Roman Empire Downfall

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The Demise of The Roman Empire

Rubi Morales
History 86
November 6th, 2016

During the late fourth century the Western Roman Empire fell after nearly 500- year run as the world’s largest superpower. There were many factors which have been put forward as crucial include, climate change, the recession in military, disease, depopulation, racial ‘pollution’ and immorality. The empire had its peak, but the lack of leadership helped the empire fall horribly. One of the most important causes of Rome’s decline was basic economic weakness inherent within the empire, and outside forces attacked. To many historians the fall of the Roman Empire has been viewed as the end of the ancient world. There was no specific order of the causes for the fall …show more content…

”Each one interweaved with the other” Rome’s wealth was direct with the land, “Tax farming went hand-in hand..” Romans made many profits from the peasants. Rome had many Emperors purposely overtaxed the senatorial class in order to render it powerless. They had constant wars, and overspent constantly.The government was regularly threatened by bankruptcy due to the protection of the empire. Their taxation and inflation widened the gap between the rich and poor. In order to avoid the taxation citizens would move out into the countryside and set up fiefdoms. Rome’s economy benefited from their slaves, but there was a labor shortfall. Cheap slave labor resulted in the unemployment of the Plebs in Rome who became dependent on hand-outs from the state. The Roman's dependency on slave labor managed not only to the downfall in morals, values and ethics but also to the stagnation of any new technology to produce goods more freely. Romans could rely on the slave manpower for all their needs but this reliance inhibited technological change and growth. There was no more gold or silver. The amount of gold sent to the orient to pay for luxury goods led to a lack of gold to make Roman coins. Roman currency was devalued to such an extent that a system of bartering returned to one of the greatest civilizations the world had ever …show more content…

The mandate of Milan approved of Christianity in 313, and it became the state religion in 380. These acts ended centuries of persecution, but they also destroyed the traditional Roman values system. Christianity uprooted the polytheistic Roman religion, and gave the emperor a status, and also shifted focus away from the glory of the state and onto a sole god. Meanwhile, popes and other church leaders took a heightened role in political interests, further complicating the government. Other times the Romans persecuted the Christians because of their beliefs, which were popular among the poor. While the spread of Christianity may have played a small role in curbing Roman civic advantage, most scholars now disagree that its influence paled in comparison to military, economic and organizational

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