Rome, the once mighty empire, has one of the most well-known collapses in history. It is written about by historians then and now and is studied by many disciplines. Though there are many factors in this decline, including civil wars and the depletion of the army and taxes, it is certain that the Germanic tribes that surrounded the empire had a part in the fall of the western portion. It could be argued that their role was both critical and that Rome itself brought on its own downfall. In order to understand the behavior of people, one must first understand the culture. Archaeological evidence portrays a violent people who engaged in warfare regularly. Graves have been excavated containing swords, axes, spears, and other fighting material, and the bones of the dead have shown evidence of a violent lifestyle. In the Bronze Age violence was contained to tribal wars, small scale and local. But with the Iron Age came a large scale tribal migration, for reasons yet unknown. It is possible that the tribes were seeking more land for farming, or had heard of great opportunities for raiding and plundering along the Roman border. When such a large population of people moves to new lands, they will clash with either indigenous people already living there or with each other in a battle for resources. The high possibility of violence meant that everyone who could fight did. Early on in life youth learned how to wield weapons from their elders and tribes would band together for regular raiding expeditions. Though it would be a long time before warriors could be mustered in a large, unified force, there was now a population of people who could all wage war in a moment’s notice. These people were fierce and individual tribes could become individual units in a larger army, a strategy that Rome trained their soldiers to do. This came naturally to the Germanic people, and it resulted
The year is 476 A.D. and the Roman Empire has collapsed after being overthrown by barbarians. Looking back, the causes of Rome’s decline can be separated into four categories, social, economic, military, and political. The social aspects of Rome’s fall are the rise of christianity and civil wars. The rise of christianity displaced Rome’s polytheistic roots which viewed the emperor as having a godly status. Pope and church leaders took an increased role in political affairs which further complicated governance. Civil wars also deteriorated the empire. More than 20 men took the throne in only 75 years and the empire was thrust into chaos. The economic aspects of Rome’s fall were high taxes from the government and labor deficit. The roman empire
To understand the fall of the Roman Empire, we first have to analyze the influence that had
War was a way of life for these people, they fought throughout their history and basically their empires died without it. They were always expanding the empires through war and when they could no longer do this they fought with themselves within their own empires. When this happened they rapidly declined and where easy prey for the Europeans when they arrived.
The climate of Germany suited the warriors well. The combination of “wild scenery and harsh climate” (Tacitus, Germania) had given the barbarians an inherent endurance towards cold and hunger over time. To cope with their surroundings, the warriors had developed powerful physiques, yet their abundant resources of strength and stamina proved not to be a source of pleasure for them, for the warriors had “no fondness for feats of endurance or for hard work” (Tacitus, Germania). In earthly matters, Germany’s apparent lack of precious metals made the warriors quite utilitarian in regards to physical possession. They preferred silver to gold, as silver could be more easily fashioned into useful objects. Only the tribes of warriors on the borders of the Roman empire recognized gold and silver as trading commodities, while the ‘backwoods’ tribes traded through the simple practice of barter, yielding one item in exchange for another (Tacitus, Germania).
Rome was a major power because it always made certain its own military prowess was preeminent. There have been many ideas presented as to the fall of the Roman Empire. Many believe that Rome declined morally and the violence and decadence of the societal norms led to the demise. Gibbons has been credited with the theory of the influence and transference of Christianity over the Roman system of Gods and Goddesses that perpetrated the fall. Another theory lays the blame at the feet of the Emperor, that the happiness of the people and the functioning of the government was directly correlated with the personal merit and management skills of the reigning authority. This 10 page paper argues that the imperialistic tendencies of Rome over time and the pre-eminence of military expansionism in the latter stages, was the deciding feature of the "fall". Bibliography lists 7 sources.
One significant reason for the decline of the Roman Empire was political instability because poor leadership weakened and confused the community of Rome. During the 50-year period of 235 to 285 CE, there were twenty-two emperors with ‘assassinations’ as a frequent reason of deaths. In return, the government was unstable and could not be trusted. Also, as an enemy sight, the empire was weakened and vulnerable to invasions. In one sentence, frequent deaths of emperors led the corruption and an unstable government, which resulted in the decline of ancient Rome.
