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Causes and effects of the fall of the Roman Empire
roman empire and its downfall
roman empire and its downfall
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Leadership can be defined as “the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization.” While the wording comes from the United States Army’s Leadership manual, the same principles applied to the men who served in the Roman army, both the Republic and the Empire. From 508 BC to 1453 the Roman’s would be a considered a “superpower” in the world with “all roads” leading to Rome as the old proverb explains. A superpower is maintained with a strong military and Rome was no exception. During her reign, Rome saw a vast number of generals and leaders that would stand out over time. Three of these leaders would be Trajan, Marius and Scipio Africanus. These three generals would have great impact on the Roman army and its establishment of their power.
Marcus Ulpius Trajanus “was not a Roman aristocrat but a Spaniard from far off Italica (now Seville). Trajan dreamed of leading soldiers as his father before him, but “could scarcely have dreamed of sitting upon the throne of Caesar himself.” Trajan took power in 98 AD, and unlike some of his predecessors, he “dreamed of military fame in the service of Rome.” Trajan saw Dacia as “the greatest threat to the Roman Empire aside the kingdom of Parthia” The Dacians (ancient Romania) were defying Roman power in the region under King Decebalus and “previous treaties had proved unsatisfactory”. Trajan personally traveled to the Danube region to conduct reconnaissance before committing troops to the task; he realized that the infrastructure in the region and the staging areas would make his soldiers vulnerable to attack. Trajan picked sites that could handle bridges and had twelve miles of road cut ...
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...Goldsworthy, Adrian, The Fall of Carthage, London, Phoenix, 2000.
Lacey, James. "Romes Craftiest General SCIPIO AFRICANUS." Military History 24, no. 5 (2007): 56-61,4 http://search.proquest.com/docview/212615844?accountid=8289.
Mackay, Christopher, Ancient Rome: A Military and Political History, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Matthew, Christopher. "The Battle of Vercellae and the Alteration of the Heavy Javelin (Pilum) by Gaius Marius - 101 BC." Antichthon 44, (2010): 50-67. http://search.proquest.com/docview/807643445?accountid=8289.
Munro, Richard K. "The Last Great Roman Conqueror." Military History 18, no. 6 (2002): 22-28. http://search.proquest.com/docview/212663606?accountid=8289.
Tada, Richard. "TRAJANS Last Conquest." Military History 24, no. 8 (2007): 44-49,4. http://search.proquest.com/docview/212673062?accountid=8289.
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“This account I have given the reader, not so much with the intention of commending the Romans, as of comforting those that have been conquered by them, and for the deterring others from attempting innovations under their government. This discourse of the Roman military conduct may also perhaps be of use to such of the curious as are ignorant of it, and yet have a mind to know it.” –excerpt from “Description of the Roman Army,” by Josephus
1. Tim Cornell, John Matthews, Atlas of the Roman World, Facts On File Inc, 1982. (pg.216)
Lazenby, John F. Hannibal's War: A Military of the Second Punic War. Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1978. Print.
Plutarch, Philip A. Stadter, and Robin Waterfield. "Cato The Elder, Aemilius Paullus, Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus." Roman Lives: A Selection of Eight Roman Lives. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999. 3-115. Print.
Morey, William C. "Outlines of Roman History, Chapter 19." Forum Romanum. 1901. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. .
...” (Res Gestae Divi Augusti). The title Pater Patriae, was the last factor that contributed to the rise of Octavian.
Morey, William C. "Outlines of Roman History, Chapter 26." Outlines of Roman History, Chapter 26. American Book Company, 1901. Web. 6 Nov. 2013. .
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The strength of the Roman military was the string that held the Roman Empire together for as long as it lasted. The military was made up of strictly disciplined men whom were ready and willing to serve their emperor.
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.
(1901). Outlines of Roman History. Chapter X: The Conquest of Latium. Section II: The Great Latin War. Demands of the Latins. Retrieved from: http://www.forumromanum.org/history/morey10.html
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Another sizeable contributing factor to the expansion of the Roman Empire was the sacking of Rome by the Gauls in 390 B.C.. “The Romans were completely dumbfounded by the wild and undisciplined charge of the howling Gauls. The Roman’s tightly packed phalanx, a military formation they had adopted from the Greeks of southern Italy, collapsed, and the Romans fled” (Kidner, 129). The sacking left the Romans determined to prevent and avoid any similar outcomes in the future.