primary reasons for the fall of rome essay

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8 Reasons Why Rome Fell

By: Evan Andrews

Updated: September 5, 2023 | Original: January 14, 2014

1. Invasions by Barbarian tribes

The most straightforward theory for Western Rome’s collapse pins the fall on a string of military losses sustained against outside forces. Rome had tangled with Germanic tribes for centuries, but by the 300s “barbarian” groups like the Goths had encroached beyond the Empire’s borders. The Romans weathered a Germanic uprising in the late fourth century, but in 410 the Visigoth King Alaric successfully sacked the city of Rome.

The Empire spent the next several decades under constant threat before “the Eternal City” was raided again in 455, this time by the Vandals. Finally, in 476, the Germanic leader Odoacer staged a revolt and deposed Emperor Romulus Augustulus. From then on, no Roman emperor would ever again rule from a post in Italy, leading many to cite 476 as the year the Western Empire suffered its death blow.

2. Economic troubles and overreliance on slave labor

Even as Rome was under attack from outside forces, it was also crumbling from within thanks to a severe financial crisis. Constant wars and overspending had significantly lightened imperial coffers, and oppressive taxation and inflation had widened the gap between rich and poor. In the hope of avoiding the taxman, many members of the wealthy classes had even fled to the countryside and set up independent fiefdoms.

At the same time, the empire was rocked by a labor deficit. Rome’s economy depended on slaves to till its fields and work as craftsmen, and its military might had traditionally provided a fresh influx of conquered peoples to put to work. But when expansion ground to a halt in the second century, Rome’s supply of slaves and other war treasures began to dry up. A further blow came in the fifth century, when the Vandals claimed North Africa and began disrupting the empire’s trade by prowling the Mediterranean as pirates. With its economy faltering and its commercial and agricultural production in decline, the Empire began to lose its grip on Europe.

3. The rise of the Eastern Empire

The fate of Western Rome was partially sealed in the late third century, when Emperor Diocletian divided the Empire into two halves—the Western Empire seated in the city of Milan, and the Eastern Empire in Byzantium, later known as Constantinople. The division made the empire more easily governable in the short term, but over time the two halves drifted apart. East and West failed to adequately work together to combat outside threats, and the two often squabbled over resources and military aid.

As the gulf widened, the largely Greek-speaking Eastern Empire grew in wealth while the Latin-speaking West descended into an economic crisis. Most importantly, the strength of the Eastern Empire served to divert Barbarian invasions to the West. Emperors like Constantine ensured that the city of Constantinople was fortified and well guarded, but Italy and the city of Rome—which only had symbolic value for many in the East—were left vulnerable. The Western political structure would finally disintegrate in the fifth century, but the Eastern Empire endured in some form for another thousand years before being overwhelmed by the Ottoman Empire in the 1400s.

4. Overexpansion and military overspending

At its height, the Roman Empire stretched from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Euphrates River in the Middle East, but its grandeur may have also been its downfall. With such a vast territory to govern, the empire faced an administrative and logistical nightmare. Even with their excellent road systems, the Romans were unable to communicate quickly or effectively enough to manage their holdings.

Rome struggled to marshal enough troops and resources to defend its frontiers from local rebellions and outside attacks, and by the second century, the Emperor Hadrian was forced to build his famous wall in Britain just to keep the enemy at bay. As more and more funds were funneled into the military upkeep of the empire, technological advancement slowed and Rome’s civil infrastructure fell into disrepair.

5. Government corruption and political instability

If Rome’s sheer size made it difficult to govern, ineffective and inconsistent leadership only served to magnify the problem. Being the Roman emperor had always been a particularly dangerous job, but during the tumultuous second and third centuries it nearly became a death sentence. Civil war thrust the empire into chaos, and more than 20 men took the throne in the span of only 75 years, usually after the murder of their predecessor.

The Praetorian Guard—the emperor’s personal bodyguards—assassinated and installed new sovereigns at will, and once even auctioned the spot off to the highest bidder. The political rot also extended to the Roman Senate, which failed to temper the excesses of the emperors due to its own widespread corruption and incompetence. As the situation worsened, civic pride waned and many Roman citizens lost trust in their leadership.

6. The arrival of the Huns and the migration of the Barbarian tribes

The Barbarian attacks on Rome partially stemmed from a mass migration caused by the Huns’ invasion of Europe in the late fourth century. When these Eurasian warriors rampaged through northern Europe, they drove many Germanic tribes to the borders of the Roman Empire. The Romans grudgingly allowed members of the Visigoth tribe to cross south of the Danube and into the safety of Roman territory, but they treated them with extreme cruelty.

