The Fall of the Roman Empire

427 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: The Roman empire and how it changed

There are many reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire, and all of them are related to one another. The Christian religion that was adopted by the Romans made them more passive people than before, which in turn made it difficult against attackers. Money was being used for lavish parties for the governs which could have been used for the people. The people became lazy and glutinous and didn't care about the republic. First the morals and values of the people were at a rapid decline towards the end of their empire. Crime was running ramped through streets of Rome and made it unsafe for the common folk. There were about 32,000 prostitutes that were readily available for senators, generals and basically all the big wigs of the empire. The emperors like Nero and Caligula became infamous for wasting money on lavish parties where guest ate and drank until they became ill.(http://kileenroos,com/1/Romefall.htm). The amusement was watching gladiatorial combats in the Colosseum. These events brought all classes of people; the rich and the poor sat in the same arena, which very rarely did this. This shows that the people of Rome were changing into this people that stop caring about what they once were. There were many public health and environmental problems. The wealthy people had water brought to their homes through led pipes. The wealthy death rates were very high because of the lead poising. The blood shed from all the death was a big cause of the spread of disease. Alcohol use was becoming a big problem; this led to the incompetence of the public. The next problem was the political corruption. This was especially present in selecting a emperor; unlike other emperors Rome never had a set way to delegate that is going to be emperor. The old emperor, the senate, or the Praetorian Guard, and the army. The Guard eventually ended up gaining complete control of the choosing of the emperor. The Guard started to take the highest bid for the emperor because of their greed. The unemployment during the latter years of the empire; farming was done on large-scale estates called latifundia that were owned by wealthy men who used slave labor.(http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/fall.com). A farmer who had to pay workmen couldn't get profit of the land, so they had to sell their farms.

Show More
Related

  • Reasons For The Fall Of The Roman Empire Dbq

    548 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Roman empire was a very large and successful empire, although like many things it had to come to an end. The three primary reasons that had most contributed to Rome's fall is foreign invasions, military weakness , and weak leadership.

    Read More

  • Fall of Rome - the military's role

    1845 Words  | 4 Pages

    The fall of Rome occurred over many centuries and was caused by several factors including military decay, barbarian invasions, and the failure of the government to respond to these problems.

    Read More

  • The Political Decay of the Roman Republic

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ion this all showed that style of governing and ruling an empire started a century long pattern of events that eventually lead to the fall and destruction of the old oligarchy led by the Senate. The combination of desire for personal gain and glory of a politician or general was what weakened the Roman customs and the Senate. This was a cycle among the Senate, to find themselves stuck in a problem and to find others to fix with of course military means but in turn make everything more corrupt with their disruptive practices such as Pompey and Julius Caesar. But they were not the only ones there were others who were to blame for causing such decay and corruption such as Marius, Sulla, Gaius and Tiberius Gracchus. They were the ones who kept this corruption cycle going and it was Augustus Caesar who finally broke the cycle and brought stability and order back to Rome.

    Read More

  • Fall Of Rome Dbq Essay

    565 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rome was once one of the world's greatest empire until around 200 BCE when Rome started to crumble. The Fall of Rome did not happen suddenly, it took about 1100 years to take place. The first two centuries as an empire were named the "Pax Romana", which meant the time of Roman peace. The Romans were living the life, without a worry in the world. So how and why did Rome start to collapse, if the empire was was doing so grand and magnificent? To answer that question, the primary reasons that Rome started to decline were that the Romans had difficulty with their government which caused social problems/decay, their military was falling behind on their duties and became indolent, and natural disasters.

    Read More

  • Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire

    1095 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...eat. Every decision that Rome made had a great affect on the city itself and the rest of the world. Many foolish emperors weakened the city and eventually cause the many aspects of life to crumble. The social issues were that no one took interest into Public affairs. The Political issues were that because no one took any public interest in government jobs, because there were not looked at as something that was good. The Economic issues were that they had poor harvest. Food was scarce people needed food so they went after it. The Germanic tribes started taking over the western half of the empire.

    Read More

  • The Western Empire: The Fall Of The Roman Empire

    1486 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...hyperinflation after the unfortunate period between the Severan Dynasty and the Crisis of the 3rd Century. On top of this, the West desperately needed a standing army at all times to defend against enemies on virtually all sides, enemies that would happily see the Empire crumble. To pay for it’s already volatile standing army, Western Rome was forced to increase taxes on an already tax-burdened population that simply did not have the money for. In unison with the perpetual siege by the germanic tribes, the Western Roman Empire’s sever lacking of stable and strong leaders caused not only losses against the germanic tribes, but civil wars to break out on a regular basis. Combining all of these factors together, you can clearly see that Western Rome had entered a spiral, a spiral that it could not escape from, a spiral that slowly whittled Western Rome out of existence.

