Causes Of The Fall Of Rome

In 476 CE, Atilla the Hun sacked Rome, setting the once-great capital city up in flames. Historians have argued for many centuries about what caused the fall of the Roman Empire. One of five traditionally given reasons is that Rome fell because of overexpansion and military spending since it is impossible to govern an enormous empire without it descending into chaos while pumping resources into the military that took away from the city’s own infrastructure. Some others believe that Christianity and declining traditional Roman values were the primary cause of the fall of Rome. The reasoning behind this school of thought is that the rise of Christianity caused the Roman values system to collapse. Another possibility is that it was government

For example, Caligula, who was an insane emperor who ruled with fear. After many years of abusing, taunting, and disrespecting the people of his nation, Caligula’s own Praetorian Guards could take no more and murdered him at the gladiatorial games. Despite the damage that Caligula had caused, the Roman Empire continued to expand, and under Claudius, an extremely smart and scholarly emperor, reached its greatest size. In fact, even after the moral wreckage that Caligula caused in part by his many incestuous relationships, following his death the Roman Empire was able to function as a meritocracy, a society which determines an individual’s position based on their accomplishments and capabilities rather than their wealth or the status they were born into. Rome was able to overcome insanity in the dominate by focusing on moral values and on academics. Following The Third Century Crisis, a 50 year period during which 26 emperors ruled, the Romans could have emphasized intellect in their daily lives. In fact, it would have been even easier than after Caligula’s rule because of the many new academic institutions and resources available to them. Hadrian, who ruled after Caligula at the apex of the Roman empire, raised intellectual discourse in Rome and built the Athenaeum, a world renowned library in the heart of the Roman Empire.

Barbarian tribes invaded Rome from every frontier, relentlessly and aggressively attacking with no mercy. These attacks forced Rome to expand their army, raising military costs exponentially. Higher military expenses raised taxes as well as intensifying social tension between different classes. Affluent Roman citizens were able to pay off tax collectors and avoid paying for the enlarged military. Because of this, and since tax collectors were forced to pay out of pocket if they failed to meet their quotas, tax collectors utilized social regimentation to collect large sums of money from the poor, driving the already poor citizens even deeper into poverty. Additionally, wars were being waged with barbarians right in the center of the Roman Empire. Constant battling makes it very difficult for a civilization to function and flourish. St. Jerome, who lived at the time of the decline of the Roman Empire, observed that the vast majority of Romans had lived their lives in captivity, and did not know what it meant to be a free person living in a stable country. It is impossible for an empire to survive when its own citizens cannot even recognize what it is that they are fighting for. It was external pressures from barbarian tribes that greatly increased the tension between social classes and dissolved the rigid structure of the Roman