According to the historian Ammianus Marcellinus, Roman officials even forced the starving Goths to trade their children into slavery in exchange for dog meat. In brutalizing the Goths, the Romans created a dangerous enemy within their own borders. When the oppression became too much to bear, the Goths rose up in revolt and eventually routed a Roman army and killed the Eastern Emperor Valens during the Battle of Adrianople in A.D. 378. The shocked Romans negotiated a flimsy peace with the barbarians, but the truce unraveled in 410, when the Goth King Alaric moved west and sacked Rome. With the Western Empire weakened, Germanic tribes like the Vandals and the Saxons were able to surge across its borders and occupy Britain, Spain and North Africa.

7. Christianity and the loss of traditional values

The decline of Rome dovetailed with the spread of Christianity, and some have argued that the rise of a new faith helped contribute to the empire’s fall. The Edict of Milan legalized Christianity in 313, and it later became the state religion in 380. These decrees ended centuries of persecution, but they may have also eroded the traditional Roman values system. Christianity displaced the polytheistic Roman religion, which viewed the emperor as having a divine status, and also shifted focus away from the glory of the state and onto a sole deity.

Meanwhile, popes and other church leaders took an increased role in political affairs, further complicating governance. The 18th-century historian Edward Gibbon was the most famous proponent of this theory, but his take has since been widely criticized. While the spread of Christianity may have played a small role in curbing Roman civic virtue, most scholars now argue that its influence paled in comparison to military, economic and administrative factors.

8. Weakening of the Roman legions

For most of its history, Rome’s military was the envy of the ancient world. But during the decline, the makeup of the once mighty legions began to change. Unable to recruit enough soldiers from the Roman citizenry, emperors like Diocletian and Constantine began hiring foreign mercenaries to prop up their armies. The ranks of the legions eventually swelled with Germanic Goths and other barbarians, so much so that Romans began using the Latin word “barbarus” in place of “soldier.”

While these Germanic soldiers of fortune proved to be fierce warriors, they also had little or no loyalty to the empire, and their power-hungry officers often turned against their Roman employers. In fact, many of the barbarians who sacked the city of Rome and brought down the Western Empire had earned their military stripes while serving in the Roman legions.

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Essay on the Fall of Rome

Introduction, the main reasons for the fall of rome, works cited.

The founders of Rome appear to have lived in heroic poverty, sacrificing the little they had to ensure that the empire prospered. However, their successors who had not participated in the struggle to make the empire big and wealthy did not face any pressure to exercise austerity (Brown 57). The new Rome became famous for ostentatious parties and a shared sense of enthusiasm in the high and low classes, who lived a laxer way of life (Brown 57).

As this essay shows, the main reason for the fall of Rome was the lack of financial austerity. The empire grew too big and allowed corruption to reign. It also failed to become innovative in its economic sectors to survive the eventual loss of revenue and gold reserves. When observed in another way, the primary cause of the collapse was the conflict between the need to manage wealth and the desire to spend it.

Moreover, there was a conflict between those who invaded the city and those who lived in the city. Rome also fell because it was expanding. It experimented with the delegation of power to other entities that were not originally Roman, thereby causing the primary ideals and identities, as well as central control of Rome to disappear. Another argument for the fall of Rome is that it did not fall due to an invasion, but it disappeared after losing relevance and being replaced with other civilizations (Ward-Perkins 47-50). This paper will stick to the idea of an actual fall that happened after about 500 years of running as the world’s greatest superpower (Andrews par. 1).

The major reasons for the collapse of Rome are discussed below. First, there was a persistent invasion of the Barbarian tribes. The prosperity of Rome attracted other civilizations around it, who wanted to overthrow the empire (Thompson 17). They opted to use military invasions to take a part of the empire. They did this from all sides, encroaching a little of the empire’s territory at a time. On its part, the empire did everything possible to keep the invaders away (Andrews par 2). German-speaking groups surrounded the Roman Empire. They fought each other and sometimes colluded to fight the Roman Empire (Heather 54).

Each conquest of the groups around the empire somehow modified the structure and culture of the entire empire. The empire had grown big and multifaceted by the time it fell. The expansion of the Empire also created an additional need for bureaucracy, which would eventually undermine a responsive ruling class. Overall, the inclusion of the Barbarians, a term used to describe the collective tribes surrounding the empire, and the vandals created factions in the Empire and diverted fiscal revenue meant for the capital. With insufficient funds, Rome could not hold together and defeat breakaway groups from the Empire.

Accommodating groups, instead of fighting them, also led to the weakening of the Roman army. The army lost its focus on enemies and became weak in battle following many years of peace (Rosenwein 23). Leaders also became less concerned with security and focused on dealing with bureaucracy to enhance their power in the Empire. The quest for power and greatness among the ruling class led to a continuous progression towards the fall of Rome.