A large reason why Rome fell was because its population began to drop significantly which then led to many economic issues. A decline in population meant that
The Fall Of The Roman Empire Rome was one of the biggest, most powerful empires in recorded history. Such an empire could not fall due to one factor alone in a short period of time. It was a slow process of decay. Many factors would influence the toppling of this Empire, such as social gaps, religion, economical troubles, and corruption in politics. Among all of these factors, one of the most obvious and major causes was the crumbling of one most powerful military forces in history, The Roman army.
The Roman Empire was incredibly large and successful. In the prime of the empire population reached up to 56.8 million people. The land they conquered amasses to an outrageous 1 million square miles. Their influence is so great that even now people can see their imprint in architecture, law, and even helping spread Christianity, the world’s most populous religion. These amazing facts also begs a question. How did one of the world’s greatest civilization fall? Well, the fall of Roman Empire in 476 ACE was aided by ineffective rulers, the crumbling economy, and the invasion of the Germanic Tribes.
"The Day of the Barbarians: The Battle That Led to the Fall of the Roman Empire." Publishers Weekly 22 Jan. 2007
The name "Germany" according to Tacitus originates from the name of a tribe that drove the Gauls out of what would ultimately become German territory. Ever since those times, the name "Germany" was believed to inspire terror when heard.
The decline and fall of the Roman Empire is a scholarly article written by Justin Ott about the Roman Empire and the events leading up to its fall. The article mostly focuses on the military and economy of Rome in the third century A.D. It lists in the beginning a few of the different theories people have of how Rome fell, including led poisoning and the spread of Christianity. The article seems to want to disprove these theories, showing how they are not the main causes for the collapse of Rome. “Gibbon’s arguments in these sections can be accurately summarized as “the insensible penetration of Christianity in the empire fatally undermined the genius of a great people.” The problem with this conclusion is two-fold. First of all, this explanation is too narrow as it is difficult to believe one single factor brought down the empire. More importantly, it is clear that the Eastern Roman Empire was by far more Christian than the West, therefore if Christianity was behind the fall, the East should have fallen first.” The article’s audience appears to be historians, or those who are interested in history, or just the Roman Empire. It
By the 1970s, Historian Peter Brown sparked an interesting debate about the Roman civilization. He dubbed a period in Roman history, ‘The Late Antiquity’, starting around 200 AD and lasting up until the eighth century, marking this was a period in time where the Roman civilization was not in decline, but in a state of transformation due to religious and cultural revolution, and causing many historians to agree or debate about this matter. Bryan Ward-Perkins, author of The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization, critique the theory of ‘The Late Antiquity’ and firmly believe the decline of Roman civilization instead of its transformation influenced by its barbaric invaders. He supports his position of Rome’s Fall with evidence from the diminishing
One of the most common causes of the decline of an empire results from having weak military power and martial spirit. In order for an empire to be successful, that empire must present a strong will to fight or sacrifice property and life in order to defend its state. If an empire does not possess this characteristic, it often will quickly diminish. For example, the Roman Empire became successful because of the willingness of the males to defend the state. Shortly after, the males lost their willingness to defend and the empire had to recruit unreliable mercenaries to fight in war. Unlike the successful army of the past, these mercenaries did not have true loyalty to Rome. Because of constant warfare, the Romans had heavy military spending. The Roman Empire had become too large to control effortlessly. Families and soldiers in parts of the Roman Empire adopted local customs. The Roman Empire was made up not only of natives from the Italian peninsula, but it was also made up of barbarians from the conquered lands. The barbarians were very knowledgeable when it came to Roman warfare and military tactics. Corruption became widespread throughout the Em...
"Rome, History of Ancient Rome From Its Founding To Collapse." World History International: World History Essays From Prehistory To The Present. Web. 16 Dec. 2009. .