trade, which makes the collapse a big deal in history (Grant). Rome still existed after the year 476 AD, however it was no longer a superpower in the Western world just a power amongst many predominately in the East. The collapse of Western Rome was gradual where there was no finite cause, yet a series of events.

The end of the Roman republic was and very interesting point in time. This shows a period where there was neither any political or government stability throughout the civilization. From reading The book “ The Fall of The Roman Empire”, three reasons jumped out at me or the collapsing of this civilization. They were abuse of power , political corruption, and heavy military spending. The heavily military spending came from the Roman Empire capturing and invading other civilizations. In order for the Roman Empire to invade and conquer civilizations they would have to spend money to make sure that their soldiers are taken care of and that they are able to complete the task at hand. Most likely all of the soldiers in the roman army was not roman which means they had to recruit and deploy from rome of other lands of defenders and invaders. The romans expected the militia to protect their land and the land they have overpowered or captured. This requires a multitude of supplies and manufacturing of weaponry. The soldiers also had to have a place to sleep , they had to eat , and be supplied materials that can aid them when they were wounded or hurt. All of this spending on the military will lead to inflation of a civilization as it did the roman empire. Now the government will try to find a solution to this problem by raising taxes and making all types of laws that enables the citizens of rome to help sponsor the military. This will lead to riots and

Although it was believed that the Roman Empire would never come to an end, inevitably it fell. The Roman Empire is an extremely historic empire that left a massive legacy behind. It collapsed during the fifth century. The empire was having serious military struggles. They received threats from other European tribes along with diminished military funding. A military who does not have proper funding will slowly fall apart. Other than the military, the Roman Empire had a few key social and cultural problems that helped with the fall of the empire in the west. The fall of the Roman Empire in the west occurred due to a rise in Christianity, contrast between rich and poor, and a decline in population.

Rome was a great nation of conquerors, vast wealth and riches which stretched most of Europe, parts of North Africa, and areas of Asia. Its army is arguably the longest surviving and most effective fighting force in military history. Every empire has to terminate and Rome disassembled rather swiftly. The fall of the empire is mentioned in virtually every type of informative media including books and television networks. The fall of the Western Roman Empire was caused by the lack of monetary funds, the formation and following of a new religion, and an increasingly forlorn and debilitated army.

The Roman Empire was one of the most powerful empires in the history of mankind. In 476 CE Odoacer defeated Romulus Augustus to capture Rome; most historians agree that this was the official end of the Western Roman Empire. There is much debate on how exactly Rome declined and eventually fell. The fall of Rome was a long process that took place over many centuries. There are five main schools of thought on why Rome fell. First, Christianity, offered by Edward Gibbons; He suggests that Christianity caused Rome 's citizens to lose loyalty to the state and focus on their own afterlife weakening the internal strength of the empire. The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus suggests that the barbarians, mainly the Huns, eventually caused the empire to break down. Modern historian, James Burke suggests another explanation, military spending and overexpansion. Another historian, William McNeill, hypothesized that the main reason for Rome’s decline was a series of fatal epidemics. The last school of thought, which I will be defending, theorizes that massive corruption within the participate led to Rome’s decline. The constant civil wars and assassination attempts lead to the emperors focusing on their own safety; this made the empire unable to neither function nor cope with the constant pounding of the barbarians. The Pretorian Guards would assassinate the Emperor whenever they felt he was not doing what they wanted. Christianity affected the empire in a positive way, uniting the

The theories surrounding the decline of the Roman Empire is a widely- known historical debate. Endless questions have been proposed and

Many anthropologists and historians have speculated about the different causes and effects of the fall of the Roman Empire. Some have even stated that Rome did not fall but instead, was merely transformed. However, there were many causes that did end this prodigious empire. Many seemingly small decisions made by powerful emperors over the course of just over a century lead to its destruction. In this paper it will be established that the Roman emperors, in an effort to save their political power, made adjustments to warfare/treaty practices and made political changes which over time lead to the inevitable collapse of the realm, this caused a drastic regression in the living standards of the Roman citizens, implying that the Empire did indeed collapse and not transform.

In the later half of the fourth century the Western Roman Empire fell after nearly a five hundred years of dominance and is still widely considered the world’s greatest superpower (Andrews). Many people attribute the crumbling of the empire to multiple different reasons, like corrupt and insane leaders to overspending and inflation. As J.B Bury said once “the fall of the roman empire was a series of contingent events. In this paper we are going to cover the three main reasons. Political and Economical problems plus problems with the military(Wood).

The “fall” of the Roman Empire did not occur all at once. The Roman Empire was divided into the Western half and the Eastern half. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in late fifth century CE, approximately 476 CE. However, the Eastern Roman Empire lasted nearly a millennium longer until it was conquered in 1453 (Livius, 2011). Various factors played a role in the fall of the Western Empire, and why the Eastern Empire outlived it.