Success in the distant wars that the Roman Empire fought increased the wealth of the Empire. The property was acquired from the defeated groups. However, when the wars diminished, rulers continued to live as if Rome had an unlimited supply of wealth. They failed to notice the consequences of their behavior. There was no way out of the mess other than falling, given the lack of any additional warfare to enrich the coffers of the empire and sustain the extravagance of its people. Foreign citizens had taken a part of the Empire and would later create their empires at the time of the decline. Some of them were the Visigoths, who settled in Moesia after being allowed to do so by Emperor Valens (Waldman and Mason 139).

Rome fell because of internal disintegration. Failure to sustain a strong military and exercise moderation in enjoying its wealth made it vulnerable to any attack. Eventually, Rome went through a severe financial crisis, as it was losing its revenue sources from the areas that the factions had developed when they split from the center of power. Rome also increased in size, but it had not participated in conquests for a long time.

Moreover, it did not have a sufficient source of wealth to support the behavior of its ruling class. The imperial coffers could not keep up with wages and other recurrent demands and fund various projects and traditions at the same time. The only solution at the time was to increase taxation and boost the supply of money. However, these actions led to inflation and increased the division between the rich and the poor.

Rome built an internal enemy to its prosperity, given that many poor people failed to afford the basics of life (Atkins and Osborne 205). The rulers of Rome, such as Constantine, reached the extent of hiring mercenaries to join the military because the population was becoming smaller. This weakened the Roman military further. The trend allowed foreigners to gain control of the Roman military. Eventually, the Germanic Goths and Barbarians had too much influence in the military, and they turned against their Roman employers (Andrews par. 9).

Politicians in Rome had bodyguards. The emperor also had guards. However, with hardly any warfare happening in and out of the Empire, the bodyguards became motivated to use their proximity to power for personal enrichment. Eventually, corruption had become so common that the soldiers who worked as bodyguards became independent from the power of the ruler. Instead, they acted as equal partners in the government. They could decide when to remove an emperor and make a replacement. Such was the extent of their power, which led to more corruption because it made the emperors and politicians bribe them to obtain their protection. In the provinces, the poor workers became disillusioned, as their earnings and taxes paid for the affluent and arrogant behaviors of the patriarch (Ward-Perkins 108-115).

Meanwhile, the empire had to do something about the increasing number of poor people caused by the plundering of its coffers by members of the ruling class. The empire provided free food to the poor in Rome and Constantinople. However, the larger proportion of expenditure on food went to the purchase of exotic spices and other delicacies outside the empire. Eventually, the empire would run out of gold to replenish its coffers and became bankrupt. The rulers stripped assets from provinces, such that they were unable to sustain the Empire’s expenditure. They borrowed from central coffers and fell into debt. It was easy for the emerging factions to break away and seek self-rule because many provinces were in debt, and there were no signs of prosperity. The empire had expanded so much that its system of governance could not support it. The ungovernable size stretched from Spain to the modern day Egypt.

Another cause of the fall of Rome was the natural plagues that affected the health of the Roman population. Diseases coming from West Europe wiped out a significant population. The cost of dealing with the diseases, in addition to the loss of revenue because of workers dying from diseases, became a major contributor to the decline of the Empire.

Christianity flourished in the Roman Empire at the time of Constantine. The emperor gave Christians the freedom to practice their religion within the Empire. He was also available to handle any Christian disputes that emerged regarding control or jurisdiction. Embracing Christianity created conflict with the traditional pagan cults that the Romans practiced. Christianity enjoyed power given to it by the emperor; thus, the other Roman religions died.

The growth of Christianity and its linkage to the rulers of Rome created a complex relationship, where the church officials became as influential as the political leaders. In addition, the political leaders appointed bishops to the early Christianity in the Roman Empire. This arrangement created avenues for lobbying for political or church leadership. With the ongoing corruption in the Empire, Christianity became another channel for exercising opposing powers that would eventually destroy the fabric of leadership in Rome. Christianity eventually became the dominant determinant of morals in Rome, following the destruction of other religions due to the lack of political support. However, the corruption in its leadership served as a bad example to the rest of the Empire and contributed to the overall loss of morals.

The traditional Roman values disappeared as the new faith rose to become a state religion in 380 AD. The Emperor was viewed as a divine being, thereby making people revere the empire. Such beliefs provided the meaning of hard work, sacrifice, and order in the Empire as part of their reverence for the divine one. However, the dominance of Christianity and the destruction of the polytheistic beliefs detached people’s actions from direct implications on the emperor. The popes and church leaders acted as opinion shapers in political matters; thus, the center of spiritual power became decentralized and caused people to have varied inclinations to obey moral conduct. It also created a habit of thinking about self-gain before thinking of the overall welfare of the Empire. The change of beliefs and attitudes contributed to the corruption and plunder of wealth in the Empire (Andrews par. 8).

