What Were the Primary Reasons for the “Fall” of Rome? By 200 BC, Rome was quickly becoming one of the world’s greatest empires with their excellent military conquering territory from modern day Scotland to Spain. After the Punic Wars and the defeat of Carthage, Rome had full control of the Mediterranean region, establishing colonies in North Africa, Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia Minor. Julius Caesar became Rome’s first emperor using his military influence. Under his reign, Rome shifted from a republic to an empire under the rule of an emperor and the military. Rome steadily increased in stability, power, and wealth, reaching Pax Romana (the time of Roman peace) under Emperor Augustus Caesar. Rome was forced to discover, as many other …show more content…
These Germanic soldiers were not loyal to Rome and were therefore not as motivated to keep Rome afloat. Because of the undersized, lethargic Roman military and its aggressive opposition, Rome was very much open to foreign invasions. By the fifth century, the “powerhouse of the Mediterranean” was struggling to protect itself with its decreased population, apathetic military, and leaders with debauched morals. Outside of the Roman Empire, Germanic tribes took notice of the internal chaos and began invading the empire’s borders. Many of the tribes were cruel and combative, such as the Huns. The Huns “exceed any definition of savagery” and were “fired with an overwhelming desire for seizing the property of others, these swift-moving and ungovernable people make their destructive way amid the pillage and slaughter of those who live around them.” (Document D, excerpts about an Asian tribe called the Huns from Roman History by Ammianus Marcellinus). Roman soldiers would have had a challenge ahead of them if they had to deal with the Huns at the height of the Roman military, let alone having to fight them when their numbers were depleted and motivation running low. The Huns played a large part in minimizing what little hope Rome had of reviving itself into the Mediterranean-dominating empire it once was. Many other tribes followed the Huns example and invaded Rome at its borders. Document C, a map created from various sources,
What were the primary reasons for the “fall” of Rome? Rome fell because of 3 reasons. These reasons are foreign invasions, Military weakness, and political leadership. One of the reasons are Foreign Invasions because of the time period where all the invaders comes from. On document C it shows that two of the invaders made it to rome and partially caused the fall of rome.
During the period of Rome’s decline several different outside forces attacked Rome. They were the Vandals, Visigoths, and Huns. The Vandals took the region of Gaul, and the Roman army was too disorganized to stop them. The Visigoths plundered and took control of Rome, attacking them through the Alps. The Huns, while paid off by Pope Leo I to have them spare Rome, attacked both parts of the empire. The invasion of the Huns also led to more people seeking refuge and protection in the Roman Empire. The invasion of outside
The military in Rome emasculated and became too crippled to defend Rome and oppose foreign invaders, like the Huns, due to the incapability of enforcing conscription and the soldiers’ negligence to wear proper military armor. The excerpts found on Document B proclaim that the Roman infantry refused to wear protective head and chest armor during battles, thus resulting in losses of cities, battles, and soldiers. Document B also states that drafting of soldiers was not properly integrated into Rome, which lead to a shortage of infantrymen in the Roman army. Both of these issues caused the Roman military to falter because not enough men were in the military to defend Rome’s frontiers and the men that were in the military were defeated since armor was not in use. Correspondingly, because the military was weak and defenseless, powerful foreign invaders invaded Rome and defeated Rome’s military. The Huns were one of these powerful invaders that took over Rome. As presented in Document D, the Huns were savage and motivated through the aspiration to conquer other’s territory. Since the Roman military was weak, they could not withstand the force of the
One of the greatest civilizations ever born was the Roman Empire. When it started off Rome was known as a “sleepy little town”(Background essay) that had awakened once the Greek empire began to fall. During the time of Julius Caesar was when Rome turned from republic to an Empire with Caesar as its first emperor. Soon over the years Rome became a powerhouse with its lands stretching all around the Mediterranean Sea. However unlike other civilizations where they fell because of other civilizations, Rome fell from within its walls because of several possible reasons and theories.
In the picture on Document C * it shows How accessible the Roman empire borders were. This helps explain how Rome was an easy target and that it’s foreign population increased and became hard to control and keep them out. In Document B, * “So our soldiers fought the Goths without any protection for chest and head and were often beaten by archers”. When the Romans gave up their armor, it made it easy for the invaders to wipe them out. In Document E, * “[He]… considered his new life… better than his old life among the Romans, and the reasons he gave were as follows: … The conditions of [Roman] subjects in time of peace [is worse than war]”. So this shows that the Romans did not want to be Roman and that they would rather be captured then live under the Roman
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,
The Romans had huge lands that were very difficult for one person to control which made it extremely easy for invaders to take advantage and invade their lands. The three invaders that came from Asia were the Huns, Vandals, and Ostrogoths (Doc C). The invasions were mostly unexpected by the Roman people and thought they could easily take them off, not until suddenly three groups arrived at different locations that slowly weakened down the locals and armies at Rome. This attack was what really made Rome to fall apart. If it wasn’t for the foreign invasions, Rome would have been an empire that would have lasted for another few thousand
It is commonly believed that the Roman Empire fell in 476 C.E. when barbarians invaded Rome, sent the last emperor of Western Rome into exile, political instability, too much land, and many other faults in their system, but did it fully fall? Anyone who visits this topic can argue that Ancient Rome never actually fell. In Crash Course: Fall of the Roman Empire, John Green said, "In some ways, [the Roman Empire] still survives today." This quote means that the Roman Empire didn’t actually fall fully, but still survives in present days. This essay will show how the Roman Empire still lives today in engineering and architecture, and in language and writing.
In 27 BCE, Octavian appointed himself as the first Roman Emperor. After being a republic for approximately 700 years, Rome was now an empire. The Roman Empire grew to be one of the greatest empires in history, conquering the majority of Europe, the Asia Minor, and much of North Africa. Rome went through a time of peace called Pax Roma. During Pax Roma many contributions were made such as arts and architecture. The Roman Empire declined because of its weakened military. The military began to weaken due to laziness, the land was easy to invade, and there we many different leaders throughout the empire.
To begin with, the historical events that occurred within the movies were historically unrealistic and inaccurate. The movie begins the scene with the Roman army waging war against the Germanic tribes. There are several flaws of when comparing the battle to historical records. The first issue is the depiction of the Germanic people in the battle. They are presented with the extreme prejudice that they utterly barbaric. The attire of the Germanic tribes were composed of multitude of brown rags all patched up together. The Germanic tribes are not Neathandrals from the Neolithic period living in rags. They are a much more sophisticated group of people. This can also be supported by the geographical evidence of the Germanic tribes. They are located at the Northern section of Europe where the climate of the region is
As Rome expanded throughout Europe and acquired a growing number of citizens, the army was able to greatly increase its numbers. This ensured Rome a nearly unlimited supply of new soldiers.
No one really does why Rome fell to it’s feet. They say Rome fell because of weak leadership and it
One of the reasons Rome fell was, because of the barbarian attack. The barbarians raided on the Rome partly rise from a majority movement created by the Huns’ withdrawal of Europe. The second reason Rome fell was because of the fall of economy. The Government was steadily warned by bankrupt owed to the cost of fighting for the Empire. The third reason is that there was constant war and military spending. Constant warfare was required military spending. The fourth reason was Christianity. Future and the life seemed pointless for lots of millions of people ruled by the Rome where a early death was
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
Even in the century before the official replacement of the Roman republic by the empire, Rome expanded immensely as a result of the Punic wars. Rome fought the Punic Wars between 264 and 146 BCE against the nearby trade empire Carthage over the nearby island of Sicily, a