Ancient Rome DBQ

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Between 50 BCE and 200 CE, the Roman Empire was very strong and powerful. Although the Roman Empire lasted a very long time, it weakened over time. The empire went through many emperors over the years, but slowly fell apart. There were many issues in the empire that led to it falling apart. The main reasons for the fall of Rome were foreign invasions, political instability, and a weak military. Foreign invasions played a huge role in the Roman empire's fall. As stated in document B by Vegetitus, “because of negligence and laziness, parade ground drills were abandoned.” As the troops became lazier and lazier they also became weaker and weren’t able to wear the armor because of its weight. This made it easier for invaders to attack Rome because …show more content…

In document D Ammianus Marcellinus, a Roman historian, refers to the Huns as being “glued to their horse.” This shows that the Huns had an advantage when invading since they were very well trained on horseback. Political instability was a major problem in the empire that led to its fall. Rome went through many different emperors throughout the years. Document A shows a list of emperors that ruled during a 50-year period. During the 50-year time period shown on the chart, there were 20 different emperors. This shows the instability in the government, which makes it hard for the people of the Roman Empire to trust in their leadership. In Document E we are able to see Priscus, a Roman ambassador to the Huns, point of view on the differences between his old life among the Romans, and his current life among the Huns. As stated in Document E, “the climax of misery is to have to pay in order to obtain justice.” This shows that in Rome it was hard to obtain justice unless you were wealthy which caused the decline of the empire since life was better under the Huns. Political instability and foreign invasions aren’t the only reasons for the decline of the

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