A combination of corruption and political influences in Rome created laxity in the enforcement of moral conduct among public officials. Eventually, the citizens of Rome became accustomed to their new way of life. Respect for life dwindled; people could easily kill each other following disputes and get away with it because of their affiliation with those in power or because they belonged to a higher social class than their victims.

There was a salient disrespect for human and animal life. The lack of morals eventually created chaos in the public life. At the time, Rome also depended on slave labor. Rome had a high influx of slaves who provided cheap labor for its citizens when the Empire was growing through conquests. Unfortunately, the dependence on slaves became an obsession and a way of life. The citizens failed to do their duties of taking care of others and themselves.

They also reduced their efforts of building wealth and being innovative in finding better ways of doing things. Eventually, the entire Rome was lazy because it mainly relied on slave labor to accomplish even the simplest duties. There was no motivation to excel, while things became mediocre because of too much cheap labor. The standards of work plummeted, and the Empire became uncompetitive.

The problem of depending on slaves added to the problem of the affluent behavior of the rich, who opted to import goods that were not available in the Empire. The quality of products in the Empire was poor; thus, people chose to import rather than focus on improving the quality of the Roman products. Eventually, the imports were more than the exports, and the Empire got into the balance of payment problems.

Rome could not support its huge import bill, in addition to the lack of sufficient technological capacity to support domestic production (Fenner par. 2-4). Slavery dependence robbed Rome of the hard work ethics that it had cultivated among its people during the years of early expansion. The Romans had lost the value of being productive, in addition to their lack of the ability to enhance their production prowess. They had little motivation to find superior sources of energy that would sustain competitiveness and make the Empire prosper in trade, transport, and communications. As a result, the Empire lacked sufficient industries to employ its population and grow its wealth. The economic decline became a significant catalyst for the other problems highlighted above, which eventually caused the fall of Rome (Fenner par. 6-8).

The division of the empire into the West and East side, with capitals in Milan and Constantinople respectively, could also be another reason for the decline. There was a bigger chance of the two halves drifting apart in their political and economic ways due to the lack of a central leadership. The two sides failed to work as one Empire when facing outside threats, which made the Empire vulnerable. Language dominance in the two halves also created divisions, with the Greek-speaking East side enjoying moderate economic success, while the Latin-speaking West side was descending into misery. The symbolic capital of the empire was Rome, which remained vulnerable to the invasion of the Barbarians, as Constantinople remained guarded (Andrews par. 6).

In summary, the key events and causes that led to the fall of Rome were the wrong decisions made by several emperors and the increase in the civilization of the people in the empire. These events led to reduced reliance on military support, which caused the weakening of the army. Invasion of the neighboring Barbarians and their habitation of Rome, such as the settlement of the Visigoths in Moesia, also played a part in destabilizing revenue sources for the Empire. Overall, the lack of innovativeness in the economy and a lot of expenses on an unsustainable expansion and consumption of the ruling class caused Rome to fall. Moderation in expenditure and expansion would have saved Rome from falling.

Andrews, Evan. “8 Reasons Why Rome Fell.” 2014. History Lists. Web.

Atkins, Margaret and Robin Osborne, Poverty in the Roman World . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Print.

Brown, Peter. Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350 -550 AD . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2012. Print.

Fenner, Julian. To What Extent Were Economic Factors to Blame for the Deterioration of the Roman Empire in The Third Century A.D? 2015. Web.

Heather, Peter. The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print.

Rosenwein, Barbara H. A Short History of the Middle Ages: Fourth Edition, Volume 1 . Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014. Print.

Thompson, Edward Arthur. Romans and Barbarians: the Decline of the Western Empire. Madison: Univ of Wisconsin Press, 2002. Print.

Waldman, Carl and Catherine Mason. Encyclopedia of Europeans Peoples . New York, NY: Facts on File, Inc., 2006. Print.

Ward-Perkins, Bryan. The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.

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The Fall of Rome: How, When, and Why Did It Happen?

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When Did Rome Fall?

How did rome fall, why did rome fall, christianity, barbarians and vandals.

• Decadence and Decay of Rome's Control

Lead Poisoning

Additional references.

• M.A., Linguistics, University of Minnesota
• B.A., Latin, University of Minnesota

The phrase " the Fall of Rome " suggests that some cataclysmic event ended the Roman Empire, which stretched from the British Isles to Egypt and Iraq. But in the end, there was no straining at the gates, no barbarian horde that dispatched the Roman Empire in one fell swoop.

Instead, the Roman Empire fell slowly as a result of challenges from within and without, changing over the course of hundreds of years until its form was unrecognizable. Because of the long process, different historians have placed an end date at many different points on a continuum. Perhaps the Fall of Rome is best understood as a compilation of various maladies that altered a large swath of human habitation over many hundreds of years.

