The Fall of the Western Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was one of the strongest and most callosal empires ever when it was at it’s height. They had conquered from southern Germany to northern Africa. Their empire still affects the world today. Their unique architecture, scenes of entertainment, and the strive for a better government. Although the Romans were extremely strong their fall was inevitable. There were many reasons that the Empire fell but the main four reasons were, political issues, economic falls, Disease outbreaks, and Foreign invasions.
Many political problems lead to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. One of these problems was that the emperors became insane from the lead pipes that poisoned the water and from inbreeding.
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They brought with them the diseases from the outskirts of the empire. The overcrowded city lead to many sickness from pollution, some time even caused death. Some of the many problems that caused diseases were that hundreds of communal places. Baths, toilets and urin pots are all examples of unsanitary communal places. In the baths bacteria was growing in the warm water. In the toilet rooms everybody used the same sponges to “clean” themselves. The urine pots were left out for days to collect urine and the old urine grew bacteria. This all added up to extremely fast spreading of viruses and diseases. In addition, the pipes which the water ran through in the aqueducts were made with lead. Along with the pipes were dishes, eating utensils, and pots were also made with lead. This lowered the immune system’s ability to fight diseases and also made some people crazy. One of the main diseases in Rome was Malaria. Malaria was spread mostly through mosquitoes but also other ways. In addition to Malaria was Bubonic Plague. In 262 CE, the number of people who were sick was so high that thousands of people died each day from them. The cleanliness of Rome had vanished and the sicknesses had become a major problem, so bad that even Attila the Hun steered clear of Rome and waited to attack until
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.
What can cause a strong empire to fall? Rome is known for having many achievements that have helped to advance culture such as, aqueducts, irrigation systems, and trade. They also helped improve the structure of cities by plotting them in grids which are still used today. Also, religions are taken very seriously. In fact, it got so serious that rulers insisted that they were to be worshiped as the god.
“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” –Marcus Garvey. The U.S. is a combination of many cultures and influences over the centuries and because of this we are alike to many of them. We could name many of these influences: the Greeks, the Chinese Dynasties but the Romans were particularly like us. We might see them as barbaric is some ways but the reality is that the U.S. takes pages from many areas of the Romans, and comparisons could be drawn between both of us. Examples include government, our religions, and in some ways entertainment. The U.S. is much like the old Roman Empire was more than a millennium ago
To understand the fall of the Roman Empire, we first have to analyze the influence that had
With the largest empire at the time, Rome had an equal fall from grace. Rome fell because of the political corruption, inflation and the decline in morals of its citizens. By about the second century AD, Rome was suffering from political corruption. In 218 AD, Elagabalus rose to power and he was crazy. The Roman public had their fair share of bad emperors, but a guy that marries 5 women and 1 dude, at that time, was a little scary.
The Roman Empire was the most powerful Empire during Antiquity. It is traditionally considered to have “fallen” in 476, when Rome’s last emperor was deposed. Many theories have been presented as to why it fell, from unsound economic and social policies to mass lead poisoning. The actual cause of Rome’s fall is the result of many factors, but was mainly caused by Rome’s poor economic policies.
The Roman Empire was a great and big empire that lasted hundreds of years. It had a great impact on a lot of civilizations. The Romans went from a small civilization to one of the greatest empire of all. But then, was ripped apart into pieces until there was nothing left.
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.
These strengths were a strong foundation, standardization of many elements across the empire, and strong leaders who were able to effectively rule. The loss of these strengths would ultimately lead to the downfall of the Roman Empire. As time passed, the empire grew further from its original foundation, losing sight of many of its original attributes inherited from the Republic. In addition, they grew over-extended as an empire, making standardization very difficult if not virtually impossible. As future emperors attempted to extend aspects of the empire to these outlying areas, their power to do so was challenged by external influences. All of this caused an erosion of the cohesion which the standardization had brought, especially when the empire was divided between East and West. Lastly, as emperors stopped effectively using the strengths which had been used by past emperors, specifically the manipulation of the upper class and the Senate, the empire grew gradually weaker. Unable to manage such a massive empire virtually alone, even strong emperors were often left in weak positions, unable to deal with the frequent Germanic intrusions and military revolts. In short, many of the things which enabled the Roman Empire to survive for over 400 years were also the things which ultimately led to or enabled its
For a long period of time, Rome seemed like an unstoppable empire. It conquered the majority of the land surrounding it, including Greece, Turkey, Iraq, and many of its other neighboring countries. It seemed as though Rome would conquer the entire world, as it was the center of it, until it began to decline in 476 C.E. The very aspects that made it so successful were the ones that caused its collapse. Various political, religious, and economic reasons caused its downfall. The fact that the entire economy of Rome collapsed and money became worthless was a major reason for the empire’s collapse. In addition, the loss of a common religion and lack of efficient ruling in relation to its vast territory affected the empire. The Roman Empire did not become so successful in a short period of time, and so its decline did not just happen overnight. Over several years all of these different aspects together caused the fall of the Roman Empire.
All empires must come to an end. The Mongols, Ottomans, and Holy Roman Empires all don’t exist anymore. Even, the United Stated of America will come to its end in one point in time. Everything that goes up must come down. Even, Rome, one of the world’s greatest civilizations. To summarize, The Roman Empire fell because of ineffective leaders, the crumbling economy, and invasions by the Germanic Tribes.
The Roman’s had its ups and downs, but they made a lasting effect on today’s world, the establishment of law, the creation of the democratic government and the increase of Christianity ("Roman Influences," n.d.). We were also left with tangible items such as art and the delicate and beautiful artifacts. The empire was also known to help spread Latin Language, which formed the foundation of the English language ("Roman Influences,"
...ck of money and the inability to pay off officials. Without money, an empire is unable to prosper. The rich stop paying taxes and the burden is placed upon the poor. Poor taxpayers become angered, and eventually spark revolts. Anger and inhumane acts contribute to the loss of ethics and valued traditions. The citizens of an empire begin to ignore the difference in good and bad. This will begin to cause chaos and corruption in an empire, resulting in a quick decline. Sometimes, like that mentioned in the Roman Empire, the Emperor is unable to control the amount of corruption and chaos occurring. Without an effective emperor to control such issues throughout an empire, the empire will begin to gradually weaken. The rise and fall of great empires result from many complex reasons such as moral decline and escapists, but the factors mentioned above are often inevitable.
The empire that the Roman’s built can be argued to have been the greatest in world history. The Roman Empire controlled the largest land area in European history and influenced a huge region, acting as a cultural center for the entire continent of Europe. Their strength derived from their prowess and skill on the battlefield. The Roman Army was extremely effective and became the basis of our military structure today by utilizing technological advances in strategy and weaponry, and simply having more discipline.
The fall of the Western Roman Empire was a major problem, and the political aspects were partly to blame. One reason why the political demeanor of the Western Roman Empire was partially the cause of the fall, was that Western Rome had several unfit rulers. The emperors were greedy, and cruel enough to do unfair actions for power. These emperors inherited the throne, and that led to these ability lacking rulers. In addition, there was no cycle for the Emperors. In the United States Of America, if the president is no longer able to rule, the vice president takes over.