    Read More

  • The Fall Of The Roman Empire Essay

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    There were many reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire. Each one interweaved with the other. Many even blame the initiation of Christianity in 337 AD by Constantine the Great as the definitive cause while others blame it on increases in unemployment, inflation, military expenditure and slave labour while others blame it on the ethical issues such as the decline in morals, the lack of discipline of the armies and the political corruption within the Empire. Three major contributions that led to the collapse of the once great empire were: the heavy military spending in order to expand the Empire, the over-reliance on slave labour which led to an increase in unemployment, and the political corruption and abuse of power by the Praetorian Guard leading to the unfair selection of many disreputable emperors and the assassination of those not favoured by the Guard. One of the main reasons for the collapse of the Roman Empire was the over expenditure on the military to constantly fund wars abroad.

    Read More

  • How Did The Fall Of The Roman Empire

    1488 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Decline Of Rome Essay

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rome at its peak was one of the greatest empires in the history of the world. Rome had modest beginnings, in the 10th century BC. (Knight, H) Soon, however Rome was to become one of the largest empires of its time. However, when Rome hit its peak everything started to go wrong. Rome started to suffer both economically and socially. The economic crisis during the later parts of Rome’s existence was a major contributor to the decline of Rome. Socially, Rome started to fail socially with huge inequality and the increased use of slaves putting many out of work. (Knight, H) As well, there was sparks of conflict internally leading to countless civil wars between different political groups. (Knight, H) The political aspect of society was also a massive downfall for the romans. The emperors were chosen by violence, or by birth, so they weren’t always capable leaders. They started to get lazy and not work hard to solve the issues for the lower class. (Knight, H)

    Read More

  • The Fall of The Roman Republic

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Roman Republic ultimately failed due to the lack of large-scale wars and other crises that had united the Roman populous early in the history of the Roman Republic. Roman leadership and honor became compromised. In the absence of war and crisis, Rome’s leaders failed to develop the honor and leadership necessary to maintain the Republic.

    Read More

  • What Caused the Fall of the Roman Empire?

    714 Words  | 2 Pages

    Modern historians have written thousands of books and essays attempting to account for the causes for the fall of Rome. The Roman Empire, from 27 B.C.E. – 476 C.E., ruled the entire Italian Peninsula and controlled all of the land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. What were the causes that led to the fall of Ancient Rome? English historian Edward Gibson wrote the first major study, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, published in six volumes, which claims many causes for the Rome’s decline, three of which are as followed: Rome’s “immoderate greatness,” or its having become too large to govern itself efficiently; the destructive barbarian invasions, and the rise of Christianity whose ideas supposedly weakened Rome’s traditional martial spirit (Nardo). These three events were not the only reasons for the Roman Empire’s collapse but played a significant part.

    Read More

  • Rome's History: The History Of Rome

    1513 Words  | 4 Pages

    The political disorder had Rome no longer boasting of a strong, stable government and leadership. The armies quickly became overcome in the political affairs, and not shortly after the leaders of armies were to become emperors to try and fix disjoints. Another part of the reason for the decline of the empire was economic troubles.

    Read More

  • The Demise of the Roman Empire

    1454 Words  | 3 Pages

    A little over 2000 years ago Rome was one of the most important cities in the world. With its many emperors and armies it had gained control of a vast area of modern Europe known as the Roman Empire. Historians have linked several factors which led to the demise of the Roman Empire mostly associated with each other. Some of the reasons were the arrival of Christianity, lead poisoning and poor public health, political corruption with high military expenses, high unemployment with a rise of inflation and taxation in the economy. It was a combination of these factors which eventually led the final fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD when the last emperor Augustulus Romulus was overthrew by a Germanic Guard named Odoacer.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Fall Of Western Roman Empire

    785 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rome was massive. It is known to be the first city that held one million citizens. It was also strong. The army was huge, and Rome seemed invincible, but unfortunately, Rome started to molder. Political aspects, economical issues, deadly diseases, and ruthless foreign invaders all eventually lead to the fall of the seemingly undefeatable Western Roman Empire.

    Read More

  • Octavian Augustus

    1303 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Pax Romana, or Roman Peace, was a time of great prosperity for all people under Rome’s rule. Roman citizens enjoyed the spectacles of the gladiators in the coliseum and the comedies performed at the many theatres. The Romans are attributed with the development of concrete, which enabled them to build large structures such as aqueducts. As Rome grew into the primary world leader, it’s Republican government was falling apart. The Senate was ineffective because it had no control of the vast armies that provided power. Conservative Romans who believed strongly in the Republic would immediately target a strong general who took sole control. Rome was in need of a solitary, powerful leader. Octavian skillfully turned himself into an emperor without suffering the fate of his great-uncle, Caesar. He controlled the army, and managed to please the masses. Once in the position of power, he changed the government not only to benefit himself, but also to benefit the Empire and ultimately the people. This structure was so strong, that it could survive through weak emperors such as Caligula and Nero and major problems like who the next emperor should be. Octavian was so influential that eventually the Romans did not care that they were no longer a Republic. They knew that with Octavian, they could become the greatest empire in...

    Read More

More about The Fall of the Roman Empire

Open Document