In his masterwork, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, historian Edward Gibbon selected 476 CE, a date most often mentioned by historians.   That date was when Odoacer, the Germanic king of the Torcilingi, deposed Romulus Augustulus, the last Roman emperor to rule the western part of the Roman Empire. The eastern half became the Byzantine Empire, with its capital at Constantinople (modern Istanbul).

But the city of Rome continued to exist. Some see the rise of Christianity as putting an end to the Romans; those who disagree with that find the rise of Islam a more fitting bookend to the end of the empire—but that would put the Fall of Rome at Constantinople in 1453!   In the end, the arrival of Odoacer was but one of many barbarian incursions into the empire. Certainly, the people who lived through the takeover would probably be surprised by the importance we place on determining an exact event and time.

Just as the Fall of Rome was not caused by a single event, the way Rome fell was also complex. In fact, during the period of imperial decline, the empire actually expanded. That influx of conquered peoples and lands changed the structure of the Roman government. Emperors moved the capital away from the city of Rome, too. The schism of east and west created not just an eastern capital first in Nicomedia and then Constantinople, but also a move in the west from Rome to Milan.

Rome started out as a small, hilly settlement by the Tiber River in the middle of the Italian boot, surrounded by more powerful neighbors. By the time Rome became an empire, the territory covered by the term "Rome" looked completely different. It reached its greatest extent in the second century CE. Some of the arguments about the Fall of Rome focus on the geographic diversity and the territorial expanse that Roman emperors and their legions had to control.  

This is easily the most argued question about the fall of Rome. The Roman Empire lasted over a thousand years and represented a sophisticated and adaptive civilization. Some historians maintain that it was the split into an eastern and western empire governed by separate emperors caused Rome to fall.

Most classicists believe that a combination of factors including Christianity, decadence, the metal lead in the water supply, monetary trouble, and military problems caused the Fall of Rome.   Imperial incompetence and chance could be added to the list. And still, others question the assumption behind the question and maintain that the Roman empire didn't fall so much as adapt to changing circumstances.

When the Roman Empire started, there was no such religion as Christianity. In the 1st century CE, Pontius Pilate, the governor of the province of Judaea, executed their founder, Jesus, for treason. It took his followers a few centuries to gain enough clout to be able to win over imperial support. This began in the early 4th century with Emperor Constantine , who was actively involved in Christian policy-making.

When Constantine established a state-level religious tolerance in the Roman Empire, he took on the title of Pontiff. Although he was not necessarily a Christian himself (he wasn't baptized until he was on his deathbed), he gave Christians privileges and oversaw major Christian religious disputes. He may not have understood how the pagan cults, including those of the emperors, were at odds with the new monotheistic religion, but they were, and in time the old Roman religions lost out.

Over time, Christian church leaders became increasingly influential, eroding the emperors' powers. For example, when Bishop Ambrose (340–397 CE) threatened to withhold the sacraments, Emperor Theodosius did the penance the Bishop assigned him. Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion in 390 CE. Since Roman civic and religious life were deeply connected—priestesses controlled the fortune of Rome, prophetic books told leaders what they needed to do to win wars, and emperors were deified—Christian religious beliefs and allegiances conflicted with the working of empire.

The barbarians, which is a term that covers a varied and changing group of outsiders, were embraced by Rome, who used them as suppliers of tax revenue and bodies for the military, even promoting them to positions of power. But Rome also lost territory and revenue to them, especially in northern Africa, which Rome lost to the Vandals at the time of St. Augustine in the early 5th century CE.

At the same time the Vandals took over the Roman territory in Africa, Rome lost Spain to the Sueves, Alans, and Visigoths . The loss of Spain meant Rome lost revenue along with the territory and administrative control, a perfect example of the interconnected causes leading to Rome's fall. That revenue was needed to support Rome's army and Rome needed its army to keep what territory it still maintained.

Decadence and Decay of Rome's Control

There is no doubt that decay—the loss of Roman control over the military and populace—affected the ability of the Roman Empire to keep its borders intact. Early issues included the crises of the Republic in the first century BCE under the emperors Sulla and Marius as well as that of the Gracchi brothers in the second century CE. But by the fourth century, the Roman Empire had simply become too big to control easily.

The decay of the army, according to the 5th-century Roman historian Vegetius , came from within the army itself. The army grew weak from a lack of wars and stopped wearing their protective armor. This made them vulnerable to enemy weapons and provided the temptation to flee from battle. Security may have led to the cessation of the rigorous drills. Vegetius said the leaders became incompetent and rewards were unfairly distributed.

In addition, as time went on, Roman citizens, including soldiers and their families living outside of Italy, identified with Rome less and less compared to their Italian counterparts. They preferred to live as natives, even if this meant poverty, which, in turn, meant they turned to those who could help—Germans, brigands, Christians, and Vandals.

