Have you ever wondered why such a great Roman empire would collapse? Well, many scientist has come up with convincing theories to why such a lasting empire would suddenly collapse, but none of them are as convincing as the three theories that talks about Roman’s urban decay, their political corruption, and excess military spending. These theories are the most possible reasons that led to the downfall of the Rome empire because in the urban decay theory, crimes are left undone while the rich dance in their lavish gowns and in the political corruption theory it shows the greed in the Romans when they pick leaders with the highest bribe. Excess military spending is also the most convincing theory due to the reason on how they manage such a powerful …show more content…
Well here is where the theory excess military spending comes into place. In order to maintain their big army and protect the large empire from all the other enemies the Romans are starting to use all their money on their military and raising all their taxes to get enough money for the payments of the army. They would gradually lose all their money that could have helped to improve their technology or produce more food. Moreover the military aren’t just there to protect the empire. They are there to take over more land for the emperor to expand their power and their religion. Eventually the people would get tired of having wars and their strength would slowly start to weaken. So when other empires attack their army would have no more strength let to fight back no matter how big the army is. This would lead to the decline of the empire because as they spent more and more money on the army they would sooner or later run out of money to maintain the whole economy and the military would soon after fall apart considering that there are no more money left to produce food for them. Thereupon excess military spending can be one of the main reasons they Rome empire
One of the biggest reasons Rome fell is because the military. The military started to become sluggish and weak. Since this happened soldiers fought the goths without any protection for their chests and heads (doc B.) This made it so soldiers were easily killed in battle by archers. Adding on to that Soldiers were exposed to wounds because they have no armour so they would think about running and not fighting (doc B.) Senators, bureaucrats, clergymen, cooks, bakers, and slaves all avoided the draft not giving enough people into to military (doc B.)
One important reason for the fall of Rome was natural disasters. In document F it shows that the population decreased from a million people to two hundred and fifty thousand because of the plague. This problem helps explain why Rome fell because it shows that thousands of people died, meaning there were less people. With less people in Rome many jobs are not being
Goldsworthy’s book states, “At a basic level the emperors and government officials of the Late Roman Empire had forgotten what the empire was for. The wider interests of the state – the Res Publica, or ‘public thing’, from which we get our word ‘Republic’ – were secondary to their own personal success and survival.” This illustrates the plentiful amount of flaws within our empire. But even that is not all. Adrian Goldsworthy in, “How Rome Fell,” states, “Rome declined, not from a lack of military prowess, but because it fought too many wars, Roman against Roman and then, as a consequence, further campaigns to restore its battered frontiers and ravaged provinces.”
Morals and values were one of the most important factors that kept Rome prosperous, and without it, the empire itself would have crumbled. However, as years passed, Rome’s citizens began to lose their honorable edge. This caused the streets of large, influential cities to become dangerous and infested with crime. Additionally, because the emperors began to get lazy, much of the money used for defending Rome was wasted on lavish parties and coliseum bets. Because of this, many soldiers left the army, seeing as they were not getting paid anymore.
This loss of population made it hard to find laborers and soldiers for war. This caused the empire to pay Germanic soldiers to fight for them. The need to pay for troops created a large debt for the Romans. Another reason that led to the decline of the Roman Empire was their water source coming in through lead pipes. Many people believed this poisoned the Romans which also led to low population.
So Rome paid thousands of German soldiers to fight for them. Obviously this made Rome 's military weak because they would easily run from battle or betray Rome because they had nothing to protect in Rome. Another reason the Roman empire fell to shambles was because the Roman military stopped going on military conquests. When they did this the Roman economy collapsed because the economy relied on the constant income of plundered trophies from captured civilizations.
Given these reasons, it can be concluded of how Rome fell. Rome was too big and when plagues were brought over and were spread, it decreased the population and hassled the economic life because they didn’t have the resources to pay back the Germanic soldiers. When social and military issues came into play, it led to great cities being lost. Lastly, the reason the contributed the most to the fall of Rome was the weak or selfish emperors and the state being ruined because the government was not following the spirit of past
Rome fell on a basis of not a singular reason, but multiple. Yet these are many aspects that make it up, whether they range from Rome’s many corrupt emperors to the invaders such as the Huns. In truth, every part was crucial in the fall of Rome. From emperor to emperor, from Nero to any other. Such made the fall of Rome, such broke a once mighty empire, and such may be a reminder that no matter how powerful you become or are, you will fall in due time.
The two factors that most contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire were greatly impactful in Ancient History. Before the fall of the Empire, during the Pax Romana, Emperors ruled longer and most likely died of natural causes. During the decline, the reign was much shorter and they were most likely to be murdered. Thanks to Dioclectian’s reign, the New Empire was introduced, giving people more rights and protection. However, this resulted in great consequences as it became harder to govern and harder to manage.
The decline of the Roman Republic can be attributed to a combination of interrelated factors, including rapid imperial expansion, corruption, and social and political divisions. The experience of the Roman Republic throughout history is a cautionary lesson that shows what can happen to any society when faced with massive political and social challenges. The following are some of the factors that may have led to the decline of the Roman Republic and the transfer of power to the rule of the emperors: 1. Imperial expansion:
Imagine the world's biggest statue ever begin to fall apart over many years. Essentially this is what happened to Rome. There were many reasons why this happened. There were three signifi cant reasons for the “fall” of Rome which include a weakening military, foreign invaders, and the most important of the three, natural disasters. One important reason that Rome fell was there weakening military.
When armor is taken away, it allows entry points to place wounds. When the military got lazy, they caused the armor to downgrade, meaning the empire’s defense had a weak point that was too obvious to hide. Economic and Civic Decay Another major contribution to the downfall of the Roman Empire was economic and civic decay. According to an excerpt of a historical text written by Priscus, Roman ambassador to the Huns, 449 CE, “ The climax of the misery is to have to pay in order to obtain justice. ''
It seems that the fall of the Roman Republic was not a singular event that occurred instantaneously, but rather a long process that saw the increasing use of methods outside of Republican institutions to settle conflicts between members of the aristocracy over political power. Even as the Roman government transitioned form Kingdom to Republic and then to Empire, the competition between aristocratic families remained a relative constant in across the centuries. So too has the desire to mythologize the past. The romans attributed both the fall of the Kingdom of Rome and the fall of the Roman Republic to moral rot, while a more reasonable assessment might place the blame on a dissatisfied and competitive elite class and an inefficient and unresponsive governmental system that was unwilling or unable to address their concerns. In much the same way, modern observers of the Roman Republic have tended to mythologize the fall of the Republic in the service of creating a moral narrative about the unconscionable tyranny of Cesar and the righteousness of the Senate, or whatever alternative narrative is befitting of the historical moment and audience.
Living in such an enormous empire had its benefits. As a Roman, you had education, culture and the protection of the largest military empire on your side. Living in this Empire also had some notable drawbacks. The empire had extreme poverty rates, threats of being in a constant state of war, and the government could impose huge tax burdens on the people.
Legions started to demand higher pay resulting in raised taxes. Also the desire for goods from outside the empire grew making less economic growth within Rome. As more products were shipped to Rome pirates started to steal more and more items making stores go out of business back on the mainland. High tariffs were placed on imported goods in a desperate attempt to get money flowing back into Rome. Furthermore the lack of new conquests also instigated the decrease of money flow into Rome because they were not stealing gold.