Introduction
The Roman Empire was one of the largest empires that existed in the world. This empire is known for a myriad of attacks and exploitations among other uncouth acts. The end of the Roman Empire remains to be a highly debatable issue especially the time this empire ended. For instance, Rutenburg and Eckstein (109) review conflicting sentiments on whether the Roman Empire actually fell. A number of authors believe that the Roman Empire never really fell but decline in size and influence since regions like Italy in modern world is renamed Roman Empire. Nonetheless, the largest majority believe that the Roman Empire fell at some point in time. Although the exact time for the fall is not explicitly clear, two dates are given. These are either 4th century or the 15th century. This work explores the gradual decline and eventual fall of the Roman Empire.
Critical Assumptions
For the completion of this work, it is important to clarify on the assumptions made. The first assumption is that the Roman Empire did actually fall and thus negating the initial supposition that the empire exists. The second assumption is that the empire fell in 476 A.D. following the overthrowing of Emperors Augustulus Romulus by General Odovacar who was Germanic.
Reasons/ Theories for the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Authors have come up with a number of theories and reasons that led to the gradual decline and eventual fall of a once mighty empire. Nonetheless, historians agree on the fact that these theories are interwoven with one another.
The first reason for the fall of the mighty Roman Empire is Lead Poisoning (Phillips III 30). The rich in the Roman Empire essentially used lead in various daily endeavors. For instance, a large number of orn...
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...ty, Sympathy, And The Colonial Relation In Edward Gibbon's The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire." Eighteenth Century: Theory & Interpretation (University Of Pennsylvania Press) 53.1 (2012): 1-22. Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
Dorjahn, Alfred, P., and Lester K. Born. “Vegetius on the Decay of the Roman Army,” The Classical Journal 30.3 (1934): 148-158. About.com. Web. 10 Dec 2013.
Phillips III, Charles, Robert. “Old Wine in Old Lead Bottles: Nriagu on the Fall of Rome,” The Classical World 78.1 (1984): 29-33. About.com. Web. 10 Dec 2013.
Rutenburg, Jeanne, and Arthur M. Eckstein. “The Return of the Fall of Rome – The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians by Peter Heather; The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization by Bryan Ward-Perkins,” The International History Review 29.1 (2007): 109-122. About.com. Web. 10 Dec 2013.
The year is 476 A.D. and the Roman Empire has collapsed after being overthrown by barbarians. Looking back, the causes of Rome’s decline can be separated into four categories, social, economic, military, and political. The social aspects of Rome’s fall are the rise of christianity and civil wars. The rise of christianity displaced Rome’s polytheistic roots which viewed the emperor as having a godly status. Pope and church leaders took an increased role in political affairs which further complicated governance. Civil wars also deteriorated the empire. More than 20 men took the throne in only 75 years and the empire was thrust into chaos. The economic aspects of Rome’s fall were high taxes from the government and labor deficit. The roman empire
Livy. The Rise of Rome: Books One to Five. Trans. T. J. Luce. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Over the span of five-hundred years, the Roman Republic grew to be the most dominant force in the early Western world. As the Republic continued to grow around the year 47 B.C it began to go through some changes with the rise of Julius Caesar and the degeneration of the first triumvirate. Caesar sought to bring Rome to an even greater glory but many in the Senate believed that he had abused his power, viewing his rule more as a dictatorship. The Senate desired that Rome continued to run as a republic. Though Rome continued to be glorified, the rule of Caesar Octavian Augustus finally converted Rome to an Empire after many years of civil war. Examining a few selections from a few ancient authors, insight is provided as to how the republic fell and what the result was because of this.
The Romans were on one of the greatest people of all. They had power, wealth, and even a half of the world. They built one of the strongest and vast empire that world has ever seen. They came from nothing to something awesome. It started of as a city and ended up being one of the greatest empire of all. This essay is going to focus on the Roman Empire from the rise to the fall and the government, architecture, mythology, Family Structure, and Food of the Romans.
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Marcel Le Glay, Jean-Louis Voisin, Yann Le Bohec. A History of Rome. West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.
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5. Lesley Adkins, Roy A Adkins, Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome, Oxford University Press, 1998. (pg. 304)
The decline and fall of the Roman Empire is a scholarly article written by Justin Ott about the Roman Empire and the events leading up to its fall. The article mostly focuses on the military and economy of Rome in the third century A.D. It lists in the beginning a few of the different theories people have of how Rome fell, including led poisoning and the spread of Christianity. The article seems to want to disprove these theories, showing how they are not the main causes for the collapse of Rome. “Gibbon’s arguments in these sections can be accurately summarized as “the insensible penetration of Christianity in the empire fatally undermined the genius of a great people.” The problem with this conclusion is two-fold. First of all, this explanation is too narrow as it is difficult to believe one single factor brought down the empire. More importantly, it is clear that the Eastern Roman Empire was by far more Christian than the West, therefore if Christianity was behind the fall, the East should have fallen first.” The article’s audience appears to be historians, or those who are interested in history, or just the Roman Empire. It
3)Gwynn, David M. The Roman Republic: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2012. Print.
By the 1970s, Historian Peter Brown sparked an interesting debate about the Roman civilization. He dubbed a period in Roman history, ‘The Late Antiquity’, starting around 200 AD and lasting up until the eighth century, marking this was a period in time where the Roman civilization was not in decline, but in a state of transformation due to religious and cultural revolution, and causing many historians to agree or debate about this matter. Bryan Ward-Perkins, author of The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization, critique the theory of ‘The Late Antiquity’ and firmly believe the decline of Roman civilization instead of its transformation influenced by its barbaric invaders. He supports his position of Rome’s Fall with evidence from the diminishing
Most of the civilizations throughout history have been taken over or replaced by other civilizations due to disunity and chaos. Although an empire might seem prosperous, the decline and fall of empires are sometimes inevitable. Even though an empire might seem invincible, there are many factors that could lead to the sudden decline or fall of an empire. Over many centuries, historians have composed many reasons, such as weak militaries, economic burdens, dynastic successions, and external enemies, which have been known to contribute to the rise and fall of many once successful empires.
"Rome, History of Ancient Rome From Its Founding To Collapse." World History International: World History Essays From Prehistory To The Present. Web. 16 Dec. 2009. .
Looking back to our past, the city of Rome was one of the powerful regions in world. According to wikipedia,“the city of Rome originated as a village of the Latini in the 9th century BC. It was initially ruled by kings, but the Roman Republic was established in 509 BC. During the 5th century BC, Rome gained regional dominance in Latium, and eventually the entire Italian peninsula the 3rd century BC. The population of the city at this point is estimated at about 300,000 people”. From my childhood itself, i’ve heard a lot of legends of the Roman Empire. In this essay, we are going discuss about the features of Roman Empire at it’s height during the second century C.E, the christian life in Rome, letters of Trajan and Pliny, and also about the ultimate success of christianity in Rome.