Some scholars have suggested that the Romans suffered from lead poisoning.   Apparently, there was lead in Roman drinking water, leached in from water pipes used in the vast Roman water control system; lead glazes on containers that came in contact with food and beverages; and food preparation techniques that could have contributed to heavy metal poisoning. The lead was also used in cosmetics, even though it was also known in Roman times as a deadly poison and used in contraception.

Economic factors are also often cited as a major cause of the fall of Rome.   Some of the major factors described are inflation, over-taxation, and feudalism. Other lesser economic issues included the wholesale hoarding of bullion by Roman citizens, the widespread looting of the Roman treasury by barbarians, and a massive trade deficit with the eastern regions of the empire. Together these issues combined to escalate financial stress during the empire's last days.

• Baynes, Norman H. “The Decline of the Roman Power in Western Europe. Some Modern Explanations.”   The Journal of Roman Studies , vol. 33, no. 1-2, Nov. 1943, pp. 29–35.
• Dorjahn, Alfred P., and Lester K. Born. “Vegetius on the Decay of the Roman Army.”   The Classical Journal , vol. 30, no. 3, Dec. 1934, pp. 148–158.
• Phillips, Charles Robert. “Old Wine in Old Lead Bottles: Nriagu on the Fall of Rome.”   The Classical World , vol. 78, no. 1, Sept. 1984, pp. 29–33.

Gibbon, Edward. History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. London: Strahan & Cadell, 1776.

Ott, Justin. "The Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire." Iowa State University Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations . Iowa State University, 2009.

Damen, Mark. "The Fall of Rome: Facts and Fictions." A Guide to Writing in History and Classics. Utah State University.

Delile, Hugo, et al. “ Lead in Ancient Rome's City Waters. ”  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , vol. 111, no. 18, 6 May 2014, pp. 6594–6599., doi:10.1073/pnas.1400097111

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World History Project - Origins to the Present

Course: world history project - origins to the present   >   unit 4.

• READ: Empires Fall

READ: The Fall of Rome

• READ: The Fall of the Han Dynasty
• READ: Cycles of Collapse in Mesoamerica
• BEFORE YOU WATCH: Collapse
• WATCH: Collapse
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• Systems Collapse

First read: preview and skimming for gist

Second read: key ideas and understanding content.

• Why did the Romans concede land to the German tribes?
• What’s one thing Diocletian did to stabilize the Roman Empire?
• What are some key differences between the eastern and western parts of the empire?
• What are some reasons that the Roman economy was weak?
• What did the Antonine Constitution do?
• What problems did the Visigoths have with Rome? How did they react?
• What was left of Rome after 476 CE?

Third read: evaluating and corroborating

• How did changing ideas about what made up the Roman community help the Roman Empire survive and later contribute to its decline?

The Fall of Rome

Headed for a fall, romanitas — being and becoming roman, understanding the fall of rome.

• The Roman emperor Valerian did attempt to get Mesopotamia back in 260. Bad idea. He was captured by the Persian Sassanid ruler Shapur and spent the rest of his life as Shapur's footstool! After his death, his skin was flayed off his corpse and hung behind the throne of the Persian emperor.

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Why did the Roman Empire fall?

For around 1000 years, from its mythical foundation in 753 BC, until the capture of the city of Rome by Germanic tribes in AD 476, Ancient Rome had dominated Europe.

After being so powerful for so long, why did Rome eventually fall? There are many theories out there as to why it fell, but no single, definitive answer.

In this article, we will explore some of the popular theories surrounding its collapse. We will also take a look at the life of Diocletian – the man who is often credited with almost saving the empire – and discuss Odoacer's role in its fall.

Finally, we will explore the reign of Romulus Augustus and how the German tribes played a part in the empire's downfall.

An overview of Rome in the first centuries AD

With the transition of Ancient Rome from a Republic to an Empire in the late 1st century BC, the 1st century AD Rome experienced significant political, economic, military, and cultural changes.

The Roman Empire was vast, stretching from Britain in the west to Mesopotamia in the East.

The military presence of the Roman legions throughout the empire created a generally peaceful environment for the empire's citizens.

This Roman peace was known in Latin as the Pax Romana . It brought relative peace and stability to the empire, allowing for economic growth, territorial expansion, and the construction of monumental public works.

During the 2nd century AD, the Roman Empire was at its height of power and prosperity.

Emperors such as Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius ruled and expanded the empire's borders, while the construction of huge building projects and development of law continued.

However, by the 3rd century AD, problems began to arise. Reduced military expansion meant less economic growth, which led to significant internal turmoil, and an increase in external military threats.

In the city of Rome itself, internal power struggles, political instability, made worse by the constant threat of invasions by Germanic tribes , challenged the empire's stability and set the stage for future decline.

During the 4th century AD, civil wars between competing Roman emperors devastated the empire.

