Examining the Demise of the Roman Empire

The mighty Roman Empire spanned millennium, dispatched kings, vanquished empires, but was no match for the forces of history. With the threat of Christianity, the hordes of Barbarians and an ever-increasing hostile environment Rome went the way of all things. An examination of the demise of the Roman Empire revels the harsh truths of an unstable entity. Its spoken strengths became it fatal weakness as a decline of patriotism, morality, and character combined to destroy what had taken a people to build. The Roman people over the many centuries of its grand empire had built a large culture that was the center of their successful imperial system. At one time this great system was able to help them flourish in education and become a mecca for science, art, philosophy, and many other significant topics. Through this they were also able to strive as a military, agricultural, political, and economic leader that influence can still be seen today in many modern practices and beliefs. The Roman culture that was at the center of the success of the Empire was gradually worn away due to the influence of Christianity, the invasions of Barbarians, the decrease in population of Roman citizens, and the failure of the Empire System, which combined lead to the demise of the mighty Roman Empire.

To understand the modern interpretation of ancient Roman history, one must study Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of Ancient Rome. First published in 1776, it is considered the quintessential resource for all studies into the fall of the Roman Empire for over 250 years “As a literary masterpiece and a mirror of eighteenth-century attitudes towards the ancient world, The Decline and Fall, as a contemporary said, “can only perish with the language itse...

... middle of paper ...

...or. In a 75-year period more than 20 men held the position of emperor, often being assassination by their own Praetorian Guard after only reigning for a few years. The political instability also extended to the Senate, which failed to moderate the excesses of the emperors due to its own incompetence and corruption. This extensive corruption throughout the whole of the Roman Republic also had a large effect on the Roman culture, and their trust in the leadership. With the ever increasing and obvious abusive of power that plagued the Republic many citizens lost faith in their government. In turn they lost the patriotism that had once been a defining factor of Roman society. With this lost of pride their culture became much more susceptible to other influences. This aided tremendously in the decline of the Roman culture that had helped hold the empire together.