Some leaders, like Diocletian tried various strategies to prevent the ultimate collapse of Rome, with limited effect.

Then, by the 5th century AD, the widespread Germanic invasions could not be stopped by the remaining Roman forces and the western half of the empire finally ceased to exist in AD 476.

It was in this year that the Germanic king, Odoacer, marched into the city of Rome and removed the final emperor, Romulus Augustulus, from power.

Cause 1: The role of the emperors

A popular theory is that the empire was run poorly by successive emperors who were more interested in personal gain than ruling wisely and efficiently.

However, some emperors, like Diocletian, tried to save the empire from collapse.

Diocletian was born in AD 245 near Salona, in modern-day Croatia. He came from a humble background and worked his way up through the ranks of the military before becoming emperor in AD 284.

Once in power, he was proactive in implementing solutions to the ongoing challenges facing the empire. These solutions were known as 'reforms'.

Diocletian's reforms helped save the Roman Empire from collapse by addressing several major issues facing the empire in the late 3rd century AD.

These reforms included:

• Administrative Reforms: Diocletian divided the empire into smaller administrative units and appointed a co-emperor (known as an 'Augustus') and deputy emperor (known as a Caesar) to share the burden of rule and increase efficiency.
• Military Reforms: Diocletian reformed the army, increasing its size and efficiency, and reorganized the defense along the frontiers to better protect against invasions.
• Economic Reforms: Diocletian introduced measures to regulate prices and stabilize the currency, which helped to curb inflation and revive the economy.
• Governmental Reforms: Diocletian also created an efficient bureaucratic system that allowed for better communication between officials throughout the empire, making sure things ran smoothly on all fronts.

Diocletian is often credited with saving the Western Roman Empire from collapse by implementing these reforms during his reign as emperor.

He retired in AD 305 because he felt it was time to pass on his responsibilities.

Today there is still much debate over whether or not Diocletian actually saved the empire from collapse, but what we do know for sure is that he ruled wisely and efficiently during his reign as emperor.

Cause 2: Economics

Economics is the study of money and how it is used. In Rome, the entire empire depending on the constant flood of income from its military conquests.

As its armies achieved less victories on the battlefield, the less money came into the empire. As a result, a number of economic pressures developed.

One of the main economic causes was inflation. The debasement of the currency, combined with government overspending and a declining tax base, led to high inflation and economic instability.

This made it difficult for the government to finance its activities and maintain its military, which was critical to the defense of the empire.

Agricultural decline was another key factor that contributed to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.

The empire's agricultural productivity decreased, resulting in food shortages, famine, and poverty.

This put a strain on the population and made it difficult for the government to secure the food supplies it needed to feed its soldiers and support its cities.

Trade decline was another factor that contributed to the empire's economic difficulties.

The disruption of trade networks, the loss of territories, and the decline in the production of goods, caused a reduction in the flow of goods and a decrease in economic activity.

This made it difficult for the government to raise revenue through trade and made it more challenging for the population to access goods and services.

Taxation was another key factor that contributed to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.

The increasing burden of taxation on the population, particularly the land-owning aristocracy, led to resentment and a decline in the tax base.

This made it difficult for the government to raise the revenue it needed to support its military and maintain its infrastructure, which contributed to its eventual downfall.

Finally, government spending was another factor that contributed to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.

The government's massive spending on military campaigns, public works, and personal luxuries drained the economy and created a large public debt.

This made it difficult for the government to finance its activities, and contributed to its eventual downfall as the empire was unable to defend itself against invading barbarian tribes and the rise of local power centers.

Cause 3: The enormous size of the empire

One of the most popular theories surrounding the fall of the Western Roman Empire is that it was simply too big to survive.

With an area that extended from Britain in the north, Spain in the west, North Africa in the south, and the fertile crescent in the east, it was difficult to maintain control over such a large territory. 

The sheer size of the empire also made it difficult to defend its borders, which left it vulnerable to attack from neighboring countries.

Diocletian attempted to solve this problem by dividing the empire into two parts, each ruled by a co-emperor.

Diocletian himself took control of the east while Maximian was given control of the west (hence why it's called "the fall of the Western Roman Empire").

The division did not last long however, and in AD 310 Constantine I reunited them under his rule as sole emperor.

Constantine I then moved the capital from Rome to Constantinople, which was closer to his new territories in Asia Minor and more easily defensible against invaders coming down through Europe.

Cause 4: Germanic invasions

The Germanic tribes also played a role in the decline of the empire. Various tribes from the region of modern Germany had crossed the empire's northern borders into Roman territories.

They were seeking land and resources, which put a strain on the empire's resources.

However, after being rejected by the Romans, the Germanic tribes instead wanted to attack towns and take as much as they could. This led to conflict and instability within the empire.

At the Battle of Adrianople (which took place near modern Edirne) in AD 378, the emperor Valens was killed along with 20,000 Roman soldiers who were defending against the invaders.

This battle marked a turning point for the empire; it showed that Rome could no longer defend itself against these barbarian tribes.

In AD 410, the Visigoths, who were a Germanic tribe, sacked Rome – an event which shocked the Roman citizens and showed them that their empire was not invincible after all.

The barbarian leader Odoacer is another important figure in the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

He was a Germanic military leader who led his troops into Italy in order to overthrow Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

Odoacer then ruled Italy as its first king, rather than as emperor, from AD 476 until his death in AD 493.

The eastern Roman empire

The Eastern Roman empire would survive for another 1000 years after the fall of the western half of the Roman empire.

A new capital was founded at Byzantium, and so the eastern empire became known as the Byzantine Empire.

The capital would quickly be renamed Constantinople and would survive until the middle of the 15th century. 

In conclusion, the fall of the Western Roman Empire was a complex process that involved many factors such as economic decline, military invasions by barbarians from outside its borders, and political instability.

Ultimately, it was a gradual process that culminated in the year AD 476 when Romulus Augustus was deposed by Odoacer.

This date has therefore become the traditional date for the end of the Roman empire in the west.

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The Roman Empire: Reasons of the Fall

Introduction.

The Roman Empire is a post-republican phase in the development of the ancient Roman statehood, a characteristic feature of an autocratic form of government and large territorial possessions in Europe and the Mediterranean. The chronological framework of the existence of the Roman Empire covers the period from the reign of the first emperor Octavian Augustus to the division of the empire into Western and Eastern from 27 BC. e. to 476. The eastern part of the Roman Empire, centered in Constantinople, existed for another 977 years – until the fall in 1453 (Gibbon and Milman 9). There is no single factor responsible for the fall of Rome, but similar to empires before and after, falling was an inevitable reality.

First of all, external factors influenced the fall of the empire. The invasion of the Gothic and Germanic tribes in 410 and 476, respectively, led to ruin and turmoil among the people. However, it was not only the influence of the aggressors that led to the empire’s collapse. Historians count about 210 reasons for the fall of Rome. Most of them date back to the third century BC, when the Romans’ politics, economics, and culture changed radically.

The patriotic idea came into question at a time when persons of other nationalities appeared in power. Emperors changed too often, and many of them lacked foresight and authority. The absence of a politically strong leader in the entire empire and the local provinces generated a resonance among various estates. Competition between large slave owners – patricians and plebs – led to civil wars. As a result, the government was shaky; it could not control the entire population (Gibbon and Milman 77). In addition, a significant proportion of the population was made up of barbarian tribes, in which culture and ideology were not developed. Subsequent invasions showed the failure of the Romans as the dominant people.

The Roman Empire developed extensive slavery, which meant conquering new lands as the primary source of the influx of new slaves. Compared to patriarchal slavery, which implies the growth of the number of slaves through their birth, the extensive version had only one drawback. It lies in the fact that having reached the natural boundaries of conquest, new inflows of slaves stopped, and an economic recession began. In addition, the Roman army was known for poor maintenance and heavy exploitation (Gibbon and Milman 82). The ranks of the armed forces were not replenished with the necessary number of soldiers due to the demographic crisis and the reluctance of the owners to give up slaves and lose cheap labor.

Another set of reasons is religious and ethnic. The pagan religion of Rome began to disintegrate as early as the 1st century BC, when philosophy began to penetrate the Roman environment that conquered other peoples, calling into question polytheism. The spread of Christianity, which became a universal religion, including for slaves, was first subjected to persecution. Subsequently, this religion was legalized along with paganism. This split led to a fall in morale and a crisis of spirituality (Gibbon and Milman 302). The weight of the authorities is falling. Corruption is increasing, the middle classes are ruined, which leads to riots. As a result, literature, art, and culture, in general, are in decline.

Thus, the collapse of the Roman Empire was due to a whole complex of reasons. The discord of the population and the authorities’ failure, contradictions within the state led to the inability to resist threats from outside. The absence of a visionary and authoritative leader has become the reason for the ideological and religious splitting of the whole. Finally, the subsequent decline of economic life led to the complete defenselessness of the Empire against the “great migration of peoples” in the IV-V centuries and the further conquest of Rome.

Gibbon, Edward, and Henry Hart Milman. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Vol. 2 . Modern library, 2003.

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Home / Essay Samples / History / Roman Empire / The Fall of Rome: Causes and Impact on History

The Fall of Rome: Causes and Impact on History

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Introduction

Causes of the fall of rome, economic decline, political instability, military challenges, social and cultural factors, impact on history, fragmentation of europe, preservation of knowledge, rise of christianity, feudalism and manorialism, legacy and lessons, economic stability, strong leadership, adaptation to change, resilience and legacy.

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